Standard vs Raw Account: Which One, and the Arithmetic

A Standard account charges you in the spread and nothing else. A Raw account passes the liquidity providers' spread through and charges a fixed commission per lot instead. The total cost of a single trade is similar on both; what differs is how it is paid, and that difference decides which account suits how you trade. This guide does the arithmetic with our own published figures.

The two prices, side by side

On EUR/USD, the typical Standard spread is 0.9 pip. One lot is 100,000 units, so one pip is USD 10, and a round-turn trade costs about USD 9 in spread. There is no commission.

On Raw, the spread is the liquidity providers' own — typically 0.1 pip, or about USD 1 a lot — plus a commission of USD 3.00 per lot per side, USD 6.00 for the round turn. Total about USD 7 a lot.

On gold, Standard is typically USD 0.25 an ounce, or USD 25 on a 100-ounce lot; Raw is typically USD 0.10 an ounce (USD 10 a lot) plus the same USD 6.00 commission, about USD 16 in total.

So Raw is cheaper per lot on both — by USD 2 on EUR/USD and USD 9 on gold at typical spreads. That is not the whole story.

Where the spread matters more than the total

The spread is paid the instant a trade opens: a position is immediately behind by the spread and must move that far to break even. The commission on Raw is also charged at once, but the spread component is smaller, so the price needs to move less before the position shows a profit.

For a trade that aims at 50 pips, a 0.9 pip spread is under 2% of the target and the difference between accounts is noise. For a trade that aims at 5 pips, a 0.9 pip spread is 18% of the target; the 0.1 pip Raw spread is 2%. Short-horizon trading is where the account type changes the result, which is why scalping and day-trading guides treat the spread as the central variable.

Where Standard is the better choice

Simplicity. One number, visible on the chart, no separate commission line on the statement, no arithmetic to reconcile at month end. For a trader who holds positions for hours or days and trades a few times a week, the USD 2 a lot difference on EUR/USD is real but small against the size of the moves being traded, and the cleaner accounting is worth it.

Standard is also the account where the swap-free variant will be offered when it is introduced, and the one the demo account mirrors by default.

Where Raw is the better choice

Frequency and size. A trader placing several trades a day, or trading larger volumes, pays the per-lot difference many times over. At ten round-turn lots a day on EUR/USD, the difference is about USD 20 a day. Accounts that trade 100 or more forex and metal lots a month qualify for the Active tier, where the commission falls to USD 2.50 a side.

Raw also suits Expert Advisors and any strategy whose entry rule is sensitive to the spread at the moment of entry, since the Raw spread is the market's, not the market's plus a markup. An automated system that was tested against raw market data will behave on a Raw account closer to the way it behaved in testing; on Standard, every entry is a fixed distance further from the price the test assumed, and over hundreds of trades that distance compounds into a measurable gap between the backtest and the statement.

What is identical on both

Margin requirements, leverage, order sizes, stop distances, swap rates and execution. The accounts differ in price only; the contract specifications apply to both. Indices, energy, stock CFDs, crypto and bonds are priced the same on every account type — the commission exists only on forex and metals, where the liquidity providers' spread is narrow enough for a commission model to make sense.

How to decide

Count your trades. Fewer than one round-turn lot a day: Standard, for the simplicity. More than that, or any strategy built around small targets: Raw. If you are unsure, open one of each — several accounts can sit under one verified profile — and compare the statements after a month. The trading conditions page has the full per-symbol figures; the real cost of forex trading guide covers the third cost, financing, which is the same on both.

A note on risk: the cheaper account does not make a losing strategy profitable; it makes it lose more slowly. Spreads are typical, not guaranteed, and widen around news on every account type.