XM is where a lot of traders open their first live account, and it’s easy to see why. You can start with five dollars, trade positions small enough to risk a few cents, and learn from free daily webinars in your own language. The catch is cost. On the Standard account, XM is one of the more expensive brokers we review, especially on gold. And the bonuses that attract many new traders come with rules worth reading twice.
What we like
- $5 minimum deposit on the main accounts
- Micro accounts for very small position sizes
- Free daily webinars in more than 20 languages
- Fast e-wallet withdrawals and many local payment methods
- MT4, MT5 and an app with TradingView charts
What to watch
- Standard account spreads well above average
- Gold is expensive on Standard
- Bonuses come with restrictive conditions
- Most global clients sit with an offshore entity
- Trustpilot has suspended XM’s rating
XM at a glance
2009 · operating company Trading Point, based in Cyprus
CySEC, DFSA, FSCA, CMA Kenya, FSC Belize, FSC Mauritius, FSA Seychelles, BVI FSC
Micro, Standard, Ultra Low, Shares · Zero for EU clients only
$5 (Micro, Standard, Ultra Low) · $10,000 (Shares)
About 2.0 pips Standard · about 1.1 pips Ultra Low
None on Micro, Standard and Ultra Low
1:30 under CySEC and DFSA · up to 1:1000 offshore
MT4, MT5, XM app and web platform with TradingView charts
$10 a month after 90 days without activity
United States, Canada, Israel, Iran and sanctioned countries
Why XM is popular with beginners
Two things make XM different from most brokers on our list: the $5 minimum deposit and the Micro account.
On a normal account, one lot is 100,000 units of currency, and the smallest trade is 0.01 lots, or 1,000 units. On EUR/USD that is ten cents per pip. On an XM Micro account, one lot is only 1,000 units. So the smallest trade, 0.01 micro lots, is just 10 units. A pip is worth a tenth of a cent.
RISKING 1% OF A $100 ACCOUNT = $1
Stop loss: 20 pips on EUR/USD
Standard account
Smallest size 0.01 lot = $0.10 per pip
20 pips × $0.10 = $2.00 → too big (2%)
Micro account
0.50 micro lots (500 units) = $0.05 per pip
20 pips × $0.05 = $1.00 → exactly 1%
That matters more than it looks. Most beginners blow small accounts because the smallest trade their broker allows is already too big for their balance. A Micro account lets you practise proper position sizing with real money, even if you only have a hundred dollars. Our lot size calculator does the maths.
Which XM entity will hold your account?
Like Vantage and AvaTrade, XM is a group of companies with different licences. Which one you join depends on where you live.
| Entity | Regulator | Max leverage |
|---|---|---|
| Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd | CySEC, Cyprus (120/10) | 1:30 |
| Trading Point MENA Ltd | DFSA, Dubai (F003484) | 1:30 |
| XM ZA (Pty) Ltd | FSCA, South Africa (49976) | Up to 1:1000 |
| TPXMGLOBAL Kenya Ltd | CMA, Kenya | Up to 1:400 |
| XM Global Ltd | FSC, Belize | Up to 1:1000 |
| XM International MU Ltd | FSC, Mauritius | Up to 1:1000 |
| XM (SC) Ltd | FSA, Seychelles | Up to 1:1000 |
EU clients get CySEC rules and an investor compensation scheme of up to €20,000. Most clients in South Asia, Africa and Latin America are onboarded by XM Global, licensed in Belize. All entities say they segregate client funds and offer negative balance protection. But Belize, Mauritius and Seychelles are light-touch regulators with no compensation scheme. The question to ask is always the same: which company is named on your client agreement? Check it in our licence checker.
