Is FBS better than XM? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions, and is a safe broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this FBS vs XM Comparison Review. For this Review, we opened real accounts and deposited over US$10,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening process at FBS and XM also the fees, trading conditions, platform selection, and withdrawal process.
What is FBS and XM?
FBS is a Forex and CFD broker, operating in many countries across the globe. The broker offers trading services with Forex, indices, commodities, stocks, and cryptocurrency CFDs.
XM is a global Forex and CFD broker, subsidiary of Trading Point Holdings. The broker allows trading with Forex pairs, indices, commodities, and stocks. It offers a vast range of products compared to competitors.
Some of the highlights of FBS vs XM are:
| FBS | XM | |
| 💻 Website | www.fbs.com | www.xm.com |
| 🛡️Founded year | 2009 | 2009 |
| 🏦 Headquarter | Belize, Cyprus | Limassol, Cyprus |
| 🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in | Australia, Cyprus, Belize | UK, Cyprus, Australia, UAE, Belize |
| 🔒 Is Broker safe | Yes | Yes |
| 💰 EUR/USD Spread | 1.13 | 1.6 |
| 💳 Minimum deposit | $10 | US$5 |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee | US$0 (with exceptions) | US$0 |
| 🖥️ Trading Platform | MT4, MT5, FBS Trader | MT4, MT5 |
| 📈 Markets offered | Indices, Forex, Commodities, Stocks, Cryptocurrencies, | Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities |
| 📉 Number of Products | 107 (depends on jurisdiction) | 1336 |
| 🔎 Our Detailed Review | FBS Review | XM Review |
Licenses and Regulation
The review of FBS vs XM demonstrates that both brokers are safe to trade from a regulatory standpoint. The brokers are guaranteed a compensation scheme by the CySEC-regulated entity to protect their funds.
FBS is licensed by 3 regulators in Cyprus, Belize, and Australia.
XM is licensed by 5 regulators worldwide, including the top-tier UK’s FCA, ASIC, Dubai’s DFSA, Cyprus’ CySEC, and Belize’s FSC. However, the UK’s FCA only regulates trading.com, not the XM brand, despite being operated by the same group.
For our tests, we opened a CySEC-regulated Standard account on the FBS MT5 platform with Tradestone Ltd and XM Trading Point of Financial Instruments Limited, regulated by CySEC. Read more about CySEC.
We recommend that you register your FBS account with the FBS Trader and the CySEC entity and XM account with CySEC entity if they are available in your jurisdiction.
| FBS | XM | |
| 🔒 Licenses | ASIC, CySEC, IFCS | ASIC, CySEC, DFSA FCA, FSC |
| Top Tier License | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Publically Traded | ❌ | ❌ |
| Compensation Scheme | ✔️ (depending on the entity) | ✔️ (depending on the entity) |
FBS vs XM Fees
FBS and XM fees are similar and mostly built into spreads, however, FBS charges commission on trades with some asset class and account tiers, and XM has commission-based accounts as well.
FBS does not charge deposit and withdrawal fees from traders under CySEC enity, however, Belize and Australia do charge some withdrawal fees. FBS does not charge account maintenance or inactivity fees.
XM does not charge any additional fee, moreover, the broker charges average fees for trading the main instruments and the fees charged on stocks and commodities are lower than industry averages.
| FBS Fees | XM Fees | |
| Fees based on the spread | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Floating Spread | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Fixed Spread | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Commission-based fees | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Inactivity Fee | $0 | $0 |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 |
| Withdrawal fee | depends on the payment method | $0 |
| Active trader/ VIP Programs | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Spreads Charged in Our Trades
To test trades on FBS vs XM accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread, we found both negative and positive sides for each Broker spreads. FBS may not be suitable for commodities trader, as the spreads are much higher than the industry average.
Our testing shows that FBS spreads on Forex, indices, and stock CFDs are much lower than the industries average. Spreads on commodities, on the other hand, are much higher
A closer look at the spreads charged in our XM trades revealed that they were all aligned with industry benchmarks. None of XM’s average spreads were above industry averages. Moreover, the broker’s spreads on stocks and commodities were slightly lower than those of its peers.
| Markets | Instruments | FBS Avg. spread | XM Avg. spread | Industry avg. spread |
| Indices | FTSE 100 | 1.35 | 1.5 | 1.65 |
| Forex | EUR/USD | 1.13 | 1.6 | 1.16 |
| Commodities | Gold | 4.6 | 3.5 | 3.53 |
| Stocks | AAPL | 1 | 1.35 | 1.75 |
Account Types Compared
FBS offers several accounts varying with the entity, while XM offers 5 accounts types with various fee structures, for example, the Micro, Standard, XM Zero, XM Ultra-low, and SHare accounts.
Opening a new account on FBS was very simple and easy, the registration process took merely 10 minutes. Our account was verified in 7 business days.
