Best forex trading platforms

A forex trading platform lets you exchange one currency for another in an attempt to make a profit from the downfall of one currency against the other. Investors do this by trading currency pairs and making decisions based on market conditions, such as whether one currency has decreased in value as a result of a political decision or new information on trade flows. Forex trading apps have a number of currency pairs available to trade, so you can open and close a position in ease. You can read our guide on how to trade forex if you want to know more about currency pairs, exchange prices and how to get started. Read on to find out which forex trading apps are the best in the UK.

Finder’s best forex trading platforms in the UK

• Best forex platform for beginners: IG
• Best forex platform for number of currency pairs: Saxo Markets
• Best forex platform for spreads: Fineco
• Best forex trading app: Capital.com

What’s the best forex trading platform?

Here are some of the best forex trading platforms based on some of the features available, average spreads and the number of currency pairs available.

Best forex trading platform

Finder’s pick: Capital

Finder score

★★★★★

Forex traders are typically interested in how many currency pairs they can get access to and at what cost.

Capital.com is pretty well balanced between the two — we compared the spreads of several currency pairs and found an average spread of 0.95 pips. You can trade 138 currency pairs with the platform, too.

Capital.com offers more than just forex — it lets you trade contracts for difference on lots of different asset classes, including commodities and companies. You can also purchase shares and exchange-traded funds with Capital, if you’re not interested in the riskier choices available.

We chose Saxo as our top pick because:

• Low spreads
• 138 currency pairs available
• Other investment types available

Need to know: Desktop trading platform not available for UK users and charts are not customisable.

Best forex platform for beginners

Finder’s pick: IG

Finder score

★★★★★

User survey

★★★★★

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IG could be a good choice if you’re fairly new to forex trading. It has a demo account that lets you get to grips with the platform and the process, as well as a dedicated course on how forex trading works and how you can get started. You can learn more about pips, forex pairs, what moves the markets and how professional investors make money from forex trading.

As with Capital.com, you’ve got additional investment options available with IG, including ready made portfolios for investment newbies; company shares for confident investors; and CFDs, options and futures trading for those with more experience and willing to take on more risk.

We chose Saxo as our top pick because:

• Great educational tools if you’re new to forex
• Demo account to have a go before you begin
• 80 currency pairs available

Need to know: Spreads are higher than other reviewed providers.

Read our review of IG.

Best forex platform for number of currency pairs

Finder’s pick: Saxo

Finder score

★★★★★

Saxo Markets has the most currency pairs available to trade between all of the platforms we’ve researched. You can take your pick from 190 currency pairs. The spreads are a little higher with Saxo compared with other platforms, but you get access to a truly sophisticated trading platform. As with IG, you can give it a go first with Saxo’s demo account using virtual funds.

We chose Saxo as our top pick because:

• Lots of currency pairs available
• Sophisticated charting tools

Need to know: Higher spreads than other reviewed platforms.

Read our review of Saxo.

Best forex platform for spreads

Finder’s pick: Fineco

Finder score

★★★★★

User survey

★★★★★

Fineco comes out top for its spreads compared with the other platforms we researched. Over a range of currency pairs, we worked out that its average spread is around 0.95 pips. It’s only got 50 currency pairs currently available to trade, so you’ll need to be interested in only the main forex pairs if you want to trade forex with Fineco.

Fineco also offers traditional share dealing, allowing you to purchase individual shares and exchange-traded funds as well as invest in commodities, so you have a great range of investment options available.

We chose Saxo as our top pick because:

• Low spreads
• Great charting tools

Need to know: Just 50 currency pairs available.

Read our review of Fineco.

How to choose the best forex trading platform

Typically, when choosing the best trading platform for forex, investors think about a few key things: the spread, the currency pairs available and the charting tools. Here’s some additional things to consider:

• What leverage and margin do you get access to? If you’re a beginner, you’ll want less access to margin and leverage in order to protect yourself a little
• Does it charge commission? Forex platforms don’t usually charge commission for trades.
• What are the spreads like? If the spreads are quite wide (the difference between the buy and sell prices are significant), consider another platform.
• What size deposit do you want? If you only want to start with a small deposit, you’ll want to check that your chosen provider doesn’t have a minimum deposit above this.
• What currency pairs do you want access to? Most of the best forex trading apps will have the main ones – have a quick look to check that your chosen one has the ones you want.

Is forex trading free?

It can often seem that forex trading is free as a lot of forex trading platforms tend to offer their services commission free, but there’s a cost built into the price of the currencies that you’ll pay when you make a trade, known as the spread.

The spread is the difference between the “buy” and “sell” prices, so once you’ve opened and closed a position, you’ll have paid the difference between them in fees. The spread is measured in “pips”.

A pip is the smallest movement that an exchange rate can make. It stands for “percentage in point”. As most currency pairs are priced to 4 decimal places, 1 pip is equal to one-hundredth of 1%. This is equal to 1 basis point.

For example, if the GBP/EUR exchange rate moved from 1.1510 to 1.1511, it moved by 1 pip. To work out the spread, you minus the sell price from the buy price.

What are the best forex pairs to trade?

The best forex pair to trade really depends on the current economic climate. Currencies are constantly changing value based on a huge range of things, such as how much tourism a country has, current interest rates, the country’s political position and trade flows.

This means that the best one to trade is changing all the time – try keeping an eye on current affairs to try to get a grasp on what impact certain events might have on a currency and choose which pairs to trade based on your findings.

What’s next?

If you’ve chosen the best forex trading platform for you, you can go ahead and click through to the site to check out the platform. When signing up, make sure you have some ID handy, as well as your bank details and national insurance number. If you still don’t think you’ve found the one for you, we have a guide where you can compare forex trading platforms.