Markets.com Broker Review

Written by Emmanuel Ifeanyi

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Emmanuel Ifeanyi

Emmanuel Ifeanyi is a Financial Research and Platform Testing Analyst at BestBrokers.com, specialising in forex, stock and cryptocurrency trading. He is responsible for most of the site’s broker reviews, contributing detailed research and hands-on testing of trading conditions, fees, account types, available assets, usability and suitability for different types of traders.

, | Expert Editor Eugene Lee, CFA

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Eugene Lee, CFA

Eugene Lee, CFA, is the Head of Research at BestBrokers.com, where he draws on more than two decades of experience in global markets, portfolio management, derivatives, and fintech to evaluate online brokers. His background in institutional investing and quantitative research helps ensure that broker reviews are based on data, risk assessment, and real-world trading conditions.

, | Updated: September 4, 2026

Founded in 2008, Markets.com has grown into a global multi-asset broker that serves more than 4.7 million registered traders in over 170 countries. It operates under a multi-regulated framework, holding licences from several financial regulators, including CySEC in Cyprus, the FSCA in South Africa, and the FSA in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Markets.com has facilitated more than 68 million opened positions since its launch, with trading volume exceeding $3 trillion. The broker offers access to over 530 leveraged contracts for difference across all major asset classes, including 54 forex pairs, as well as stocks, indices, commodities, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs.

The broker has adopted a commission-free pricing model, with spreads on major currency pairs starting from 0.6 pips. Clients can trade via MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, or a proprietary WebTrader, which also includes integrated social trading tools. With its user-friendly infrastructure and balanced trading conditions, Markets.com is primarily suitable for beginner and intermediate traders.

Key Pros and Cons

Before committing with live accounts, traders should carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of trading with Markets.com to determine whether its pricing model, asset selection, fees, and level of regulatory compliance align with their specific goals and overall risk tolerance.

On the positive side, the broker offers commission-free trading with accessible spreads from 0.6 pips on forex, decent coverage of currency pairs, and integrated social trading features on its proprietary platform. However, these advantages are partially offset by the lack of licenses from tier-1 regulators, its dealing-desk execution model, and non-trading costs like inactivity fees.

Company Information

The broker was launched in 2008 as GFC Markets and quickly established a presence across Europe by expanding into the Italian market in 2009 before moving into Australia and Mexico. It rebranded as Markets.com in 2010 after acquiring the domain name and completing a merger between GFC Markets’ parent company and forex software developer TradeFX. The transition to this new brand name reflected the broker’s efforts to expand its product range with coverage across multiple asset classes.

Markets.com continued to grow in the following years and recorded its first major milestone in 2013 when its client base reached 1 million registered traders. A year later it launched applications for iOS and Android devices, doubling its global client base to 2 million customers by 2015. Around this time, the broker bolstered its presence by signing a sponsorship partnership with major soccer team Arsenal FC.

Ownership changed again in April 2015, when the LSE-listed software company Playtech acquired TradeFX for around €458 million. Markets.com operated within Playtech’s financial trading division Finalto until 2021, when Finalto was sold to Gopher Investments for $250 million. The deal closed in mid-2022 and reshaped the broker’s long-term strategic direction.

Today, Markets.com serves more than 4.7 million traders worldwide from over 170 countries and territories. The broker is currently operated by Safecap Investments Limited and maintains regulated entities in Cyprus, South Africa, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Below you will find additional information about each division.

• Safecap Investments Limited serves customers from the European Union with a CySEC license. It has registered offices located at 10 Simonides Street, Cypress Tower, 2nd and 3rd floors, Strovolos, 2046, Nicosia.
• Markets South Africa (Pty) Ltd accepts customers from South Africa under the regulatory oversight of the FSCA. The entity operates from registered offices located at Boundary Place 18 Rivonia Road, Illovo Sandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2196.
• Markets International Limited is regulated by the FSA in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and maintains registered offices at Suite 310, Griffith Corporate Center, Beachmont in the capital Kingstown.

Markets.com has collected over 30 industry awards over the past 18 years. Some of the most prominent accolades include Best Global Online Trading Broker in 2025, awarded by Acquisition International Magazine, Leading Forex Trading Platform, South East Asia 2024 by Global Brands Magazine, and Top Research and Education Resources Asia 2024 by Global Business and Finance Magazine.