XM account opening process was smooth and effortless, the registration process took just 15 minutes. the account was approved the next day, which was satisfying.
| FBS Accounts | XM Accounts | |
| Standard Account | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| ECN / Commission Based Account | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Islamic Account | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| PAMM Account | ❌ | ✔️ |
Markets and Products
FBS offers CFDs trading services with forex, indices, stocks, and commodities instruments. Only the Australian entity offers cryptocurrency CFDs trading. XM, in its turn, offers trading multiple tradable instruments in the Forex, indices, stocks, and commodities markets. XM offer a wider range of instruments than FBS and is especially suitable for Stocks traders, given that they offer more than 1000 instruments.
| Markets | FBS Instruments | XM Instruments |
| Indices | 11 | 26 |
| Forex | 43 | 57 |
| Commodities | 9 | 17 |
| Stocks | 39 | 1236 |
| Cryptocurrency | 5 | – |
Trading Conditions
Both brokers allow hedging and scalping strategies but retail FBS traders cannot change leverage levels, XM allows traders to use Expert Advisors (EAs).
| Trading Method | FBS | XM |
| Hedging | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Scalping | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Change Leverage | ❌ (only professional traders can change leverage levels) | ✔️ |
| Copy trading/ Social trading | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Beginners Trading | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Professional Trading | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Deposit and Withdrawal
Both deposit and withdrawal processes on FBS and XM were smooth, to process withdrawal requests, FBS requires the submission of a verification code, which the broker sends to the registered email, also, for some payment methods it requires a transaction fee when withdrawing without trading. XM, in its turn, does not charge any withdrawal fee.
We tested the deposit and withdrawal processes on FBS using a credit card, Neteller, and Skrill.
The deposit methods offered by XM are instant and free. Anyway, the first deposit has to be made via credit card.
| FBS | XM | |
| 💰 Deposit Fee | ❌ | ❌ |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee | US$0 (with exceptions) | ❌ |
| 💳 Minimum deposit | US$10 | US$5 |
| Bank Transfer | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Debit/ Credit Cards | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| PayPal | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Skrill | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Trading Platform
Both brokers offer to trade with MetaTrader4 and MetaTrader5 trading platforms, besides, FBS offers its proprietary platform – FBS Trader.
We executed all our FBS trades on MetaTrader5 trading platform.
We think that the XM MT4 platform is a bit outdated, and find the MT5 platform more adequate and suitable for traders preferring modern platform.
| FBS Platform | XM Platform | |
| Proprietary Platform | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Web Platform | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Desktop Platform | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Mobile App | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Alternative Platforms | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| MetaTrader4 | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Simple to use platform | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Demo Account Trading | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Execution Agency Model | ❌ | ❌ |
| Research | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Advanced Research tools | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Education and Support
FBS offers extensive educational resources with detailed courses on trading, guides, webinars, etc. XM offers excellent learning courses under its Tradepedia educational platform that provides in-depth guides to the market. FBS and XM both offer excellent customer support with Live Chat and support inquiries.
FBS offers detailed courses on trading, guides on platform, vidoe guides, webinars, and glossaries.
XM runs over 40 webinars weekly in different languages that its clients can join and learn about the markets. The webinars are based on experience level and take place in different timezones to suit its clients.
| FBS Support | XM Support | |
| Trading School for Beginners | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Tutorials | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Trading Videos | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Webinars | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Daily News and Analysis | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Economic Calendar | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Live Chat | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Email Support | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| 24/7 availability | ✔️ | ❌ |
Conclusion on FBS vs XM
From our detailed comparison review of FBS and XM, we may come to the point that both brokers are safe and completely reliable.
Both FBS and XM trading costs are based on spreads and both have some commission-based fees. XM offers a wider range of instruments for traders and spreads in all markets are mostly similar to those of the industry average, spreads on stocks and commodities are even lower. FBS offers traders its exceptional trading platform FBS trader.
Our overall experience with FBS was positive. The spreads charges on forex, stocks, and indices were much lower than the industry average. FBS allows scalping and hedging, but leverage change is not allowed to retail traders. The broker doesn’t charge any deposit fee, however, it has some withdrawal fees depending on the payment method. We recommend to use a credit card for deposit and withdrawal processes.
Overall, our experience with XM was smooth and quick. We did not face any issue with account opening, deposit, withdrawal, and trading processes. We recommend XM to traders who prefer using MT4/MT5 platforms for trading and to those who run EAs due to the free VPS services.
| FBS | XM | |
| Recommended for | ✔️ Experienced Traders ✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging Trader ✔️ EAs Trading ✔️ Trading through MT4/MT5 | ✔️ CFD Stocks trading ✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Trading Currency Pairs ✔️ EAs trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ Trading through MT4 / MT5 |
| Might not be fit for | ❌Real stock / Futures Trading ❌ Commission-based trading | ❌ Commission-based trading ❌ Real Stock / Futures Trading |