If you're interested in trading forex in South Africa, it's important to choose a reputable and reliable broker. With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to make a decision. That's why we've compiled a list of the best forex brokers in South Africa for 2024, complete with key features and benefits to help you make an informed choice.
Best Forex Brokers South Africa
To find the best forex brokers in South Africa, we created a list of all brokers that accept new accounts from South African traders and ranked them by their Overall ranking, calculated during our in-depth annual review of forex brokers.
Here is our list of the top 5 best forex brokers in South Africa:
- XM– Best for Zar account with minimum deposit.
- HFM – Low-cost forex broker with local regulation
- Deriv -Best broker for trading synthetic indices like Boom & Crash
- Exness – Popular local broker with low fees and Zar account
- FBS – Good Option for beginners
1. XM
XM Group is a popular forex broker in South Africa, offering a range of trading instruments including forex, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
They are regulated by multiple authorities including the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and offer competitive spreads and low fees. XM Group also offers a range of educational resources and market analysis to help traders make informed decisions.
With a user-friendly interface and excellent customer support, XM Group is a top choice for forex trading in South Africa.
XM At A Glance
| 🔎Broker's Name | XM Group |
| 🏡 Headquarters | UK |
| 📆 Year Founded | 2009 |
| ⚖ Regulating Authorities | FCA, IFSC, CySec, ASIC |
| 🧾Account Types | Micro Account; Standard account; Ultra Low Account; Shares Account |
| 🎁 Bonus | Yes, $30 |
| 💸 Fees | Low |
| 💸 Spreads | spreads from 0.6 to 1.7 pips |
| 💸 Commission | commission-free trading depending on the account selected |
| 🏋🏾♀️ Maximum Leverage | 1:1000 |
| 💳 Minimum Deposit | $5/ R70 |
| 💳 Deposit & Withdrawal Options | Bank Wire Transfer Local Bank Transfer Credit/Debit Cards Neteller Skrill, and more. |
| 🖥 Platforms | MT4 and MT5 |
| 🧾 Zar Account | Yes |
| 📊 Tradable assets offered | Forex, commodities, cryptocurrency, shares, indices, metals, energies, options, bonds, CFDs, and ETFs |
| 🗣 Customer Support & Website Languages | 23 Languages |
| 🕑 Customer Service Hours | 24/5 |
| 🚀 Open an Account | 👉 Click Here |
XM Pros & Cons
✅Pros
- Wide range of trading assets
- Low minimum deposit
- Zar base account
- well-regulated and reliable broker
- Dependable support in various languages
- Tight spreads available
❌Cons
- a small number of tradeable cryptocurrencies
- Increased spreads on the Micro and Standard accounts
- XM does not have a South African phone number for support.
2. HFM (Formerly Hotforex)
HFM is an award-winning, well-regulated Forex, Indices, Stocks and commodities global broker headquartered in the UK. The broker boasts over 3,5 million accounts opened by happy clients and has won over 25 industry awards.
HotForex (HFM) is our recommended choice for a low-cost forex broker in South Africa. We consider them to be safe as they are regulated in South Africa with FSCA (FSP No 46632) since 2016 & with FCA in UK (HF Markets (UK) Limited with Reference number: 801701) since 2019.
In terms of trading fees, HotForex has the lowest spread with their Zero account & there are no fees on deposits/withdrawals.
HFM At A Glance
| 🔎 Broker's Name | HFM (Formerly Hotforex) |
| ⚖ Regulation | CySEC, FCA, DFSA, FSCA, FSA |
| 📆 Year Founded | 2010 |
| 💳 Minimum deposit | $5 USD/ R70 |
| 💹 Types of assets traded | Forex, Metals, Energies, Shares, Indices, Bonds, Commodities, DMA Stocks, ETFs |
| 🎁 Bonuses | Yes, Including $50 No Deposit Bonus |
| Zar Account | Yes |
| 💳 Payment methods | Skrill, Neteller, Debit Card, Wire Transfer, Credit Card, fasapay, Vload |
| 🧾 Account Types | Cent, Premium, Pro, Zero Spread, Copy Account, Islamic account |
| 📈Are multiple accounts supported | ✅Yes |
| ♻ Is PAMM & Copy trader supported? | ✅ Yes |
HFM Pros & Cons
✅Pros
- Locally-regulated
- Low minimum deposit
- Zar base account
- A variety of local funding methods
- Zero fees on deposits & withdrawals.
