Brokers · Method
How We Evaluate Brokers
How we evaluate brokers comes down to the rules below: what I check, where each number comes from, and how affiliate links fit in. I wrote them down so you can hold me to them.
01The short version
- I don’t rank brokers.There is no “best broker” on this site and no “safe” label. You get tools that let you check a broker yourself: which company would hold your account, who regulates it, and what trading really costs.
- Every figure has a source and a date.Licences, fees and conditions change. A number without a source and a check date does not get published.
- Weaknesses sit next to strengths.Each broker I feature gets a plain list of what it does badly or what I could not confirm.
- I get paid by some of these brokers.I hold affiliate links with Exness, IC Markets and Tickmill. That is a conflict of interest, so the details are on this page and beside every link.
- This is not financial advice.Nothing here tells you to open an account or to trade. CFDs are leveraged products and you can lose your whole deposit.
02What I will and won’t do
I will
- Show the legal entity, regulator and licence number a broker’s own pages state, and name the page I read.
- Write “not stated” when a page doesn’t say something, instead of guessing.
- Show both versions when a broker’s own pages disagree.
- Label my own measurements as approximate, with the date, account type and time of day.
- Put a risk warning and a disclosure on every page that carries a broker link.
I won’t
- Call a broker a scam, or safe, or the best.
- Promise profits, or that an account or a challenge will go well.
- Copy fee tables from other comparison sites.
- Take payment to change a figure or a placement.
- Run paid search ads on a broker’s brand name.
03One brand, several companies
Most people think they are opening an account with “Exness” or “Tickmill”. In law you open it with one specific company, and which one depends on where you live. That company decides which regulator you are under and what protection you get.
Companies each broker lists on its own page, October 19, 2026
Counted on Exness’s Regulation page, Tickmill’s Licences and regulation page and the regulation page of IC (which trades as IC Markets Global). A count is not a quality score.
See the ten Exness companies
| Company | Regulator |
|---|---|
| Exness (SC) Ltd | FSA Seychelles |
| Exness B.V. | Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten |
| Exness (VG) Ltd | FSC British Virgin Islands |
| Forexite Ltd. | FSC Belize |
| Exness (MU) Ltd | FSC Mauritius |
| Exness (KE) Limited | CMA Kenya |
| Exness Limited Jordan Ltd | Jordan Securities Commission |
| Exness ZA (PTY) Ltd | FSCA South Africa |
| Exness (Cy) Ltd | CySEC |
| Exness (UK) Ltd | FCA |
From Exness’s Regulation page. The page says its Cyprus and UK companies do not serve retail clients and its Mauritius company does not currently provide retail services.
Two things in that chart matter. First, even one broker’s own pages can disagree: on the day I checked, Exness’s Help Center article listed five of its companies while its Regulation page listed ten. When that happens I show both and say which page said what.
Second, the IC page I read lists one company. Other websites mention further IC companies, for example under ASIC or CySEC. I don’t treat those as confirmed until I see them on the broker’s own page or on a regulator’s register.
None of the three pages says which company serves clients in a given country. The reliable way to find out is the footer or the client agreement inside your own account, so the tools in this section tell you where to look instead of guessing for you.
04Where numbers come from
Not every source is worth the same. I rank them, and the rank decides how a number may be published.
The regulator’s own register
The final word on whether a company holds a licence. I cross-check here first.
The broker’s legal pages and client agreement
Self-reported, but specific: company names, licence numbers, protection terms.
My own measurement on a live account
Spreads, swaps, how long a step took. Real, but a snapshot.
Reviews, forums and other comparison sites
Good for knowing what to look into.
One caution: a licence shown on a broker’s site can be copied. In May 2024 the Seychelles regulator warned about a fake copy of its own website, at fsaseychelles.com, showing a forged securities dealer licence. The real address is fsaseychelles.sc. Type a regulator’s address yourself instead of following a link from the broker.
05What I check
| Area | What I look at | Where | How it is shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company and licence | Legal entity, regulator, licence number, country of registration | Broker’s legal pages, then the regulator’s register | Entity card with source and check date |
| Client money | Segregated accounts, compensation scheme, negative balance protection | Client agreement and legal pages | “Stated”, “not stated” or “differs by company”. Never assumed. |
| Costs | Spread, commission, swap, deposit and withdrawal fees | Account pages, contract specifications, my own measurements | Calculators where you type the numbers. Presets only for figures I measured and dated. |
| Account conditions | Leverage, minimum deposit, account types, platforms | Account pages and client agreement | Table with a date |
| Withdrawals | Methods, fees, stated processing time | Payment pages, and my own test only if I ran one | Stated time, labelled as stated |
| Country availability | Where the broker says it accepts clients, and through which company | Legal pages and client agreement | “Not stated” when it isn’t. Check inside your account. |
| Partner terms | What I agreed to as an affiliate | Partner agreement | Disclosed on this page |
Every broker also gets a list of what it does badly or what I could not confirm.
06One record, the way I keep it
Every company I publish is stored like this. The record below is real: it comes from the Tickmill page I read on the date shown.
“Not yet” is a status, not a flaw. I would rather show an unfinished check than hide it. When I confirm the record on the register, that line changes and the date moves.
07How the money works
This site is free to use. It earns money in the ways below, and you should know each one before you read anything about a broker.
| Source | What it is | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Broker partner links | I am an introducing broker or affiliate for Exness, IC Markets and Tickmill. If you open an account through my link, I can be paid under that broker’s partner terms. | Link marked as sponsored, with a disclosure line beside it |
| Prop firm affiliate link | I hold an affiliate link for The5ers and can be paid if someone buys through it. | Same marking |
| My own products | I sell trading utilities for MetaTrader on the MQL5 Market and mention them where they fit. | Labelled as my own products |
| Advertising | If I show ads in future, such as Google AdSense, the ad network picks them. I don’t choose them and they are not an endorsement. | Marked as ads |
What this means for what you read
- The brokers featured are the ones where I have a partner link and an account. That is a bias, not a survey of the market. A broker missing here is not a bad one.
- Commission never changes a figure, a source or a date. If a partner broker looks worse than a competitor on the numbers, the numbers stay.
- The full wording is in the affiliate disclosure.
08Keeping data current
| Data | I re-check | If I miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and company details | Every month | The record keeps its old date, so you can see it is stale |
| Costs and account conditions | Every month | Same |
| Client money protection terms | Every quarter | Same |
If you spot something out of date, tell me on the contact page. I check the source, fix the record and change its date.
What gets a broker removed
- Its licence is suspended or withdrawn, or no longer covers clients like you.
- A regulator issues a warning about it.
- I can verify a pattern of blocked withdrawals.
In any of those cases I mark the page and take my links down.
09Questions
Do you rank brokers or pick a best one?
No. One ranking hides the trade-offs. My tools show the facts and their sources so you can weigh them for your own situation.
Why only three brokers?
Those are the ones where I have both a partner link and an account, so I can check them on a live account. I will add more only if I can check them the same way.
Can I rely on the numbers?
Use them as a starting point. Each one carries its source and date. Before you deposit, confirm the company, the licence and the terms in the broker’s client agreement and on the regulator’s own register.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is information about how to check a broker. I don’t know your situation, and some countries restrict CFD trading or the promotion of it. Check the rules where you live. I am not a lawyer.
Can a broker pay to be added or rated better?
No. Placement and figures are not for sale.
A detail looks wrong or out of date. What do I do?
Tell me through the contact page. I will check the source, fix the record and update its date.
My own products: seller page on MQL5. They are mine, and I earn money if you buy.