I am trying to figure out the real all in cost on a small account before I move anything. I looked at Eightcap because the raw account looks cheap on paper, but when I include commission and a rebate it gets less obvious.
Here is what I did with the rebate calculator here: EURUSD and GBPUSD, 0.10 lot size, MT5, raw vs standard. For raw, I took the average spread in pips, added commission converted to pips for 0.10 lot, then subtracted the displayed rebate per lot converted to pips. For standard, I used the all spread and subtracted the rebate. I ignored swaps since I close within the day.
Does that method make sense for a small account? Should I also include expected slippage and any currency conversion fees if my base is not USD? If you trade Eightcap, what is your real cost per 1.0 lot and per 0.10 lot on EURUSD after you factor spread, commission, and rebate? Numbers would help a lot.
Raw plus commission wins on EURUSD most days
Standard only works if you trade rarely
Your method is close. For a small account I would lock the inputs and convert everything to pips. For 0.10 lots on EURUSD, pip value is about 1 dollar. Add average spread. Add commission in pips, so 7 dollars per lot becomes 0.7 pips for 0.10. Subtract the rebate in pips. Then sanity check with live fills because slippage adds cost. Track ten trades during London and ten during New York. Note swap if you hold past rollover. Also watch currency conversion if the account base is not the same as the quote. That can add a small extra cost.
Build a simple test. Same symbol and lot size across two or three brokers. Trade at the same hour for a week. Record spread at entry and exit, commission, rebate rate, and slippage from platform logs. Use market orders to keep it comparable. Compute effective spread per trade as spread plus commission in pips minus rebate, then add or subtract any slippage. Average the results. You will see if raw plus commission beats standard for your style. Ignore weekend quotes and avoid major news while you measure.
Add slippage for your usual time.
I get about 0.1 to 0.2 pips on average during London open, which changes the result more than I expected on 0.10 lots.
Check if your rebate posts daily or monthly. That affects cash flow.
On my sheet for Eightcap raw, EURUSD averaged 0.2 to 0.3 pips spread. Commission was 7 dollars per lot round trip, so 0.7 pips for 0.10. My rebate worked out to roughly 0.2 pips back on 0.10. Net was around 0.7 to 0.8 pips before slippage.
Standard averaged near 1.2 to 1.4 pips, minus the same rebate in pips, so it ended around 1.0 to 1.2. Raw still won for me even with small size. Your numbers can shift by time of day and your base currency.
One tip. Log ten exits too. Tight entry is nice, but the exit slippage can flip the result. I had one week where raw plus commission looked worse only because I always closed into a small spike. Moving my close time fixed it.