IC Markets vs Axi: Which ECN Broker Has Lower All-In Costs?

Both IC Markets and Axi advertise 0.0-pip spreads on their ECN accounts, which sounds identical on paper. But anyone who's traded live knows that the spread is only half the picture. Once you add commissions, overnight swap rates, and the slippage you actually see on market orders, the cheapest-looking broker on a spec sheet can end up costing you 20, 30% more per round-turn than its competitor.

This head-to-head breaks down the real all-in cost of trading with IC Markets and Axi, using concrete numbers for the EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY pairs that make up the majority of retail volume. We'll compare commissions, live spreads during London-New York overlap, swap rates for holds longer than a day, and the execution model that drives slippage. By the end you'll know which broker actually saves you money when you scale up lot size.

Account types and commission structures

IC Markets offers two raw-spread accounts: the cTrader Raw account and the MT4/MT5 Raw Spread account. Both charge a $3.50 commission per side ($7 round-turn) per standard lot. The minimum deposit is $200, and the platform choice is yours. You'll see spreads starting from 0.0 pips on major pairs during peak liquidity, though the typical spread on EUR/USD hovers around 0.1 pips in the London session.

Axi calls its zero-spread tier the Pro account. It also starts at 0.0 pips and charges $3.50 per side ($7 round-turn) on a standard lot. The minimum deposit is $0, which is lower on paper, but most traders will want at least $500 in the account to handle margin on a 0.01-lot position with decent headroom. Axi runs on MT4 only, so if you prefer cTrader or MT5 you're out of luck.

On commission alone the two brokers are identical. Where they diverge is in the spread you'll actually see when you click buy or sell, and in the swap rates that eat into your profit if you hold overnight.

Live spreads: what you pay beyond the commission

A 0.0-pip minimum spread is marketing. What matters is the average spread you see during the hours you trade. IC Markets sources liquidity from more than 50 banks and dark pools, and during London-New York overlap (12:00, 16:00 UTC) the EUR/USD spread on the Raw account typically sits between 0.0 and 0.2 pips. GBP/USD averages 0.3, 0.5 pips, and USD/JPY runs 0.1, 0.3 pips. Outside those hours, particularly in the Asian session gap before Tokyo opens, spreads can widen to 0.5, 0.8 pips on EUR/USD.

Axi's Pro account shows similar numbers during peak liquidity but tends to widen faster once volume drops. In the same London-New York window, EUR/USD spreads range from 0.0 to 0.3 pips, GBP/USD from 0.4 to 0.6 pips, and USD/JPY from 0.2 to 0.4 pips. The difference is small in absolute terms but compounds over dozens of trades. If you're scalping or running a high-frequency EA, an extra 0.1-pip average spread costs you $1 per lot per trade, or $200 over 100 round-turns on a single lot.

Both brokers widen spreads during major news events. On non-farm payroll Fridays or central bank rate decisions, expect EUR/USD to spike to 2, 3 pips for a few seconds on both platforms. Neither broker offers fixed spreads, so you can't escape volatility, but IC Markets' deeper liquidity pool tends to tighten back to normal faster.

Swap rates: the hidden cost of holding overnight

Swap is the interest differential you pay or earn for rolling a position past 17:00 New York time. Because most retail traders are net short USD pairs or long commodity currencies, swap is usually a cost rather than a credit. IC Markets and Axi both calculate swap daily, but their rates differ by 10, 40% on the same pair.

As of September 2026, IC Markets charges roughly -6.50 USD per lot per night on a long EUR/USD position and credits about +1.20 USD on a short. On GBP/USD long you'll pay around -8.00 USD, and on USD/JPY long (you're short yen, long dollar) the charge sits near -3.50 USD. These numbers shift with central bank rate changes, but IC Markets publishes the current swap table on its website and inside the MT4/MT5 contract specifications.

