Over the past few years, there has been a surge in CFD trading activity in the UAE. During this time, a regulatory framework covering Forex and CFD providers operating across different jurisdictions has also been enacted. Today, major Forex brokers in UAE are licensed across three authorities with independent jurisdictions.
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) governs the licenses of Forex brokers registered in the UAE mainland, while the DFSA and FSRA are responsible for administering licenses to brokers registered in the DIFC and ADGM financial free zones respectively.
In this article, we review the top forex brokers in the UAE to watch out for in 2026.
Top 5 Forex Brokers – At A Glance
Before we dive into the details, here is a quick snapshot of the forex brokers that made the top five.
I’ll unpack the reasons and our evaluation criteria later in this article, but if you are just looking for a short answer, here is my list of the top 5 Forex brokers in the UAE
| Rank | Broker Name | Licensing Authority | Platforms Offered | Overall Score |
| 1 | Equiti | CMA | MT4, MT5, Web | 9.3/10 |
| 2 | Pepperstone | CMA, DFSA, Bahamas | MT4, MT5, Web | 9.1/10 |
| 3 | IG | DFSA | MT5, ProRealTime, Web | 8.9/10 |
| 4 | Capital.com | CMA | MT4, MT5 | 8.7/10 |
| 5 | XTB | CMA, DFSA | xStation | 8.4/10 |
How we arrived at the score
We started the list by picking the top 15 UAE-licensed Forex brokers based on publicly available trading volume. We then evaluated each of these brokers based on the following criteria:
- Local regulation compliance
- AED deposit facility
- Local transfer fees
- Physical presence
- Customer experience and touchpoints
- Sharia-compliant trading facilities
- Market-maker features
- Minimum deposit
- Trading platforms offered
- Spread and Slippage
- Number of currency pairs available
- Research tools
- Trading products offered
- Customer reviews
We then assigned a score to each of these brokers against these criteria to find the Forex broker that secured the highest score.
I need to clarify something here. The data used for our assessment was gathered between July and September of 2026. It’s worth pointing out that regulations, fees, spreads, platforms, and account conditions may change anytime since the publication of this article.
UAE’s Top 5 Forex Brokers Reviewed
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Equiti
Legal entity: Equiti Securities Currencies Brokers LLC
Licensing authority: UAE Capital Markets Authority
Licenses granted: Introduction, Investment Fund Management, Portfolios management, Promotion, Trading broker in the international markets, Trading broker of OTC derivatives and currencies in the spot market
Overall rating: 9.3/10
Equiti is the highest-rated Forex broker in our assessment. As a broker with category 1 and category 5 license from the UAE CMA, Equiti enjoys strong local credibility.
What I really liked about Equiti is their customer experience – at a time when businesses are replacing human support with AI agents, Equiti still offers in-person support to clients – you could simply walk into one of their offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Sharjah to have a real person attend to your queries.
Key features
- Swap-free accounts: Swap-free trading enabled on all major and minor currencies
- STP Execution: Not a market maker. Equiti is a mark-to-market straight through processing (or ‘STP’) execution-only broker where all positions are sent directly to the liquidity providers. This avoids any conflict of interest that arises when a broker serves as the counterparty to your trades
- No minimum deposit: Zero deposit on classic accounts. Nominal $100 deposits for Standard accounts
- Excellent spreads: Premier accounts start at 0.0 pip spread while average spread on Standard accounts is 1.4 pips
- 60+ currency pairs and wide selection of CFDs.
Pros
- Strong presence in UAE along with Arabic/English support across phone and WhatsApp
- Local account manager to help clients sort out their concerns
- Access to MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and proprietary web platform
- Access to 35+ liquidity providers, including 20 tier 1 banks and prime brokers
Cons
- Inactivity fees for dormant accounts, but this appears to be standard practice across all the major Forex trading platforms.
Overall, we found Equiti to be one of the strongest players in the UAE Forex trading market. If you are a beginner with limited trading experience, you could also check out Equiti’s demo account which is free to use and gets you introduced to the world of Forex trading without having to invest real money.
