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Which forex broker has the lowest spread in the UK?
Vantage is the cheapest FCA-regulated raw account for UK traders once commission is added to the spread: a tested 0.08-pip EUR/USD spread and the lowest £1.00-per-side commission, about £2.63 all-in on one standard lot. Axi and HYCM follow. On the raw spread alone, Axi and HFM are tightest at 0.0 pips EUR/USD, but the commission is what decides the real cost.
Axi and HFM tie on the tightest tested raw spread, 0.0 pips EUR/USD, but Vantage wins the all-in figure: its £1.00 GBP commission is less than half what most raw accounts charge, so a near-identical spread costs far less across the round turn.
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The eight raw accounts below are ranked on the all-in cost of one standard lot of EUR/USD, the tested raw spread plus the round-turn commission, on the raw account a UK trader would open. The tightest raw spreads (Axi and HFM at 0.0 pips) do not win outright once each commission is added, which is why Vantage leads. Each name jumps to its full card below, and the comparison table covers the same eight-broker field.
- Vantage: cheapest all-in, about £2.63 on one lot.
- Axi: tightest tested raw spread, 0.0 pips EUR/USD.
- HYCM: low £1.49 commission on a 0.1-pip raw spread.
- HFM: 0.0-pip raw spread, about £4.50 all-in.
- Eightcap: tightest three-pair average of the eight, 0.13 pips.
- Pepperstone: 0.1-pip Razor spread, about £5.29 all-in.
- Tickmill: 0.1-pip Raw spread, about £5.29 all-in.
- Admirals: 0.1-pip Zero spread, tiered commission.
Lowest spread broker comparison table
The table ranks eight raw accounts on the all-in cost of one standard lot of EUR/USD, the tested modal spread plus the round-turn commission, on the account a UK trader would open. The tested average across all three pairs we record, EUR/USD, GBP/USD and EUR/GBP, is shown alongside. Modal spreads were recorded on live UK accounts by David Levy in July 2026.
| Rank | Broker (FRN) | Account | Tested avg (3 pairs) | Commission (per side) | All-in (1 lot EUR/USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vantage (FRN 590299) | Raw ECN | 0.34 pips (0.08 / 0.2 / 0.74) | £1.00 | about £2.63 |
| 2 | Axi (FRN 466201) | Pro (raw) | 0.10 pips (0.0 / 0.1 / 0.2) | £1.75 | about £3.50 |
| 3 | HYCM (FRN 186171) | Raw | 0.37 pips (0.1 / 0.4 / 0.6) | about £1.49 (US$2.00) | about £3.77 |
| 4 | HFM (FRN 801701) | Zero (raw) | 0.17 pips (0.0 / 0.1 / 0.4) | about £2.25 (US$3.00) | about £4.50 |
| 5 | Eightcap (FRN 921296) | Raw | 0.13 pips (0.1 / 0.2 / 0.1) | £2.25 | about £5.29 |
| 6 | Pepperstone (FRN 684312) | Razor (raw) | 0.17 pips (0.1 / 0.2 / 0.2) | £2.25 | about £5.29 |
| 7 | Tickmill (FRN 717270) | Raw | 0.30 pips (0.1 / 0.3 / 0.49) | about £2.25 (US$3.00) | about £5.29 |
| 8 | Admirals (FRN 595450) | Zero (raw) | 0.37 pips (0.1 / 0.5 / 0.5) | about £2.24 (US$3.00, tiered) | about £5.27 |
Modal spreads recorded on live UK accounts by David Levy in July 2026, across EUR/USD, GBP/USD and EUR/GBP. All-in uses a pip value of about £7.85 per standard lot of EUR/USD; commissions billed in US dollars are converted at indicative rates, so recompute at the live rate. Ranks 5 to 8 sit within a few pence of each other on all-in and are ordered by the tighter three-pair average. Spreads move with the market, so treat every figure as a July 2026 snapshot.
On the raw spread alone the order differs: Axi and HFM tie tightest at 0.0 pips EUR/USD, ahead of Vantage at 0.08 pips, with Pepperstone, Eightcap, HYCM and Tickmill at 0.1 pips. The all-in figure is what the ranking uses, because the commission has to be added for the true cost, and that is why Vantage, with the lowest £1.00 commission, leads the all-in table while Axi and HFM lead on the spread alone.
