There are eight USA regulated forex brokers of which four offer the most popular trading platform (MetaTrader). We compared these four providers to find the best MetaTrader 4 broker and MetaTrader 5 broker based on each provider’s spreads, tradable markets and technical features.
Our recommended brokers for the MetaTrader platform are:
- OANDA – Best MT4 Broker In U.S.
- FOREX.com – Best MT5 Broker In U.S.
- TastyFx – Best for beginner U.S. traders
- Trading.com – Great trading app
Who are the best MetaTrader brokers in the U.S.?
We found that OANDA is the best broker for MT4, while Forex.com is the best MT5 broker. Both of these brokers are under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the National Futures Association (NFA).
1. OANDA – best MetaTrader 4 broker in U.S.
We rated OANDA the best MT4 broker based on the broker’s range of markets, competitive spreads and customer service.
Low spreads with no commission
OANDA is a low-spread, no-commission forex broker. This means the broker doesn’t charge commission, but instead, marks up the spreads when trading. This makes it easier to calculate brokerage when trading and is preferred by most U.S. forex traders. The table below shows OANDA’s spreads across the six most-traded currency pairs.
Forex Pair | Average spread | Low Range | High Range |
EUR/USD | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.7 |
USD/JPY | 1.6 | 1.2 | 2.0 |
GBP/USD | 1.7 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
AUD/USD | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
USD/CAD | 1.7 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
EUR/GBP | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
68 Forex pairs available to trade
OANDA offers nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week forex trading on MetaTrader 4 across all the major currency pairs. The exact hours of operation (ET time) are Sunday 17:05 to Friday 16:59. Support channels are available during similar times (e.g., phone support), but it should be noted that LiveChat is available 24/7.
When it comes to tradable markets, OANDA offers trading on all the major forex pairs, most of the minor currency pairs and even some of the exotics. This is ideal for traders looking to trade more niche currencies. Leverage available for retail traders when trading major currency pairs is up to 50:1.
Enhanced MT4 platform tools
A unique feature OANDA offers is its proprietary MT4 plug-in. This is a technical analysis package available for U.S. traders to:
- Set up automated alerts based on prespecified pattern analysis.
- Access intraday market scanning.
- Directly execute trades from the interface.
- Set up automatic pattern quality and chart recognition indicators.
OANDA’s MT4 premium upgrade adds 28 advanced technical indicators and tools to enhance trading capabilities. The OANDA Connect plugin provides traders with an analytics dashboard, economic calendar, market news and sentiment data. These tools are designed to support informed decision-making and deeper market insights.
CompareForexBroker’s co-founder Justin Grossbard explained that the Tick Chart Trader tool is a highlight. “Tick Chart Trader is ideal for short-term traders seeking quick entries and exits,” he said. “Swift actions let you take advantage of tiny price movements, crucial for scalping and similar strategies.”
2. FOREX.com – Tight average spreads
Through FXBlue, FOREX.com adds nine Expert Advisor (EA) bots to MetaTrader 4 and 5, plus four additional features. This, combined with low average trading costs, makes Forex.com an excellent choice. The broker offers Raw and Standard Accounts on MT5, but only Standard on MT4.
Using MetaTrader platforms with Forex.com
FOREX.com offers MetaTrader 4 and 5, extending both with third-party plug-ins. Plug-ins include Capitalise.ai and its in-house FXBlue add-ons.
Capitalise.ai lets you create automated trading strategies using plain English, with no coding required. Simply tell the tool what you want, like entry requirements or risk management rules, and it creates the algorithmic trading robots for you.
FOREX.com also offers four unique features, plus nine additional EAs through their FXBlue package. This includes the Sentiment Trader EA, delivering live sentiment data from FXBlue’s other users.
You also have the Correlation Matrix, a color-coded reference of live correlations. Coupled with FOREX.com’s Correlation Trader, this makes finding divergences between assets much simpler.
Low spreads
Forex.com offers a Standard Account and a Raw Account. MT4 traders can only use the Standard Account.
On the Standard Account, the broker is the market maker, so they set the spreads. Fortunately, these spreads are reliably tight. Across the five most common pairs, the broker averaged 1.72 pips – better than the industry standard. You should be able to keep trading costs low with this account, especially as there’s no commission.
The Raw Account is available with MetaTrader 5. As this is an Electronic Communication Network (ECN)-style account, you get spreads straight from liquidity providers, so they’re much tighter, starting from 0.0 pips on EUR/USD.
Commissions for the Raw Account are $7.00 per side of $14.00 round-turn. This commission is always the same regardless of whether you trade AUD/USD, GBP/CHF or EUR/USD. If you’re a high-volume trader, you can reduce these commissions by up to $10-per-million-traded on the Active Trader Program.
