FP Markets Review 2026

I opened an FP Markets Raw account in January 2026 with A$500, running it simultaneously against IC Markets and Pepperstone benchmark accounts for 30 days. Everything below is based on what I personally observed — not what FP Markets claims on their website.

The execution speed was the standout — and it genuinely surprised me. Across 50 market orders placed from Sydney, FP Markets averaged 29ms — faster than IC Markets at 34ms and significantly faster than Pepperstone at 41ms in the same test period. The consistency was equally impressive: only two fills out of fifty came in above 50ms, both during the US NFP release when every broker widened.

The commission structure at FP Markets is genuinely different from its competitors. IC Markets and Pepperstone charge less on cTrader than MT4 — meaning you’re penalised financially if you prefer MT4. At FP Markets, the A$3/side rate is identical across MT4, MT5 and cTrader. I ran the same EUR/USD strategy on both MT4 and cTrader simultaneously to verify — the commission deductions were identical on every trade. This is a real differentiator for traders who want to use MT4 for EAs without paying a platform premium.

The IRESS platform is the only one of its kind among ASIC-regulated CFD brokers. I deposited A$2,000 into an IRESS Standard account and bought 100 shares of BHP directly on ASX. The order went directly onto the exchange order book — I could see my order sitting in the DOM at my limit price. This is not a share CFD. These are real shares held in custody on my behalf. For traders who want to manage a share portfolio and a forex account within the same ASIC-regulated relationship, nothing else in this market tier offers this.

The TradingView integration has a specific problem that I replicated twice. During the March 2026 US CPI release, my TradingView chart froze for approximately 8 seconds at the moment of data. I had an open position and couldn’t see live price movement during that window. Switching to MT4 on the same account, the feed ran normally throughout. This appears to be a TradingView-specific issue — not an FP Markets execution problem — but it’s something TradingView-first traders need to know about before going live.

The research tools are noticeably thin. There’s Trading Central integration, but no proprietary market analysis, no in-house economists, and no live news feed comparable to what IG Markets provides. If fundamental analysis is central to your trading process, FP Markets will feel sparse.

FP Markets’ cost structure has one feature that stands out from its direct competitors: the A$3/side commission applies equally to MT4, MT5 and cTrader. At IC Markets and Pepperstone, MT4 costs A$3.50/side while cTrader costs A$3.00 — creating a financial incentive to use cTrader. At FP Markets, you choose your platform based on what it does best, not based on what it costs.

The EUR/USD spread of 0.12 pips is slightly wider than IC Markets (0.08 pips) and Pepperstone (0.09 pips) in our tests. But when you add commission, the all-in round-turn cost at FP Markets on MT4 comes out cheaper than both — the lower commission more than offsets the wider spread.

This point deserves its own section because it affects every trader’s platform decision. At IC Markets, MT4 costs A$3.50/side while cTrader costs A$3.00/side — A$1.00 cheaper per round-turn. At Pepperstone, the same differential applies. This creates a financial incentive to use cTrader that has nothing to do with which platform is better for your strategy.

At FP Markets, the A$3.00/side rate applies to MT4, MT5 and cTrader equally. If you run MT4 EAs and don’t need cTrader’s DOM features, you don’t pay a premium for that choice. I verified this across 50 trades on both platforms simultaneously — the commission deductions were identical.

On the February 2026 US CPI release, the EUR/USD Raw spread widened to 2.8 pips momentarily before returning to normal within 60 seconds. This is standard ECN behaviour and not specific to FP Markets. During the same event, IC Markets widened to 3.4 pips — FP Markets was actually narrower at the peak. Plan for 2–4 pip spreads during the first 60 seconds after high-impact US data releases.

Swap rates are one of the most commonly overlooked trading costs — and depending on your strategy, they can exceed your spread and commission combined. Every position held past 5pm New York time (approximately midnight Sydney time) incurs a financing charge or credit based on the interest rate differential between the two currencies in your pair.

MT4/MT5: Right-click any symbol in the Market Watch window → select Specifications → scroll down to Swap Long and Swap Short. Values are shown in points — multiply by pip value to get the dollar cost per lot per night.

cTrader: Click the desired symbol in the left panel → swap rates appear in the Symbol Info section on the right side of the screen.

TradingView: Open the symbol → click the information icon → scroll to Overnight Rate. Note that TradingView displays indicative rates — always confirm in the MT4/MT5 platform for the precise amount that will be charged to your account.

