Exness vs Eightcap — which broker is better?

Pros

• Raw Spread account prices majors at 0.0 pips for up to USD 3.50 per lot per side, and the Zero account starts from USD 0.20 per side on 30 headline instruments
• Automated withdrawals process 24/7 and are typically instant back to the original method, with no Exness-side fee in either direction
• No inactivity fee at all — a dormant balance is not eroded, unlike at most competitors
• Standard account opens from around USD 10 with no commission and typical EUR/USD spreads of 0.8–1.0 pips
• Exness Terminal is a real in-house web platform on a TradingView chart engine, not a MetaTrader skin, and the mobile app includes drag-to-modify stops and a built-in risk calculator
• Publishes audited group financial statements — unusual transparency for an offshore-licensed broker
• 24/7 support across roughly fifteen languages with fast first-response times

Cons

• The retail entity is Exness (SC) Ltd under the Seychelles FSA (SD025) — a tier-3 licence with no investor compensation scheme behind it
• The FCA (730729) and CySEC (178/12) licences cover institutional and professional business only; EEA and UK retail clients are not onboarded, which rules Exness out for most German, Austrian and Swiss-resident readers
• Narrow product range: roughly 240 symbols on the web terminal with no ETFs, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded options or futures
• Copy trading is being phased out and is no longer taking new users, removing a feature many clients originally signed up for
• The proprietary terminal still lacks OCO orders, trailing stops and depth of market — you have to fall back to MetaTrader 5 for those
• Leverage marketed as unlimited is a real risk amplifier for inexperienced traders, and the Seychelles entity carries none of the ESMA-style guardrails

Pros

• Raw account is cheap for the segment: 0.0-pip spreads plus roughly USD 3.50 per side per standard lot, or about USD 7 round turn on EUR/USD
• Best-in-class TradingView integration — trade the live account from TradingView charts across 1,000+ symbols, not just a read-only feed
• Four platforms on one account: MT4, MT5, TradingView and TradeLocker, so you are not locked into MetaTrader
• No inactivity fee and no internal deposit or withdrawal fees, including on PayPal, Skrill, Neteller and crypto rails
• Low USD 100 minimum on both account types, with seven base currencies including EUR and GBP
• Broad funding menu with regional rails (INTERAC, PIX, UnionPay, Thai QR) and instant card, wallet and crypto deposits
• The regulated entities check out on primary sources: Eightcap Pty Ltd has held ASIC AFSL 391441 since 2009, Eightcap Group Ltd appears on the FCA register under FRN 921296, and Eightcap EU Ltd holds CySEC licence 246/14 granted in July 2014
• Negative balance protection on the ASIC-, FCA- and CySEC-booked entities, and an 80% margin call / 50% stop-out ladder that is stated up front

Cons

• The group's legal-documents page still lists only Bahamas (SIA-F220), Seychelles (SD100), Mauritius (GB25204603) and a St Vincent company, so the one page built to tell you who you contract with names none of the regulated entities — and the FCA has published a clone warning for 'Eightcap VIP' / eightcap.vip, which is not the authorised firm
• CFDs only: no real shares, no ETFs, no bonds, no funds, no listed options or futures, and no spot crypto you can withdraw
• Share-CFD commissions are not published on the public account-comparison page, so equity traders cannot price a trade before opening an account
• No proprietary mobile app — you are handed MetaTrader, TradingView or TradeLocker, none of which carry Eightcap's own onboarding, funding and reporting flow
• Up to 500:1 leverage on the offshore entities, which is a retail-harm risk dressed as a selling point
• No withholding of German Abgeltungsteuer or Austrian KESt — CFD gains must be declared yourself, and German losses from Termingeschäfte face restrictive offsetting rules