How the Score Is Built
Every broker's score is built from the categories and weights shown on this page:
Final Score = Σ (category score × category weight)
So a 4.5-out-of-5 in Trust & Safety at a 20% weighting contributes 4.5 × 20% = 0.90 to the total. We show the result as a 5-point score, or convert it to a 10-point scale depending on the page.
Displayed scores are rounded. When something material changes (regulation, pricing, the platform, account terms, funding rules) we revisit the score rather than let it go stale.
Where We Check Our Facts
Wherever we can, we verify a claim against more than one of the following:
- The broker's own site and account pages
- Regulator registers and license records
- Client agreements and other legal documents
- Fee schedules, spread pages, and commission tables
- Deposit and withdrawal policy pages
- Platform pages and product documentation
- Actual replies from customer support, where relevant
- Public market and company records
On regulation specifically, we care about the entity that would actually hold your account: not the group's flagship license elsewhere. A broker can carry a strong domestic license while onboarding international clients through a separate offshore entity; for that client, it's the offshore entity's standing that counts.
How We Define Regulatory Tiers
These tiers are our own internal shorthand for comparison, built from things like investor protection, enforcement track record, capital requirements, how complaints get handled, compensation schemes, transparency, and the regulator's general standing.
| Regulatory Tier | General Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tier-1 | Rigorous oversight, real transparency requirements, and the strongest investor protections we track. |
| Tier-2 | A legitimate regulator with meaningful oversight, though protections generally fall short of Tier-1. |
| Tier-3 | Lighter-touch regulation: some oversight exists, but enforcement and investor protection are limited. |
| Offshore | Licensed somewhere with minimal supervision, thin compensation protection, or few compliance obligations. |
| Unregulated | We could not confirm a financial services license for the entity that would actually serve the client. |
Regulators, by Tier
A rough map of who falls where, to make the trust score easier to read at a glance. It's not a complete list, and the tier that actually counts is whichever regulator oversees the specific entity that would hold your account.
Tier-1 Regulators
- FCA Financial Conduct Authority, United Kingdom
- BaFin Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Germany
- CySEC Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, Cyprus
- ASIC Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Australia
- NFA National Futures Association, United States
- CFTC Commodity Futures Trading Commission, United States
- JFSA Japan Financial Services Agency, Japan
- FINMA Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, Switzerland
- CIRO Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, Canada
- MAS Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore
- SFC Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong
- SEC Securities and Exchange Commission, United States
- FINRA Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, United States
- CNMV Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, Spain
- FFAJ Financial Futures Association of Japan, Japan
- CBI Central Bank of Ireland, Ireland
Tier-2 Regulators
- FSC British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, British Virgin Islands
- MFSA Malta Financial Services Authority, Malta
- DFSA Dubai Financial Services Authority, Dubai
- FSCA Financial Sector Conduct Authority, South Africa
- FMA Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand, New Zealand
- SCB Securities Commission of The Bahamas, Bahamas
- FSC Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, Mauritius
- FCMC Financial and Capital Market Commission, Latvia
Tier-3 Regulators
- VFSC Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, Vanuatu
- FSC Financial Services Commission of Belize, Belize
- FSC Financial Supervisory Commission, Cook Islands
- FSA Financial Services Authority of Seychelles, Seychelles
- FSA Financial Services Authority of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- IFSA International Financial Services Authority of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Who the Broker Actually Suits
A broker that's great for a professional scalper can be a poor fit for someone opening their first account, and vice versa: so alongside the overall score, we weigh how well a broker fits each experience level.
Starting Out
Here we weigh safety, a platform that doesn't require a manual to use, real education, transparent fees, a demo account, and support that actually responds.
- Beginner-friendly website and platform experience
- Low and transparent fees
- Educational resources
- Demo account availability
- Simple and fast account opening
- Copy trading or social trading features, where available
- Easy deposit and withdrawal methods
- Strong customer support
Building Experience
Here the balance shifts toward cost, a platform that doesn't glitch under pressure, decent research tools, wider market access, and account options that flex with you.
- Competitive spreads and commissions
- Reliable trading platforms
- Good range of instruments
- Useful research tools
- Multiple account types
- Fast and practical account management
- Good mobile, web, and desktop trading experience
Trading at a Professional Level
At this level we care most about raw trading conditions, execution quality, automation and API support, and how wide the broker's market access actually reaches.
- Advanced trading tools
- Competitive spreads and commissions
- ECN, Raw Spread, or professional account options
- Wide range of tradable instruments
- API, VPS, Expert Advisors, or algorithmic trading support
- High-quality research and analysis tools
- Strong regulatory background
The Bottom Line
Every review closes with a plain-language verdict: what the broker does well, where it falls short, and who it actually suits: a beginner, an active trader, a copy-trading fan, someone chasing the lowest cost per trade.
We don't reach for "best broker" or "safest broker" unless the score, the category breakdown, and the comparison set actually back that up as of the review date: a superlative with nothing behind it isn't useful to anyone.
Every verdict spells out:
- Main strengths
- Main weaknesses
- Best-suited trader type
- Key reasons behind the score
- Important limitations or risks
- Date of review or latest update
Keeping Reviews Current
Brokers change things constantly: regulation, spreads, payment options, platforms, account tiers, promotions, how good support is this quarter. A review published a year ago can quietly go stale.
So we revisit reviews on a rolling basis, and the score moves when the facts do. Still, always confirm the details that matter to you directly with the broker, and with the regulator where relevant, before you fund an account.