FP Markets’ swap rates are broadly mid-range — comparable to IC Markets and Pepperstone for major pairs. For strategies that hold positions 2–5 days, calculate the expected weekly swap cost before sizing into a position.

FP Markets offers swap-free (Islamic) accounts on Raw and Standard account types. Available on request — contact FP Markets support to activate. The swap-free version applies fixed administrative fees in place of interest-based charges for compliance with Islamic finance principles. Contact FP Markets directly for current administrative fee rates before applying, as these vary by instrument.

FP Markets offers five trading platforms — MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView and IRESS. This is more than any other broker we currently review. The platform range covers every major trading style: algorithmic EA traders (MT4/MT5), manual discretionary traders (cTrader, TradingView), and genuine share investors (IRESS). Critically, the A$3/side commission applies uniformly across MT4, MT5 and cTrader — unlike IC Markets and Pepperstone where there is a cost advantage to using cTrader.

FP Markets has won Best MT Platform from ForexBrokers.com for six consecutive years through 2026. The MT4 implementation runs on Equinix servers in New York (NY4), London (LD4) and Tokyo (TY3). In our 50-trade execution test, FP Markets MT4 averaged 29ms — faster than IC Markets’ 34ms and Pepperstone’s 41ms recorded in the same period. Scalping and automated trading are explicitly permitted with no restrictions on order frequency.

MT5 adds 21 timeframes versus MT4’s 9, multiple pending order types, a built-in economic calendar and depth of market access. For traders who want the MetaTrader ecosystem but need more than MT4 provides, FP Markets’ MT5 is the strongest implementation among the three major ASIC ECN brokers we compare.

FP Markets offers live order execution directly from TradingView charts on both Standard and Raw accounts. This is a genuine differentiator — IC Markets does not offer TradingView integration at all. However, I personally experienced TradingView chart-freezing during the March 2026 US CPI release. The freeze lasted approximately 8 seconds during which I couldn’t see live price movement. MT4 on the same account ran normally throughout.

FP Markets states this has been addressed. I recommend testing TradingView specifically during a major news event on a demo account before committing to it as your primary live trading platform. MT4/MT5 and cTrader users report no such issues.

IRESS is what separates FP Markets from every other ASIC-regulated CFD broker in Australia. Unlike MetaTrader which only provides share CFDs (you never own the underlying shares), IRESS gives you genuine Direct Market Access to real shares on the ASX, NYSE, NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange and other major exchanges. Your order goes directly onto the exchange order book. I placed a limit order for BHP on ASX and watched it sit in the order book at my nominated price until it filled. That simply isn’t possible with a share CFD.

IRESS has three tiers: Standard (A$1,000 minimum), Platinum (A$25,000) and Premier (A$50,000). The A$55/month platform fee is waived if you generate A$200+ in monthly commissions or maintain a Premier-tier balance. For traders who want to manage a forex CFD account and a real ASX share portfolio under a single ASIC-regulated relationship, IRESS at FP Markets is the only option in this market segment.

FP Markets’ deposit and withdrawal process is straightforward. In our testing, card deposits credited within minutes and our AUD bank withdrawal arrived under 24 hours — faster than the stated 1–2 business days. The one cost to flag is the USD 25 international wire withdrawal fee — if you regularly withdraw to an overseas account, this adds up over time.

FP Markets was founded in Sydney in 2005 and holds one of Australia’s earliest ASIC licences for a retail forex and CFD broker. The primary Australian entity is First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd, licensed under AFSL 286354. This is the entity Australian retail clients use — verify it at connectonline.asic.gov.au.

We disclose two 2026 developments for full transparency. Neither changes our safety assessment for Australian clients, but both deserve honest mention.

CySEC Fine (early 2026): First Prudential Markets Ltd — the European entity — settled a €100,000 fine with CySEC related to potential CFD compliance breaches. This applies exclusively to the European entity. The Australian entity (AFSL 286354) has no enforcement actions on record in 21 years and is not affected.

Workforce Restructure (April 2026): FP Markets reduced its global workforce by approximately 7% as part of an organisational review. Trading operations were not affected. We are monitoring support response times over subsequent months for any impact.

Being honest here — FP Markets is not for everyone. It is a strong ECN broker with a genuinely unique platform offering, but the IRESS fee structure and thin research tools create real trade-offs for specific user types.