HF Markets review

Spread from

0.0 pips

EUR/USD spread

Approx. 0.1 pips, Zero

GBP/USD spread

Approx. 0.3 pips, Zero

Commission

From $3 per side / $6 round turn, Zero

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.7 pips

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Both: overnight swaps apply; swap-free trading available on eligible instruments

Inactivity fee

$5/month after 6 months inactivity, increasing over longer periods

Currency conversion

Currency conversion applies where currencies differ

Cost is where brokers in the same regulatory bracket actually differ.

A quoted spread from 0.0 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

HF Markets lists a minimum deposit of $0. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Markets

Forex, Metals, Energies, Indices, Shares, Commodities, Bonds, ETFs, Cryptocurrencies

Currency pairs

50+

Total instruments

1,000+

Crypto CFDs

Yes

Maximum leverage

1:30

Execution model

Market execution

Execution speed

Approx. 120ms

Order types

Market, limit, stop, stop-limit, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop

Servers

London and other global financial data centres

Leverage is capped at 1:30, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation. It is a protection rather than a restriction: it caps how quickly a position can move against your balance.

HF Markets covers forex, metals, energies, indices, shares, commodities, bonds, etfs, cryptocurrencies. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: visa, mastercard, bank transfer, skrill, neteller, crypto and regional/local payment methods. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, HFM WebTrader, HFM Platform

Own platform

Yes, HFM Platform/WebTrader

Mobile app

Both proprietary and third-party

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes; Expert Advisors and automated trading supported

Copy trading

Yes, HFM Copy Trading

Indicators

100+ through TradingView integration; 30+ MT4; 38+ MT5

Third-party tools

TradingView, Autochartist, VPS, Premium Trader Tools

API access

Yes, institutional/API solutions

MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.

MetaTrader 5 handles more asset classes and order types than MT4, but expert advisors are not compatible between the two - an MT4 EA will not run on it.

Regulated by

FCA (801701); CySEC (183/12); FSCA (46632); Seychelles FSA (SD015); CMA Kenya (155); DFSA (F004885); Mauritius FSC (C110008214)

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

FCA Financial Services Register, FRN 801701

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Major regulated banking institutions

Negative balance protection

Yes

Compensation scheme

FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients

Audited by

Independent external auditors

Not available to

United States, Canada, Sudan, Syria, Iran, North Korea, UAE, Türkiye and other restricted jurisdictions

Across a hundred brokers, the licence is what separates the field fastest.

HF Markets holds tier-one authorisations from FCA and CySEC. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

It also operates an offshore entity (FSC and FSA). Which one you are onboarded to depends on where you live, and the two carry very different protections - worth confirming before you deposit.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

CySEC licences passport across the EU and follow the 1:30 retail leverage cap, with the Investor Compensation Fund covering eligible claims.

The FSCA licenses derivative providers in South Africa without a fixed retail leverage cap, so headline leverage is often higher than an FCA or ASIC entity may offer.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Major regulated banking institutions. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Negative balance protection applies, so a losing position cannot take the account below zero and leave you owing the broker money.

Covered by FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: the FCA Register, the CySEC register of investment firms, the FSCA list of regulated entities, the Seychelles FSA list of regulated entities, the DFSA public register, the Mauritius FSC register of licensees.

Minimum deposit

$0

Account types

InfinityX, Cent, Zero, Pro, Premium, Copy Trading, Demo

Account currencies

USD, EUR, NGN, JPY, THB, IDR, GHS, USC for Cent

Islamic account

Yes

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Yes

Minimum trade size

0.01 lots

Time to open

Typically a few minutes

HF Markets runs 7 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: USD, EUR, NGN, JPY, THB, IDR, GHS, USC for Cent. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is 0.01 lots. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Deposit methods

Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, crypto and regional/local payment methods

Withdrawal methods

Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, e-wallets, crypto and supported regional methods

Deposit time

Cards up to 10 minutes; e-wallets instant-10 minutes; bank transfer 2-7 business days

Withdrawal time

Instant-24 hours for many alternative methods; cards/bank transfer 2-10 business days

Minimum withdrawal

$5

Local payment methods

Multiple regional bank transfers, e-wallets, mobile payments and country-specific payment methods

Withdrawals are stated at Instant-24 hours for many alternative methods; cards/bank transfer 2-10 business days, against Cards up to 10 minutes; e-wallets instant-10 minutes; bank transfer 2-7 business days for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: visa, mastercard, bank transfer, e-wallets, crypto and supported regional methods. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is $5 - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Support hours

24/5

Contact channels

Live chat, email, phone

Languages

27+ languages

Telephone

+44 203 097 8571

Email

support@hfm.com

Live chat response

Typically under 2 minutes

Education

Extensive: webinars, educational videos, courses, tutorials, ebooks, podcasts and trading guides

Research

Extensive: market analysis, Autochartist, trading calculators, technical analysis and market news

Support runs 24/5. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by live chat, email, phone. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: 27+ languages. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: webinars, educational videos, courses, tutorials, ebooks, podcasts and trading guides. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Legal entity

HF Markets (Seychelles) Ltd

Company number

8419176-1

Headquarters

Limassol, Cyprus

Founded

2010

Publicly listed

No

Parent company

HF Markets Group

Employees

500+

Also trades as

HFM; HF Markets; HotForex

HF Markets has been trading for around 16 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

The contracting entity is HF Markets (Seychelles) Ltd. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of HF Markets Group. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.