An inactivity fee is the one charge you can incur without placing a single trade. It sits outside the spread-and-commission maths most traders think about, which is exactly why it catches people who opened an account, funded it, then stepped away. Here's how the fee actually works and how to find your broker's exact terms before it applies.
Why the fee exists
Running a client account costs a broker money — custody, compliance monitoring, KYC record-keeping — whether or not you trade. Most brokers tolerate that cost for active clients (the spread and commission you generate covers it) but recover it directly once an account goes quiet for long enough. It's a legitimate, disclosed charge, not a stall or a penalty for anything you did wrong — it's simply written into the account terms you agreed to when you opened.
The three variables that decide the number
Every broker's inactivity fee is built from the same three settings, and they vary a lot between firms:
- The dormancy trigger — how many months of no trading (sometimes no login, sometimes no trading specifically) before the clock starts. This ranges from as short as three months at some brokers to two years at others.
- The charge itself — usually a flat monthly or quarterly amount in your account currency, though a few brokers instead deduct a fixed one-off fee.
- The floor — most brokers cap the fee at your remaining balance, so it can't push you into negative territory, and some waive it entirely once your balance hits zero.
Because these three numbers move independently, "does this broker charge an inactivity fee" is the wrong question. The right one is "what are this broker's three numbers, for my account's legal entity" — the same product sold under one brand can carry different terms in different regions.
What "inactive" actually means
Read the definition carefully, not just the headline rate. Some brokers reset the dormancy clock on any login; others require an actual trade or a deposit. A small number of firms apply a two-stage rule — for example, archiving a small, untouched balance after a shorter period with no charge, then only starting the fee itself after a longer dormancy window. Skimming a summary page instead of the client agreement is how people conflate the two stages into one wrong number. For a first-hand worked example of exactly this kind of two-tier rule, see Tickmill's inactivity terms alongside XM's 90-day dormant-fee rule, both read directly from the brokers' legal documents rather than summarised secondhand.
Where to find the real number
The fee is disclosed, but rarely on the marketing pages. Check, in order:
- The costs-and-charges or fee schedule PDF linked in the footer — not the pricing table on the homepage.
- The client agreement for your specific legal entity, since terms can differ by regulator even under one brand — see broker brand vs legal entity for why that matters.
- The account dashboard, which sometimes states the applicable dormancy date directly once your account has been open a while.
If you can't find a number stated anywhere, that's not the same as no fee — treat "not advertised" as "verify before you assume."
Avoiding it without overthinking it
You don't need to trade to avoid most inactivity fees — a login is often enough at brokers that trigger on account activity rather than trades, though you should confirm which rule your entity uses. Beyond that:
- If you're stepping away for months, check the exact trigger date before you leave, not after the fee lands.
- Withdrawing to zero balance avoids the fee at brokers that waive it on empty accounts, but confirm that's your broker's rule rather than assuming it.
- Closing an account you're not using removes the exposure entirely, if you're certain you won't return.
The fee is small compared with spread and commission for anyone actually trading — see the real cost of every trade for how it ranks against the costs that hit active accounts. It only matters if you go quiet, and even then, only by the exact amount your broker's own terms specify.
Fee figures and dormancy periods vary by broker and by legal entity, and brokers change their terms — always confirm current numbers in your own client agreement. Educational content, not financial advice.