Why Trade with Markets.com?

Based on extensive research and our own experience, Markets.com stands out mainly with its accessible trading environment. The spread-only pricing model keeps cost calculations simple, while the availability of social trading, coupled with CySEC retail safeguards like negative balance protection and leverage caps, adds value for less experienced customers. The smooth onboarding process, broad range of funding options, and multilingual customer support also contribute to day-to-day operations.

Given these aspects, Markets.com is best suited for beginner to intermediate retail traders who want a simple interface, spread-only costs, and features like social trading. On the other hand, advanced algorithmic traders, scalpers, and professionals are unlikely to find the broker as appealing, as it does not offer raw spread accounts, cTrader support, ECN, and STP execution.

Regulation

Markets.com currently operates through 3 active entities, each serving specific geographical regions. The broker secured its first license upon launch in 2008, when the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) authorized it to provide trading services in the European Economic Area. The EEA entity is operated by Safecap Investments Limited and offers high levels of retail protection through leverage caps, automated stopouts that prevent negative balances, and coverage under the Cypriot Investor Compensation Fund (ICF).

The broker operates in South Africa through Markets South Africa (Pty) Ltd. This subsidiary was incorporated in 2014 and is wholly owned by the Cyprus-based Lepano Investments Limited. It holds license 46860 issued by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), with registration number 2014/049713/07. The global entity is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and has held an active license with the local Financial Services Authority (FSA) since October 2023.

The broker’s corporate footprint has significantly changed in recent years. Previously regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under Finalto, Markets.com formally surrendered its FCA license and exited the UK retail market in July 2025 after the resignation of CEO Stavros Anastasiou. Similar changes led to the closure of its retail operations in Australia through Finalto Australia Pty Ltd, which gave up its ASIC license. Markets.com also ceased offering retail trading services under Finalto (BVI) Ltd, which was regulated in the British Virgin Islands.

Due to regional regulatory restrictions, Markets.com does not accept traders from jurisdictions like the UK, US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, among others.

KYC Procedure for Account Creation and Depositing

Markets.com relies on an automated onboarding system powered by identity verification provider Sumsub. Filling the registration form takes only a few minutes, while full account verification usually occurs within about 1 business day after all required documents are submitted.

Traders should provide valid, legible documents to help ensure quick approval. Proof-of-identity like a passport, driver’s license, or national ID card must clearly show the full name, date of birth, document number, photo, expiration date, and security strip. Documents that display initials instead of full names will be rejected.

Proof-of-residence documents must be issued within the past 6 months. Onboarding traders can use a bank or credit card statement, utility bill, or official municipal statement for this purpose, although the available options may vary from one country to the next. Regardless of what customers upload, their document must contain their full name, residential address, date of issue, and an official logo or stamp. Markets.com accepts files in multiple formats (.jpg, .png, .heic, .webp, .pdf) but their size should not exceed 50 MB.

1. Initiate Registration Process: Once transferred to the regulated entity that accepts customers from your jurisdiction, you should click or tap the green Sign Up button to open the registration form.
2. Enter Email and Password: Provide a valid email that belongs to you and select a reliable password containing upper and lowercase letters, a number, and a special symbol. The password should be at least 8 characters long.
3. Email Verification: Open your email box and enter the 6-digit security code sent by the broker to confirm you are the rightful owner of the email address. Then select your country of residence from the drop-down menu to proceed to the next step.
4. Outline Your Trading Experience: Provide information about how often you have traded in the past 2 years and your average number of CFD trades in commodities, forex, stocks, indices, and cryptocurrencies. You must also specify the average notional value of your positions.
5. Specify Your Employment Status: You must state whether you are employed, retired, self-employed, or unemployed. If employed, you must also select your field of employment and profession.
6. Reason for Registration: The options include hedging, speculative trading, long-term investing, and earning additional income.
7. Provide Financial Information: The broker will ask about your average annual income, source of funds, the value of your savings and investments, and the amount you intend to trade annually.
8. Pass the Suitability Test: You must answer several questions related to stop-loss orders, leverage, risks associated with CFD trading, and your level of risk tolerance.
9. Provide Personal Information: This includes your first and last name, phone number, residential address, and tax identification number (this may vary in some countries). Then agree with the terms and policies of Markets.com and confirm that you are not a tax resident of the United States.
10. Upload Verification Documents: The accepted documents are country-specific but generally include a government-issued ID, passport, and driver’s license. Whichever you choose, you must upload legible photos of the document’s front and back. You can do so on your computer or proceed on your mobile device. Additionally, you must upload a proof of address, such as a utility bill or bank statement. Wait for the broker to verify your account within 1 business day or so.

