What is the total cost of a round turn trade at UK brokers?
Verdict
- A round turn is one open plus one close: you pay the spread once and any commission twice. At Pepperstone, our top pick, a standard lot of EUR/USD costs about $8 round turn on Razor (0.1 pips average plus $3.50 per side) and $11 on Standard.
- In a GBP Razor account, the commission part is £4.50 per lot round turn, from £2.25 per side.
- Share CFDs work on a percentage: Pepperstone charges 0.10% per side on UK shares, so a £5,000 position pays £10 in commission round turn, plus the spread.
- Brokers that publish only 'from' spreads (IG 0.6, CMC 0.5, Saxo 0.7 on EUR/USD) are quoting minimums, so their real round-turn cost cannot be read off the headline.
Total round-turn cost is the cleanest way to compare brokers: everything you pay to open and close one position, before overnight fees. It has three parts: the spread, commission on each side, and any currency conversion. Here is the arithmetic for FX, indices and shares at Pepperstone, and how to read other UK brokers' numbers.
Round-turn cost at Pepperstone
Pepperstone is our pick because it publishes enough to work out a real round-turn figure: average spreads, per-side commission by platform and per-share rates. On one standard lot of EUR/USD at $10 a pip, Razor on MT5, TradingView or Pepperstone's platform costs 0.1 pips ($1) plus $3.50 twice, $8 in all. Razor on cTrader comes to $7. Standard costs 1.1 pips, $11, with no commission.
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The round-turn formula
- Spread cost = spread in pips × pip value × lots, paid once, because you buy at the offer and sell at the bid.
- Commission = rate per side × lots × 2.
- Round-turn cost = spread cost + commission, plus conversion if the instrument's currency differs from your account's.
- Overnight fees are extra and apply only to positions held past 10 pm UK time.
Worked round turns across asset classes
Spreads are Pepperstone's published averages for FX and its UK minimum for the index spread bet; share CFD spreads are live, so only the commission is fixed.
| Trade | Spread | Commission | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD, 1 lot, Razor MT5 | 0.1 pips average = $1 | $3.50 × 2 = $7 | $8 |
| EUR/USD, 1 lot, Standard | 1.1 pips average = $11 | None | $11 |
| GBP/USD, 1 lot, Razor MT5 | 0.2 pips average = $2 | $7 | $9 |
| UK100 spread bet, £5 per point | 1 point minimum = £5 | None | £5 at the minimum spread |
| UK share CFD, £5,000 | Live quote | 0.10% × 2 = £10 | £10 plus spread |
| US share CFD, 250 shares | Live quote | $0.02 × 250 × 2 = $10 | $10 plus spread |
Reading other UK brokers' numbers
Capital.com, our second choice, publishes only live spreads on its forex page, so its round turn has to be measured in the platform. A 'from' spread is the best case: Pepperstone's own EUR/USD minimums are 0.0 on Razor and 1.0 on Standard, against averages of 0.1 and 1.1.
| Broker | EUR/USD figure | Type | Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pepperstone Razor | 0.1 pips | Average | $3.50 per side |
| IG | 0.6 points | From | None on standard spread bets and CFDs |
| CMC Markets | 0.5 pips standard; 0.0 on FX Active | From | 0.0025% per transaction on FX Active |
| Saxo | 0.7 pips | Minimum | Not in our data |
| Spreadex | 0.6 points | From | None stated |
| FOREX.com UK | 0.7 points | As low as | No FX commission |
Sources
Costs as published by each broker.
Is a round turn the same as a round trip?
Yes. Both mean opening and closing one position. Pepperstone quotes commission per side, so double it to get the round-turn figure.
Does the round-turn cost include overnight financing?
No. Financing is a separate charge for each night a position is held past 10 pm UK time at Pepperstone. A day trade closed before then pays only the round-turn cost.
What is the cheapest round turn at Pepperstone?
On EUR/USD, Razor on cTrader: about $7 per standard lot, from the published 0.1-pip average plus $3.00 commission per side.
CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Consider whether you understand how they work and whether you can afford to take that risk. This page is not investment advice; costs change, so confirm them on each broker's site.