The question of how to measure the Forex broker you are considering was invested by our researchers. In this article and list of brokers, we answer the question of who the biggest Forex brokers by trading capitalization are.
But first up you need to understand that there are several different criteria that you can use when you are measuring the size of a company.
It is common for companies to be ranked by market capitalization, revenue, profits, and the number of employees.
With financial institutions like banks, you can compare the total assets under management.
10 Best Forex Brokers in South Africa for 2025
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These types of values are not relevant when discussing Forex brokers. With Forex brokers we need to find criteria that judge a Forex broker’s size adequately and fairly.
Market Capitalization
Often people turn to market capitalization as a way to rank companies, but this only applies to public companies listed on a stock exchange.
This criterion would leave most Forex brokers out of the ranking.
Also, market capitalization is the value investors give to a specific company and not necessarily the actual market value.
In other words, it is possible for a small company to have a higher market value and be more profitable than a company that is large on paper but not as profitable.
Revenue
You could also rank a Forex Broker by the revenue that they receive from commissions, fees, and spreads but this will not give a clear indication of size solely based on Forex trading.
That is because the brokers who charge higher commissions and spreads will generate more revenue in comparison to a similar-sized broker that charges lower commissions, spreads, and fees.
Also, those brokers that offer more assets and instruments to trade, such as Stocks, Options, and Futures as well as Forex trading will, of course, have more revenue generated in comparison to a broker that only focuses on Forex.
Assets Under Management (AUM)
Another way that you can rank a broker has to do with Assets Under Management or the number of client funds that are in client accounts that the broker looks after.
But once again, this doesn’t allow us to rank a brokerage firm on the Forex trading part of the business alone.
Since the above criteria are not helpful or relevant when wanting to judge the size of Forex brokers, based on Forex alone, we need to have a more relevant method of measure.
In the case of Forex trading, the most relevant criteria to rank Forex brokers is the average volume of daily transactions, or AVDT.
The Average Volume of Daily Transactions (AVDT) is the daily transactions of a Forex broker. This, however, can cause the data to fluctuate a lot.
It is better to take an average over time so that you can get a more consistent and stable number. These numbers will be an average of at least three months to get this average.
These AVDT are listed as billions of dollars. A broker needs to do at least 1 billion dollars in AVDT to be considered a “large” broker.
Most large high-quality Forex brokers have an AVDT of at least three billion dollars.
Largest Forex brokers by volume
Below you will see the biggest Forex companies globally by AVDT.
The data presented in this article was compiled from different sources and is not fully audited we cannot guarantee it is accurate but it will certainly give you an idea of the largest brokers by AVDT.
Brokers by AVDT in Billions of USD
Forex.com 15.5
XM Group 13.4
Saxo Bank 12.3
Hot Forex 11.5
Oanda 10.7
IC Markets 9.5
Exness 8.4
Ava Trade 7.8
IG Markets 6.8
FX Pro 6.5
Pepperstone 5.9
Swissquote 4.7
Plus500 4.4
EToro 4.3
Markets.com 4.2
FXCM 3.8
Forex Time 3.6
Alpari 3.0
Here is a quick overview of the 18 Biggest Forex Brokers by trading volume.
Forex.com
Forex.com is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was in 2001 and allows access to more than 180 markets, which include Stocks, Forex pairs, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities and Indices.
They offer more than 4,500 CFD instruments to trade with.
The company is regulated by several financial authorities including the top-tier Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK or the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Forex.com has won many awards. In 2025 it has earned Best in Class (top 7) awards for numerous categories including Education, Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Professional Trading, Crypto Trading, Ease of Use, and Overall.
Forex.com Features
- Great mobile and desktop functionality
- Over 40,000 traders
- Regulated by several authorities
- Diverse technical research tools
- TradingView charts built into the platform
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Great variety of currency pairs | Limited product portfolio |
| Fast and easy account opening | High stock CFD fees |
| Fast execution of trades | Higher spreads than some brokers |
| Low Forex fees | No negative balance protection |
| No withdrawal fees | Inactivity fee |
XM
XM Global was founded in 2017 and offers 1000+ financial instruments, which include Forex Trading, Stocks CFDs, Commodities CFDs, Equity Indices CFDs, Precious Metals CFDs, and Energies CFDs.
