Data, sources and limits
Here is how the table above is produced. No position is assigned by hand: each one is computed from facts with a source, using the criteria and weights set out below. Those are identical on every site we run, so no platform can be lifted by tuning them for a single page.
What we measure and how much it counts
| Criterion | Weight | Better when |
|---|---|---|
| Allowed to serve clients in the country | 3.0 | higher is better |
| Swap-free (Islamic) account | 2.0 | higher is better |
| EURUSD spread, commission-free account | 2.0 | lower is better |
| Local deposit and withdrawal methods | 1.5 | higher is better |
| Licence from the local regulator | 1.5 | higher is better |
| Trading platforms | 1.0 | higher is better |
| Minimum deposit | 0.0 | lower is better |
| Maximum leverage | 0.0 | higher is better |
| Commission per round turn | 0.0 | lower is better |
| Operating since | 0.0 | lower is better |
Two companion pages: XM and OctaFX.
Turning criteria into a score
Each column is scored relative to the field, not to some ideal we made up: the best value in it takes 1, the worst takes 0, everything else lands proportionally between. Those numbers are weighted as above, then divided by the total weight of the criteria actually known for that platform, and presented out of five.
What happens when data is missing
A platform with fewer than 3 known criteria is not given a position at all. It is listed separately as insufficient data. This matters: without that rule, a platform we simply know little about would sink to the bottom and appear to be the worst one, which would say more about our research than about the platform.
Where a value is unknown it shows as a dash rather than a guess, and the criterion is left out of that platform's score instead of being counted as zero.
Provenance
Each value carries a named source and a check date. Where a figure came from an independent review instead of the platform's own material, our records say so, and it is verified again before we publish.
We are paid a commission on accounts opened through our links. It changes nothing in the table — the weights are published above and the arithmetic does not know who pays.