Axi's swap rates are slightly higher across the board. A long EUR/USD position costs approximately -7.20 USD per night, GBP/USD long runs -8.80 USD, and USD/JPY long is -4.00 USD. The difference is small on a single-night hold, but if you run a swing strategy that holds for five days, that extra $0.70 per night on EUR/USD becomes $3.50 per lot per week, or $182 per year on a single-lot position. Scale that to 10 lots and the annual difference is $1,820.

Both brokers apply triple swap on Wednesday to account for the weekend rollover. If you hold a long EUR/USD position into Thursday morning, you'll pay three days' worth of swap in one hit. Neither broker offers swap-free accounts on their ECN tiers; Islamic accounts are available only on standard-spread accounts with wider markups.

Execution model and slippage

IC Markets uses a true ECN model with a central limit order book. Your order is matched against liquidity from 50+ providers, and the platform shows depth of market (DOM) on cTrader so you can see the volume available at each price level. Slippage occurs when your market order is larger than the visible volume at the best bid or offer, but on a standard 1-lot EUR/USD order during London hours, fills are typically at the requested price or within 0.1 pips.

Axi runs a hybrid model: it aggregates quotes from multiple liquidity providers and routes your order to the best available price, but it doesn't publish a central order book. In practice this means less transparency. On a 1-lot market order during peak hours, slippage is minimal, usually 0.0, 0.2 pips. But if you're trading 5+ lots or hitting the market during low liquidity, Axi's fills can slip by 0.5, 1.0 pips more often than IC Markets. For scalpers and EA traders who execute dozens of times per day, that difference compounds quickly.

Neither broker engages in stop-hunting or requotes on ECN accounts. Both allow scalping, hedging, and expert advisors without restriction. The execution speed on both platforms is under 50 milliseconds on average, with IC Markets' Sydney and New York data centres offering single-digit latency if you're colocated or using a VPS in the same region.

All-in cost comparison: a worked example

Let's calculate the total cost of a 1-lot EUR/USD round-turn held for one day, then closed. We'll use a 0.1-pip average spread for IC Markets and 0.2 pips for Axi, add the $7 round-turn commission both brokers charge, and include one night's swap.

IC Markets:

• Spread: 0.1 pips = $1
• Commission: $7
• Swap (long): -$6.50
• Total: $14.50 per lot

Axi:

• Spread: 0.2 pips = $2
• Commission: $7
• Swap (long): -$7.20
• Total: $16.20 per lot

Over 100 round-turns, IC Markets costs $1,450 and Axi costs $1,620, a difference of $170 per lot. If you trade 10 lots per month, that's $1,700 in savings over the year with IC Markets.

For traders who close positions intraday and avoid swap, the gap narrows. Without the overnight charge, IC Markets costs $8 all-in per lot and Axi costs $9, a $1 difference per trade. Over 200 intraday scalps per month, IC Markets saves you $200.

The numbers flip slightly in Axi's favour if you're based in a region where IC Markets' liquidity providers are offline during your trading hours, or if you trade exotic pairs where Axi's spread is occasionally tighter. But for the three major pairs that account for 70% of retail volume, IC Markets delivers lower all-in costs in almost every scenario.

Regulation, safety, and trust

Both brokers are tier-one regulated and hold client funds in segregated accounts. IC Markets is licensed by ASIC (Australia), CySEC (Cyprus), and the FSA (Seychelles). The ASIC entity offers negative balance protection and participation in Australia's financial services compensation scheme, though forex is excluded from the statutory deposit insurance. IC Markets has been operating since 2007 and holds a Trustpilot score of 4.8 out of 5 from more than 56,000 reviews.

Axi is regulated by the FCA (UK), ASIC, DFSA (Dubai), and the FSA (Seychelles). The FCA license is the strongest in the group, offering up to £85,000 in FSCS protection if the broker fails, though most retail clients trade under the ASIC or DFSA entities where that protection doesn't apply. Axi has been around since 2007 and scores 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot from over 7,500 reviews. Both brokers publish audited financials and have never faced a major regulatory sanction.