Account Types

Markets.com offers a straightforward account structure centered around two live account types, retail and professional, in addition to a free demo account for practice and testing. Customers professing the Muslim faith have the option to apply for Islamic accounts to trade leverage products without incurring swap fees on positions held open overnight.

• Retail CFD Account: The account enables leveraged trading through CFDs and uses simple spread-only pricing without charging additional commissions for opening and closing positions.
• Professional CFD Account: Professional accounts offer roughly the same conditions and pricing but enable trading with higher leverage ratios. Customers must satisfy certain regulatory requirements to qualify.

Islamic Accounts

Markets.com offers Sharia-compliant Islamic accounts upon request for both retail and professional clients. Customers must contact the support staff and request transitioning to an Islamic account, with most requests typically being processed within 1 business day.

This type of account eliminates standard overnight swap fees or interest charges on positions held past the market rollover time. The broker offers transparent conditions to swap-free traders, incorporating trading costs on overnight positions into the spreads instead.

Demo Accounts

Opening a demo account with Markets.com takes under a minute, allowing traders to quickly test strategies without financial commitment. The demo environment mirrors live trading conditions and pricing across supported platforms. The account is pre-loaded with a virtual balance of $10,000. Clients using the proprietary WebTrader can toggle easily between real-money and demo trading using the navigation menu. While traders can reset or top up their virtual balance as needed, demo accounts have a validity period of roughly 3 months before expiring.

Trading Fees and Other Costs

Markets.com has adopted a spread-based pricing model and does not charge flat commissions on trades. Most trading fees are incorporated directly into the bid-ask spread. With this in mind, holding leveraged positions overnight is associated with swap charges.

The broker does not impose fees for opening an account, funding it, or taking money out of its balance. Other non-trading costs can also apply in certain situations, including currency conversion charges on cross-currency trades and a monthly fee after 90 consecutive days of inactivity.

• Trading fees include bid-ask spreads and overnight financing rates.
• Non-trading fees result from inactivity and currency conversion.

Spreads

Markets.com uses a commission-free pricing model with variable spreads that fluctuate with underlying liquidity, volatility, and overall market conditions. Minimum spreads on major currency pairs start from 0.6 pips on AUD/USD when traded through MT4 and MT5 and from 0.8 pips on the proprietary platform. The minimums for EUR/USD and USD/JPY are slightly higher, starting from 1 pip.

Overall, pricing at Markets.com aligns with the averages offered by other commission-free brokers that use a spread-only model. The typical spreads at Markets.com average 1.1 pips for EUR/USD, 1.0 pip for GBP/USD, 1.20 pips for USD/JPY, and 0.90 pips for AUD/USD. Major pairs with comparatively lower liquidity like NZD/USD and USD/CHF generally have higher average spreads of around 1.90 pips.

Trading one standard lot in EUR/USD, equal to €100,000, costs around $11 per side with average spreads of 1.10 pips at Markets.com. Assuming the spread remains the same when the position is closed, traders will incur overall expenses of $22 in both directions of the trade.

EUR/USD Average Costs

• Average Spread: 1.10 pips
• Spread Cost per Standard Lot: 1.10 x $10 = $11 per side
• Total Cost: $11 x 2 = $22 in both directions assuming the position was opened and closed with the same spread.

Markets.com offers relatively competitive average spreads on GBP/USD and AUD/USD, when benchmarked against the commission-free accounts of other popular forex brokers like Fusion Markets, Pepperstone, and FP Markets. The broker matches Pepperstone’s average spreads on EUR/USD. Spreads are notably higher on pairs like USD/CHF and NZD/USD compared to the competition.

It is worth noting that these comparisons are drawn solely across spread-only accounts. The three rival brokers also offer accounts with raw spreads that often gravitate around zero pips and charge fixed commissions upon opening and closing positions.

Commissions

The absence of commissions across all asset classes, including on stocks, significantly simplifies the cost calculations for less experienced traders at Markets.com. With this in mind, the spread-only pricing model is sometimes associated with higher overall expenses due to the widened spreads. This makes it less cost-effective for high-volume or short-term traders compared to commission-based trading with raw spreads.

