FXCM vs Oanda: Comparison and Analysis

About Oanda and FXCM

Both Oanda and FXCM are forex brokers that have been in the online trading business for decades now. In fact, Oanda’s first live data feed went live in 1997, while their trading platform was launched in 2001 – as they say, they were the first company to provide exchange rate information over the web. FXCM followed shortly after, as they were founded just three years after Oanda – in 1999.

With so much experience under their belt, it’s no surprise that both online traders gathered quite a loyal network of customers, attracting both professional and beginner traders.

One thing that is important here, before we go further, is that if you were considering either of the two trading platforms but you are located in the US, then you won’t be able to use FXCM, as they don’t accept US customers.

Oanda vs FXCM – Which Broker Offers Better Pricing?

As far as pricing goes and which of the Forex trading providers does better in this regard, there are a few things that you should take into account.

The first such thing is whether there’s a minimum deposit requirement and, if there is, how much it is – Oanda does not require a specific amount to be deposited before you can start trading, while for FXCM, the minimum deposit needs to be at least $50.

Now, what about trading costs? Looking at the average spreads among the key Forex pairs, we have to say that Oanda is more competitive compared to FXCM. For example, the average spread on EUR/USD on FXCM comes out to 1.3, while on Oanda, it’s as low as 0.1.

If you’re planning on trading cryptocurrencies, then again, Oanda might be the better broker due to the fact that they don’t charge a commission when you trade CFDs on Bitcoin cash, Litecoin, or Ethereum.

Finally, FXCM has a withdrawal commission, which is also something to take into account.

Winner: Oanda

FXCM or Oanda – Which Broker Is Safer for Forex Traders?

Both online brokers are regulated by several entities. Oanda is regulated by 7 Tier 1 regulators, including the Japanese Financial Services Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. FXCM, on the other hand, is regulated by two Tier 1 entities – the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Aside from this, both brokers offer negative balance protection, which ensures that even if you do lose money, it won’t be more than your available balance, as well as a demo account so that you can test out the trading platform before committing to it with real money, as well as test out new trading strategies.

While both brokers are doing great in terms of their traders’ safety, we have to say that in this case, Oanda takes the crown – mainly because it is regulated by more entities compared to FXCM.

Winner: Oanda

Oanda vs FXCM – Which Forex Broker is Better?

Overall, we have to say that Oanda takes the cake as the better broker. However, don’t be mistaken – FXCM doesn’t fall far behind.

In fact, there are several features that, depending on who’s trading, might make it the best trading platform for them, including Multi Account Manager, Percentage Allocation Management Module Manager, copy trading, social trading, or the fact that an Islamic account is available. FXCM also wins when it comes to trading tools available and the multiple trading platforms their traders can access. Unfortunately, at the moment, Oanda only has its proprietary platform and MT4.

Both Oanda and FXCM offer different types of trading platforms, providing their traders, for example, with mobile apps for trading on the go. They also have quite an extensive collection of educational tools, which can be especially beneficial for beginning traders.

All in all, the two brokers are a solid choice regardless of which one you decide to go with. And if you want to learn more about either of them, check out our more detailed FXCM and Oanda reviews.