Year established: 1999
Minimum Deposit: $500
Bonuses: Free ebook
Certificate: NFA, and now regulated in Canada.
Languages: English, Chinese, Russian, Arabic
1This broker green icon, this means that we trust the broker. These are the current leaders of industry of brokers, and where most of the traders are trading today. Fraud, robbery, and bad websites
If you’re looking for a reputable Forex broker and the ability to trade over 50 currency pairs, Forex.com may be just the broker you’re looking for. Forex.com is operated by Gain Capital, a financial services company that’s been in business since 1999, and even a cursory look at Forex.com will confirm that this online trading website was developed by industry veterans. Read this full Forex.com review to determine if this is the broker you’ve been looking for.
Forex.com’s NFA Regulation (Click on image to enlarge)
Trading Platform
Forex.com offers two main trading platforms, the FOREX Trader PRO downloadable platform, and the website trader. The company’s website does a good job of directing users to its own platforms, but those who scroll down a bit can also find the access to the MetaTrader4 platform, which will open in a new window.
During the course of this Forex.com review, we tested the company’s web-based platform and found it to be quite different than most other private label trading platforms. Although it’s not clearly stated on the Forex.com website, we noticed that this platform is more suited to beginner traders who prefer compartmentalized news and analysis. The FOREXTrader PRO platform, described below, is better suited for advanced traders.
One of the first things that we noticed is that the platform goes idle if it is not used for several minutes. Though this might sound inconvenient, we were glad to see that the company takes extra steps to protect its traders’ security. The platform maintained the same screen we were using when we left which allowed us to pick up right where we left off.
Most activities take place in the platform’s QUICKDOCK which is located at the bottom of the screen. This control panel can be minimized for traders who wish to monitor their trades in a full screen. The QUICKDOCK offers a clear place to get an account summary, place a new order, manage your positions and view your previous orders. Relevant charts, news and other information can be accessed while using the platform, though it’s not embedded within the trading instrument, a design which can be an advantage for new traders who wish to focus primarily on trade execution.
Web-Based Trading Platform
Forex.com’s advanced trading platform, aptly called FOREXTrader PRO, contains all of the bells and whistles commonly associated with an expert Forex trading platform. We especially appreciated the ability to switch back and forth between platforms while retrieving the same information from our account, a feature which was useful during the Forex.com review but may not be used by most traders who will likely use one platform exclusively. Still, this added convenience is a testament to Forex.com’s ability to address the needs of all traders.
FOREXTrader PRO incorporates all critical trading tools including a live news feed, an economic calendar, over 70 technical charts and a watchlist. We were intrigued that a link to the company’s Forex glossary was placed more prominently in this platform than in the web-based version, because it is likely less-important for the experienced traders that will be using FOREXTrader PRO. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to see that Forex.com left no stone unturned when providing Forex services and information via its trading platform.
FOREXTrader PRO Platform
Finally, Forex.com offers mobile trading for traders via its specialized iPhone application and a standard web app for all other phones. Although we didn’t test these apps personally, we have every reason to believe that they’re just as user-friendly as the company’s other trading platforms.
Features
Forex.com is devoid of many of the peripheral features offered by other brokers. It doesn’t offer social trading as eToro does, and as an NFA regulated broker, Forex.com can’t offer the same leverage offered by non-US brokers such as AvaFX. Still, traders looking for straightforward trading experience will find that Forex.com does an excellent job with the features that it does provide. Among the ones we respected the most are:
— Quality market updates. Forex.com has a staff of expert market analysts who offer regular updates that can help improve the efficiency of your trading. Although this feature is not especially unique, we found Forex.com’s updates to be written in an especially comfortable and understandable way.
— Forex webinars. These training sessions can be invaluable for new traders and are markedly more useful than printed Forex educational materials.
— Automated trading. This service is run in conjunction with ZuluTrade, but can be extremely valuable for users who need a bit of extra help. Read our full ZuluTrade review for more information.
Customer Service
There is no question that Forex.com offers some of the best customer service we’ve seen from any Forex broker. The company offers support 7 days a week, with 24 hour service between 10am EST on Sundays through 5pm EST on Fridays. Support on Saturdays is available from 9am-5pm EST. We chatted with 4 Forex.com representatives and each one responded in a helpful and timely manner. An email that we sent to the company in the wee hours of a Tuesday morning received a relevant response in about 2 hours, and our phone calls to Forex.com were repeatedly answered in under 2 minutes by informed, patient representatives.
Chat with Forex.com
Email from Forex.com
Ease of Use
Throughout our tests of Forex.com we were continually impressed by the intuitive design of the company’s website and its trading platforms. Specifically useful is that unlike some other Forex brokers, Forex.com keeps its contact information obvious and accessible in both the trading platforms and the website, so that traders with questions can get live help instantly.
There were several notable conveniences that Forex.com offered during the registration processes. When we opened a demo account, we were pleased to see that we were automatically logged in, instead of having to receive a username and obscure password via email as other brokers required. When opening a live account, we were exceptionally impressed to see that all necessary tax forms were not only presented during signup, but were required during the process. On the whole, the registration process was entirely straightforward and, as promised by Forex.com on the start page, it did take only about 10 minutes.
The biggest problem that we had during our Forex.com review was figuring out how to switch between the different platforms, or rather, to download the FOREXTrader PRO platform once we’d logged into the web-based platform. A quick chat with the customer service team solved this problem. Another small inconvenience that we encountered was that when using the site’s search feature, you can’t simply enter your query and press enter – you must click on the ‘search’ button. Needless to say, this quirk is hardly a reason to reject Forex.com. Rather, it’s clear from our lack of serious criticisms that Forex.com is extremely comfortable to use in all regards.
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