"Zero commission" and "tight spreads" are marketing. The number that matters is the all-in cost of trading the way you trade — and it's made of more parts than the headline shows. Our fees comparison and cost calculator add these up for you.
The five costs of a trade
- Spread — the gap between the buy and sell price. You pay it on every trade, in and out. A "from 0.0 pips" spread is a best case on one pair at a quiet moment, not what you'll average.
- Commission — a fixed charge per lot on raw-spread accounts. Tighter spread, but you pay this on top.
- Swap / overnight financing — a daily charge for holding a leveraged position past the cut-off. Trivial for a day trade, significant if you hold for weeks.
- Currency conversion — if you trade an asset priced in a currency other than your account's, conversion costs quietly stack up.
- Non-trading fees — inactivity fees, deposit/withdrawal fees and account fees that appear after you fund.
Why "cheapest spread" is the wrong question
A scalper placing 50 trades a day cares enormously about spread and commission and barely about swap. A position trader holding for weeks cares about swap and conversion far more than a fraction of a pip on entry.
The same broker can be the cheapest choice for one of them and the most expensive for the other. Model the cost against your own trading, not against a generic example.
A quick gut-check
Multiply your typical round-trip cost (spread + commission) by how many trades you place in a month, then add any swap and monthly fees. That number — not the homepage figure — is what trading actually costs you.
Figures brokers publish are typical and indicative; your real cost varies with account type, market conditions and time of day. Verify current pricing with the broker before you fund. Educational content, not financial advice.