IC Markets is known as one of the tightest-spread Forex brokers, but what you actually pay depends on the account type, the platform and how long you hold. So when you assess IC Markets trading fees, the “spread from 0.0 pips” headline is not the number to judge it by.
This guide breaks IC Markets trading fees into three layers — spread, commission and the overnight fee — and compares every account type to show what a single lot really costs.
Backcom.io converts commission into pips, works through the cost of 1 lot of EUR/USD, and pins down exactly when swap is charged in UTC.
IC Markets Trading Fees by Account Type
IC Markets trading fees come from three places: spread is the Bid–Ask gap, commission is a fixed charge on Raw accounts, and swap is the overnight fee when you hold past rollover. Standard charges no commission but quotes a wider spread; Raw Spread starts at 0.0 pips and charges by volume instead.
| Account | Spread from | Commission/lot/side | Round turn | Min deposit | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 0.8 pips | $0 | $0 | $0 | MT4/MT5 |
| Raw Spread | 0.0 pips | $3.5 | $7 | $0 | MT4/MT5 |
| Raw Spread cTrader | 0.0 pips | $3 per 100,000 USD | about $6 per 100,000 USD | $0 | cTrader/TradingView |
| Raw Pro | 0.0 pips | $1.5 | $3 | $5,000 | MT4/MT5 |
| Raw Pro+ | 0.0 pips | $1 | $2 | $100,000 | MT4/MT5 |
Raw Pro and Raw Pro+ carry noticeably lower commission but demand far more capital, so they are not realistic options for most retail traders.
“Spread From” Is Not the Average Spread
A quoted 0.0 pips is the lowest level that can appear in good liquidity — not a fixed rate. The US Securities and Exchange Commission defines the bid-ask spread as the gap between the best buying and selling price, and that gap moves with the order book. Real spreads move continuously with liquidity, the trading session, the instrument and news flow.
Compare average spread + commission, not the advertised minimum.
If the mechanics are new to you, start with what forex spread is.
IC Markets Spread: Majors, Gold and Indices
Spread is charged the instant you open a position. On Standard most of the cost is already baked into the spread; Raw Spread quotes rawer pricing and bills commission separately. That is why IC Markets trading fees have to be judged on total cost rather than spread alone.
Spread on EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY
Per IC Markets’ published data, EUR/USD on a Raw account averages around 0.1 pips, with the floor reaching 0.0 pips. Market surveys through 2026 still place IC Markets among the tighter Raw brokers on the majors.
| Pair | Raw Spread (reference) | Standard (reference) |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | about 0.0–0.1 pips | from about 0.8 pips |
| GBP/USD | varies with the market | higher than Raw |
| USD/JPY | varies with the market | higher than Raw |
Spread is live data. The table illustrates the pricing structure — it is not a fixed rate.
Gold and Index Spreads at IC Markets
XAU/USD is heavily traded, so its spread deserves checking on its own. Unlike EUR/USD, gold spreads swing hard with liquidity and widen sharply around major US data releases.
| Instrument | Spread behaviour | Check before you trade |
|---|---|---|
| XAU/USD | Floating, widens on US data | Live spread in Market Watch and Contract Size |
| US30 | Tracks US exchange hours; wider outside them | Tick Size and Tick Value in Specification |
| NAS100 | High volatility, usually wider than FX | Index trading hours and the live spread |
Check the live spread before entering rather than assuming the level you saw in calm conditions still applies.
When Does the IC Markets Spread Widen?
- Thin liquidity: the early Asian session and session handovers push Bid and Ask further apart.
- Major news: NFP, CPI, FOMC rate decisions or unscheduled Fed remarks can blow the spread out within seconds.
- Rollover: the daily changeover usually runs thinner than normal, so spreads widen.
Cross-reference Forex trading hours in UTC to avoid the windows where cost works against you. Tight spreads do not mean IC Markets trading fees are low at every moment of the day.
A practical test costs nothing: open the account type you intend to fund, enable the Spread column in Market Watch, and log the reading at four points — the Asian open, the London session, the London–New York overlap, and the seconds around a scheduled release. The average of those four is your realistic cost. Comparing that against the advertised floor tells you more than any review.
IC Markets Commission: Who Pays and How Much per Lot
Commission applies mainly to the Raw family. It is also where new traders most often trip up — specifically on the difference between per side and round turn.
