Exness Broker Review

Exness Overall Rating

Exness, established in 2008 and regulated by the FSCA, offers low-cost trading with a minimum deposit of 3 USD. It provides a range of trading platforms, such as MT4, MT5, and the user-friendly Exness Terminal, which has most of the capabilities other popular platforms offer. The Exness mobile app and MetaTrader app allow you to monitor trades on your mobile device while on the move. Exness offers a selection of over 100 Forex pairs, competitive trading costs, and copy trading capabilities. However, South African traders face offshore account management without the FSCA’s direct oversight, which is something to keep in mind. We see Exness as a good choice overall, but advise traders to weigh the lack of local regulatory protections when deciding to open an account with them. FxScouts rates Exness 4.32 out of 5.

Is Exness Safe?

Although Exness is regulated by the South African FSCA, South African traders are onboarded through Exness’ Seychelles-based entity. However, because Exness is regulated by a number of other national authorities, we still consider it a safe broker to trade with. 

FSCA regulation: Until recently, Exness’ South African clients were still protected by FSCA regulation. Although it still maintains an FSCA licence, it is now onboarding South African clients through its Seychelles-based entity. This means that they will not benefit from local regulation and that their money will not be segregated at South African banks. It also means that in the event of a dispute with Exness, South Africans will have little recourse. However, the broker continues to maintain its good standing in multiple regions and has a long history of responsible behaviour. See below for Exness’ sign-up notice:

In 2018, Exness shut down its retail business in the EU and UK in response to tighter restrictions on retail CFD brokers – though it does retain a business-to-business (B2B) service in both regions.

Safety Features: Although the lack of FSCA oversight may be off-putting for some South African traders, we still consider Exness a safe broker to trade with. Firstly, it holds licences from a number of regulators worldwide. Secondly, it provides all clients with negative balance protection, which means that traders cannot lose more than their initial deposit. Finally, it is regularly audited by Deloitte, one of the world’s most reputable audit firms.

Company Details:

Scroll for more details

We confirmed each of the licences and regulations on the regulator’s online register. See below for details of Exness’s FSA-regulated entity:

> Back to top of page

Exness’s Trading Instruments

We were impressed by the large number of Forex pairs available at Exness. It also offers a decent crypto lineup. Where it falls down is in the number of stock CFDs available to trade, limited to only 70 instruments. 

A large number of Forex pairs: With over 100 Forex pairs on its books, Exness offers one of the largest sets in the industry. South Africans will also be pleased that many ZAR crosses are available, including GBP/ZAR, USD/ZAR, ZAR/JPY, and NZD/ZAR, among others. 

High Leverage: Exness does have 34 cryptocurrencies to trade at 400:1 leverage. This isn’t the largest selection in the world, but it is a higher level of leverage for crypto trading than any other broker.  The high leverage on the crypto CFDs is very unusual given the volatility of these assets, and traders are advised to use lower levels than the maximum offered. 

Leverage on Forex pairs is unlimited. This is also highly unusual for the industry, and there are conditions attached. For example:

• The trading account must have equity of less than USD 1 000.
• The trader must close at least 10 orders (excluding pending orders) with a minimum value of 5 lots (or 500 cent lots)
• The Stop Out Protection feature may not be available on trading accounts with unlimited leverage in order to strike a balance between trader benefits and risks.

Full List of Instruments and Leverage:

Scroll for more details

Forex pairs: Exness offers a much larger range of Forex pairs than other brokers. It also offers unlimited leverage if certain conditions are met.  

Cryptocurrencies: Exness offers a good range of crypto crosses, most of them Bitcoin, including BTC/ZAR and BTC/XAU. Also available are Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and other speciality cryptocurrencies. The maximum leverage is 1:400, which is much higher than other brokers. Traders should be aware that trading with this type of leverage on such a volatile asset is very risky. It can lead to increased profits but also to big losses.

Metals: Exness offers silver and gold crosses with the AUD, EUR, GBP, and USD, as well as palladium and platinum futures. Maximum leverage is 1:2000 on gold but falls to 1:100 on platinum and palladium futures.

Energies: Exness offers spot contracts on both Brent and WTI oil. This is a slightly limited range compared to other brokers.

