Exness vs HFM

Entry and fees: HFM asks for no minimum deposit at all and Exness for $10 — in practice both low enough not to decide anything. What a raw-spread account actually costs is the more interesting question. Both start at 0.0 pip on EUR/USD, but the commission separates them: Exness charges $3.50 per lot, HFM $6.00 per lot on the Zero account. Stay on the standard tier instead and Exness charges from 0.3 pip against HFM's 1.2 pip on the Premium account. On both account models, then, the arithmetic favours Exness. For longer breaks, HFM charges $5 a month after six months of inactivity; no inactivity fee is listed in the Exness record.

Products and platforms: Both are MetaTrader houses — MT4 and MT5 on either side, plus the Exness Terminal and Trade App on one and the HFM App on the other. On instruments HFM is the broader of the two: alongside forex, metals, indices, stock CFDs, commodities and crypto CFDs it adds bond CFDs and ETF CFDs, which Exness does not carry. Neither offers options trading. Only Exness states an execution figure — around 25 ms — while HFM lists none; HFM in turn brings HFcopy, a copy-trading platform Exness does not list.

Profile and verdict: Exness (4.2/5 from 1,400 reviews) was founded in 2008, sits in Limassol and is triple-regulated by the FCA, CySEC and FSA; instant withdrawals are a stated strength and the very high leverage available an equally stated risk. HFM (4.0/5 from 950 reviews) has run since 2010, is regulated by CySEC, the FCA and the FSCA, but is headquartered in St. Vincent. If you trade raw spreads and want the lower running cost, Exness is the better fit; if you need bond or ETF CFDs, or want copy trading, only HFM has them.