Financing Charges

Holding CFD positions past the daily market close is associated with overnight financing charges, commonly referred to as swap fees. Markets.com applies these daily fees at 10 PM GMT or 9:00 PM GMT during Daylight Saving Time to all trades held overnight. The charges vary across financial instruments and are determined by underlying central bank interest rates combined with an internal markup.

Forex positions incur triple charges on Wednesdays to account for the weekend. Annualized baseline swap rates vary by asset class: 3.75% for forex and bonds, 3.50% to 5.50% for indices, 7% for oil and general commodities, 15% for natural gas and the VIX Volatility Index, and 16% for stocks and ETFs. Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are charged at a 54% rate, rising to 72% for altcoins.

Deposit and Withdrawal Fees

Markets.com does not impose additional fees when customers fund their live accounts or withdraw from their balance. Intermediary banks, card issuers, and third-party payment gateways may apply their own internal charges but these are outside Markets.com’s control. Note that transactions in currencies that differ from the base account currency incur a 1.20% fee for conversion.

Inactivity Fees

Live accounts are subject to a $10 monthly fee after 90 days without any activity. Inactivity fees apply when customers have not traded, logged in, or deposited to their balance. Traders with multiple inactive accounts are charged separately for each account. Those with one or more active accounts are exempt from these fees even if some of their accounts are dormant.

Overall on Fees

Overall, Markets.com offers a straightforward, commission-free structure that appeals to beginners and retail traders who prefer predictable, spread-only pricing. Funding and withdrawals are free, but total trading costs can be higher on certain major currency pairs due to wider floating spreads. When you add in the 1.20% currency conversion fee and the monthly inactivity charge that kicks in after just 90 days, the broker becomes less suitable for high-volume and long-term traders.

Desktop Trading Platforms

Markets.com provides access to a proprietary web platform and third-party software like MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). The broker’s in-house platform is accessible directly through browsers and requires no additional software installation. MT4 is suitable for forex traders relying on charting and automated strategies. Its successor MT5 offers broader asset coverage, more timeframes, and enhanced backtesting.

Markets.com Proprietary Web Platform

The proprietary web platform of Markets.com provides a browser-based trading environment equipped with various charting tools, customizable alerts, and analytical features. The platform offers a broad range of tools for fundamental and technical analysis, along with dedicated sections for news and market analysis. Clients can join live sessions hosted by in-house market experts and guest analysts.

1. Multiple Timeframes: Technical analysis is supported with 10 distinct timeframes ranging from 1 minute to 1 month.
2. Range of Charts: The platform features a suite of 10 chart types, including options like Hollow Candles, Kagi, Heikin Ashi, Line Break, and Point & Figure.
3. Selection of Technical Indicators: Traders can access over 70 built-in technical indicators, including Bollinger Bands, Chop Zone, Ichimoku Cloud, Smoothed Moving Average, Envelope, Fisher Transform, and the Relative Strength Index (RSI).
4. Two Charting Modes: Traders can toggle between a simplified basic interface and an advanced mode with expanded drawing elements, powered by TradingView.
5. Market Sentiment: The platform provides instrument-specific data detailing overall trader sentiment, confidence levels, total number of mentions, and their sources (web, news, and social media).

MetaTrader 4

Markets.com integrates MT4 to support traders focused on technical analysis and automated strategies. Existing clients can add an MT4 sub-account directly from the menu of the main portal by clicking on + Add Account, selecting the platform, and setting their preferred base currency. MT4 connects seamlessly to Markets.com’s execution infrastructure, providing access to over 30 built-in technical indicators, 9 interactive charting timeframes, and flexible order management. Its lightweight architecture makes it a popular desktop terminal for forex trading, order customization, and external system integrations.

1. Micro Lot Trading: MT4 supports risk management customization with micro-lot sizing starting at 0.01 lots (1,000 base currency units) and full support for hedging.
2. Customizable Charts: Traders can use 9 standard timeframes from 1 minute to 1 month, interactive layouts, 30 built-in technical indicators, and 24 graphical objects.
3. Algorithmic Trading: Automated trading is available via MQL4-based Expert Advisors (EAs), allowing users to backtest and run custom trading scripts within the platform.
4. Market Depth: The built-in Market Depth window shows live price quotes, along with bid and ask liquidity tiers for supported instruments.
5. One-Click Trading: Instant order execution controls are embedded directly on live charts, enabling rapid market entry and exit without additional confirmation screens.

