I’m looking at RoboForex but the account list is a bit much. I don’t want marketing claims, just real costs you saw after rebates.
Here’s how I started testing: I logged spread + commission − rebate per trade, and kept separate notes for swaps, conversion, and withdrawal fees. On EURUSD during quiet hours, my ECN sample looked cheaper than Pro once I subtracted the rebate, but Pro got closer on pairs where the raw spread wasn’t that tight. I also noticed base currency and conversion fees can cancel part of the rebate if you’re not careful.
If you’ve traded live, what surprised you most by account type after factoring in rebates? Please share symbol, time of day, account type, base currency, and your all‑in cost per lot if you have it. Any pitfalls I should plan for over a few months?
ECN beat Pro for me after rebates on EURUSD.
Swap and conversion ate more than spreads some months.
Build a simple sheet and log ten trades per account type per symbol. Record time of day, spread at entry and exit, commission, and the rebate you actually received. Calculate true cost per lot as spread plus commission minus rebate. Track swap separately for overnight. Use the same base currency across tests to avoid conversion noise. Withdraw a small amount once to confirm any payout fees. After two weeks you will see which account stays cheaper for your instruments and schedule.
I’d match your base currency with your bank account if possible.
I learned the hard way that conversions quietly stack up. The rebate helped, but fees took a chunk when I withdrew.
Track a month of trades. Weekly snapshots can be misleading.
I ran parallel micro tests on Pro and ECN for three weeks. Same symbols. Same times. I wrote down the all in cost per lot after the rebate hit my account.
ECN won on EURUSD and XAUUSD during London. Pro was close on GBPJPY because my fills were steadier on that server. Biggest surprise was conversion. I switched account currency to match my payouts and gained a small but steady edge.
Do a small withdrawal early. It reveals hidden fees and timing. Then scale up if your logs look stable.
Also watch minimum step on lot size. My cents account gave odd rounding on the commission and rebate. It was minor but enough to skew short scalps.
Once I normalized position size the comparison made more sense.