Strong education area
All the top brokers and best prop trading firms in the U.S. provide learning resources, but Forex.com’s are better than most. Their extensive Trading Academy offers 13 Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses, with a useful quiz to help you find the right level. There are also platform-specific video tutorials and Live Events with trading experts. For example, Forex Price Action events run each Tuesday with senior strategist James Stanley.
3. TastyFx – Best MT4 broker for beginners
TastyFX adds 12 features to MT4, and an exclusive virtual private server (VPS) for low-latency trading. You can trade commission-free on 80+ forex markets, with spreads starting from 0.8 pips on popular pairs.
Using MetaTrader 4 with TastyFx
The broker’s exclusive VPS accelerates order execution speed. Fast trade execution ensures you don’t experience any nasty pricing surprises through slippage. The VPS also lets you run automated strategies across different time zones.
TastyFx adds six indicators and 12 add-ons for MT4. The High-Low indicator is particularly useful, transposing historic high- and low-points at a timeframe of your choosing. The Connect add-on is also strong, providing real-time currency updates from DailyFX.
Other valuable features include Autochartist’s AI-powered chart analysis, helping you spot potential patterns and trading opportunities. TastyFx employs an MT4-focused support team on a 24/5 basis. You get platform-specific support whenever you need it, throughout the trading week.
Gentle introduction for beginner traders
TastyFx’s demo account lets you make practice trades with $10,000 in virtual funds, without risking real money. Even better is the demo’s support for TastyFx’s Signal Center, providing real-time trading signals to your practice session, just like in live markets.
When you start trading on the live account, the minimum deposit requirement is only $100. The comprehensive selection of 20+ online lessons also eases the transition between the demo and the live trading account.
4. Trading.com – Great broker for MetaTrader 5
Trading.com offers the upgraded MT5 platform, with its additional 38-plus indicators and improved backtesting tools, but not MT4. The commission-free spreads on 69 forex pairs are some of the lowest for this account type. Meanwhile, the user-friendly T1 interface brings multiple features together.
Using MetaTrader 5 with Trading.com
The broker doesn’t offer additional enhancements to MT5, but the updated MetaTrader platform is already strong. It has 38-plus more indicators than its predecessor, plus valuable additional features like the native economic calendar.
Applying this calendar to your charts lets you quickly see which upcoming events may impact your positions. This is useful for avoiding sudden spikes or drops, helping you stay informed when trading.
MT5’s backtesting tools are also upgraded from MT4, adding more timeframes for testing strategies against historical data. You can test with multiple forex pairs simultaneously, examining how strategies would have performed on live markets.
Testing is an important step before launching a trading bot for real, so great backtesting tools are crucial. This is especially true on MT5, which encourages EA usage.
Good forex range and pricing
The broker’s range of 69 forex pairs supports diverse currency trading. You have all the majors, plus less common pairs, like GBP/MXN and ZAR/JPY, among others.
Trading.com’s T1 Standard Account is commission-free, with competitive spreads for this account type. Spreads on the commonly traded EUR/USD can be below a single pip, averaging 1.3.
The lowest-cost minor is the EUR/GBP, starting at 1.4 pips. Less commonly traded pairs carry significantly higher spreads and are aimed at advanced traders.
A range of features in a single interface
Trading.com gives you a streamlined trading experience. On the T1 account, you’ll find educational resources in the extensive Learning Center. There’s also the News & Research Portal, for staying on top of market developments and Trading.com’s market analysis and trading tools.
More experienced traders might prefer more advanced tools. But beginners and lower-intermediate traders will value having all this together in one place.
Frequently asked trading questions
Is CFD trading permitted in the U.S.?
No, trading CFDs is not permitted for retail traders in the U.S. Other order types of derivatives, like spot forex trading, are permitted through retail investor accounts. Professional traders may have access to CFDs.
What other third-party trading platforms are available?
TradingView and cTrader are also popular trading platform options, offering technical analysis tools and good trading environments. You can view the full list of the best forex brokers in the U.S. here.
Does MetaQuotes software have a mobile app?
Yes, both MT4 and MT5 are available as Android or iOS trading apps on mobile.
OANDA Corporation is authorized to provide specific financial services and is regulated by the CFTC/NFA. OANDA is a member firm of the NFA (Member ID: 0325821). CFDs like foreign currency contracts for difference are not available to U.S. residents.
Trading on leverage always increases the risk you face and can result in losing money quickly. We advise that you consider very carefully whether leveraged trading, or any form of trading, is right for you. Seek independent financial advice and ensure you fully understand the risks involved before you begin trading.