Across all three pairs the picture shifts once more. Vantage quotes EUR/GBP at a wide 0.74 pips, which lifts its three-pair average to 0.34 and leaves Axi tightest of the eight at 0.10. Vantage still wins the ranking, because that ranking prices one lot of EUR/USD, but a trader who works EUR/GBP rather than EUR/USD should read the average column before following the headline order.
Not every FCA broker reaches this tightest tier. ThinkMarkets advertised near-zero raw pricing but tested wider at 0.92 pips across the three pairs, and CMC Markets (0.75 pips) and FxPro (0.62 pips) sit above the tightest raw accounts on tested spreads. Swissquote prices above the industry average as a safety-led rather than low-cost choice. For the full FCA field beyond the tightest tier, the best forex brokers guide ranks every broker we cover.
1. Vantage: lowest all-in raw cost
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.34 pips (0.08 / 0.2 / 0.74)
Commission (per side)
£1.00 on GBP accounts
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £2.63
Why it ranks first: the cheapest all-in raw account tested here, pairing a 0.08-pip EUR/USD modal with a £1.00 GBP commission, less than half what most raw accounts charge per side.
Why we recommend Vantage
Vantage posts the lowest all-in cost of any raw account we tested on this page, about £2.63 to trade one EUR/USD lot. That comes from pairing a 0.08-pip EUR/USD modal with a £1.00 GBP commission per side, less than half what most raw accounts charge, billed in pounds so there is no currency-conversion drag.
The same raw pricing runs across MT4, MT5 and TradingView on an FCA-authorised entity trading since 2009. The main caveat is brand familiarity rather than cost: Vantage has a smaller UK presence than IG or CMC, and its published minimum-deposit figures vary, so confirm the current terms at signup.
Pros & cons
- Lowest all-in cost tested here, about £2.63 per EUR/USD lot
- £1.00 GBP commission per side, the lowest on this page
- Raw pricing on MT4, MT5 and TradingView, billed in pounds
- Smaller UK brand presence than IG or CMC
- Published minimum-deposit figures vary, so confirm at signup
- Raw commission suits active traders more than occasional ones
2. Axi: tightest tested raw spread
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.10 pips (0.0 / 0.1 / 0.2)
Commission (per side)
£1.75 on GBP accounts
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £3.50
Why it ranks second: the tightest raw spread on this page, a 0.0-pip EUR/USD modal on the Pro account, with a native £1.75 GBP commission that keeps the all-in second-lowest.
Why we recommend Axi
Axi has the tightest tested raw spread on this page, a 0.0-pip EUR/USD modal on its Pro account, paired with a native £1.75 GBP commission per side. That keeps its all-in cost second-lowest here at about £3.50 for one EUR/USD lot, just behind Vantage.
It is a clean raw MT4 and MT5 setup that suits expert advisors and automation, on an established FCA-authorised entity. This is a cost-led rather than feature-led broker: there is no cTrader, and its funding and fee documentation is thinner than the larger names, so confirm the current schedule before you trade.
Pros & cons
- Tightest tested raw spread here, a 0.0-pip EUR/USD modal
- Native £1.75 GBP commission per side
- Clean raw MT4 and MT5, well suited to EAs
- All-in cost sits just above Vantage
- No cTrader on the UK entity
- Thinner funding and fee documentation than the larger brokers
3. HYCM: low commission on a tight raw spread
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.37 pips (0.1 / 0.4 / 0.6)
Commission (per side)
about £1.49 (US$2.00)
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £3.77
Why it ranks third: a 0.1-pip EUR/USD modal on the Raw account with one of the lowest per-side commissions here, about £1.49, for the third-cheapest all-in figure.
Why we recommend HYCM
HYCM pairs one of the lowest per-side commissions on this page, about £1.49, with a tight 0.1-pip EUR/USD modal on its Raw account, for an all-in cost near £3.77 per lot. That is the third-cheapest figure here, from a broker with one of the longest FCA-authorised records in the set.
The commission is quoted in US dollars, so the pound figure moves a little with the exchange rate, and the platform range is narrower than the leaders, limited to MT4 and MT5. For a cost-led trader who values a long regulatory track record, it is a strong third pick.
