Pricing and Fees FAQs
- What is a spread?
- Where can I find my cost per trade?
- How is my spread cost calculated?
- Are there any data exchange fees associated with forex trading?
- What is a financing/rollover fee?
- Does FOREX.com charge inactivity fees?
- Do you offer fixed spreads?
- Do I need to pay taxes on my trades and transactions?
- Is there a fee for EA hosting?
- Is there a currency conversion charge?
- Where can I find the Back-to-Base cost for my trades?
- Do all trades have a Back-to-Base cost?
- What is the Back-to-Base charge?
- How are Back-to-Base charges calculated?
- How does my order size affect my fill price?
- Does my order size affect how limit orders are executed on WebTrader?
- How do I view the volume weighted pricing on WebTrader?
- How do I access depth of market on MT5?
- Does my order size affect how limit orders are executed on MT5?
What is a spread?
When a price for a market is quoted, you will actually see two prices. The first price, known as the bid, is the sell price and the second price is the buy price, known as the offer, or the ask . The difference between the sell and buy price is called the spread.
Where can I find my cost per trade?
WebTrader
More History section, in your WebTrader workspace. Cost per trade is comprised of Spread Cost and Commissions. The Spread Cost value displayed on the platform, is the Mid-Point Spread Cost as defined by the NFA.
MetaTrader 4
Information about your 'Cost per trade' is available directly on the MetaTrader 4 platform under the Account History tab. In addition, a 'Cost per Trade Report' is also available on the MT4 platform's Company tab. To access the report, click on the Company tab, then select 'Cost per Trade Report' under Profile on the left side menu of the window. The Spread Cost value displayed on the platform, is the Mid-Point Spread Cost as defined by the NFA.
How is my spread cost calculated?
The NFA defines spread cost based on the “mid-point spread cost.” In typical market conditions, this is the difference between the rate at which your order was executed and the mid-point of the bid/offer spread at the time your market order was received. Keep in mind that conditional orders become market orders once they are triggered. Mid-point spread cost typically reflects the cost of your trade outside of any commissions.
During extreme market conditions, the time period from when a market order is received as compared to when the order is ultimately executed may increase. This increase in time period can result from many factors including but not limited to: market volatility, available liquidity, pre-trade available margin check, and price validation etc.
The potential delay in order execution during extreme market conditions may cause wide variations of your spread cost at time of execution measured as the difference between bid/offer vs. the mid-point at time of execution. For example, these variations may result in a smaller than normal cost figure, or even a positive cost figure, in the case of limit orders filled at a better rate than the rate at which your limit was triggered. Conversely, these variances may reflect a larger than normal cost if your stop order rate was executed worse than the rate at which it was ultimately triggered. As noted above, these variations can result from many factors, including but not limited to market volatility, available liquidity, pre-trade available margin check, and price validation, etc.
Are there any data exchange fees associated with forex trading?
FOREX.com does not charge data exchange fees. However, you may incur a financing/rollover charge if you hold your positions overnight. Learn more about our prices and execution.
What is a financing/rollover fee?
Financing fees, also known as rollovers, are charges that you pay in order to hold a position open overnight. The daily financing fee is automatically applied to your account each day that you hold an open position (including weekends). Learn more about our rollover rates.
Does FOREX.com charge inactivity fees?
A fee of $15 (or 15 base currency equivalent) per month is charged to accounts after there is no trading activity for 12 months.
Do you offer fixed spreads?
No, FOREX.com does not offer fixed spreads.
Do I need to pay taxes on my trades and transactions?
Yes, forex trades are subject to taxes. Please contact a tax professional for more information.
Is there a fee for EA hosting?
To qualify for free EA Hosting, you must trade at least a notional volume of 500K per month. We will re-evaluate your eligibility at the end of each calendar month. A fee of 30 base currency will be debited from accounts that do not meet the minimum eligibility requirement to cover the VPS service.
Is there a currency conversion charge?
