No-commission, low-spread brokers: comparing what's actually published
Verdict
- A commission-free, spread-only account is simpler to budget than a raw-spread-plus-commission one — the number on the pricing page is the whole cost, with no per-lot fee to add.
- ActivTrades publishes a specific target spread on its commission-free Individual CFD account: 0.5 pips on EUR/USD and USD/JPY, 0.8 on GBP/USD, and 0.25 USD on gold — all listed as "from" figures, not guaranteed averages.
- Pepperstone's commission-free Standard account publishes wider averages by comparison: 1.1 pips EUR/USD, 1.2 GBP/USD, 1.3 USD/JPY, 0.19 on gold.
- Capital.com's standard account is also commission-free, but its site does not publish a comparable fixed-spread table — spreads are described as set dynamically by liquidity providers.
- "No commission" does not mean "cheapest" — a wider spread can cost more per trade than a tighter spread plus a small commission, depending on your trade size.
If you don't want to think about a separate commission line, you want a spread-only account — but "no commission" brokers still price very differently from each other. Here's what three of them actually publish.
The published numbers, side by side
These are each broker's own commission-free retail account, as published on their own pricing pages. "From" figures (ActivTrades) describe a target the broker aims for, not a guaranteed average — treat them the same caution you'd apply to any "from" price.
| Pair | ActivTrades (from) | Pepperstone Standard (average) | Capital.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.5 pips | 1.1 pips | Not published |
| GBP/USD | 0.8 pips | 1.2 pips | Not published |
| USD/JPY | 0.5 pips | 1.3 pips | Not published |
| XAU/USD (gold) | 0.25 USD | 0.19 | Not published |
Why Capital.com has no row of numbers here
Capital.com's help centre describes its spreads as variable, set by liquidity providers, rather than publishing a static average or "from" figure the way ActivTrades and Pepperstone do. That's a genuinely different pricing model, not a worse one — a liquidity-sourced spread can tighten below a published average during good conditions. It just means we have nothing to put in the table above without inventing a number, so we won't.
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Which published number actually matters to you
- If you trade EUR/USD or USD/JPY specifically and want the tightest published commission-free number, ActivTrades' 0.5 pips "from" figure is currently the lowest of the three here — remember it's a target, not a guaranteed average.
- Pepperstone's Standard account trades a wider published spread for the same platform range (five platforms including cTrader and TradingView) as its Razor account, with zero commission to calculate.
- If you'd rather not compare spread tables at all and are comfortable with a liquidity-sourced pricing model, Capital.com's own platform and simple account structure is the tradeoff.
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What is the lowest spread with no commission?
Of the brokers we've verified, ActivTrades publishes the lowest commission-free "from" figures on EUR/USD and USD/JPY (0.5 pips). It's a target spread, not a guaranteed average, so your actual fill can differ.
Is a no-commission broker always cheaper?
Not necessarily. A no-commission account folds the broker's cost into a wider spread; a raw-spread-plus-commission account (like Pepperstone Razor) can be cheaper overall for larger or more frequent trades, even though it has a fee line a no-commission account doesn't.
Why doesn't this page show a spread number for Capital.com?
Because Capital.com doesn't publish one. Its site describes spreads as set dynamically by liquidity providers rather than a fixed average or "from" figure, so there's no verifiable number to list without guessing.