Is Pepperstone or Exness better?
Verdict
- We rate Pepperstone better for a Hong Kong trader: it publishes average spreads and commissions, offers five platforms and holds ASIC, FCA and BaFin licences for its home markets, although Hong Kong clients are served from its Bahamas company.
- Exness publishes no fixed EUR/USD spread, only a claim that it cut forex costs by up to 50% against brokers it compared over one week in April 2026.
- Exness serves retail clients through offshore licences such as the Seychelles FSA (SD025) and Curaçao; its FCA and CySEC companies do not take retail clients.
- Neither shows an SFC licence, and our data does not confirm that Exness accepts Hong Kong residents.
Pepperstone is the better choice when you want to know your costs in advance and want a broker group with top-tier licences. Exness appeals on high leverage and swap-free trading, but it gives less to verify. Here is the comparison point by point.
Our pick: Pepperstone, because its numbers are published
Pepperstone states its averages: EUR/USD at 0.1 pips on Razor with $3.50 commission per side, 1.1 pips on the commission-free Standard account, and gold at 0.12 and 0.19 respectively. It supports MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView and its own app, and the international site used by Hong Kong clients adds copy trading through CopyTrading by Pepperstone, cTrader Copy and MetaTrader Signals. You can open with $10 in HKD. The limit to know: from Hong Kong you sign with Pepperstone Markets Limited, licensed in the Bahamas (SIA-F217), not with its Australian or UK companies, and it has no SFC licence.
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Licences: where each group is regulated
| Pepperstone | Exness | |
|---|---|---|
| Top-tier retail licences | ASIC, FCA, CySEC, BaFin, DFSA | None for retail; FCA and CySEC companies don't serve retail clients |
| Offshore licences | SCB Bahamas (SIA-F217) | FSA Seychelles (SD025), CBCS Curaçao, FSC BVI, FSC Belize |
| Other | CMA Kenya | CMA Kenya, FSCA South Africa |
| SFC (Hong Kong) | None | None listed |
Costs: one publishes, the other claims
With Pepperstone you can price a trade before placing it: one standard lot of EUR/USD costs about $8 round trip on Razor via MT5 ($1 spread plus $7 commission), $7 on cTrader, or $11 on Standard. Exness does not publish a fixed EUR/USD figure. Its homepage says it cut forex trading costs by up to 50% compared with the average of other brokers it measured during the week of 5 to 10 April 2026, which is a marketing comparison rather than a price list. If cost is your deciding factor, open both platforms at the same moment and compare the live spread on the pairs you trade.
Platforms and account features
- Pepperstone: MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView (Razor) and the Pepperstone app, plus Smart Trader Tools add-ons for MetaTrader.
- Exness: MT5, the Exness Terminal and the Exness Trade mobile app.
- Swap-free: Exness advertises swap-free overnight positions on popular assets, with terms applying. Pepperstone's swap-free account is limited to residents of 23 listed countries, and Hong Kong isn't one of them.
- Leverage: Pepperstone's Bahamas entity allows retail clients up to 1:200 on major FX, gold and major indices; Exness' leverage terms are not in our data.
When Exness could still make sense
If you need swap-free trading from Hong Kong, Pepperstone can't offer it to you, and Exness says it can. Confirm first that Exness will accept your residency, which company holds your account and what replaces swap on the instruments you trade.
Sources
Broker regulation and pricing pages.
Is Exness regulated in Hong Kong?
No SFC licence appears on Exness' regulation page. Neither does one for Pepperstone.
Does Pepperstone offer a swap-free account in Hong Kong?
No. Its swap-free account is open only to residents of 23 listed countries, and Hong Kong is not on the list.
Which has more trading platforms?
Pepperstone: MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView and its own app, against MT5, Exness Terminal and the Exness Trade app.
Leveraged CFD trading is high risk, and you can lose money quickly. Check that you understand the product and can bear the loss. We report broker-published terms only; this is not investment advice.