What Is a Raw Spread Forex Account? How It Works and What It Costs
BY TIOmarkets
|March 21, 2026A raw spread forex account is a type of trading account that gives you direct access to interbank-level spreads, typically starting from 0.0 pips on major currency pairs, in exchange for a fixed commission charged on each trade. Unlike standard accounts that build their revenue into a wider spread, raw accounts separate the cost of the spread from the broker's fee, making it easier to see exactly what you are paying on each transaction.
Understanding how raw spread accounts work, what they cost in total, and whether they suit your trading style is an important step before choosing an account type.
How a Raw Spread Account Differs from a Standard Account
On a standard forex trading account, the broker's cost is incorporated into the spread. If a currency pair has an interbank spread of 0.2 pips, the broker may widen it to 1.1 pips or more before displaying it to the trader. The difference between the raw market price and the price you see covers the broker's margin. You pay no separate commission, but the cost is present in every trade through the spread.
On a raw spread account, the spread displayed is much closer to the underlying market price, starting from 0.0 pips on the most liquid pairs. Instead of widening the spread, the broker charges a fixed commission per round turn lot. A round turn covers both opening and closing a position. The commission is charged in full when you open the trade.
This structure makes costs more transparent. Rather than estimating how much of the spread is the broker's margin, you know the commission precisely before placing the trade.
What Does 0.0 Pips Actually Mean?
A spread of 0.0 pips does not mean trading is free or that the bid and ask price are identical at all times. It means the spread can reach 0.0 pips under normal market conditions on highly liquid pairs such as EURUSD. In practice, spreads are variable and fluctuate continuously. During periods of high volatility, around major economic announcements, or at the open and close of trading sessions, spreads on any account type, including raw accounts, can widen significantly.
When a spread is quoted as "from 0.0 pips," this refers to the minimum that can be observed, not a guaranteed constant. The typical spread experienced over time is generally higher than the minimum figure shown.
How Commission Works on a Raw Account
On TIOmarkets' Raw account, the commission is $6 per round turn lot. This means for every standard lot of 100,000 units that you open and close, you pay $6 in commission. This amount is charged when you open the position and covers the full cost of both legs of the trade.
To understand the real cost of a trade, you need to add the commission to the spread at the time of execution. For example, if you open one standard lot of EURUSD with a spread of 0.2 pips and a commission of $6, your total entry cost is the pip value of 0.2 pips plus $6. On EURUSD with a USD-denominated account, one pip on a standard lot is worth $10, so 0.2 pips equals $2. The total cost on entry would therefore be $8 for that particular trade at that moment.
Commission scales with position size. On TIOmarkets' Raw account, the commission per round turn is $6 at 1.0 lots, $0.60 at 0.1 lots, and $0.06 at 0.01 lots. For accounts held in a base currency other than USD, the commission is converted at the prevailing exchange rate.
Who Is a Raw Spread Account Suited For?
Raw spread accounts tend to suit traders who execute a relatively high volume of trades or who trade in larger sizes, where the difference between a 0.0 pip and a 1.1 pip spread becomes material across a session or week.
Scalpers, who seek to capture small price movements across many trades in a short period, often prefer raw accounts because the lower spread reduces the distance price needs to move before a trade becomes profitable. A tight spread also matters for traders who use automated strategies or expert advisors, since the strategy's logic may be calibrated around specific cost assumptions.
Traders who hold positions for longer periods, such as swing or position traders, may find that the fixed commission on a raw account competes closely with the wider spread of a standard account over the duration of a trade, depending on the pairs traded and average hold time.
Raw Account Specifications at TIOmarkets
TIOmarkets offers a Raw account on both MT4 and MT5. The minimum deposit is $250 or the currency equivalent in other supported base currencies. The account supports spreads from 0.0 pips with a commission of $6 per round turn lot.
The Raw account supports leverage up to 1:500 on request, subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements. Margin call is set at 100% and stop out at 30%. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots and the maximum lot size per trade is 20 lots. A maximum of 200 open and pending orders are permitted per client across all accounts.
Base currencies available on the Raw account are USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, CZK, ZAR, and AED. Hedging is permitted. Order execution operates in milliseconds.
The Raw account is available on MT4 and MT5 across desktop, web browser, and mobile platforms on iOS and Android. Expert advisors and automated strategies can be run on the desktop version of both platforms.
A Standard account is automatically created when you register. The Raw account must be opened separately through the client area under the same user profile.
Raw vs Standard vs VIP Black: How the Cost Structures Compare
TIOmarkets offers three main account types with different cost structures. The Standard account carries a minimum spread of 1.1 pips, no commission, and requires a minimum deposit of $20. The Raw account carries a minimum spread of 0.0 pips, a commission of $6 per round turn lot, and requires a minimum deposit of $250. The VIP Black account carries a minimum spread of 0.3 pips, no commission, and requires a minimum deposit of $1,000.
Whether a raw account is cheaper than a standard account for a given trade depends on how wide the spread is at the moment of execution and the size of the position. On highly liquid pairs at calm market times, the lower spread plus commission on a Raw account can result in a lower total cost than the wider spread on a Standard account. During volatile periods, when spreads widen across all account types, the advantage of the raw account narrows.
The VIP Black account sits between the two in spread terms, with no commission, which can suit traders who want tighter-than-standard spreads without paying per-trade commission.
None of these accounts carries a deposit fee when the minimum is met, and withdrawals of $20 or more are processed without a fee. All accounts are subject to a dormancy fee of $30 per month if no positions are open and no trades have been placed in the previous three months.
Swap Charges on a Raw Account
Raw accounts are subject to the same swap mechanics as other account types. Swap charges or credits apply to positions held open past the daily rollover. The timing and rate of swaps vary by instrument. For current swap rates on any instrument, check the contract specifications inside the MT4 or MT5 trading platform directly. Swap rates are not published on TIOmarkets' website for individual instruments.
An Islamic, swap-free account option is available. Contact TIOmarkets directly for requirements and to confirm instrument eligibility.
FAQ
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TIOmarkets offers an exclusively execution-only service. The views expressed are for information purposes only. None of the content provided constitutes any form of investment advice. The comments are made available purely for educational and marketing purposes and do NOT constitute advice or investment recommendation (and should not be considered as such) and do not in any way constitute an invitation to acquire any financial instrument or product. TIOmarkets and its affiliates and consultants are not liable for any damages that may be caused by individual comments or statements by TIOmarkets analysis and assumes no liability with respect to the completeness and correctness of the content presented. The investor is solely responsible for the risk of his/her investment decisions. The analyses and comments presented do not include any consideration of your personal investment objectives, financial circumstances, or needs. The content has not been prepared in accordance with any legal requirements for financial analysis and must, therefore, be viewed by the reader as marketing information. TIOmarkets prohibits duplication or publication without explicit approval.
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