MetaTrader 5

Markets.com offers MT5 for direct download on its website to accommodate traders requiring greater technical-analysis depth, advanced orders, and broader asset coverage. The platform was built as a multi-asset successor to MT4, retaining the familiar interface while upgrading execution architecture to support more complex portfolio management. MT5 connects directly to Markets.com’s pricing feeds, offering an expanded toolkit for technical analysis and stronger backtesting capabilities for automated systems.

1. Netting and Hedging: The platform allows accounts to run in either netting mode to consolidate positions into a single open exposure or hedging mode to hold multiple opposing positions simultaneously for flexible risk management.
2. Expanded Timeframes and Technical Tools: Technical analysis capabilities are expanded to 21 distinct timeframes alongside 38 native technical indicators and 44 graphical objects for detailed trend mapping.
3. Advanced Order Types: The terminal supports 6 distinct pending order types, adding Buy Stop Limit and Sell Stop Limit orders to the standard 4 options available in MT4.
4. Multi-Threaded Backtesting: Algorithms run within a 64-bit, multi-threaded MQL5 engine, allowing automated EAs to perform complex backtests significantly faster than MT4’s single-threaded environment.
5. Tick Data Export: Strategy development is supported by direct tick data exporting, allowing traders to simulate actual historical liquidity, variable spread fluctuations, and execution slippage during strategy testing.

Mobile Trading Platforms

Markets.com enables mobile trading through dedicated apps running on iOS 17.6 and Android 9.0 or later. The apps are available in 26 languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, and Portuguese. The mobile software provides exposure to over 50 forex pairs, commodities, global stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds, and more. Mobile users can open, close, or modify their orders directly on top of active, responsive charts without switching screens.

Additionally, the apps are equipped with key technical indicators like Moving Averages, RSI, and MACD. Also featured are live news feeds, integrated asset statistics, and a native real-time economic calendar. Traders can organize assets into customizable watchlists and receive push notifications when their targeted price levels are reached. The comprehensive position management tools enable traders to quickly edit their stop-loss and take-profit levels.

Users can secure their accounts using biometrics (fingerprint and facial recognition) and two-factor authentication. The app additionally offers an automatic sign-in feature, although some users complain about being unable to turn it off and consider it a security flaw. Despite the broad range of features, some users claim to have experienced occasional issues like crashes or intermittent lags when setting stop-loss and take-profit orders during periods of increased volatility.

Trading Instruments

Markets.com provides coverage of 7 main asset classes, including forex, stocks, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, bonds, and exchange-traded funds. Clients can trade 532 individual markets in total, a selection that is somewhat modest when compared to the broader range offered by certain brokers.

All listed products are traded exclusively as contracts for difference (CFDs), giving traders the flexibility to go long or short on price movements without owning the underlyings. More niche asset classes are absent from the catalog, including mutual funds, interest rates, and vanilla and barrier options.

Forex

Markets.com offers 54 currency pairs, providing good enough coverage for general forex trading, although it falls short of certain competitors that list more than 90 pairs. The forex lineup includes major and minor pairs, alongside exotics like GBP/ZAR, USD/RON, and EUR/CZK. Pricing is competitive on major pairs when traded via MT4 or MT5, with spreads starting from 0.6 pips on AUD/USD.

The proprietary platform offers floating spreads that typically range between 1.0 and 1.9 pips on majors. Maximum leverage depends on which entity you join. Retail clients onboarding at the CySEC division can use no more than 1:30, but the limit increases to 1:300 for professionals. Those registering under the offshore entity in St. Vincent and the Grenadines can also access retail leverage of up to 1:1000.

Indices

Markets.com offers an industry-standard range of 24 global stock indices. The selection encompasses major regional benchmarks from Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Australia, and the US. The most prominent examples include the US2000, US100, UK100, Spain 35, AUS200, and HK33.

Some of the available markets are tradable through CFDs on index futures. The broker also provides access to the VIX volatility index (VIXX), which tracks market volatility implied by S&P 500 option prices. Spreads on indices start from 1.0 pip.

