How we test and score brokers

By Akash

1. 1. Regulation (checked on the register)

   We look up every licence number on the regulator's own public register and link it. A broker we cannot match to a register entry is not reviewed.

2. 2. Real-money withdrawal tests

   Every month we deposit and withdraw real money, and record the method, amount and hours until the money arrived, with the receipt.

3. 3. Costs: spreads, commissions and swaps (tracker launching soon)

   We read spreads and swaps from demo accounts and compare them with what the broker publishes.

4. 4. Fee and rule changes (tracker launching soon)

   We re-read each broker's fee and terms pages daily. A change is only recorded with a word-for-word quote from the broker's own page.

5. 5. Sources and dates

   Every fact links to its source on the broker's site or the regulator's register, with the date we checked it.

How the Trust meter works

Five parts, each with a fixed weight. A part with not enough data yet is shown grey and is not counted. A score is shown only once at least 3 of the 5 parts have data; before that the broker shows "Score building".

• Regulation · 30 points

  Best licence held: top-tier regulators (e.g. FCA, ASIC, CySEC) full points, mid-tier (e.g. FSCA, DFSA) part, offshore only low.

• Withdrawals · 25 points

  Median hours from verified trader reviews and our own tests: within 24 h full, within 72 h half.

• Trader reviews · 20 points

  Average of verified trader reviews, once there are at least 5.

• Costs · 15 points

  All-in EUR/USD cost per lot against the other brokers we review.

• Transparency · 10 points

  Publishes its own retail loss figure, and no change for the worse in the last 90 days.

Scores are never sold, and commissions never change a score. See withdrawal tests and who we are.