Trading in markets that settle in a different currency from your account's base currency may incur a currency conversion charge. For example, if your account base currency is US Dollars and you trade USD/JPY, your realized profit or loss as well as any associated fees, charges, and commissions will be automatically converted from JPY back to US Dollars before posting to your account. Our standard charge for this conversion is +/-1.0% from the market rate at the time of conversion. Conversely, you will not incur this charge if you only trade products that settle in your account’s base currency, such as EUR/USD in a US Dollar based account. This is also known as Back-to-Base conversion.
Where can I find the Back-to-Base cost for my trades?
FOREX.com platforms
On our proprietary Web Trader and Mobile App platforms, the Back-to-Base (B2B) cost is reflected on your daily and monthly account statements under the Closed Positions section of the statement. This cost is disclosed for each of your confirmed trades and is labelled B2B Cost.
MT4 & MT5
The Back-to-Base cost is not shown as a separate line item in the statements generated by MetaTrader platforms. To view the Back-to-Base charges, you must generate a daily or monthly statement using one of our FOREX.com trading platforms (Web Trader or Mobile App).
Do all trades have a Back-to-Base cost?
Not all trades are subject to B2B charges. If the trade (counter) currency is the same as base currency of your account, no conversion is necessary and the trade will not incur a B2B cost.
What is the Back-to-Base charge?
The Back-to-Base charge is 1.0%.
How are Back-to-Base charges calculated?
Back-to-Base is calculated as follows:
(Open Price – Close Price) x Quantity x Conversion Rate x 0.01
For example, you buy 10,000 USD/CAD. The Open Price is 1.40000, the Close Price is 1.41000 and the Conversion Rate is 0.70922, which means the Back-to-Base cost is $0.71.
(1.40000 – 1.41000) x 10,000 x 0.70922 x 0.01 = $0.71 B2B
How does my order size affect my fill price?
The fill price of an order may vary based on the size of the order. FOREX.com applies different pricing to specified order-size tiers, as described in the applicable pricing schedule.
If your order falls entirely within one order-size tier, the price applicable to that tier will apply. If your order spans more than one tier, each portion of the order will be priced according to the applicable tier. You will receive one volume-weighted average execution price for the full order.
For example, if an $8 million order includes $5 million in the first pricing tier and $3 million in the next pricing tier, each portion will be priced according to its applicable tier. The resulting prices will then be combined into one volume-weighted average execution price.
The size-based spread adjustments shown in the pricing schedule are used to determine the prices applicable to the order. They are not separate charges added after the order has been executed.
Does my order size affect how limit orders are executed on WebTrader?
Yes. The treatment of a WebTrader limit order depends on whether the order is greater than $5 million.
For Limit orders of $5 million or less
A limit order of $5 million or less is, under normal market conditions, executed at your specified limit price or better.
Limit orders greater than $5 million
For a limit order greater than $5 million, FOREX.com will fill as much as possible at your specific limit price (or better). Any unfilled portion will remain as a working limit order and will be triggered and subject to execution when the market price reaches the specified limit price.
How do I view the volume weighted pricing on WebTrader?
To view the volume weighted pricing on Web Trader, enter or adjust the trade size in the order ticket. The displayed price will automatically update to reflect the blended execution price applicable to that order size. For larger orders, the price shown represents the blended price across the liquidity levels required to fill the full trade.
How can I access depth of market on MT5?
To open Depth of Market in MT5:
1. Find the market you want to trade in the Market Watch window.
2. Right-click the market.
3. Select Depth of Market from the menu.
The Depth of Market window will display the available liquidity and pricing across multiple levels. You can also use the shortcut Alt+B after selecting the market.
Does my order size affect how limit orders are executed on MT5?
Yes. The treatment of an MT5 limit order depends on whether the order is greater than $5 million.
Limit orders of $5 million or less
A limit order of $5 million or less shall be executed at your specified limit price or better.
Limit orders greater than $5 million
For a limit order greater than $5 million, the first $5 million shall be executed at your specified limit price or better.
The portion of the order above $5 million will be priced using the applicable order-size pricing tiers at the time of execution. This portion of the order may therefore be executed at a price that is less favorable than your specified limit price.