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Pepperstone
Legal entities: 1. Pepperstone Financial Services LLC, 2. Pepperstone Markets Limited, and 3. Pepperstone Financial Services (DIFC) Limited
Licensing authorities: 1. UAE Capital Markets Authority, 2. Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB), and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DIFC)
Licenses granted in UAE: Financial Consultations, Introduction (CMA) and Arranging Deals in Investments (DFSA)
Overall rating: 9.1/10
Pepperstone is a strong second choice for UAE based residents looking for a Forex broker. Similar to Equiti, Pepperstone too offers easy AED deposit, no deposit fees, and physical presence in Dubai.
Pepperstone excels in its use of multiple tier 1 liquidity providers that ensures a 99.59% fill rate. Also, entry-level traders may benefit from its zero minimum deposit requirements. Spreads are minimal and similar to Equiti that makes this a strong alternative.
Key features
- Razor FX accounts: with spreads starting at 0.0
- Swap-free account: Administrative fee may apply depending on instrument and duration
- Multilingual customer support in Arabic, English, and Hindi
- Easy account opening and trading facility
Pros
- Good local visibility and support
- Competitive trading costs on the Razr account
- Diverse forex offerings
- Diverse platform set available, including MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5
Cons
- Complicated UAE regulatory structure – multiple entities licensed by CMA, DFSA as well as one Bahamas-based entity. The CMA-licensed entity acts as an introducing broker while the retail trading account and execution of trades is carried out by the Bahamas-entity.
| Entity Name | Licensing Authority | Offering |
| Pepperstone Financial Services LLC | Capital Market Authority, UAE
Category 5 license (Introducing Broker activities) |
local introducing broker |
| Pepperstone Markets Limited | Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) | Product issuer – trading account and execution of trades |
| Pepperstone Financial Services (DIFC) Limited | Dubai Financial Services Authority | Trading for professional clients and institutional partners |
- Islamic accounts may not be completely fee-free. Administrative fees on certain instruments
- Restrictive leverage of up to 1:30 on the DFSA entity
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IG
Legal entity: IG Limited
Licensing authority: Dubai Financial Services Authority (DIFC)
Licenses granted: Arranging Deals in Investments, Dealing in Investments as Principal, Providing Custody
Overall rating: 8.9/10
IG is a strong player in the UAE market. It is regulated by the DFSA with a physical office in Dubai. Like the other top players in the UAE like Equiti and Pepperstone, IG also offers AED deposit, physical presence, and low minimum deposits.
Although IG is a major player, it scored less than Equiti and Pepperstone in our research because of two major weaknesses. One is due to the unavailability of swap-free accounts, and the other is due to serving as a market maker for CFD transactions.
Key features
- AED bank account/IBAN for local deposits
- 24-hour support through the trading week over phone, email, web chat, and WhatsApp
- OTC CFD trading model where IG serves as counterparty to the trades
- No minimum deposits. Card deposits need minimum $50
- Low spreads of as low as 0.8 pips
Pros
- 80+ forex pairs available to trade
- Comprehensive research ecosystem
- Diverse stack of trading platforms including MT5, ProRealTime, and mobile/web app
Cons
- Swap-free accounts not available.
- Serves as counterparty to the trade
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Capital.com
Legal entity: CAPITAL COM MENA SECURITIES TRADING L.L.C
Licensing authority: UAE Capital Markets Authority
Licenses granted: Financial Products dealer, Introduction Active Trading broker in the international markets, Trading broker of OTC derivatives and currencies in the spot market
Overall rating: 8.7/10
Capital.com is a CMA-licensed Forex broker with a strong Forex offering and great local presence. For Dubai residents, Capital.com also has a dedicated UAE office and local phone number and live chat based support.
Similar to Equiti and Pepperstone, Capital.com also offers, what some religious scholars may call, a Sharia-compliant swap-free forex brokerage. However, the instruments available for trade with this account may be limited, according to some sources. Also, while there is no account opening fee, there is a minimum deposit requirement of AED 80.
One quick note about Capital.com is that it is not an ECN broker. An ECN (Electronic Communication Network) broker is one who serves as a financial intermediary and connects your trade directly to liquidity providers. They do not directly serve as a dealing desk or counterparty to your trade.