The accounts, and the one to choose
| Account | Minimum | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro | $5 | Spread from 1.6 pips, no commission | 1 lot = 1,000 units · bonus-eligible |
| Standard | $5 | Spread from 1.6 pips, no commission | Bonus-eligible |
| Ultra Low | $5 | Spread from 0.8 pips, no commission | No bonuses · swap-free available |
| Shares | $10,000 | Real shares, no leverage | MT5 only |
| Zero | — | Raw spread + $7 per lot round turn | EU clients only |
For almost everyone outside the EU, the answer is Ultra Low. It has the same $5 minimum, no commission and spreads roughly half of Standard. You give up bonus eligibility, which, as you’ll see below, is no great loss. Ultra Low also comes in a micro version, so small accounts don’t have to choose between low costs and small position sizes.
What trading actually costs
XM’s Standard EUR/USD spread averaged 2.0 pips in FXEmpire’s September 2025 test, against an industry average of about 1.1. XM’s own published average for Ultra Low was 1.1 pips in April 2026. For one standard lot of EUR/USD:
2.0 pips × $10, no commission
1.1 pips × $10, no commission
Even Ultra Low is not cheap. For comparison, the same trade costs about $9.30 on AvaTrade and about $7.27 on Vantage’s Raw ECN account. XM doesn’t offer a raw-spread account outside the EU, so active traders have no cheaper option.
Gold on XM
Gold is where the Standard account hurts most. FXEmpire measured XM’s Standard gold spread at about 38 cents, against an industry average of around 25 cents. One lot of gold is 100 ounces, so that is about $38 per lot, every time you open a trade. Ultra Low narrows that considerably. If you trade gold, Ultra Low isn’t a recommendation, it’s a requirement. Our gold contract specs lesson explains how to read gold spreads in dollars.
Swaps and other fees
Overnight swaps on XM are about average for the industry. Ultra Low has slightly cheaper swaps than Standard, and a swap-free option is available. Deposits and withdrawals are free for most methods. Bank wires under $200 may carry charges from the bank. The inactivity fee is $10 a month once an account has been dormant for 90 days, milder than AvaTrade’s, but still worth avoiding by withdrawing before you take a break.
Bonuses: read this first
On its global entities, XM is well known for bonuses. These have included a small no-deposit welcome credit, a deposit bonus of 50% on the first $500 and 20% after that up to a cap, and a loyalty points programme. They are not offered to EU or Dubai clients.
Bonus money is trading credit, not cash. You can’t withdraw it, only profits made with it, and withdrawing money usually removes some or all of the bonus. Bonuses are only available on Micro and Standard, the expensive accounts. And many of the angriest XM reviews online involve profits cancelled under bonus rules or because accounts were linked by the same device or network.
Our view is simple. A bonus makes your account look bigger than it is, and that encourages trading bigger than you should. Choose Ultra Low and trade your own money. The spread you save is worth more over a year than any bonus, and there are no conditions attached to it.
Leverage up to 1:1000
XM’s offshore entities allow leverage of up to 1:1000. As we said in our other reviews, high leverage does not make a trade riskier or safer. It only lowers the margin needed to open it, which makes oversized trades easy. On a $5 account with 1:1000 leverage, it is technically possible to open a position that one bad move wipes out completely. Size from your stop loss and a fixed percentage of your balance, and the leverage setting stops mattering. The leverage and margin risk lesson explains why.
Platforms and copy trading
- MT4 and MT5 — the standard MetaTrader platforms, with expert advisors, custom indicators and MQL5 signals.
- XM app and web platform — built on TradingView charts, with chart trading and a clean design. Comfortable for beginners.
- Copy trading — XM has its own copy trading service in the app, where you choose a strategy manager and allocate funds. Myfxbook AutoTrade also works with XM accounts.
There’s no cTrader and no trailing stop on the web platform. For most traders, MT4 or MT5 plus the app covers everything.
XM supports MT4 and MT5, so it works with Telegram Trade Linker. Each of our signals has one entry, one stop loss and one take profit, and TTL copies them straight into your account. On XM, use the Ultra Low account for signal trading, especially gold. And if you use a Micro account, remember that one lot there is 1,000 units, so check your copier’s lot settings before going live.
