US Forex platforms are different from the International forex platforms in multiple terms as listed below-
- Leverage ratios are limited to 50:1 for US residents, unlike international forex brokers which offer even 1:1000 leverage.
- None of the US-registered forex brokers offer “negative balance protection” for U.S. clients, which is offered to non-US clients.
- Nor do they offer guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSLO) for U.S. clients
- CFDs are also banned in the United States
You might be thinking that you are not getting enough facilities offered to non-US residents. But I tell you one thing, you get “peace of mind”.
Because your money is protected under US law. You can get your money back if the broker bankrupts or commits fraud. The insured amount is up to $500,000 which is significantly higher as compared to Europe where it is usually €20,000 and no protection of investors’ money in Australia.
In the US, the rules are very strict. No forex broker can trade in the US if it is not registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). And National Futures Association (NFA).
That’s the reason limited but still, sufficient features are available to US residents.
As you know the rules are strict, forex brokers are very limited in the United States and we have found the 4 best forex brokers for beginners that are regulated by US authorities.
- IG (US) – Overall best forex broker for beginner with extensive education academy
- TD Ameritrade – The most trusted broker with $0 min. deposit account
- Forex.Com – Beginners prefer mobile trading with a vast written content repository
- Oanda – Track your performance with a Swap-free account facility
So, let’s discuss the 4 best forex brokers for beginners in detail.
Best Forex Broker for Beginners in 2022
#1. IG (US)
IG (US) is an ideal choice for a beginner because you get extensive educational resources to learn about forex trading from its in-house IG Academy.
IG has also launched IG academy mobile apps for Android and iPhone users, making it easy to learn forex trading on the go.
You can learn through videos, written articles, weekly webinars, and DailyFX guides within the IG academy.
Regulations
IG (US) is regulated by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). National Futures Association (NFA) in the United States, and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.
Investments & brokerage
You can trade in 100 forex pairs along with other instruments like stocks, ETFs.
IG has the lowest spreads (brokerage) on forex trading starting from 0.8 pips for a standard (EUR/USD) pair.
IG charges a $12 fee if your account remains inactive for two years or more.
The minimum deposit amount is $250 which is above our criteria of $100 but since IG provides a superior quality education platform & low brokerage, we added it to the list.
You can start with a demo account which is free of cost for practice, and start a live account when you have the confidence in trading with real money by transferring $250 from your bank account.
Trading platforms
IG offers a robust trading platform with 11 technical indicators like Momentum, Bollinger Band that comes in handy in analyzing the market trend.
You also get the Tick charts feature (that most brokers don’t provide) to show trading information as soon as a trade occurs, giving you quick opportunities to analyze the market trend and make trading decisions especially if you are learning scalp trading.
In scalp trading (aka scalping), you have to buy and sell quickly within a few seconds or minutes to book the profit from market volatility.
Pros
- Superior quality educational content for in-depth learning
- Regulated by CFTC, NFA, and FCA
- 100 forex pairs to trade
- Lowest spreads
- Easy to use trading platform
- 11 technical indicators, 5 charts with tick chart for quick analysis
Cons
- High minimum deposit amount $250
- $12 inactivity fee if not trading occurs in 2 years
#2. TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is one of the best brokers in the United States (that is now acquired by Charles Schwab) offers a $0 minimum deposit and a vast in-built library (Learning Center) making it ideal for beginner forex traders.
You can learn from 24 forex-related videos and articles in the Learning Center library along with 400 entities covering other trading topics like advanced technical analysis (40 articles).
Regulations
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) & National Futures Association (NFA)
Investments & brokerage
You can trade in 73 forex pairs along with several other instruments like US stocks, stock indices, commodities, and livestock futures contracts.
Pips that TD Ameritrade charges are high at 1.26 pips for a standard EUR/USD pair.
Trading platforms
TD Ameritrade has its famous Thinkorswim trading platform that offers real-time scanning, 400+ technical studies, advanced trading strategy tools that include Renko charts, drawing & Fibonacci tools.
If you have some experience of stock trading, you can easily adapt the Thinkorswim platforms (desktop or mobile), otherwise, you may need a couple of days to adapt the feature-rich trading application.