Leverage caps depend on the jurisdiction and the instrument. Leverage is capped at 1:20 for major indices and 1:10 for non-major indices for retail clients registered under the CySEC entity. Account holders under the offshore entity can access higher retail leverage ranging from 1:25 to 1:200, depending on the index traded.

Stocks

The broker’s catalog features CFDs on 248 individual stocks, which is a relatively modest offering when compared to competitors like IC Markets listing thousands of shares. The selection covers major publicly traded corporations across the US, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

High-profile examples include Tesla, Chevron, Nvidia, Apple, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and AMD. While multiple market sectors are represented, technology equities dominate the list, complemented by selections in financial services, banking, and consumer discretionary.

Retail leverage on stock CFDs is capped at a maximum ratio of 1:5 under CySEC regulation. Accounts under the offshore entity benefit from ratios that range from 1:2 to 1:10, depending on the asset. We should also note that no leverage whatsoever is offered on specific highly volatile equities, such as BlackBerry and GameStop.

Commodities

Customers benefit from a decent enough lineup of 19 commodity markets, allowing them to gain exposure through both spot cash contracts and futures-based CFDs. The offering includes precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, alongside base metals like copper. Energy traders can access crude oil (WTI and Brent) and natural gas. Soft commodities round out the selection with contracts for sugar, cotton, wheat, coffee, corn, and cocoa.

Spreads on benchmark assets like gold start from 30 pips. Retail customers from the EEA can leverage their commodity trades at maximum ratios of 1:20 for gold and 1:10 for other commodities. The ratios are capped at 1:1000 for gold at the offshore entity for retail clients using the proprietary web platform. Metatrader users can access twice as low ratios of 1:500 for gold.

Cryptocurrencies

The broker stands out with an extensive selection of 116 cryptocurrency CFDs. Beyond major digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, traders can go long or short on prominent and emerging altcoins, including Solana, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Hive, Tron, Near, and Tao. These instruments are structured as derivative contracts, so positions are executed purely on price speculation, removing the need for digital wallets or custody.

Leverage limits vary significantly across regions. Retail crypto leverage at the CySEC entity is capped at a strict 1:2 ratio to mitigate extreme market volatility. Conversely, clients trading under the offshore division can access ratios of up to 1:1000 on specific contracts like BTCUSD.X and ETHEREUM.X. However, such extreme exposure in an inherently volatile market carries a substantial risk of liquidation.

Bonds and ETFs

Traders can gain fixed-income exposure through 4 bond CFDs, comprising 10-year government bonds from Germany, the UK (Gilt), and the US (10-year and 30-year Treasury Notes). The broker also supports inverse and leveraged bond ETFs, such as the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury, allowing traders to hedge interest rate fluctuations or track daily government bond performance. Leverage for bonds is capped at 1:5 for EEA clients and 1:100 under the offshore entity.

The ETF catalog features 67 instruments providing targeted exposure across global stock markets, industry sectors, commodities, currencies, and bonds. Notable examples include the iPath Series B Carbon ETN, iShares Russell 2000 ETF, the US Natural Gas Fund, and ProShares Ultra Silver. Retail leverage for ETFs stands at 1:5 under CySEC regulations but reaches 1:10 for offshore accounts.

What You Cannot Trade

While the broker covers the primary CFD markets, several asset classes and investment vehicles are missing from its product lineup. The broker provides exclusively derivative contracts, so traders seeking physical asset ownership or direct exposure to specialized institutional markets will find certain limitations in the offering.

1. Physical Stocks and ETFs: Investors cannot purchase real stocks or exchange-traded funds for long-term portfolio building as only price speculation is possible with derivatives.
2. Direct Cryptocurrency Ownership: The lack of actual crypto buying and custody prevents traders from transferring digital tokens to external wallets or participating in decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems.
3. Vanilla and Barrier Options: Options traders are unable to execute complex hedging strategies or trade asymmetrical risk-reward profiles through standard or barrier option contracts.
4. Interest Rate Derivatives: The absence of interest rate CFDs means macro traders cannot directly speculate on central bank rate moves or yield curve shifts beyond standard bond CFDs.
5. Mutual Funds: Traditional investors do not have access to managed mutual funds, which limits the opportunities for passive, long-term asset allocation within a single account.