Indices: Exness offers CFDs on a range of international indices, including the NASDAQ, S&P500, FTSE100, DAX30, and the Nikkei. This is a similar range of indices compared to other brokers. 

Shares: Exness offers a smaller range of share CFDs than those of other brokers. When trading stocks, leverage is fixed at 1:20 except on the dates on which a stock company’s financial reports are announced, where there is an increase of margin to 1:5 to protect traders from possible market price gaps.

> Back to top of page

Exness’ Accounts and Trading Costs

Exness offers 9 accounts, which is many more than other brokers. Some of the accounts are suitable for beginners, while the Pro accounts may appeal to more experienced traders. 

Trading Fees: We opened and tested all of Exness’s accounts and found that its trading costs are slightly higher than average on its Standard accounts, but significantly lower than average on its Pro accounts. 

Account Trading Costs

Scroll for more details

As you can see from the table above, trading costs are a little higher than average across all three of the Standard Accounts – most good brokers’ entry-level accounts have a trading cost of 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD traded.  However, with no real minimum deposit requirements to speak of, these are still good accounts for beginner traders. The fees are particularly low on the six Pro accounts, with trading costs of only 6 – 7 USD per lot of EUR/USD traded. 

MT4 support is available on all account types, but MT5/Exness web trader support is slightly restricted – see below for details:

Standard Cent Account (MT4 only) – With a 3 – 10 USD minimum deposit (depending on the payment provider), micro-lots unlocked, and spreads as low as 0.3 pips, this is a great account for new Forex traders who want to learn without too much risk. However, as you can see below, spreads are closer to 1 pip on this account:

You will only be able to trade Forex and metals with this account, and the MT5/Exness web trader trading platforms are not supported.

Standard Account (MT4/MT5/Exness web trader) – This account also only requires a 3 – 10 USD minimum deposit (depending on the payment provider), and trading conditions are broadly similar to the Cent Account, but you will have access to MT5/Exness web trader and more assets, including cryptocurrencies and indices.

Raw Spread Account (MT4/MT5/Exness web trader) – This account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD, a 3.50 USD (7 USD round turn) commission, and spreads that start at 0 pips on the EUR/USD. It is available on MT5/Exness web trader.

Pro Account (MT4/MT5/Exness web trader) – The single instant execution account offered by Exness, this account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD and spreads that start at 0.6 pips (EUR/USD) but guarantees no slippage. It is available on MT5/Exness web trader.

Zero Account (MT4 or MT5) – This account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD and 3.50 USD (7 USD round turn) commission, but traders are guaranteed 0 pip (EUR/USD) spreads for 95% of the trading day on 30 pairs. It is also available on MT5/Exness web trader.

All accounts feature market execution, apart from the Pro Account, where instant execution is provided for all CFDs, except on cryptocurrencies. All accounts are available as swap-free Islamic accounts for Muslim traders.

> Back to top of page

Exness’s Deposits and Withdrawals

We were impressed by Exness’s wide range of deposit and withdrawal methods. Additionally, we were pleased that deposits and withdrawals are instant and have no fees, making funding your account (and withdrawing profits) much cheaper and easier than most other brokers.

In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, deposits and withdrawals at Exness cannot be made to/from third-party accounts, and all non-profit funds are returned to the original deposit source. 

Accepted Currencies: When we opened our account at Exness, we were given the choice of more than 40 base currencies, including ZAR. Most other brokers only offer 5 – 10 base currencies, so Exness really shines on this front. This is a huge advantage for South Africans, who will likely have bank accounts denominated in ZAR and will have the option of avoiding conversion fees.

Funds can be deposited in several different ways, including Credit Cards, bank wire transfers, Neteller, Skrill, and a few other online payment systems through Exness’s payment portal:

We tested deposits and withdrawals in ZAR via a Visa credit card and found that our deposit was processed almost instantly, and it took 24 hours for our withdrawal to arrive in our account. This withdrawal time is faster than the industry average.

See below for a list of payment methods and processing times:

Scroll for more details

> Back to top of page

Exness’s Mobile Trading Platforms

Like many other brokers, Exness offers support for the MT4 and MT5 apps, available on both Android and iOS. It also offers its own in-house app that allows you to manage your accounts, deposit and withdraw funds, and trade on all Exness’ financial assets, but this is only available for MT5. 

