The apps of XM, HFM, XS and Exness all trade MT5 accounts, so the account sets the cost. On 1 lot of gold, the HFM app with an Unlimited account costs the least.
Gold trading costs, first deposits and apps at XM, HFM, XS and Exness, checked on 10 November 2026
A forex trading app is the phone app you use to open and close trades. XM, HFM, XS and Exness each have a free app. This page compares the four apps on the cost of 1 lot of gold and on the first deposit, because these two numbers change your result more than the app does.
For the lowest cost on gold, you can trade an HFM Unlimited account in the HFM app. You open the HFM Unlimited account on HFM’s registration page.
Contents
Which Forex Trading App Costs the Least for Gold?
On 1 lot of gold, the HFM app costs the least, at $6.94 with an HFM Unlimited account after the ForexFanClub rebate. The XM app costs the most, because XM’s cheapest account for gold still costs $21.74. The cost at XM is about 3 times as much as the cost at HFM.
ForexFanClub pays you back part of the cost of every lot as a rebate, so the cost after the rebate is what a trade really costs you. The table shows the cheapest gold account at each broker and the first deposit the account needs.
1 lot of gold, closed the same day
| After the rebate | First deposit | |
|---|---|---|
| HFM appUnlimited account | $6.94 | $250 or $500 |
| XS appStandard account | $10.30 | No minimum |
| Exness TradeRaw Spread account | $12.32 | $200 |
| XM AppUltra Low account | $21.74 | $5 |
The trading costs grow with the size of your trade. On 0.01 lot, a gold trade costs about 7 cents on HFM Unlimited and about 22 cents on XM Ultra Low. So the cost difference between the accounts only becomes large when you trade often or in bigger sizes.
The costs in the table are for a gold trade that you close on the same day. If you keep a gold buy position open overnight, you also pay the swap. Our best broker for gold trading page compares the cost with the swap included.
Can the XM Bonus Make the XM App the Better Choice?
Yes, for a small account the XM bonus can matter more than the higher cost, because a 100% bonus puts $100 in your XM account for only $50 of your own cash. At HFM Pro, XS Standard or Exness Standard, the same $100 in the account is $100 of your own money.
You cannot withdraw the bonus, but the bonus works for you when your trades lose money. Your losses come out of your own cash first, and after your own cash is gone, the bonus takes the rest, so the most you can lose is the $50 that you put in.
In many countries, XM gives the 100% bonus on your deposits until the bonus reaches $100. The rate and the limit depend on your country, and XM’s promotions page (opens in a new tab) shows the bonus that you can get.
We tested the bonus with $100 in each account and 50 gold trades of 0.01 lot. Each trade closed at a $10 gain or a $10 loss.
Change in your cash after 50 trades
| 4 in 10 win | 6 in 10 win | |
|---|---|---|
| XM Standard$50 cash + $50 bonus | −$42.62 | +$82.55 |
| HFM Pro$100 cash | −$73.69 | +$93.77 |
| XS Standard$100 cash | −$73.87 | +$93.51 |
| Exness Standard$100 cash | −$75.65 | +$90.98 |
If only 4 in 10 trades win, you lose about $31 less at XM, because the bonus takes the losses after your own $50 is gone. If 6 in 10 trades win, your cash at HFM Pro ends about $11 higher, but HFM Pro needed twice the cash to start. In our calculation, your own cash grew by 165% at XM Standard and by 94% at HFM Pro.
Exness Standard has no bonus, and a gold trade of 1 lot costs $15.42 on Exness Standard after the rebate. So in our calculation, you lost the most cash at Exness Standard when 4 in 10 trades won, and your cash grew by 91% at Exness Standard when 6 in 10 trades won.
For a small account traded at 0.01 lot, we think the XM app with a Standard account is the best choice, because the bonus halves the cash that you put at risk. As your profits grow the account balance, the lower cost of the HFM app leaves more money in your account, so you can compare the accounts again at that time.
Our XM bonus guide explains how the bonus works, and our XM vs Exness comparison compares XM’s bonus with the lower cost at Exness in more detail.
Does the App You Use Change the Cost?
No, the app does not change the cost, because each broker’s app trades the same MT5 trading account that the MetaTrader 5 app uses. The spread, the commission and the swap belong to the trading account. So a gold trade costs the same in the broker’s app, in the MT5 app and on a computer.
We checked the trading accounts in each broker’s app. The XM app shows the MT5 login details of each trading account, and a demo account that we opened in the HFM app showed the same balance in the MT5 app.
In the XS app, the Trade button on a trading account opens MetaTrader 5 WebTrader inside the app and asks for the MT5 trading password. The Exness Trade app trades MT5 accounts directly.
The four broker apps have these names in Google Play and the App Store:
- XM
XM App. In some countries, Google Play lists XM 360 or XM Traders instead. Our XM app guide shows which app your store lists. - HFM
HFM App. Our HFM app guide shows how to log in and place a trade. - XS
XS – Trade Forex & Stocks. The XS app has a button on each trading account that opens the MT5 app. - Exness
Exness Trade. In some countries, Google Play lists Exness Go instead. Our Exness app guide explains the two app names.