They are regulated by the International Financial Services Commission.
They have over 55 currency pairs on offer in Forex trading and have over 70,000 traders
XM offers both the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms These are the most widely used platforms in trading and are both accessible from real and demo accounts.
XM has won awards as such:
- Best FX Service Provider for 2025 awarded by City of Wealth Management Awards 2025
- Best FX Service Provider awarded by City of London Wealth Management Awards 2019
- Best Customer Service Global 2019 awarded by Capital Finance International Magazine
- Best Market Research and Education Global 2019 awarded by Capital Finance International Magazine
XM Features
- Allows scalping
- Allows Hedging
- Offers negative balance protection
- Low min deposit
- Offers Negative Balance Protection
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Low withdrawal fees | Inactivity fee |
| Easy and fast account opening | Average Forex fees |
| No withdrawal fee | |
| Great educational tools and resources | |
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank, a Danish investment bank established in 1992, is a trusted name with a strong banking background.
It is regulated by top-tier financial authorities, which include the Danish Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Saxo Bank has its own proprietary trading platforms, namely SaxoTraderGO (web) and SaxoTraderPRO (desktop).
Saxo Bank provides a global brand that traders can trust and provides all the bells and whistles you need for a top-notch trading experience, if you can afford the high minimum deposit.
Saxo Bank Features
- Highly regulated
- Award-winning proprietary platforms
- Numerous industry awards garnered
- Available assets for trading at Saxo Bank sum over 35,000 and cover 9 different types of asset classes
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Great proprietary trading platform | High minimum deposit |
| Outstanding Research | Poor support, not 24/7, and no live chat |
| No withdrawal fees | Inactivity fee |
| Low Forex fees | |
HotForex
HotForex, based in Cyprus, was founded in 2010 and has several global satellite offices. They are in Dubai and South Africa, with offshore entities in St Vincent and the Grenadines as well.
HotForex offers 6 core trading accounts. Each account type offers commission-free trading for Forex pairs.
They also give access to more than 150 trading instruments across Commodities, Indices, Forex, Shares, Bonds, and Cryptocurrency CFDs.
It was also listed by World Finance Magazine as one of the Top 100 Companies.
HotForex Features
- Lots of premium MetaTrader tools offered
- Known for great technology
- Numerous industry awards garnered
- Great range of markets
- Regulated by ASIC, CySEC, FCA
- Offers negative balance protection
- Additional Civil Liability Insurance
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Fast, easy, fully digital account opening | Only Forex and CFD products |
| Low minimum deposit | Two of their entities are unregulated |
| Commission-free accounts are available | Only 56 Shares are available |
| Low Forex fees | |
| Competitive spreads |
Oanda
Oanda is a technology-driven financial services corporation and an American Forex broker, founded in 1996.
As one of the early online Forex brokers, Oanda was the first to have a fully automated Forex trading platform.
From early on they were committed to opening up the Forex market, using the internet and they were pioneers in making the Forex market accessible online.
Originally, they were based in the US, but now also have a strong London-based office and a huge presence in Europe.
They have clients in more than 196 countries and operate across eight global financial centers. They have obtained licenses from major regulatory jurisdictions, including Japan, the UK, Canada, the US, Singapore, and Australia
Oanda Features
- Regulated by an offshore industry center (FSC Mauritius)
- Heavily regulated under 6 major regulatory authorities
- Client funds are segregated
- Partners with the likes of Google, KPMG, TESLA, Airbnb, FedEx, IATA, PWC, Twitter, Expedia, and others
- A choice between ECN and market-maker execution models
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy and quick digital account opening | Only FX and CFDs |
| Low Forex Fees | High withdrawal fees for bank transfers |
| Web trading platform is easy to use | Poor customer service |
| No withdrawal fees in most cases | ID verification can slow down account opening |
| No minimum deposit |
IC Markets
IC Markets (International Capital Markets Pty Ltd) was established in 2007. It is an ECN broker based in Sydney, Australia and is known as a broker for traders made by traders.
IC Markets offer tight spreads in its offering of 63 Forex pairs and 41 CFDs on Indices, Metals, Cryptocurrencies and Futures. They are highly regulated by the Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in 2009.