Commission by Platform
| Account | To open | To close | Round turn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw Spread MT4/MT5 | $3.5/lot | $3.5/lot | $7/lot |
| Raw cTrader | about $3 per 100k | about $3 per 100k | about $6 per 100k |
| Raw Pro | $1.5/lot | $1.5/lot | $3/lot |
| Raw Pro+ | $1/lot | $1/lot | $2/lot |
| Standard | $0 | $0 | $0 |
The key point: $3.5 is not the total for the trade. On 1 lot of EUR/USD via Raw Spread MT5 you pay $3.5 to open and $3.5 to close — $7 round turn. Trade 0.1 lot and it scales down to roughly $0.35 per side, $0.70 round turn.
Why cTrader Commission Is Quoted Differently
One detail causes more confusion than any other line in the IC Markets trading fees table: MetaTrader accounts quote commission per lot, while cTrader quotes it per 100,000 USD of notional traded. On a standard EUR/USD lot those happen to be the same size, because 1 lot is 100,000 units of the base currency.
They stop matching the moment the base currency is not USD. Trade 1 lot of GBP/USD and the notional is 100,000 GBP, worth more than 100,000 USD — so the cTrader charge scales with the converted value rather than the lot count. Model your own pairs rather than assuming the two schedules are interchangeable.
Commission in Pips: Is Raw Really Cheaper Than Standard?
Convert commission into pips to compare fairly. On EUR/USD, 1 pip on a standard lot is about $10, and Raw Spread MT5 charges $7 round turn:
$7 ÷ $10 per pip = 0.7 pips → 0.1 pip spread + 0.7 pip commission ≈ 0.8 pips all-in
Standard charges no commission but starts around 0.8 pips and can run higher. In other words the two land in a similar place under normal conditions — the difference shows up in how predictable each one is.
That predictability is the real argument for Raw. Commission is a fixed, known number per lot, so only the spread portion moves. On Standard the entire cost floats, which means the gap between your modelled cost and your actual cost widens exactly when the market gets difficult. For a strategy running hundreds of trades a month, a cost you can forecast is worth more than one that is occasionally lower.
What Does 1 Lot of EUR/USD Cost?
| Account | Spread shown | Spread cost | Commission | Estimated total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 0.8 pips | ~$8 | $0 | ~$8 |
| Raw MT5 | 0.1 pips | ~$1 | $7 | ~$8 |
| Raw cTrader | 0.1 pips | ~$1 | ~$6 | ~$7 |
| Raw Pro | 0.1 pips | ~$1 | $3 | ~$4 |
| Raw Pro+ | 0.1 pips | ~$1 | $2 | ~$3 |
Illustration of the cost structure, not a fixed quote — spread moves with the market.
Raw Spread suits scalpers, EAs and high-volume traders thanks to the low entry spread and a commission structure that is easy to model. Standard suits anyone who prefers one number to track. To place these figures against the wider market, see the top low-spread Forex brokers.
IC Markets Overnight Fees: Timing, UTC and Triple Swap
The overnight fee is the most overlooked part of IC Markets trading fees, especially for anyone holding positions across several days. A strategy with low spread and low commission can still bleed capital if swap accrues night after night.
What Swap Is and How It Is Calculated
Swap is the interest credited or charged when a position rolls into the next trading day. In Forex it reflects the interest-rate differential between the two currencies plus the broker’s financing terms, so Swap Long and Swap Short differ — and one side can be positive.
IC Markets displays swap in points on MetaTrader; the platform then converts it into your account’s base currency.
Swap payable ≈ Swap points × value per point × number of lots × nights held
Do not lift a single swap figure and treat it as permanent — IC Markets publishes its swap rates and adjusts them with market funding conditions.
What Time Is Swap Charged?
Rollover is synchronised to the close of the New York trading day, which in UTC terms means:
- US summer time: around 21:00 UTC.
- US winter time: around 22:00 UTC.
The rule to remember is that swap depends on whether the position exists at rollover, not on holding it for a full 24 hours. A trade opened five minutes before rollover and closed shortly after can still be charged an overnight fee.
Wednesday Triple Swap
Per IC Markets’ published swap policy, FX, metals, bonds and commodity CFDs apply triple swap on Wednesday server time, covering the weekend rollover in advance.
Energies, Indices and Cryptocurrency run their triple swap on Friday instead — do not assume every product follows the FX calendar.
How to Check Swap on MT4/MT5 and cTrader
On MT4/MT5: Market Watch → select the instrument → right-click → Specification → read Swap Long and Swap Short. On cTrader, open the Symbol information panel to see the financing cost and contract details. This is the only reliable way to know the current figure before you commit. If the two MetaTrader versions are new to you, see the differences between MT4 and MT5.