So choose the trading account first, and then install that broker’s app. The MetaTrader 5 app works with all four brokers as well. However, you deposit and withdraw money only in the broker’s own app or on the broker’s website.
Can You Start With $10 or Less?
Yes, at XS and XM you can start with $10 or less, because XS Standard has no minimum deposit and XM Ultra Low starts at $5.
With $10, you can open the smallest gold trade, but the small deposit means a small price move can close your trade. In the XM app, 0.01 lot of gold needed a margin of $4.12 at 1:1000 leverage. So only about $5.88 is left for losses, and on 0.01 lot, every $1 that the gold price moves against your trade is a $1 loss.
If you want to practise with real money on small sizes, our cent account comparison shows which broker has the lowest spread for small trades.
The two cheapest gold accounts need a larger first deposit. HFM Unlimited needs $250 or $500, depending on your country, and in some countries HFM calls the Unlimited account InfinityX.
HFM Pro needs a first deposit of $100 and costs $9.79 per lot of gold after the rebate. The cost makes HFM Pro the second cheapest account of all.
Which Broker App Should You Choose?
The best forex trading app for you is the app of the broker whose account fits your first deposit, because the account sets the cost per lot.
- Lowest cost per lot
The HFM app with an Unlimited account costs the least, at $6.94 per lot of gold after the rebate, if you can deposit $250 or $500. You can open an HFM account (opens in a new tab) with our rebate and choose Unlimited, or InfinityX, when you open the trading account. - From $100
The HFM app with a Pro account costs $9.79 per lot after the rebate. The cost is still less than any account at XS, Exness and XM. - Using a deposit bonus
XM Standard costs more per lot, but the 100% bonus halves the cash that you need, so for a small account XM Standard gave the best result for your cash in our calculation. You can open an XM Standard account (opens in a new tab) with our rebate. - Less than $100
The XS app with a Standard account costs $10.30 per lot after the rebate, and XS Standard has no minimum deposit. You can open an XS account (opens in a new tab) with our rebate. - Holding gold for weeks
The XM app with an Ultra Low account is the best choice, because Ultra Low has no swap on gold, with no limit in days. Each trade costs $21.74 per lot after the rebate, and you can open an XM Ultra Low account (opens in a new tab).
Questions People Ask About Forex Trading Apps
- Do you pay to use a broker’s trading app?
-
No, the apps of XM, HFM, XS and Exness are free in Google Play and the App Store, and the MetaTrader 5 app is also free. You pay only the trading costs of your account: the spread, any commission and the swap.
- What does 1 lot of gold mean in a trading app?
-
At XM, HFM, XS and Exness, 1 lot of gold is 100 ounces, so a $1 move in the gold price is $100 on 1 lot. On 0.01 lot, every cost on this page is 100 times smaller.
Our XAUUSD pips guide shows how to count gold moves in dollars.
- Can you use the same trading account on your phone and your computer?
-
Yes, you can use the same trading account on your phone and your computer, because the trading account is an MT5 account. You can log in to the same account in the MT5 app on your phone and in MT5 on your computer.
At Exness, you can also trade in a web browser. Our Exness web terminal guide compares the two web terminals.
Which Page Do You Need Next?
Once you have chosen a broker, that broker’s app guide shows how to install the app and place your first trade.
How we compared the apps
Our measurement
- Cost of a gold trade
- The 24-hour average spread of 1 lot of gold (100 ounces) and the commission for opening and closing it, from our forex rebates ranking, updated on 10 Nov 2026, 06:06 UTC. The rebate is what ForexFanClub pays back on the same lot.
- Accounts
- For each broker, the table shows the account with the lowest gold cost after the rebate. XS Extra is left out, because a gold trade on XS Standard costs less.
- XM bonus
- The same USD 100 in the trading account at each broker: on XM Standard, USD 50 of cash and USD 50 of bonus, and on HFM Pro, XS Standard and Exness Standard, USD 100 of cash. We made 50 gold trades of 0.01 lot, each closed at a USD 10 gain or a USD 10 loss, and took the average of 40,000 random orders of wins and losses. Losses come out of your own money first, and the XM rebate is smaller on trades whose margin the bonus covers. The result is the change in your cash. The bonus left in the account is not counted, and the monthly bonuses after the first one are left out.
- Apps
- We logged in to the XM, HFM, XS and Exness apps on an Android phone and looked at the trading accounts without placing real orders.
Official pages
- XM
- XM account types page: the minimum deposit on the Standard, Micro and Ultra Low accounts is $5.
- HFM
- HFM account pages (opens in a new tab): Pro needs $100. The Unlimited account, called InfinityX in some countries, needs $250 or $500, depending on the country.
- XS
- XS account types page: the Standard account has no minimum deposit. The XS app is XS – Trade Forex & Stocks in Google Play (opens in a new tab) and in the App Store (opens in a new tab).
- Exness
- Exness account types page: in many countries, Standard needs $10 and Raw Spread $200. Your Personal Area may show a higher minimum.
All details checked on 10 November 2026.
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Risk warning: Forex and CFD trading involve leverage, and you could lose all the money you invest. This article provides information, not investment advice. The amounts shown are calculated from the collected data and do not guarantee the amounts that will apply to your own trades, or any future profit.
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