IC Markets offers several trading platforms to choose from, including MetaTrader4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), as well as the suite of cTrader platforms and all the platforms make use of their own high-level web security.
IC Markets Features:
- Good customer service with 24/7 Support
- Great variety of Educational materials
- Selection of sophisticated trading platforms
- Low min deposit
- True ECN broker with institutional grade liquidity
- Wide range of tradeable products
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy and fast account opening | No investor protection |
| Low Forex fees | Only Forex, CFD, and crypto trading |
| Free deposit and withdrawal | Lack of research tools |
| Low Forex fees | |
Exness
The Exness Group is in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was founded in 2008. They have a monthly trading volume of more than 180 billion dollars and 15 000 new accounts opened each month.
Exness has more than 80,000 active traders and offers access to over 120 financial instruments to trade across, which include Crypto, Forex, Stocks, and Indices.
In Forex they offer 120 currency pairs to choose from.
Exness has licenses from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles and is highly regulated.
Their website is available in 23 different languages such as English, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Farsi, Tamil, Urdu, Thai, Bengali, Indonesian and Malay, with 24/5 customer support in 13 languages.
Exness Features
- Copy trading system
- Very cool user friendly and modern website
- Tight spreads from 0.1 pips
- No hidden commissions or fees
- Instant withdrawal of funds
- Client funds kept in segregated accounts
- Tight spreads
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Customer support in many languages | Inactivity and withdrawal fees |
| Commission free trading | High CFD fees |
| Access to Forex ECN trading | Not available in the US |
| 120 Currency pairs to trade from | |
| Offshore regulation |
AvaTrade
AvaTrade was founded in 2006 and is a Dublin-based brokerage firm. They have offices in Japan, Ireland, Australia, and the British Virgin Islands and sales offices in Paris, Milan, Madrid, Mongolia, Beijing, Nigeria, Santiago, and Johannesburg.
AvaTrade offers over 250 instruments including major stock Indices, Bonds, individual Shares, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities, ETFs, and more than 60 Currency Pairs.
AvaTrade is a highly regulated brokerage firm and is regulated in Europe, the British Virgin Islands, Australia, Japan and South Africa.
AvaTrade Features
- Trading websites in more than 20 languages
- A range of automated trading platforms and EA compatibility
- Client funds are held in segregated accounts for increased security
- Desktop, tablet, mobile, and web-based trading with MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and AvaTradeGO
- Competitive spreads offering
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy and fast account opening | Limited research tools |
| Great educational tools | Poor support telephonically |
| No withdrawal fee | Administration fee |
| Free deposit and withdrawal options | Inactivity fee |
| Low trading fees | Offers only CFD’s, Forex, and Cryptocurrencies |
IG
IG is one of the oldest and most established brokerage firms and was founded in 1974. It has an excellent proprietary web trading platform and is one of the most regulated brokers as well.
It has a huge offering of products to choose from and is one of the biggest CFD brokers in the world.
IG has good educational resources, excellent trading conditions, and research tools.
IG Features
- Top-class proprietary platform
- Founded in 1974, they have a huge track record and legacy as a top broker
- 178,000 traders worldwide
- Listed on the FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange) 250
- Very high trust score of 99
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| First-class web trading platform | Limited product portfolio |
| Excellent Educational resources | Poor phone support |
| Good deposit and withdrawal options | High stock CFD fees |
| No minimum initial deposit | |
FxPro
FxPro UK was founded in 2006 and is a subsidiary of FxPro Group Limited. They operate in 173 countries, with more than 870 000 client accounts.
They are highly regulated by FSB (FSCA), CySEC and the FCA.
FxPro offers very fast execution speeds, with the average execution time being less than 11.06 milliseconds. Approximately 7 000 orders per second are being processed.