Pros & cons
- Third-lowest all-in cost here, about £3.77 per EUR/USD lot
- Tight 0.1-pip EUR/USD modal on the Raw account
- Long FCA-authorised record with FSCS cover
- Commission quoted in US dollars, so the pound figure varies
- Platform range limited to MT4 and MT5
- All-in cost sits above Vantage and Axi
4. HFM: zero-pip spread, dollar-billed commission
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.17 pips (0.0 / 0.1 / 0.4)
Commission (per side)
about £2.25 (US$3.00)
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £4.50
Why it ranks fourth: a 0.0-pip EUR/USD modal that ties Axi for the tightest spread on this page, with the all-in held at about £4.50 by a commission billed in US dollars rather than pounds.
5. Eightcap: the tightest three-pair average here
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.13 pips (0.1 / 0.2 / 0.1)
Commission (per side)
£2.25
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £5.29
Why it ranks fifth: the tightest three-pair average on this page at 0.13 pips, on a £2.25 GBP commission, which separates it from the Razor account below on an otherwise identical all-in of about £5.29.
6. Pepperstone: Razor raw pricing billed in pounds
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.17 pips (0.1 / 0.2 / 0.2)
Commission (per side)
£2.25
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £5.29
Why it ranks sixth: a 0.1-pip EUR/USD modal on the Razor account with a £2.25 commission billed natively in pounds, for an all-in of about £5.29 that matches Eightcap above on a slightly wider three-pair average.
7. Tickmill: raw account on a wider tested average
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.30 pips (0.1 / 0.3 / 0.49)
Commission (per side)
about £2.25 (US$3.00)
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £5.29
Why it ranks seventh: a 0.30-pip tested average across the three pairs, wider than the raw accounts above it, on a commission worth about £2.25 per side once converted from US dollars.
8. Admirals: tiered commission on the Zero account
Tested avg (3 pairs)
0.37 pips (0.1 / 0.5 / 0.5)
Commission (per side)
about £2.24 (US$3.00, tiered)
All-in (1 lot EUR/USD)
about £5.27
Why it ranks eighth: a 0.37-pip average across the three pairs, the widest in this table alongside HYCM, which places it last even though its tiered commission lands the all-in a penny under Tickmill's.
How we measure spreads
Our spread figures are the modal values David Levy recorded on live UK accounts across three trading days in July 2026, for EUR/USD, GBP/USD and EUR/GBP, on the raw account a UK trader would open, then read alongside the per-side commission for the all-in figure. The average column carries all three pairs. The all-in cost is the tested spread cost plus the round-turn commission on one standard lot of EUR/USD. For the scoring weights and the full method, see how we test brokers.
How to choose a low-spread forex broker
Low spread alone does not make a broker cheap. A raw or zero account shows a spread near zero and charges a commission; a standard account shows a wider spread and charges none. Match the account to how you trade. Frequent traders usually come out ahead on a raw account because the commission is fixed while the spread saving repeats on every trade, and for the highest-frequency style the ranked field of scalping brokers applies the same all-in cost test with an explicit scalping-permitted check. Occasional traders often prefer a standard account for the simpler single number. If a predictable cost matters more than the tightest average, fixed spread brokers hold one quoted spread through normal market conditions.
What is a zero (raw) spread account?
A raw account passes the interbank spread through with little or no markup, then charges a separate commission per lot. The spread can sit near 0.0 pips on EUR/USD in liquid conditions. That cost has not disappeared; it has moved into the commission line, which is why a raw account only makes sense once you compare the all-in figure. A genuinely raw spread with a separate commission is ECN execution, where orders reach the market rather than a dealing desk.
Spread plus commission, the all-in cost
This is the calculation most low-spread lists skip. For one standard lot of EUR/USD, the all-in cost is the spread cost plus the round-turn commission.
- One pip on a standard lot of EUR/USD is worth roughly £7.85, so a 0.10 pip spread costs about £0.79.
- A raw account charging £2.00 per side charges £4.00 for the round turn.
- Added together, that trade costs about £4.79 all-in.
Worked the same way, a commission-free standard account with a 0.6 pip spread costs about £4.71 on the same trade, which is why the headline-tightest spread is not always the cheapest. Run your own pairing on the pairs and sizes you actually trade. The pip value above is indicative and should be confirmed against the live GBP rate at the time.
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FAQs
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About the author
Justin Grossbard is the co-founder and head of research at CompareForexBrokers. He has traded forex since 1998, leads UK broker research and has personally reviewed every FCA-regulated broker on this site. His work has appeared in Forbes, Kiplinger and Finance Magnates, and he holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and a Master's in Marketing.