Trade Execution

Markets.com operates as a market maker and as such, runs a proprietary dealing desk and acts as a principal for all client transactions. In other words, the broker serves as a direct counterparty to customers’ buy and sell orders. Consequently, open positions can only be closed through Markets.com. The broker generates revenue primarily from spreads, overnight financing fees, and market making.

While Markets.com profits from unhedged client losses, it strives to mitigate directional risk by sometimes routing orders to external liquidity providers via straight-through processing (STP) or by managing hedges manually. In these cases, the broker’s earnings come from the spread markup added to the liquidity providers’ pricing.

Markets.com quotes proprietary prices derived from live feed data across commodity and stock exchanges, institutional banks, and external data vendors. However, Markets.com remains the legal counterparty to the trades even when client orders are offset against third-party liquidity providers.

The broker offers basic market orders, alongside advanced pending order types like Good Till Canceled (GTC) and Trailing Stops. In emergency situations when clients are unable to access their online accounts, they can request orders over the phone during the operational hours of the proprietary dealing desk. The broker’s execution speed is quite competitive and averages approximately 35 milliseconds for standard order processing.

Deposits

Supported funding methods at Markets.com vary depending on the entity customers open an account with. European traders can fund their balances via Visa, Mastercard, bank wire transfers, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and Apple Pay. Credit cards are unavailable to Spanish traders. Regional payment solutions are also accepted, including iDEAL in the Netherlands and Sofort in countries like Germany and Austria. Accounts under the offshore entity offer additional funding options like Binance Pay. South African clients can fund their live balance using electronic funds transfers (EFT), PayRetailers, and AO Pay.

*SA and SVG stand for South Africa and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

The minimum deposit amount is $100 across all methods, or the equivalent in other base currencies like EUR, GBP, and ZAR. Additional currency options include DKK, NOK, SEK, PLN, CZK, and AED. Markets.com charges no internal deposit fees. Processing times depend on the selected method. Card payments, e-wallets, and Binance Pay transactions are usually processed instantly, although the funds can occasionally take up to an hour to appear in your balance. Local bank transfers typically take up to 2 business days, whereas international wire transfers can require up to 5 business days to clear.

Withdrawal Methods

Traders at Markets.com can withdraw their funds with credit and debit cards by Visa and Mastercard, e-wallets like PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller, and standard bank transfers. The broker routes withdrawal requests back to the original source used for deposits to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.

Minimum withdrawal limits depend on the selected payment solution and currency. Credit and debit card withdrawals require a minimum of $/£€10. The minimum limit on bank transfers is $/£100 or €20EUR. E-wallets like Skrill and Neteller have a significantly lower threshold of $/£/€5 or the equivalent amount in other supported currencies.

*SA and SVG stand for South Africa and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Markets.com levies no internal withdrawal fees. However, intermediary banks or payment processors may apply their own additional charges or currency conversion fees, which are not reimbursed by the broker. Processing times vary by withdrawal method, taking up to 1 day for e-wallets, 2 to 5 business days for bank transfers, and 2 to 7 business days for credit cards.

Customer Support Contacts

Markets.com provides customer support across multiple communication channels, but the service is unfortunately unavailable on weekends. Traders can receive assistance via telephone, email, contact form, live chat, and WhatsApp. Additionally, there is a 24/7 help center for self-service that contains a searchable knowledge base for routine operational and administrative questions.

1. Live Chat: The live chat is accessible by clicking on the purple dialog bubble in the lower right corner of the screen. The chat agents provide support in multiple languages, including Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Vietnamese.
2. Email: Customers who are not seeking immediate assistance can email their queries to support@markets.com and receive a response within a couple of hours.
3. Contact Form: Alternatively, clients can submit their requests and queries via the contact form on the website. The broker will email them back with a response within 2 hours.
4. WhatsApp: Another alternative for traders looking for a nearly instant response is to use WhatsApp. The broker’s numbers are +357 25263923 (EU) or +97145429158 (global).
5. Telephone: It is also possible to give the support staff a ring and the numbers are again entity-specific. Call +357 22278807 to reach the CySEC entity or +27 104470539 for the offshore division.
6. Help Center: The self-help section provides information about account verification, deposits, withdrawals, platforms and trading-related topics.

Markets.com maintains an active social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads, and YouTube. Its official YouTube channel serves as an educational and analytical hub. The broker regularly publishes global market news updates, technical breakdowns across major asset classes, and weekly series hosted by Darius Anucauskas (such as Markets Radar and Markets Talk). The series are focused on trader sentiment, macro developments, and commodity price action.

