FP Markets vs IC Markets: Raw-Spread ECN Compared

Both FP Markets and IC Markets built their reputations on zero-spread ECN pricing, but the way they charge commissions and route orders is different enough that your choice can change your monthly P&L by hundreds of dollars. If you're scalping EUR/USD or trading the London open, those differences matter.

FP Markets quotes spreads from 0.0 pips on its Raw account, while IC Markets does the same on its Raw Spread account (also called True ECN). Both charge a round-turn commission on top. FP Markets bills $6 per standard lot ($3 per side), IC Markets charges $7 ($3.50 per side). That dollar gap looks small until you trade 50 lots a month, then it's $50 saved with FP Markets, or $600 a year.

Neither broker requires huge capital to start. FP Markets sets its minimum deposit at $100, IC Markets at $200. Both accept PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and local bank transfers across South-East Asia and the Middle East, though FP Markets tends to process withdrawals a few hours faster in practice.

Spreads and commissions: the real cost per trade

Raw-spread accounts strip away broker mark-up and pass through interbank pricing. You'll see EUR/USD tick between 0.0 and 0.2 pips during London hours, 0.1 to 0.4 pips during the Asian session. The spread widens during news releases, expect 1.5 to 3.0 pips for thirty seconds after NFP or a central bank rate decision, but outside those spikes, you're trading at institutional levels.

FP Markets charges $6 round-turn per lot on the Raw account. IC Markets charges $7 round-turn on the Raw Spread account. If you open and close a one-lot EUR/USD position when the spread is 0.1 pips, your total entry-exit cost is:

• FP Markets: 0.1 pip spread + $6 commission = ~0.7 pip all-in
• IC Markets: 0.1 pip spread + $7 commission = ~0.8 pip all-in

That tenth of a pip adds up. A scalper who trades 10 round-turns a day, five days a week, pays $300 per week at FP Markets and $350 at IC Markets. Over a year that's $2,600 versus $1,820. IC Markets costs you an extra $780.

Both brokers rebate part of the commission if you trade high volume. IC Markets offers tiered rebates starting at 100 lots per month; FP Markets negotiates rebates case-by-case for accounts above $25,000. If you're doing fewer than 100 lots a month, the published commission is what you'll pay.

Platform choice: MT5, MT4, cTrader, and Iress

IC Markets offers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader. FP Markets adds Iress to that same list, giving direct-market-access traders a fourth option popular with Australian institutional clients.

Most retail ECN traders pick cTrader or MT5. CTrader's DOM (depth-of-market) ladder shows live buy and sell orders at each price level, handy for reading order flow during the London open. MT5 has more indicators and a bigger Expert Advisor library, better if you run algo strategies or want to backtest five years of tick data without third-party tools.

Both brokers route cTrader orders to the same tier-one liquidity pools. JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, UBS, so execution quality is nearly identical. The difference is in how you interact with that liquidity. IC Markets runs its cTrader server infrastructure out of the Equinix NY4 data centre; FP Markets uses Equinix LD5 in London and NY4 for US hours. If you trade the London open from Dubai or Singapore, FP Markets' LD5 proximity can shave 2-3 milliseconds off your fill time.

Iress matters only if you're trading Australian stocks alongside forex. It's overkill for pure FX scalping, but if you want to hedge AUD/USD positions with ASX 200 index futures in a single platform, FP Markets is the only retail broker that offers Iress with forex ECN pricing.

Execution speed and slippage

Both brokers advertise sub-10-millisecond execution. In real-world conditions, trading GBP/USD at 08:00 GMT with 50 other traders hammering the same order, you'll see slight differences.

IC Markets co-locates servers with Equinix in New York, London, and Tokyo. If you're running an EA from a VPS in the same data centre, your order reaches IC Markets' matching engine in under 1 millisecond, then hits liquidity providers within 5 milliseconds. Total round-trip latency averages 6-8 milliseconds for market orders during liquid hours.

FP Markets uses Equinix LD5 (London) and NY4 (New York) but does not advertise Tokyo co-location. Traders in Australia or Singapore report average execution times of 8-12 milliseconds on FP Markets, slightly higher than IC Markets for Asia-Pacific sessions. The gap narrows during European and US hours.

Slippage on limit orders is minimal at both brokers. During the September 2024 Fed rate cut, traders reported 0-0.5 pip slippage on EUR/USD limit orders at IC Markets and 0-0.6 pips at FP Markets. During the Swiss National Bank shock of 2015, both brokers gapped stops by 20-40 pips on CHF pairs, par for the course in a market that moved 2,000 pips in ninety seconds.

Neither broker has a dealing desk. Your orders go straight to liquidity providers. That means no re-quotes, but it also means you can get negative slippage (a worse fill than requested) during high-impact news if you're trading market orders.

Regulatory cover: ASIC, CySEC, and your money

IC Markets holds licenses from ASIC (Australia), CySEC (Cyprus), and FSA (Seychelles). FP Markets is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, and FSA (Seychelles). Both offer the same three-jurisdiction setup, but the entity you trade under depends on where you live.

Australian residents trade with the ASIC-regulated entity and get leverage capped at 1:30 under retail client rules. Traders in South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are onboarded to the FSA (Seychelles) or CySEC entity and can access leverage up to 1:500.

ASIC client funds are held in segregated accounts at National Australia Bank (NAB) for both brokers. If either broker collapses, your cash sits in a separate trust account, not part of the broker's assets, and gets returned through an administrator. Neither broker is covered by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) compensation scheme, so you don't get the £85,000 protection UK traders enjoy under the FSCS.