Education: XM’s real strength
This is where XM stands out. It runs free live webinars every day in more than 20 languages, presented by dozens of instructors, plus video tutorials, guides, an economic calendar, Reuters news and Trading Central analysis. For a beginner who learns better in their own language than in English, very few brokers offer as much.
Pair it with our free Trading Academy, which covers everything from your first pip to risk management.
Deposits, withdrawals and reputation
XM supports cards, e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller, local bank transfers and mobile banking in many countries, and crypto deposits on some entities. E-wallet withdrawals are often processed the same day. Cards and bank transfers take two to five business days. Withdrawals go back to the method you deposited with.
One unusual point: Trustpilot currently shows no rating for XM. It has suspended the score, saying it found a breach of its guidelines, and has removed fake reviews. That doesn’t tell us who posted them, but it does mean the star rating is no help in judging XM. Among the reviews still visible, the complaints follow familiar lines: stalled withdrawals, extra verification requests, deposits that took time to appear, and profits cancelled under bonus or multi-account rules.
XM has been in business since 2009 with a very large client base, so complaints are expected. Our practical advice is the same as for every broker: verify your identity fully at the start, keep one account per person and device, don’t take bonuses, and make a small test withdrawal early.
Who XM suits — and who it doesn’t
A good fit if you…
- are starting with a small account and want micro position sizes
- want to start from as little as $5
- learn best from live webinars in your own language
- use MT4 or MT5 and copy signals with TTL
- will use the Ultra Low account
Look elsewhere if you…
- trade gold heavily on a Standard account
- need raw spreads and commission pricing outside the EU
- want the protection of a top-tier regulator but live outside the EU
- are attracted mainly by the bonus
- might leave the account dormant for months
How we scored XM
4.8
4.7
4.3
4.0
3.8
3.5
Overall: 4.2 / 5. XM is excellent for getting started: $5 minimum, micro lots and outstanding education. It loses points on cost, with Standard spreads well above average and expensive gold, and on the bonus model and the questions it raises.
The bottom line
XM is a good first broker, as long as you use it the right way. Open the Ultra Low account, not Standard. Say no to the bonus. Use micro lots to keep each trade’s risk to 1% while your account is small. Done like that, XM gives a beginner almost everything they need for very little money.
As your account and trading volume grow, XM’s costs start to matter more. That is the point to compare it with the raw-spread brokers on our best broker list.
Frequently asked questions
Is XM a safe and regulated broker?
XM is regulated by CySEC in the EU and the DFSA in Dubai, plus the FSCA in South Africa, the CMA in Kenya and offshore regulators in Belize, Mauritius and Seychelles. EU clients have up to €20,000 of investor compensation. Most other clients are with XM Global in Belize, which has lighter rules and no compensation scheme.
What is the minimum deposit at XM?
$5 for the Micro, Standard and Ultra Low accounts. The Shares account needs $10,000.
Which XM account is best?
Ultra Low, for most traders outside the EU. It has the same $5 minimum as Standard, no commission and spreads roughly half as wide. It isn’t eligible for bonuses, but the savings are worth more.
What is an XM Micro account?
An account where one lot is 1,000 units instead of 100,000. The smallest trade is 10 units, so a pip on EUR/USD is worth a tenth of a cent. It lets small accounts size trades properly.
Can I withdraw the XM bonus?
No. Bonus credit can only be used for trading. Profits made with it can be withdrawn, but withdrawing funds usually removes some or all of the bonus. Bonuses are not offered to EU or Dubai clients.
Does XM work with MT4, MT5 and Telegram signals?
Yes. XM supports MT4 and MT5, so Telegram Trade Linker can copy signals into your account automatically. If you use a Micro account, check the copier’s lot settings, since one micro lot is 1,000 units.
CFDs and leveraged forex carry a high risk of losing money quickly, and most retail accounts lose money. This review is for information only and is not financial advice. Our scores are not affected by any affiliate relationship. Broker conditions change, so confirm current terms on XM’s website before you deposit.