They have been awarded more than 70 international and UK awards up to date, which include:
- Most Reliable Broker of the Year 2019, “International Investor” Magazine
- 5-stars MetaTrader Broker 2019, ForexBrokers com
- Best FX provider of the Year 2019, Online Personal Wealth Awards
- Best Tablet Application 2019, Online Personal Wealth Awards
- Best European Value Broker of the Year 2019, Global Forex Awards
- Best Global Forex Introducing Broker Programme 2019, Global Forex Awards
- Best European Forex Trading Platform 2019, Global Forex Awards
- Best MetaTrader Broker 2019, ForexBrokers com
- Best in Class of Commissions & Fees, ForexBrokers com
FxPro Features
- Good customer service with 24/7 Support
- No dealing desk
- Company capital in excess of 1 million British Pounds
- Incredibly fast execution speeds
- No dealing desk
- Winner of Multiple awards
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Wide selection of market instruments | No investor protection |
| Segregated accounts | Doesn’t offer its services in all countries |
| Highly regulated | |
| Range of account types | |
| Little to zero commissions charged |
Pepperstone
Pepperstone was founded in 2010 and is an Australian Forex broker based in Melbourne. It is regulated in two tier-1 jurisdictions which makes it a safe broker, with low risk, for CFDs and Forex trading.
With more than 57 000 trading clients, they are regulated by two of the top-tier financial authorities, namely the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Pepperstone offers a small set of tradeable products and provides Forex and CFD traders with excellent customer service, competitive pricing and one of the largest selections of third-party platforms, including many options for social copy trading.
Pepperstone Features
- Award-winning customer support
- Offers a range of online trading platforms
- Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
- Low min deposit
- Top Tier regulation
| Pros | Cons |
| Low fees in spreads and comms | Limited range of instruments |
| Good offering of trading platforms | Limited risk management tools |
| Free deposit and withdrawal | No stockbroking. Only Forex and CFDs |
| Low minimum deposit | Basic news flow, no fundamental data |
Swissquote
Swissquote Bank is a very reliable Swiss Forex broker and a major European bank, founded in 1996.
It consists of two main trading arms, which are a Swiss unit for trading Stocks, Options, Funds, and Futures and a company in the UK for CFDs and Forex.
They have sixty currency pairs in Forex. They also have other financial instruments like Energies, Stocks, and Commodities.
Swissquote provides client support in multiple languages such as Chinese, German, English, French, and Spanish.
There is also client support in multiple channels such as Phone, Email, and Live Chat (the client must be logged into the broker’s website to use Live Chat).
They are also optimized for mobile devices with IOS, Android, and Windows mobile operating systems. The mobile versions of the platforms are completely functional.
Swissquote Features
- Highly regulated by FCA
- Boasts 330,000+ traders
- Allows scalping
- Allows hedging
- Demo Account offered
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| No Inactivity fee | High trading fees |
| Low Forex fees | Not all research tools are free |
| Access to a great variety of markets | The platform can be confusing |
| Flexible trading platforms | |
| Great market research tools |
Plus500
Plus500 is an Israeli-based company, founded in 2008. They offer a wide range of financial markets with no commissions and relatively low spreads.
Plus500 is regulated by several international financial authorities, including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and offer 2000+ instruments.
Their platforms are both very easy to use and user intuitive and offer good advanced tools
Plus500 Features
- Offers Negative Balance Protection
- Offers access to over 2,000 trading instruments
- Very low spreads and commissions
- Low min deposit
- Guaranteed stop loss
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy-to-use platform | Inactivity fee |
| No withdrawal fee | Minimal research tools |
| Low trading fees | Minimal educational resources |
| Regulated | Limited product portfolio |
| Very competitive pricing | Lack of platforms |
eToro
eToro was founded in 2007. It is a brokerage firm based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and has 10 million+ users in 140 countries worldwide.
Its name was made on its social investing platform which allows users to copy the trades of other investors.
Traders in the eToro social community can become “leaders” and earn from leading other traders that follow and copy their trades.
It began as a Forex-only broker but has since expanded its product offerings to include Cryptocurrencies, Stocks, Commodities, and market Indices.
eToro Features
- Free stock and ETF trading in Europe
- Premier Social trading/Copy trading platform and community
- Huge cryptocurrency offering
- Robust charting
- 10 million traders worldwide
- Offers access to 15 Cryptocurrencies
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Fully digital account opening | Withdrawing money is slow and costly |
| Low CFD fees | High Forex fees |
| No deposit fee | Only one account base currency used |
| Service is fast | Withdrawal fee |
| Low minimum initial deposit | No streaming news |
MarketsX
MarketsX was founded in 2008 and was formerly known as Markets.com.
