The short version
We open and fund a real account with our own money. We test the platform, the fees, the support, and the withdrawal flow. We score against the same rubric every time. We re-verify quarterly. No provider can pay to change a score.
Stage 1: Account opening
Every review starts with us opening a fresh retail account from a clean browser, ideally from a different jurisdiction than our last test of the same broker. We time the form, note any friction in the KYC process, and record how long verification actually takes (not what the marketing pages claim).
We score account opening on three things: time to a funded account, clarity of the suitability assessment, and the quality of the onboarding tour. A broker that gets you trading in 15 minutes but skips a real risk warning gets a worse score than one that takes 24 hours but explains what a CFD actually is.
Stage 2: Fee verification
Published fee schedules are starting points, not facts. We execute real trades and record the actual cost, including spread, commission, swap, and any FX conversion that the broker quietly charges on the way in or out. We then build a cost scenario based on a typical user profile (for that broker's category) and compare it against the four nearest competitors.
For brokers offering both real shares and CFDs on the same instrument, we test both routes. The difference is often more than the headline marketing implies.
Stage 3: Platform testing
We test the web platform, the iOS app, and the Android app. Each one is scored on order entry speed, charting depth, alert systems, watchlist quality, and how cleanly it handles a position from open to close.
We also stress-test mobile execution during the US market open, which is when most retail platforms slow down. A broker whose app freezes on a single trade at 9:30 ET loses points that the marketing video does not show.
Stage 4: Customer support
We contact support anonymously twice during the test period: once with a simple question (what is the overnight rate on this instrument?) and once with a harder one (a deliberately misformatted withdrawal that requires the agent to think). We time the first response, the resolution, and grade the answer for accuracy.
Phone support, where offered, is tested separately by calling during off-peak and peak hours. Tier-restricted support (gold, platinum, etc.) is noted in the review but not used to inflate the score for a retail user who will never see it.
Stage 5: Withdrawal test
We always withdraw funds before publishing. This is the single most important test we run, because a broker that makes deposits effortless and withdrawals difficult is a broker that should not be on this site.
We record the withdrawal flow (how many clicks, what documents requested), the time to receipt, any fees applied, and whether the amount that lands matches the amount we requested. Failed or delayed withdrawals are flagged in the review regardless of how good the rest of the platform is.
Stage 6: Regulatory verification
Every regulator claim made by the broker is checked against the public register of the relevant regulator (FCA, CySEC, ASIC, FinCEN, BaFin, MAS, ASIC, etc.). We verify the entity name, the licence number, and the scope of activities the licence covers.
We also check whether the entity onboarding our account is the same one that holds the licence we are quoting, since some brokers operate multiple entities and route lower-tier clients to less-regulated ones. This is the single most overlooked check in published broker reviews.
How the score is calculated
Each broker is graded on a 100-point scale across five categories, then converted to a 5-star score for display:
- Fees and value (25 points): verified cost vs category average.
- Platform and tools (25 points): web, mobile, charting, order types.
- Account and product range (20 points): minimum deposit, supported instruments, account types.
- Trust and regulation (20 points): regulator quality, segregation, compensation, financial transparency.
- Customer experience (10 points): support, withdrawal, onboarding.
The same rubric is applied to every product in a category. A bank app and a CFD broker are not scored against each other; an app is compared to other apps, a CFD broker to other CFD brokers.
How often we update
Every review carries a "last updated" date. We re-verify the headline fees and regulatory status of each product at least once a quarter, and immediately whenever a provider changes pricing, opens or closes a market, or has a material change in regulatory status.
Older reviews that have not been re-verified within 90 days are flagged at the top of the page until they are.
What we do not do
- We do not accept payment for positive reviews.
- We do not accept payment for higher rankings.
- We do not allow providers to review or approve our copy before publication.
- We do not score products we have not personally opened an account with.
- We do not publish "Top X" lists where the order is determined by commission.
Corrections and feedback
We get things wrong sometimes. If you spot a factual error in a review, please email [email protected] and we will fix it (with a dated note at the top of the article if the change is material). We treat reader corrections seriously and credit them when the correction holds up.