Exness Trader App

We enjoyed how easy it is to use the Exness app. It has a sophisticated dashboard and intuitive home screen. It allows you to view trading signals, curated by TradingView for each instrument, which is very convenient. Simply click the ‘overview’ button:

It also displays the market sentiment on the buy and sell buttons:

Additionally, it’s simple to place orders, set price alerts, create watchlists, and view live prices and charts:

MT4 and MT5 Apps

The Exness MT4 and MT5 apps allow traders to work from anywhere, with nine timeframes, 30 indicators, and interactive currency charts. Functionality to close and modify existing orders, calculate profit/loss in real-time, and tick chart trading further empowers traders while on the move.

Other Trading Platforms 

Like the mobile trading apps, Exness offers MT4, MT5, and its own in-house trading platform available on both Mac and PC.

While MT4 and MT5 are both excellent trading platforms, Exness’s in-house platform is easier to use for beginner traders. Still, the benefit of Exness offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.

For the purposes of this review, we tested all three platforms – Exness’s web trader platform, MT4, and MT5.  

Exness Terminal

The web trader platform requires no downloads or installation and is available for all devices. When you log in to your account you are immediately redirected to the platform. We found that the web trader has a clean user interface, and it is easy to navigate and search for various instruments.

Additionally, traders can set their stop levels by percentage, account currency, or even price – which makes things much simpler for beginners. The platform also comes with TradingView charts, indicators and drawing tools, providing traders with a comprehensive view of the markets.  See below:

One drawback is that the platform does not allow traders to set price alerts and notifications, but these are available on the mobile version. We were pleased to note that TradingView, one of the most popular third-party trading tools on the market, is fully integrated into the platform and provides technical insight and instant pattern recognition.

More advanced traders may prefer MT4 or MT5, both available at Exness, which allows traders to customise their indicators, has many more chart types, and has algorithmic (or automated) trading.

Metatrader 4 (MT4)

We found that, like most brokers, the Exness MT4 platform is the standard version with 23 graphical objects and 30 built-in indicators. Unlike Exness’s proprietary web trader, algorithmic trading is available, and MT4 is fully customisable.

We found that the platform’s interface is dated, but it is fully customisable. There are three chart types, including Line, Bar, and Candlestick charts, and you can access a wide selection of indicators in multiple timeframes:

Metatrader 5 (MT5)

Developed in 2010, MT5 is the newer version of its predecessor, MT4, and is available at Exness. We recommend using MT5 if you are looking for a more powerful and faster trading platform when it comes to back-testing functionality for automated trading algorithms.  Additionally, traders prefer MT5 for its depth of market display, additional technical indicators (38 as opposed to 30 on MT4), and 22 analytical tools.

Trading Platform Comparison:

Scroll for more details

Broker

Platform Choice

Copy Trading

Platforms

Exness

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

Exness Terminal

Pepperstone

5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

cTrader

TradingView

AvaTrade

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

Avatrade Social

AvaOptions

> Back to top of page

Opening an Account with Exness

We found the account opening and verification process at Exness easy. Our account was verified within 48 hours, which is longer than average, but we were able to make a deposit and start trading while we waited.  

It took us about 5 minutes to open an account at Exness. We could immediately deposit funds into our accounts and start trading, but our accounts were only ready for trading after two days.

As a South African trader, you can open an account at Exness, but will need to meet all the minimum deposit amounts to do so; these are:

• Standard Accounts: 3 -10 USD
• Pro Accounts: 200 USD
  

1. From the Exness homepage, we clicked on the New Account tab, where we were directed to register an account.    
2. Exness’ registration form required us to fill in our country of residence and email address and choose a password. This allowed us access to Exness Personal Area. 
3. By default, a real trading account and a demo trading account (both for MT5) are created in the new Personal Area; but it is possible to open new trading accounts.
   • From our new Personal Area, we clicked on the Open New Account in the ‘My Accounts’ area.
   • We chose from the available trading account types, and whether we wanted to open a real or demo account. We then chose between the MT4 and MT5 platforms, set our max leverage, and chose our account currency (note that this cannot be changed for this trading account once set): Finally, we created a nickname for this trading account, set the trading account password and clicked Create an Account.
     