CySEC entities offer €20,000 investor compensation under the ICF (Investor Compensation Fund) if the broker fails and client money goes missing. For most retail traders depositing $500 to $5,000, that's enough coverage. If you're trading a $50,000 account, split your capital across two brokers or verify the broker's segregated account arrangement in writing before you fund.

Both brokers publish audited financials and have operated for nearly two decades. FP Markets was founded in 2005, IC Markets in 2007. Neither has a history of withdrawal delays or license suspensions. Verifying regulation is still worth your time, check the license number on the regulator's public register before you send money.

Funding and withdrawals: speed and fees

Both brokers accept Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, bank wire, and local bank transfer for deposits. Neither charges a deposit fee. Withdrawals are free up to a monthly limit (usually two or three free withdrawals per month), then $10-$20 per extra withdrawal depending on the method.

FP Markets processes e-wallet withdrawals in 4-12 hours on business days. Bank wires take 1-3 business days. IC Markets quotes 24-48 hours for e-wallets and 2-3 days for wires. In practice, traders report faster turnaround from FP Markets. Skrill and Neteller withdrawals often hit your account the same business day if you submit before 10:00 AEST.

Local bank transfer is the cheapest option for traders in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Both brokers support local rails. FP Markets partners with Nium for SGD, MYR, THB, and PHP transfers; IC Markets uses Thunes and WorldFirst. Settlement takes 1-2 business days, and you avoid the 3-4 per cent currency conversion margin that card networks charge.

If you're in India, FP Markets accepts UPI deposits through payment gateways like PayU. IC Markets does not offer direct UPI integration; Indian traders route deposits through Skrill or Neteller, adding an extra conversion step and a 1.5-2 per cent fee.

Neither broker accepts cryptocurrency directly, but both let you deposit via Skrill Crypto or Neteller Crypto if you want to fund with USDT or Bitcoin indirectly. The gateway converts your crypto to USD or EUR, then credits your trading account in fiat.

Swap-free (Islamic) accounts

Both FP Markets and IC Markets offer Islamic swap-free accounts at no extra charge. You request the swap-free flag when you open the account or email support to convert an existing account.

Positions held overnight incur no rollover interest. Neither broker charges an admin fee on the Raw or ECN Islamic accounts, so your only cost remains the commission. Some brokers widen spreads or add a daily holding fee on Islamic accounts, neither FP Markets nor IC Markets does that, making both solid choices for traders in Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the UAE who need Sharia-compliant pricing.

Islamic accounts are approved within 24 hours at both brokers after you submit a request. You don't need to provide religious documentation.

Trading instruments beyond forex

FP Markets lists 60 forex pairs, 15 commodity CFDs, 19 index CFDs, and over 10,000 share CFDs (US, UK, and Australian stocks). IC Markets offers 63 forex pairs, 20 commodities, 22 indices, and 2,100 share CFDs. If you want to trade Apple or Tesla stock alongside EUR/USD, both brokers let you do it in the same account, but FP Markets offers five times the stock coverage.

Commodity spreads are tighter on IC Markets. Gold (XAU/USD) typically trades at 1.0-1.5 pips on IC Markets Raw, 1.2-1.8 pips on FP Markets Raw, plus commission. Crude oil (WTI) is 2-3 cents wide at IC Markets, 3-4 cents at FP Markets. If you trade gold or oil frequently, IC Markets saves you a fraction of a pip per trade.

Both brokers offer CFDs on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a handful of altcoins. Crypto CFDs are leveraged 1:2 under ASIC rules, 1:5 under CySEC, and up to 1:10 on offshore entities. Spreads on BTC/USD are 10-20 dollars at both brokers, far wider than dedicated crypto exchanges. Crypto CFDs make sense only for short-term trades where you want to go long or short without holding actual coins.

Which broker fits your style

Pick FP Markets if you're scalping majors, value the $1 commission saving per lot, want Iress for Australian equities, or need fast e-wallet withdrawals and UPI funding from India. The Raw account at FP Markets delivers 0.0-pip spreads, $6 round-turn commissions, and execution in the low single-digit milliseconds during London and New York hours.

Pick IC Markets if you're running EAs from a co-located VPS, trade gold or oil alongside forex, or want the tightest commodity spreads. The Raw Spread account at IC Markets charges $7 per lot but offers slightly faster execution from Equinix NY4 and Tokyo, and better commodity pricing.

Both brokers accept small deposits, $100 at FP Markets, $200 at IC Markets, so you can test live execution with real money before you commit serious capital. Open a Raw account at each, trade 5-10 lots, and compare fill quality and withdrawal speed yourself. Trustpilot scores sit at 4.8/5 for FP Markets (10,285 reviews) and 4.8/5 for IC Markets (56,094 reviews), showing strong satisfaction at both.

For most retail ECN traders in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, FP Markets edges ahead on cost. The $6 commission beats IC Markets' $7, withdrawal processing is faster, and the $100 minimum makes it easier to start. If you're trading above 100 lots a month and need sub-5-millisecond latency from Tokyo, IC Markets' co-location and volume rebates become worth the extra dollar per lot. Compare both brokers side-by-side on our broker comparison tool, check their regulatory status, and pick the one that saves you the most on your typical trade size.

Open a demo account at both brokers today, backtest your strategy on live spreads, and measure execution speed during the hours you actually trade. The broker that fills your orders fastest with the lowest total cost is the one you should fund.

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