Question 1

What is a spread?

Accepted Answer

The spread is the gap between the bid price you can sell at and the ask price you can buy at, quoted in pips. It is the cost you pay for immediacy: open a position and you start marginally down by the spread, because you bought at the ask and would have to sell at the bid. On the majors it is usually the single largest recurring cost a retail trader pays.

Question 2

Why do spreads move around during the day?

Accepted Answer

Spreads track available depth. They are tightest when the most market makers are quoting — the London and New York overlap, roughly 13:00–16:00 UTC — and widest at the daily rollover around 21:00–23:00 UTC when New York has wound down and Asia has not started. They also widen sharply in the seconds around high-impact data as liquidity providers step back.

Question 3

Does the tightest spread mean the cheapest broker?

Accepted Answer

No, and this is the most common mistake in reading a spread table. A spread comparison says nothing about commission, execution quality, slippage, swap rates or withdrawal fees. A raw-spread account showing 0.0 pips can easily cost more per round turn than a 1.2 pip all-in account once commission is added, and a broker with a tight quoted spread but poor fills can cost you more again. Compare total cost per round turn, not the headline number.

Question 4

What is the difference between raw and all-in spreads?

Accepted Answer

A raw or ECN account passes through the interbank spread — often 0.0 to 0.3 pips on EUR/USD — and charges a separate commission, typically around $3.50 per lot per side. An all-in or standard account charges no commission and instead marks the spread up. To compare them, convert the commission into pips: on a standard lot, $7.00 round turn is roughly 0.7 pips on EUR/USD, so a 0.1 pip raw spread is about 0.8 pips all-in.

Question 5

Are fixed spreads better than variable ones?

Accepted Answer

Fixed spreads are wider on average but predictable, which suits traders who need certainty around news. Variable spreads are tighter most of the time but widen exactly when conditions deteriorate. Neither is inherently better — fixed shifts the risk of widening to the broker and charges you a premium for it, variable leaves that risk with you in exchange for a lower average cost.

Question 6

How is the average spread on this page calculated?

Accepted Answer

The average is taken over the period being displayed, so changing the period recalculates it. That matters when comparing brokers: an average sampled across a full 24-hour cycle includes the thin rollover window and will read wider than one sampled only across active London hours. Always check that the brokers you are comparing are being measured over the same window.

Broker	Model	Commission	Current	Average	Min	Max
IC Markets	ECN	$3.50 / lot / side	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.9
Exness	ECN	$3.50 / lot / side	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.1
Pepperstone	ECN	$3.50 / lot / side	0.1	0.2	0.0	1.0
FP Markets	ECN	$3.00 / lot / side	0.1	0.2	0.0	1.2
Tickmill	ECN	$2.00 / lot / side	0.1	0.2	0.0	1.1
Vantage	STP	$3.00 / lot / side	0.2	0.2	0.1	1.3
FxPro	STP	None	0.9	1.1	0.6	2.6
AvaTrade	Market Maker	None	0.9	1.1	0.9	1.2
OANDA	Market Maker	None	1.0	1.2	0.7	2.4
XM	Market Maker	None	1.1	1.3	0.8	2.9

Broker	EUR/USD	GBP/USD	USD/JPY	AUD/USD	USD/CAD	XAU/USD
IC Markets	0.0	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.4	12
Pepperstone	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.5	13
Exness	0.0	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.5	11
FP Markets	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.6	14
Tickmill	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.6	15
Vantage	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.7	16
FxPro	0.9	1.2	1.0	1.1	1.4	22
OANDA	1.0	1.3	1.1	1.2	1.5	24
XM	1.1	1.5	1.3	1.4	1.7	28
AvaTrade	0.9	1.5	1.2	1.3	1.8	29

Live Forex Spreads

EUR/USD Spreads by Broker

Typical Intraday Spread Pattern

Conditions to Watch

All Pairs at a Glance

Understanding Forex Spreads

Frequently asked