Research and Educational Materials

Markets.com provides clients with a practical suite of research tools integrated into its trading platform. Said tools help customers analyze new market data, track macroeconomic events, and calculate the parameters of their positions. The research toolkit accommodates both active short-term day traders who depend on real-time event tracking and technical updates, and systematic traders who need precise risk management and margin calculations.

The broker’s educational hub is aimed primarily at beginner and intermediate traders looking to build their market knowledge and develop discipline. Through structured materials, video resources, and live webinar sessions, beginners can progress from the basics to trading psychology, while more experienced traders can use expert insights to refine their risk-management approach.

1. Financial Commentary: The proprietary web platform features a customizable live newsfeed that covers central bank statements, earnings announcements, and macroeconomic policy changes that may affect certain markets.
2. CFD Calculator: The tool calculates traders’ required margin, optimal position size, underlying risk, and potential returns and losses before an order is placed.
3. Economic Calendar: The interactive calendar is updated in real time and highlights important global events in red while providing previous readings, forecasts, and filtering options by country.
4. Customizable Price Alerts: Traders can set up 7 distinct price alert types to receive immediate push notifications on their smartphones whenever an asset crosses their targeted price threshold.
5. Traders’ Clinic Podcast: The series is hosted by professional traders Ali Crooks and Charlie Burton, who provide practical tips on mastering trading psychology and avoiding common mistakes.
6. Webinar Library: The broker’s in-house experts host interactive video lessons, guiding traders through diverse topics and answering live audience questions.
7. Trading Courses: Beginners can go through structured foundational lessons designed to introduce them to basic financial principles, technical, and fundamental analysis.
8. Trading Glossary: The searchable glossary provides clear definitions for industry jargon, platform features, and complex financial terminology.

Security and Money Guarantees

Markets.com maintains strict regulatory compliance and safety protocols to protect client capital across its regulated entities. Retail clients registered under the CySEC and FSCA divisions receive negative balance protection, ensuring their account balances cannot drop below zero during extreme volatility and market gapping. Additionally, the CySEC entity enforces a 50% margin closeout on retail accounts, automatically liquidating positions if equity falls below half of the total required margin. However, professional traders are exempt from this mandatory closeout and waive their eligibility for investor compensation.

The funds of eligible traders from the EU and EEA are protected up to €20,000 per client via the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) if the broker files for bankruptcy. The money of clients is held in segregated bank accounts, separately from the broker’s operational funds. The funds are stored at approved tier-one banks and financial institutions based in Cyprus, South Africa, and the EU.

Conclusion and Overall Rating

Markets.com positions itself as an accessible broker aimed primarily at novices and intermediate CFD traders. Regulated by CySEC and the FSCA, the broker implements industry-standard safeguards like negative balance protection and investor compensation for eligible customers.

It provides spread-only pricing for over 530 CFD markets, including a nice selection of cryptocurrency and fiat pairs. Traders can place their orders via established platforms like MT4 and MT5, or use the proprietary software to access TradingView charting and various trading calculators.

With this in mind, Markets.com is not without its disadvantages. The broker operates a proprietary dealing desk rather than offering raw prices, which results in slightly wider spreads for certain major currency pairs. It has no licenses from tier-1 regulators like ASIC or FCA, which may put off some prospective customers.

Non-trading charges like the 1.20% currency conversion fee and the $10 monthly inactivity fee result in additional expenses for small-scale traders. Overall, Markets.com remains a dependable option for casual retail traders seeking straightforward pricing, accessible platforms, and solid foundational research resources.

About the Editorial Team

Eugene Lee, CFA, is the Head of Research at BestBrokers.com, where he draws on more than two decades of experience in global markets, portfolio management, derivatives, and fintech to evaluate online brokers. His background in institutional investing and quantitative research helps ensure that broker reviews are based on data, risk assessment, and real-world trading conditions. He is also one of the key contributors responsible for developing and refining the testing methodology used across BestBrokers.com.

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Emmanuel Ifeanyi is a Financial Research and Platform Testing Analyst at BestBrokers.com, specialising in forex, stock and cryptocurrency trading. He is responsible for most of the site’s broker reviews, contributing detailed research and hands-on testing of trading conditions, fees, account types, available assets, usability and suitability for different types of traders.