- Low spreads
❌Cons
- Wire transfer available at high fees
3. Deriv
Deriv is a very popular broker in South Africa. Most traders choose the broker because it is the only one with synthetic indices like boom and crash.
Deriv offers convenient funding methods like Zing pay, Dp2p, Payment agents, Cash etc. This makes it easy for South African traders to move funds in and out of their trading accounts.
On top of that Deriv offers a low minimum deposit requirement making it accessible to traders.
Deriv also offers a number of proprietary trading apps that bring convenience to traders
Deriv At A Glance
| 🔎 Broker's Name | Deriv Formely (Binary.com) |
| 🏡 Headquartered | USA |
| 📆 Year Founded | 1999 |
| ⚖ Regulating Authorities | Regulated through Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA), Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) and British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVIFSC) |
| Minimum deposit | $5 / R70 |
| 🏋🏾♀️ Maximum Leverage | 1:1 000. |
| 💳 Deposit & Withdrawal Options | Bank wire transfer –Credit/debit cards – Both Visa and Mastercard – USD/GBP/EUR/AUD. E-wallets – Skrill, Neteller, PaySafe, Fasapay, WebMoney, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Tether. Payment agents, Dp2p |
| 📊 Tradable assets offered | Forex – Close to 50 FX currency pairs, including majors, minors and exotics Stock indices – Speculate on price movements across the largest US, Asian and European stock indices. Synthetic indices – Based on a secure random generator, synthetic indices replicate real-world market conditions and are available 24/7 delivering consistent volatility Commodities – Precious metals, such as gold and silver, plus energies like oil are available |
| 🗣 Customer Service Hours | 24/7 |
| 🚀 Open an account | 👉 Click Here |
Deriv Pros & Cons
✅Pros
- Wide range of trading assets including synthetic indices
- Low minimum deposit
- Well developed platforms
- Well-regulated and reliable broker
- Availability of 24/7 live chat, phone lines, WhatsApp, and help centre
4. Exness
Exness is an award-winning and well-regulated forex and CFD broker that was founded in 2008. It is headquartered in Cyprus and has offices in several other countries, including, South Africa, Seychelles, Russia, and China.
Exness is a popular broker, with over 10 million registered accounts worldwide including in South Africa.
The broker has low trading fees, offers a Zar account and processes withdrawals instantly.
| Broker's Name | Exness |
| 📅 Year Founded | 2008 |
| 🏠 Headquarters | Limassol, Cyprus |
| ⚖ Regulated By | SFSA (Seychelles), CBCS (Curaçao), FSC (BVI), FSCA (SA), CySEC (Cyprus), FCA (UK) |
| 💳 Minimum Deposit | R180 ZAR / $10 |
| 📉 Zar Base Currency? | ✔ Yes |
| 🧾 Account Types | Standard Cent, Standard, Pro, Raw Spread, Zero. |
| 🎮 Demo Trading Account | ✔Yes |
| 💵Deposit & withdrawal methods | Credit/debit card, Skrill, Neteller, QIWI, Cryptocurrencies, Bank/Wire Transfer, |
| 💰 Spreads | Spread depends on account type and instrument. Spreads are always floating. FTSE Spread 1.5 pts (var) GBPUSD Spread 2.1 (var) Oil Spread 0.05 (var) Stocks Spread 0.1% Var GBPUSD Spread 2.1 pips (var) EURUSD Spread 1.6 pips (var) EURGBP Spread 2 pips (var) |
| 📉Instruments Offered | Forex (97), Metals, Stocks, Indices and Energies, Cryptocurrencies (35) |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee | ✔ Yes |
| 💰 Instant withdrawal and deposits | ✔ Yes. Depends on the payment system. This may vary based on the payment provider's processing |
| 💸 Negative balance protection | ✔ Yes |
| 💻 In-house VPS hosting | ✔ Yes, with $500+ deposits |
| ☪ Islamic Account | ✔ Yes |
| 💵 Inactivity fee charged | ❌ No |
| 📱 Platforms | MT4, MT5, Exness Terminal, MT4 Multiterminal, Exness Trader app |
| 🚀 Open an Account | 👉 Click Here |
Exness Pros 👍
- Well-regulated in South Africa, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Seychelles & Mauritius
- Instant withdrawals
- Zar account available
- Accepts local deposit methods
- Access to a wide range of trading assets
- Tight spreads
- Wide range of trading instruments (130+ currency pairs)
- Excellent customer support
- Mobile app
5. FBS
FBS is a popular Forex Broker and CFD trading platform founded back in 2009 by investors interested in trading research and technical analysis. At present, FBS is an international brand and has a presence in over 150 countries worldwide.