Key features
- MT4/MT5 platform access along with TradingView integration
- AED 80 minimum deposit – while not $0 like Equiti or Pepperstone, it is still low enough
- 100+ technical indicators on their native research tool
- Dynamic spreads with average 0.6 pip spread on EURUSD trade
Pros
- Strong local customer support on phone, email, live chat and WhatsApp
- Diverse basket of instruments available to trade
- Authorized and regulated by Capital Market Authority
Cons
- Not an ECN broker – can serve as counterparty to your trade
- Islamic accounts have limited instrument coverage
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XTB
Legal entities: XTB FINANCIAL SERVICES L.L.C, and XTB MENA Limited
Licensing authorities: UAE Capital Markets Authority, and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DIFC)
Licenses granted: Financial Consultations, Introduction, Portfolios management, Trading broker in the international markets, Trading broker of OTC derivatives and currencies in the spot market (CMA), and Arranging Deals in Investments of Debentures, Futures, Options, Shares, Units, Dealing in Investments as Principal of Debentures, Futures, Options (DFSA)
Overall rating: 8.4/10
XTB operates two independent legal entities in the UAE. XTB Financial Services LLC is a CMA-licensed broker registered in the mainland UAE while XTB MENA Limited is DIFC registered and regulated by the DFSA.
Both these entities are distinct with different offerings. XTB Financial has over 7000+ instruments including 2400+ leveraged CFDs while XTB MENA has 4400+ offerings with 1900+ leveraged CFDs.
During signup, customers must choose one of these entities to onboard with.
Key features
- Local AED deposits. A 0.5% currency conversion applies to switch it to another currency
- Physical presence in the UAE with office at Liberty House in DIFC
- Swap-free account for users looking for trading without riba
- Market-maker that serves as a counterparty within the ambit of DFSA’s matched-principal restrictions
Pros
- Average spreads of 0.8 pips
- No minimum deposit requirements
- Strong local regulation compliance
- Swap-free accounts available
Cons
- Limited platform choice. Only the proprietary xStation platform is available for trading. XTB International account users may opt for MT4
- Complex legal setup can make it difficult for customers to understand their rights
How to pick a UAE Forex broker that fits your needs
The Forex brokers discussed in this article clearly have things going for them, or against them. Before you pick one based on the features alone, it is important to experience the interface to assess your comfort with the system. As the leading Forex broker in the UAE according to our assessment criteria, Equiti’s free demo account could be a good starting point to explore trading without having to invest real money.
Ultimately finding the best broker depends on what matters to you most. Is it the need for a swap-free account, or low deposit fees, or specific currency instruments. Make a list of things that matter and pick one that checks all these different parameters.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What are the top 5 Forex brokers in the UAE?
Based on our 15-point assessment, the top 5 Forex brokers in the UAE are Equiti, Pepperstone, IG, Capital.com, and XTB. Equiti ranks the highest with 9.3 points out of 10
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What are the top Forex brokers in the UAE that offer swap-free accounts?
Swap-free accounts are considered by some to be Sharia-compliant. The top Forex brokers that offer swap-free accounts in the UAE are Equiti, Pepperstone, Capital.com and XTB
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What are the top Forex brokers in the UAE with MT4 and MT5 access.
Among the top Forex brokers in the UAE, Equiti, Pepperstone, and Capital.com offer both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. IG has only MT5 while XTB’s UAE entities offer trading exclusively via their proprietary web and mobile platform.
Author Bio:
Mohammad Irfan is a forex trader with 8 years of experience in the currency derivatives market. He specializes in technical analysis and has hands-on experience using and evaluating forex trading platforms and brokers. Through practical market experience, Irfan shares insights designed to help traders better understand platforms, trading tools, market conditions, and risk management. Irfan currently lives in Dubai with his wife and two kids.
Legal Disclaimer
This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. This article may reflect a commercial or promotional relationship with one or more of the brokers mentioned, which could have influenced their inclusion or ranking. Forex and CFDs are leveraged products and involve a high risk of loss. Broker information, including fees, spreads, regulations, and trading conditions, may change and can vary by legal entity and jurisdiction. Verify current details with the broker and relevant regulator before opening an account or trading. Any ratings or comparisons are based on publicly available information and are not recommendations or endorsements.