If you're depositing a five-figure sum, check which entity holds your account. The ASIC and FCA entities offer stronger consumer protection than the offshore arms, but they also cap leverage at 1:30 for retail clients under ESMA-equivalent rules. The Seychelles entities allow leverage up to 1:500, which suits traders who want to control larger positions with less capital. For a detailed breakdown of what happens if your broker goes under, see our guide on broker insolvency.

Platform choice and tools

IC Markets supports MT4, MT5, and cTrader on the Raw account. If you're an algorithmic trader or you rely on cTrader's depth-of-market display, IC Markets is the only choice in this comparison. The cTrader platform also offers faster order execution and a cleaner interface for multi-chart analysis. MT5 gives you access to more timeframes, an economic calendar, and the larger MT5 marketplace for indicators and EAs.

Axi offers MT4 only on the Pro account. The platform is stable and familiar, and the MT4 marketplace has thousands of free and paid EAs, but you won't get the depth-of-market transparency or the advanced order types available on cTrader. If you've built your strategy around MT4 and don't need the extras, Axi's platform is perfectly adequate. But if you're comparing the two brokers and platform flexibility matters, IC Markets wins.

Both brokers offer free VPS hosting if you meet a minimum monthly volume threshold, typically 10 standard lots. IC Markets' VPS is hosted in Equinix NY4 and LD5 data centres, giving you sub-millisecond latency to the broker's servers. Axi's VPS is similarly located, and both setups work well for traders running EAs 24/7.

Minimum deposit and account funding

IC Markets requires a $200 minimum deposit on the Raw account. You can fund via bank wire, credit card, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and a range of local payment methods depending on your country. Withdrawals are processed within one business day for e-wallets, two to five days for bank transfers. There's no withdrawal fee from the broker, though your payment provider may charge.

Axi advertises a $0 minimum deposit, but in practice you'll need at least $500 to trade comfortably on margin without hitting a stop-out. Funding options include bank transfer, credit card, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and local methods in select regions. Withdrawals take one to three business days for e-wallets, longer for bank wires. Like IC Markets, Axi doesn't charge a withdrawal fee, but your bank might.

For traders starting with a smaller balance, Axi's lower barrier to entry is an advantage. But if you're serious about trading and plan to deposit $500 or more anyway, the $200 minimum at IC Markets is irrelevant, and the tighter spreads will save you more money than the difference in the minimum deposit.

Both brokers support account currencies in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, and several others. If you deposit in a currency other than USD, be aware that your profit and loss will be converted at the prevailing exchange rate, and you may incur a small conversion spread on funding and withdrawals.

Which broker wins on all-in cost?

IC Markets edges ahead on all-in cost for the majority of retail traders. Its tighter average spreads, lower swap rates, and superior execution transparency add up to a 10, 15% saving per round-turn compared to Axi when you trade the major pairs and hold overnight. If you scalp intraday and avoid swap, the gap narrows to around 10%, still meaningful over hundreds of trades.

Axi's main advantage is the $0 minimum deposit and FCA regulation for UK clients who want the extra layer of FSCS protection. If you're depositing less than $200 or you specifically need an FCA-licensed account, Axi is the better pick. But for traders focused purely on cost per trade, IC Markets delivers more value once you're past the initial deposit threshold.

Both brokers are legitimate, well-regulated, and transparent. Neither will requote you, widen spreads artificially, or interfere with your strategy. The choice comes down to whether you prioritise the lowest possible transaction cost (IC Markets) or the flexibility of a $0 minimum and FCA oversight (Axi).

If you want to compare these two brokers side-by-side with live specs and current promotions, use our broker comparison tool. And if you're still weighing your options, check our list of the best brokers for scalping to see how IC Markets and Axi stack up against other low-cost ECN providers.

Open an account with the broker that matches your trade frequency and holding period. If you trade daily and hold overnight, IC Markets will save you money. If you're funding a test account with under $200, start with Axi and switch once you've proven your strategy.

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