The broker brings transparent conditions for trading using popular instruments including Forex, Crypto, and Metals all connected by split-second execution through the ECN model.
FBS At A Glance
| 🔎Broker's Name | FBS |
| ⚖ Regulation | CySEC, ASIC, IFSC, FSCA, |
| 📆 Year Founded | 2009 |
| 💳 Minimum deposit | $1 for the cent account, $5 Micro Account, $500 Zero Spread Account |
| 💳 Maximum Leverage | 1: 3000 |
| 💹 Islamic Account? | ✔Yes |
| 🖥Types of assets traded | Forex, commodities, bonds, shares, indices, stocks, CFDs, metals, energies |
| 🚀Supported lot sizes | 0.01 – 500 |
| 💳 Payment methods | Neteller; Sticpay; Skrill; Perfect Money |
| 🧾Are multiple accounts supported | ✔Yes |
| 📈 Is PAMM supported | ❌No |
| ♻ Is CopyTrader supported? | ✔Yes |
| 🚀 Open Account | 👉 Click Here |
FBS Broker Pros & Cons
✅Pros
- Globally recognized with multiple industry awards
- Low minimum deposit
- Zar base account
- Range of trading accounts
- Tight spreads available
❌Cons
- Limited funding methods
- Limited trading instruments
- No Zar account
How we chose the best Forex Brokers in South Africa
We looked at the following points when we compared these forex brokers.
Regulation
Regulation matters because it ensures the safety of your funds & protects you in case of any bad practice like fraud or manipulation by the broker. The forex brokers we chose above are well-regulated and they have a good reputation.
Forex Broker’s Fees
Forex brokers charge fees through their spreads, commissions on trades (in some cases) & rollover (for overnight open positions). Some brokers also charge extra fees during deposits & withdrawals but don’t actually show it as their fees.
The brokers we chose above have the most competitive fees in the market. This will ensure that you will endure lower trading costs as a forex trader in South Africa.
Deposit & Withdrawal Options
We chose the best South African forex brokers that have convenient funding methods. The brokers above make it easy for you to deposit and withdraw without any hassles.
Minimum Deposits
We chose the best brokers with low minimum deposits so that you can test them without depositing a lot of money. You can then deposit more as your confidence in the broker grows.
Frequently Asked Questions on The Best Forex Brokers In South Africa
XM is the best forex broker in South Africa. The broker is well-regulated, has a Zar base account and has low minimum deposits.
Deriv is the most popular broker in South Africa as most traders are looking for synthetic indices like v75.
HFM (formerly Hotforex) is the best MT4 broker in South Africa.
XM is a good broker for beginners in South Africa.
HFM is the broker with the lowest spreads in South Africa.
When choosing a forex broker in South Africa, you should look for factors such as regulation, trading platforms, trading conditions, customer support, and educational resources.
Forex brokers in South Africa offer a range of trading platforms, including MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader, and proprietary trading platforms.
Yes, forex brokers in South Africa are regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).
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