     
   • Our new trading account appeared in the ‘My Accounts’ tab.
4. While you can deposit up to 2000 USD and trade for 30 days without account verification, it is recommended that you verify your identity as soon as possible. Note that deposits with cryptocurrency or bank cards require a fully verified profile.
5. Verification usually takes less than 48 hours, and Exness will need:
   1. Your Economic Profile – This is a short questionnaire detailing your economic knowledge and financial background.
   2. Proof of Identification – Exness accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passports, national ID card, driving licenses, or other government-issued IDs. 
   3. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the account holder within the last 6 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority. 
      
      
      

Once verification is complete, traders will be able to deposit up to 50,000 USD. If your Exness account is not verified within 30 days of account registration, deposits, transfers, and trading functions will no longer be available.

Our documents were checked by the verifications department and were approved in around 40 hours, which is longer than the industry average. 

Overall, we found Exness’ account-opening process hassle-free – new traders will be especially happy that they can start trading right away without having to wait for account verification.  

> Back to top of page

Exness’s Research and Trading Tools

Exness offers comprehensive research in both video and written formats and excellent trading tools, including a standard VPS service, TradingView, and Trading Central’s indicator service. 

Research

Most of the research content is presented in the analysis blog, which is updated every few days with thoughtful insight into recent and future events across a range of CFD markets. Dow Jones news is also available to clients with MT4 accounts, while FXStreet is available on Exness’ web trader platform.

Of course, a standard economic calendar is available, but Exness also presents a daily video of upcoming market events to watch out for with a brief technical analysis. This is provided by Trading Central but is still useful for new traders.

Trading Central (TC) Indicator 

One of our favourite indicators, the TC Indicator is a multilingual and customizable plugin that superimposes Trading Central’s technical analysis strategies, forecast, commentary, and key levels (support/resistance/targets/stop pivots) onto MT4 live charts for most tradable instruments.

Based on selected timeframes, TC Indicator will display the latest Trading Central articles, whether on an intraday, short-term, or mid-term basis. Traders can program and fill in orders based on the TC Indicator levels directly from their MT4 screen.

TradingView

TradingView is a web-based social network that allows traders to share trading ideas, spot trading opportunities, and trade directly from its advanced charts.  It has over 12 customisable chart types, including candlesticks, Renko and Kagi, hundreds of built-in and community-built indicators, more than 50 drawing tools, volume profile indicators, and in-depth market analysis tools. Another unique feature is its customisable timeframes that can be set to any time interval and its trading alerts, available on any device, with 12 different alert conditions. 

VPS Service

Exness offers a free VPS service for all traders who deposit at least 500 USD. A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a remote terminal solution that benefits from reduced latency and downtime, as it is unaffected by power cuts or computer crashes.  Even when the trading terminal is closed, the Exness VPS will keep trading.

Trading Tools Comparison:

Scroll for more details

Broker

Economic Calendar

Autochartist

Trading Central

Trading View

Free VPS

Exness

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Pepperstone

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

AvaTrade

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Exness Educational Content

We found that Exness’s education is adequate for new traders but not as good as the best brokers in this space.

Exness’s education materials comprise video tutorials and webinars. See below for more details:

Video Tutorials: Video education is available in five languages, including English, Arabic, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese. These bite-sized videos are great explainers of important concepts that all Forex traders need to understand.

Webinars: Exness also hosts frequent webinars in English, Arabic, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese. These cover a range of topics and will prove especially useful to new traders. Registering for a webinar does not require an Exness account, though you will have to provide an email address.

Education Comparison:

Scroll for more details

Broker

Beginner Course

Advanced Course

Well Structured Education

Education Quality

Webinars

Exness

Yes

Yes

Yes

Medium

Yes

Pepperstone

Yes

Yes

Yes

Medium

Yes

AvaTrade

Yes

Yes

Yes

High

Yes

> Back to top of page

Exness’s Customer Support

Notably, Exness customer service is available in English 24 hours a day and over the weekend. In addition, the help center offers detailed and useful advice on various topics.

Client phone support is 24/5 in 16 languages, and 24/7 in five languages, English, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Swahili. Most brokers only offer 24/5 customer service, so this is a bonus for English-speaking traders.