The Islamic Swap-Free Account
IC Markets offers an Islamic swap-free account for eligible clients. But “swap-free” should not be read as holding any position indefinitely at no cost — certain instruments or holding periods can attract their own financing charge under the Islamic account terms. Check the conditions directly before relying on it.
Other IC Markets Fees to Know Before You Deposit
IC Markets operates through entities licensed by ASIC in Australia — a regulator that recommends reading the fee schedule and product terms carefully before trading CFDs. On non-trading costs, IC Markets does not charge deposit or withdrawal fees on many common payment methods.
Intermediary banks or payment providers can still charge their own fee, particularly on international transfers. The inactivity fee is currently recorded at $0, so a dormant account does not accrue a recurring charge.
One cost that is easy to overlook: if your funding currency differs from your account base currency, the conversion margin is applied by the bank or payment provider rather than by IC Markets. On a large deposit that can outweigh several months of spread. Comparing brokers? Put these numbers next to HFM trading fees and Vantage trading fees.
How to Reduce IC Markets Trading Fees
You do not need to change strategy to cut cost. Three levers matter most: the account you choose, how you handle rollover, and claiming part of the fee back through an IB rebate.
Match the Account to Your Trading Style
- Scalpers, EAs and high order counts: Raw Spread, for the low entry spread. Within that family, cTrader charges about $3 per 100,000 USD per side.
- Beginners or small lot sizes: Standard, because there is no separate commission to model.
- From $5,000: Raw Pro drops commission to $1.5 per lot per side if the account is available to you.
- Raw Pro+ goes to $1 per lot per side but demands very large capital, so it is a professional-tier option.
Work out your position size first using money management and lot sizing, so you know the cost per trade before you place it.
Control the Overnight Fee
If your strategy does not require carrying positions overnight, close before rollover — around 21:00 UTC in summer and 22:00 UTC in winter. Watch Wednesday especially for FX and metals, where the charge is tripled. Swing traders should build expected swap into the risk/reward plan rather than discovering it after the fact.
Claim Fees Back Through an IB Rebate
The broker pays an introducing-broker commission based on your trading activity, and part of it can be returned to you as cashback. That lowers your effective cost without changing spread, platform or strategy.
You can register through Backcom IC Markets to receive a rebate on eligible trades. The rate depends on the account, the instrument and the programme terms at the time — Standard and Raw can carry different rates. See how a Forex rebate is calculated per lot, or compare across brokers in the rebate comparison table.
Note: A rebate only reduces part of your trading cost. It does not reduce market risk and does not guarantee a profit.
Conclusion
IC Markets trading fees are not just the spread. Real cost is spread + commission + swap, added together.
- Standard is simple because there is no commission to track.
- Raw Spread suits traders who want tight pricing and per-lot cost control.
- Raw Pro and Raw Pro+ offer better commission but require serious capital.
For anyone holding positions across days, the overnight fee is the line to watch most closely — the rollover window around 21:00–22:00 UTC and triple swap on Wednesday for Forex, metals and several CFD groups.
Choosing the right account and using a rebate are the two most direct ways to cut cost without touching your strategy. Current cashback rates are on the Backcom IC Markets page so you can recalculate your real cost per lot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are IC Markets Trading Fees High Compared to Other Brokers?
No. IC Markets trading fees sit in the competitive group among Raw/ECN brokers, particularly on the majors. Raw Spread MetaTrader quotes from 0.0 pips with $3.5 per lot per side. Real cost still depends on the spread at the moment of execution and on the instrument you trade.
Which IC Markets Account Has the Lowest Total Cost?
For a typical retail trader, Raw Spread cTrader has the edge — from 0.0 pips with about $3 per 100,000 USD per side. Raw Pro and Raw Pro+ charge less commission but require far more capital. Standard has no commission but a wider spread.
What Time Are IC Markets Overnight Fees Charged?
Around rollover — roughly 21:00 UTC in US summer time and 22:00 UTC in winter, following the New York close. FX, metals, bonds and commodities are charged triple swap at the Wednesday rollover. Check Swap Long and Swap Short in Specification before holding.
Raw or Standard for a Small Account?
At small lot sizes the all-in difference is minor — roughly $8 versus $8 per lot of EUR/USD under normal conditions. Standard is easier to track because there is one number, which matters more when you are still building a routine. Move to Raw once your monthly volume is large enough that predictable per-lot cost outweighs the simplicity.
Can I Get IC Markets Trading Fees Refunded?
Partly. An IB rebate returns a share of the commission your volume generates. Backcom.io runs a programme by account and eligible instrument, cutting the cost per lot without requiring any change to how you trade.