MarketsX is regulated by four major regulators, (the CySEC, FSCA, ASIC, and the FCA) under several different operating names.
They first launched as GFC Markets but in 2010 rebranded as Markets.com after the merger between Safecap Investments LTD, the owner of GFC Markets, and TradeFX.
In 2015 they rebranded again when Playtech PLC acquired the company. They then renamed it MarketsX.
As a result of all of this, the company underwent a massive restructuring in 2016 and they sold their binary options platform TopOption.
They offer 2,200+ assets covering Indices, Stocks, Currencies, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities, Bonds, ETFs, and even IPOs from three trading platforms. They allow traders to trade commission-free and with costs just related to spreads.
MarketsX Features
- Good customer service with 24/7 Support
- They offer more than 70 global currency pairs to trade with
- No Forex trading commissions
- They offer more than 2,200 assets to trade with
- Regulated by 4 major financial regulators
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Large range of trading instruments | Lack of telephone support |
| Fixed spreads | Low leverage |
| Commission free accounts | Lengthy processing of deposits and withdrawals |
| Low minimum deposit | |
| Fast execution |
FXCM
FXCM, founded in 1999, has grown to be one of the leading providers of online trading. It is known for advanced and innovative technology and fast trade executions.
They are based in the UK and also has broker offices in Germany, France, Australia, Italy, Greece, Hong Kong, and South Africa with affiliated offices in Israel and Canada.
Users can trade on their proprietary Trading Station platform for Web, Desktop, and Mobile, as well as on ZuluTrade, MetaTrader 4, and NinjaTrader.
FXCM also offers access to other platforms such as MotiveWave, QuantConnect, Sierra Chart, AlgoTerminal, and others as well.
FXCM Features
- High-quality educational tools
- A huge offering of platforms including their proprietary Trading Station
- Wide range of tradeable markets, research, and educational resources
- Top Notch charting and technical analysis tools
- Great technical research tools
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Low Stock and ETF fees | Limited product portfolio |
| Fast and easy account opening | Poor mobile platform |
| Low trading fees | High AUD/USD trading fee |
| No withdrawal fee | |
| Excellent charting and tech analysis tools |
Alpari
Alpari was founded in 1998 and relaunched in 2014. It is based in Mauritius and regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the Republic of Mauritius.
The broker’s trading turnover per year is more than 1.3 trillion dollars.
Their traders have access to more than 250 markets in Indices, Forex, Metals, Stocks, and Cryptocurrencies.
Alpari offers both the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms in Web, Mobile, and Desktop formats.
Alpari is a good fit for both beginner and experienced traders, with demo accounts and a wide array of educational resources.
Alpari Features:
- Regulated by an offshore industry center (FSC Mauritius)
- Maximum leverage as high as 1000 to 1
- Over 60 Forex currency pairs and crosses available for trading
- Low min deposit
- The choice between ECN and market-maker execution models
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Demo Accounts and Social Trading | Limited educational resources |
| Great copy trading broker | Lack of resource tools |
| A diverse selection of tradeable assets | High fees |
| Good support in over 30 languages | Withdrawal fees |
| Low minimum deposit |
FXTM
FXTM was founded in 2012 and has offices in major cities and countries like London, Germany, Poland, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, China, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, India, and Nigeria.
All their main operations are directed from FXTM’s head office tower located in Cyprus.
It is a well-regulated and licensed broker worldwide, with the UK, South Africa, Belize, Cyprus, and Mauritius as examples. They also have an impressive list of awards.
FXTM trades in all currency pairs, as well as a wide range of other financial products and derivatives and offers tight spreads.
FXTM Features
- Spreads as low as 0.1 pip for a standard account and 0 pips for ECN-based trading accounts
- Allows hedging
- Fast and easy account opening
- Great selection of educational tools
- Low stock index CFD fees
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Low minimum deposit | Inactivity and withdrawal fees |
| Fantastic Customer Service | High CFD fees |
| Fast and easy account opening | Limited product portfolio |
| Well-regulated Broker | |
| Very competitive Forex fees |
There you have it. The biggest Forex brokers by trading capitalization turned out to be a list of the biggest Forex brokers by The Average Volume of Daily Transactions (AVDT), measured in billions.
Top 4 Brokers
