PEPPERSTONE
FULL REVIEW 2026

Overview

Pepperstone, founded in Melbourne in 2010, is one of the most respected raw-spread brokers in the world: regulated in seven jurisdictions (FCA, ASIC, CySEC, BaFin, DFSA, SCB, CMA), serving 400,000+ traders, with no major regulatory incidents in its history.

The Razor account is the one that matters for our members: raw spreads averaging around 0.1–0.17 pips on EUR/USD plus $7/lot round-turn commission ($6 on cTrader) — genuinely institutional pricing. There is no mandatory minimum deposit, no inactivity fee, free VPS for qualifying traders, and an Active Trader rebate program for volume. Platforms: MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView and Pepperstone's own — the widest platform choice of any raw broker we review.

Key Information

Leverage is shown as the retail cap set by the named regulator. A different group entity may offer more offshore, and a wholesale client may legitimately be offered more again.

Spreads & Trading Costs

Pepperstone's two accounts differ only in where the cost sits, and the commission differs again by the platform you trade on — which is easy to miss.

Razor — raw spreads from 0.0 on FX and from 0.08 on XAU/USD, plus fixed commission from $3.50 per lot per side on MT4 and MT5. On cTrader the commission is $6 the round turn for FX and $7 for gold; on TradingView it is $7. Same account, three different bills. If you trade FX on cTrader you are a dollar a lot better off than on MetaTrader, for no other reason than the platform.

Standard — no commission on FX and gold, with a 1 pip markup carried in the spread instead.

Commission on sub-lot positions is scaled proportionally rather than rounded up, and is converted at spot if your account is not in USD. Pepperstone charges no account-keeping or inactivity fee, and its own costs page states a minimum deposit of $10 — the no-minimum figure elsewhere on this page reflects a different entity.

Figures taken from Pepperstone's own published pages and captured 24 September 2026. Spreads are variable and every broker quotes its tightest number; treat a “from” figure as a floor, not an average. Swap and overnight funding apply to positions held past 5pm New York and vary by instrument; they are not reproduced here.

Platforms & Execution

Platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView and Pepperstone's own platform. This platform line was already correct and is unchanged.

What it means for our signals: MT5 on a Razor account is the straightforward configuration and the one our specifications assume. If you are executing FX only and are comfortable in cTrader, the $6 round turn there is the cheapest way to run this book at Pepperstone — but check gold separately, because gold is $7 on cTrader and the FVG book trades XAU/USD.

Execution: Pepperstone aggregates quotes from tier-one banks and institutions. Negative balance protection applies to retail accounts and does not apply to Pro accounts — if you are ever offered a Pro classification, that is the protection you are giving up for the leverage.

Execution statistics: no average fill speed or slippage figure is published in a form we can cite, so none is quoted here.

Figures taken from Pepperstone's own published pages and captured 24 September 2026. Spreads are variable and every broker quotes its tightest number; treat a “from” figure as a floor, not an average. Commission rates and available platforms differ by entity; confirm for the one that opens your account.

All 10 Brokers Compared

Every broker we review, side by side. Spread and commission are shown separately because a headline “0.0 pips” means nothing on its own — the commission beside it is what you actually pay. Figures are the raw or ECN account where one exists, checked August 2026.

Broker	Platforms	Min dep	EUR/USD spread	Commission	Max leverage	Regulator	US	EU
IC Markets Australia · est 2007	MT4MT5cTTV	$200	0.0 pips	$7 RT	1:30 retail ASIC · 1:500 offshore	ASIC	No	Yes
Pepperstone Australia · est 2010 · ● HERE	MT4MT5cTTV	$0 ▲	0.0 pips	$7 RT ($6 cT)	1:30 retail ASIC · 1:500 offshore	FCA · ASIC · CySEC	No	Yes
FP Markets Australia · est 2005	MT4MT5cTTV	$100	0.0 pips	$6 RT ▲	1:30 retail ASIC · 1:500 offshore	ASIC · CySEC	No	Yes
Eightcap Australia · est 2009	MT4MT5TVTL	$100	0.0 pips	$7 RT	1:30 retail ASIC · 1:500 offshore	ASIC	No	Check
TMGM Australia · est 2013	MT4MT5IRS	$100	0.0 pips	$7 RT	1:30 retail ASIC · 1:500 offshore	ASIC	No	Check
Vantage Australia · est 2009	MT4MT5TVPT	$50	0.0 pips	$6 RT ▲	1:30 retail ASIC · 1:500 offshore	ASIC	No	Yes
XM Cyprus · est 2009	MT4MT5APP	$5	0.6 pips	None	1:30 retail CySEC · 1:1000 offshore	CySEC · ASIC	No	Yes
IG United Kingdom · est 1974	MT4MT5TVPRT	~$0	0.6–0.9 pips	None	1:30 retail FCA	FCA + 7 more ▲	FX only	Yes
Interactive Brokers United States · est 1978	TWSIBDAPI	$0	institutional	per notional	1:50 retail US	SEC · FINRA + 4 ▲	No	Yes
eToro Israel / UK · est 2007	OWN	~$50	1.0+ pips	None	1:30 retail CySEC	FCA · CySEC · ASIC	No CFDs	Yes

LEVERAGE NOTE: ASIC caps retail CFD leverage at 30:1 on major FX pairs, 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, and 10:1 on other commodities (Product Intervention Order, in force since 29 March 2021). CySEC and the FCA apply the same 30:1 major-pair cap. Higher figures shown here are offered by these brokers’ offshore entities, which sit outside those regimes and outside the investor-protection schemes that come with them. Check which entity is opening your account before you rely on any leverage figure.

Platforms: a lit chip means the platform is offered. ▲ marks the best figure in that column — on cost, lower is better, and spread and commission must be read together. Maximum leverage is the tier-1 regulated figure — offshore entities of the same brand often advertise more, with weaker protection. “Check” means availability depends on your country of residence and the entity that onboards you, so confirm before funding. Costs move with market conditions; the figure on your own account is the only real one.