Other contact forms include live chat, call-back service, phone, and emails. Support is also provided through the Exness help centre, which is frequently updated with detailed articles covering everything from trading guides to funding FAQs.

For the purposes of the review, we tested the live chat service and email. We tested Exness’s live chat and found that the customer service agents were polite and helpful. 

> Back to top of page   

Safety and Industry Recognition

Regulation: Founded in Russia in 2008, Exness Group is a relatively new Forex and CFD broker. It has grown rapidly since its inception and now has over 145,000 clients worldwide and is regulated by seven national authorities. In 2012 Exness obtained a licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and moved its headquarters to Cyprus. In 2018, Exness shut down its retail business in the EU and UK in response to tighter restrictions on retail CFD brokers – though it does retain a business-to-business (B2B) service in both regions. See below for more details:

• Nymstar Limited is a Securities Dealer authorized and regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) with license number SD025.
• Vlerizo (Pty) Ltd is authorized by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa as a Financial Service Provider (FSP) with FSP number 51024.
• Further expanding its African footprint, Exness received a non-dealing broker licence from the Kenyan Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in June 2022.
• Exness B.V. is a Securities Intermediary authorised and regulated by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten with license number 0003LSI.
• Venico Capital Limited is authorised by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in BVI with registration number 2032226 and investment business licence number SIBA/L/20/1133. 
• Tortelo Limited is authorised by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius with registration number 176967 and Investment Dealer (Full Service Dealer, Excluding Underwriting) licence number GB20025294.
• B2B Only: Exness (Cy) Ltd is a Cyprus Investment Firm, authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with license number 178/12.
• B2B Only: Exness (UK) Ltd is an Investment Firm, authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom under the Financial Services Register number 730729.

Overall, we consider Exness a safe broker to trade with, though with some misgivings. Its retreat from the EU/UK market in the wake of tougher regulation is a concern, as is its offshoring of South African clients, but it is regulated in multiple regions.

> Back to top of page

Evaluation Method

We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the Exness offer. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the broker, the platform offering of the broker, and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded on 200+ metrics across seven areas of interest, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker according to the diagram below:

Exness Disclaimer and Risk Warning

Trading Forex is risky, and Exness would like you to know that: “CFDs are leveraged products. Trading in CFDs carries a high level of risk and thus may not be appropriate for all investors. The investment value can both increase and decrease and the investors may lose all their invested capital.”

> Back to top of page

Final Word

On paper, Exness is a decent all-round broker for most traders, whether beginner or more experienced. It offers support for MT4, MT5, and its own proprietary platform, 24/7 customer service, low-cost entry-level accounts, and good trading conditions on the Pro Accounts. However, Exness offers high levels of leverage to traders, which in combination with low minimum deposits, could increase their risk of an account wipeout.

Editorial Team

 

Chris Cammack
Head of Content

Chris joined the company in 2019 after ten years experience in research, editorial and design for political and financial publications. His background has given him a deep knowledge of international financial markets and the geopolitics that affects them. Chris has a keen eye for editing and a voracious appetite for financial and political current affairs. He ensures that our content across all sites meets the standards of quality and transparency that our readers expect.

 

Alison Heyerdahl
Senior Financial Writer

Alison joined the team as a writer in 2021. She is the Senior Editor for FXScouts.  She has a medical degree with a focus on physiotherapy and a bachelor’s in psychology. However, her interest in forex trading and her love for writing led her to switch careers. She has a passion for Forex trading and over a decade of editorial experience researching Forex and the financial services industry, producing high-quality content. She hosts a weekly podcast, “Let’s Talk Forex,” alongside her colleague, Chris, and has produced over 100 Forex educational videos for the FXScouts YouTube channel. She also writes weekly technical analyses and has tested and reviewed over 100 Forex brokers.

 

Ida Hermansen
Financial Writer

Ida joined our team as a financial writer in 2023. She has a degree in Digital Marketing and a background in content writing and SEO. In addition to her marketing and writing skills, Ida also has an interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks. Her interest in crypto trading led to a wider fascination with Forex technical analysis and price movement. She continues to develop her skills and knowledge in Forex trading and keeps a close eye on which Forex brokers offer the best trading environments for new traders.