Which ASIC regulated forex broker has the lowest commission?
Verdict
- Of the ASIC-licensed brokers in our data, Fusion Markets publishes the lowest commission, USD 2.25 per side; Pepperstone, our overall pick, charges USD 3.00 per side on cTrader and USD 3.50 on MT5, MT4 and TradingView.
- Commission is only half the cost: add the spread, and Pepperstone's cTrader round trip on EUR/USD is about $7 a lot at its published 0.1-pip average.
- FP Markets and Vantage list USD 3.00 per side, IC Markets USD 3.50; IC Markets publishes the tightest EUR/USD average at 0.01 pips.
- Pepperstone's Standard account charges no commission at all, with the cost built into a wider spread.
If the question is strictly 'lowest commission', the answer is not Pepperstone, and we would rather say so up front. But commission is one line of a trading bill. Here is every ASIC broker's published charge we could verify, what the full round trip costs, and why we still send most traders to Pepperstone.
Why Pepperstone is our pick even without the lowest fee
Pepperstone's cTrader commission of USD 3.00 per side ($6 per round trip) is among the lowest of the large ASIC-licensed brokers, and on an AUD account the MT5 charge is AUD 3.50 per side. Add its published 0.1-pip Razor average on EUR/USD and a lot costs about $7 on cTrader. What the cheapest commission does not buy is Pepperstone's breadth: published execution data, five platforms, AUD funding by PayID and BPAY from $10, and free withdrawals.
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Published commissions at ASIC-licensed brokers
Competitor figures are taken from each broker's main published pages and may be expressed differently in the Australian entity's PDS; confirm before you open an account.
| Broker | AFSL | Per side | Round trip | EUR/USD raw spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fusion Markets (Zero) | 385620 | $2.25 | $4.50 | No pair-specific average published |
| Pepperstone (cTrader) | 414530 | $3.00 | $6.00 | 0.1 average |
| FP Markets (Raw) | 286354 | $3.00 | $6.00 | 0.11 average |
| Vantage (Raw ECN) | 428901 | $3.00 | $6.00 | From 0.0 |
| Pepperstone (MT5/TradingView) | 414530 | $3.50 | $7.00 | 0.1 average |
| IC Markets (Raw Spread) | 335692 | $3.50 | $7.00 | 0.01 average |
All-in cost: where the ranking shifts
Per lot of EUR/USD, spread plus commission: IC Markets about $7.10 (0.01 pips, $7), FP Markets about $7.10 (0.11 pips, $6), Pepperstone $7 on cTrader and $8 on MT5. Fusion's $4.50 commission would make it the cheapest unless its spread averaged above roughly 0.25 pips, but it publishes an average claim for majors rather than a EUR/USD figure, so we cannot complete the sum. Vantage publishes only a 'from 0.0' figure, which is a best case, not a typical one.
Who should choose which
- Lowest headline commission, with no other priority: Fusion Markets, whose ASIC-licensed entity serves Australian clients only.
- Tightest published EUR/USD average on MetaTrader: IC Markets.
- Lowest cost on cTrader plus the widest platform range and fill data: Pepperstone.
- Prefer no commission at all: Pepperstone Standard, at a 1.1-pip EUR/USD average.
Sources
Is Pepperstone's commission the same in AUD?
On MT5 an AUD-based Razor account pays AUD 3.50 per side on FX, and AUD 4.50 per side on XAU/USD. MT4 charges AUD 7 per lot when the position opens.
Does Pepperstone charge commission on indices or crypto?
No. Pepperstone's index and crypto CFDs are priced through the spread only.
Is the lowest commission always the cheapest broker?
No. A lower commission with a wider average spread can cost more per trade. Compare the full round trip at your usual size.
Low trading costs do not make leveraged FX safe; you can lose money quickly. Commissions shown are published figures on the date checked and can change. This is not investment advice.