Tickmill Review: Is Raw Cheaper Than the Big ECN Names?
We opened Tickmill's Raw account with $100, traded EUR/USD through MT4 and MT5, and added up the spread plus commission to see whether it genuinely undercuts IC Markets and the other well-known ECN brokers.
Best for: Volume traders on MT4 or MT5 who want FCA-level regulation alongside genuinely low raw-spread pricing
Tickmill's Raw account is genuinely cheap once the whole cost is added up: a 0.10 pip average EUR/USD spread plus $3 per side works out near 0.7 pips all-in, a touch tighter than IC Markets' roughly 0.8 pip Raw Spread cost. The margin is thin and depends on which broker's spread happens to be tighter that day, so nobody should switch on cost alone. Tickmill's edge is its FCA-regulated UK entity, rarer among raw-spread brokers, provided a trader signs up there rather than under the higher-leverage Seychelles entity. Active MT4 and MT5 users chasing every fraction of a pip should shortlist it.
Price $100 minimum depositMaker Tickmill Grouptickmill.com
Tickmill sits in the same raw-spread bracket as IC Markets and Pepperstone, but it rarely gets the same name recognition. We funded a Raw account with $100 and traded EUR/USD across MT4 and MT5 for a week to see whether the lower profile means a worse deal or a better one.
The Raw account, priced honestly
Tickmill's homepage leads with speed and edge, not numbers, so the real pricing lives one click deeper on the account page. The Raw account charges $3 commission per side, $6 round turn on a standard lot, on top of a spread that floors at 0.0 pips and averages around 0.10 pips on EUR/USD according to independent testing we checked against our own fills. Add the two together and the all-in cost lands close to 0.7 pips a lot.
Compare that with IC Markets, whose Raw Spread account charges $7 round turn against a similar 0.1 pip average spread, and the total works out closer to 0.8 pips. Tickmill comes out slightly ahead on paper. In practice the gap is small enough that either broker could win on a given day depending on liquidity, so treat this as a tie that leans Tickmill's way rather than a decisive victory.
Swap accounts matter too if a position runs overnight. Tickmill's Raw account carries swap charges set per instrument and refreshed daily, and unlike some brokers it publishes the exact figures on its site rather than burying them behind a support ticket. Anyone holding EUR/USD past the New York close should check that table before assuming the spread and commission are the whole cost.
Regulation decides more than the spread does
Four entities carry the Tickmill name: the UK company under FCA licence 717270, a Cyprus entity under CySEC 278/15, a South African arm under FSCA, and a Seychelles company under FSA. The leverage gap between them is enormous. FCA and CySEC clients are capped at 1:30 on major forex pairs, standard for any broker regulated in those jurisdictions. Sign up under the Seychelles entity instead and leverage runs as high as 1:1000, with fund protection through Lloyd's insurance rather than a UK compensation scheme.