Pros
- No minimum deposit required
- Vast educational library for beginners
- Regulated by CFTC, NFA
- 73 forex pairs listed for trading
- Robust desktop and mobile trading platforms
- 400+ technical studies for in-depth analysis
Cons
- High spreads
- No web-based platform
- Desktop platform little complex for beginners
Also read – Best stock analysis app
#3. Forex.com
The educational content on FOREX.Com is of high quality and I found their content written in easy to understand language, which is good for beginner traders.
Regulations
As Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) under CFTC and Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) with NFA.
Investments & brokerage
You can trade in 84 forex pairs along with Bitcoin futures in the United States.
Pips are slightly higher at Forex.Com as you are paying around 1.1 pips for a standard EUR/USD pair.
If you want to open a live account you have to deposit a minimum of $100, otherwise, you can go with a demo account and keep on doing the paper trading until you get the confidence to trade with real money.
Trading platforms
You get a powerful & fast trading platform with an execution rate of 0.05 sec. The platform comes with a feature of automatically trading at a better price in limit orders giving you extra benefit when the market is favorable.
The mobile trading app is also fast and offers similar features that you get on the web platform.
Pros
- Regulated under CFTC, NFA
- Trade in 84 forex pairs & Bitcoin futures
- Easy to understand written learning content
- Lightening fast trading web and mobile platform
- Automated system to trade at a better price in limit orders.
Cons
- Spreads are slightly high
- Negligible video content
- Min. deposit fixed at $100
#4. Oanda
Oanda offers a comprehensive education platform divided into 3 parts –
- Basics – Learn fundamentals of forex trading for beginners getting started
- Tools and Strategies – Learn how to develop strategies for profitable forex trading
- Capital management – Learn risk management tools to avoid capital loss
You will enjoy the learning content as Oanda has elaborated each lesson very well with simple-to-understand examples.
You can also trade forex with small money as Oanda allows you to trade in nano lots where 1 nano lot is equivalent to 100 units of currency only.
Regulations
Registered as CFM under CFTC and RFD by NFA.
Investments & brokerage
You can trade in 45 forex pairs which are less in numbers as compared to the peers but still enough for beginners.
Highest spreads among the peers with 1.6 pips for a standard EUR/USD pair.
However, you can open a swap-free account that comes with no administration charge for the first five days making it cost-effective for newcomers. But admin charges start from the 6th day onwards. For example, you’ll be paying $7 per lot for EUR/USD pair starting from the 6th day.
You can open a $0 balance account because Oanda doesn’t have any minimum deposit conditions.
In case of fund deposit, you can use wire transfer, debit cards, ACH, or US bank checks.
Trading platforms
Oanda has an in-house trading platform along with that it also provides feature-rich third-party platforms like Autochartist, MT4, MT 5.
The best thing I found in Oanda’s trading platform is that you can track your trading performance based on your trading history.
You can easily track and manage your trading behavior in the Trading Journal tool that further breaks down your trading performance in multiple segments like –
- Instrument-wise
- Overall & average Profit & Loss
- Winning rate
- Risk-to-reward ratio
This is a useful feature for a beginner trader to track his progress side by side.
Pros
- Feather rich learning platform
- Registered CFM under CFTC and RFD by NFA, USA.
- 45 forex pairs available
- Swap-free account to avoid swapping charges
- Trading Journal to track trading performance
- $0 minimum deposit
Cons
- High spreads
- Admin. charges on swapping account (from 6th day)
Also read – Best forex broker in India (SEBI Registered)
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a high-quality education platform with a low brokerage but don’t mind investing $250 as a minimum deposit for the live account, then go with IG (US) forex broker, because you’ll get a dedicated learning portal (IG academy) with its rich video, written content along with timely webinars to help you learn forex trading at a faster pace.
Oanda is ideal for you if you want to track your progress regularly because you can open a Zero balance account and also get a dedicated performance tracking section to monitor your progress making it an excellent choice for beginners.
If you have some experience of stock trading, you can go with TD Ameritrade because you get a zero balance live account, and easily understand its robust forex trading platform which is a little complex for the fresher initially but offers you a plethora of features that would be handy on the long run.
