Royal Review 2023

How we ranked fees

We ranked Royal's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Royal for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading the most important fees are spreads, commissions and financing rates.

We also compared Royal's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Eightcap and TMGM. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Royal alternatives.

To have a clear overview of Royal, let's start with its trading fees.

Royal trading fees

Royal trading fees are average. The cost structures are different for the two main account types, with each having its own specialty when it comes to trading:

• Zero
• Core

 In this review, we tested the Zero Classic account.

We know it's hard to compare trading fees for forex brokers. So how did we approach the problem of making their fees clear and comparable? We compare brokers by calculating all the fees of a typical trade for selected products.

We chose popular instruments in each asset class usually provided by forex brokers:

• Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF and EURGBP
• Stock index CFDs: SPX and EUSTX50

A typical trade means buying a leveraged product, holding it for one week and then selling. For the volume, we chose a $20,000 position for forex and a $2,000 position for stock index and stock CFD transactions. The leverage we used was:

• 30:1 for forex
• 20:1 for stock index CFDs

These catch-all benchmark fees include spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers. Let's see the verdict for Royal fees.

Forex fees

Royal forex fees are generally low and mostly in line with its main competitors.

CFD fees

Royal has high CFD trading fees.

Non-trading fees

Royal has low to average non-trading fees. It does not charge an inactivity or account fee. There is also no deposit fee in most cases, but a withdrawal fee is charged on almost all withdrawal methods other than bank transfer. You can check below for the details on deposit and withdrawal fees.

The deposit and withdrawal fees are different for bank transfers, credit/debit cards and electronic wallets.

*No deposit fees for Westpac, AstroBank and Hellenic Bank wire transfers. In addition, $30 of any intermediary fees on deposits over $500 are also covered.

**Free, but intermediary banks may charge a fee.

Can you open an account?

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86.67% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Royal accepts customers from all around the world.

What is the minimum deposit at Royal?

The required Royal minimum deposit is $50. 

Account types

Royal provides 3 account categories by ownership type:

• Individual
• Joint
• Corporate

In terms of fee structure, you can choose from two main account types: Zero and Core. Within each category, the exact fees you are charged depends on the amount of money you deposit in your account, which ranks you as either a Classic, Premium or VIP client.

How to open your account

The online registration process was seamless and easy, and we completed it in 10 minutes. However, the account verification was unusually longer than expected. It took more than 5 days for the broker to verify our account.

The steps you need to go through to open your account are as follows:

1. Provide your name, email, mobile number, country of residence and account type.
2. Add more personal details, like address and information about your financial status.
3. Select the account currency and the amount you plan to deposit.
4. Upload documents for verification. You can upload a passport, national ID, or driving license to verify your identity. Utility bills and bank statements are accepted as proof of residency.
5. Wait for Royal to verify your account. 
6. After your account is verified, you need to make your first deposit.

Account base currencies

At Royal, you can choose from 12 base currencies.

This selection is great compared to similar brokers.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Compare digital banks

Deposit fees and options

Depositing funds at Royal is free in most cases. There are many available options, but not all of them accept all currencies.

To check which deposit options carry a fee and which currencies are accepted, see the table below.

*No deposit fees for Westpac, AstroBank and Hellenic Bank wire transfers. In addition, $30 of any intermediary fees on deposits over $500 are also covered.

This great selection of deposit options is similar to Royal's featured competitors.

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Royal withdrawal fees and options

Royal charges a withdrawal fee for most withdrawal methods, except for bank transfer and cheque. See our detailed table below for the withdrawal fees for the different withdrawal methods.

There is a withdrawal fee charged for most withdrawal options other than bank transfer.

*Free, but intermediary banks may charge a fee.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Royal? We tested the bank transfer withdrawal and it took 1 business day.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from Royal?

• Once logged in to your account, select 'Funds' on the left side of the menu.
• Select 'Withdrawal'.
• Choose a withdrawal option. 
• Fill out the form and send it.

Royal doesn't have its own self-developed trading platform, it offers a third-party platform, MetaTrader 4. 

MetaTrader 4 is available in an exceptionally large number of languages.

Look and feel

Royal's web trading platform has great customizability. It is easy to change the size and the position of the tabs, and you can place a lot of charts on the screen.

However, the MetaTrader platform overall feels outdated and some features are hard to find. For example, it took us some time to figure out how to add an asset to the watchlist. On the plus side, Royal has overlaid it with an easy-to-use menu on the left side, as you can see below.

Login and security

Royal provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. You can find the assets listed by category. However, we missed the usual search function where you can type in the asset's name manually.

Placing orders

You can use the basic order types, but you will not find very sophisticated orders like 'one-cancels-the-other.' The following order types are available:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss

If you are not familiar with order types, read this overview.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on the MetaTrader web trading platform available at Royal. This feature is only available on the mobile and the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

Royal has clear portfolio and fee reports available on the MetaTrader 4 web trading platform. You can easily see your profit-loss balance and the commissions you paid. These reports can be found under the 'History' tab, but cannot be downloaded.

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Similarly to the web trading platform, Royal offers MetaTrader 4 as a mobile trading platform. MT4 is available for both iOS and Android. We tested it on iOS.

After you download the MT4 mobile trading platform, you have to access the 'RoyalPlatforms-Real' server. 

Just like at the web trading platform, you can choose from many languages on the mobile trading platform.

Look and feel

Royal has a great mobile trading platform in MT4, we really liked its design and user-friendliness. You will easily find every feature.

Login and security

Similarly to the web trading platform, the app provides only a one-step login. A two-step login would be more secure.

You can't log in using biometric authentication. Providing this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

The search functions are good. You can search by typing the name of the product or by navigating the category folders.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order time limits as on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications on the mobile trading platform.

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Royal offers MetaTrader 4 as a desktop trading platform.

The platform has the same design, is available in the same languages, offers the same order types (plus Trailing stop), and has the same search functions as the web trading platform. 

The portfolio and fee reports are clear as well, and you can download them if you right-click on the 'History' tab and select 'Save as detailed report'.

The major difference is that you can set alerts and notifications on the desktop trading platform in the form of mobile push or email notifications. To do this, you have to provide your email address and mobile MetaQuotes ID, which you can find in the MT4 app's settings by going to the 'Tools' menu and then selecting 'Options'.

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Royal is primarily a forex broker, but it also provides some CFDs and cryptos for trading. To learn more about CFDs, please read our CFD trading tips.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 81.37% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Royal's forex, crypto, stock index and commodity CFD product offerings are mostly in line with those of selected competitors, although Royal's stock CFD selection is narrower.

At Royal, you can change the default leverage level of the products. This is great, as we think it is something you should be in control of.

You can choose from these leverage options:

• 10:1
• 20:1
• 30:1
• 100:1

Changing the leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as preset leverage levels may be too high.

Social Trading

Royal has partnerships with social trading providers. This means that clients can follow trades made by other traders in Royal's Social Trading System directly from their trading accounts.

2 social trading providers are available: ZuluTrade and Myfxbook.

ZuluTrade is a peer-to-peer social trading platform where you can mimic the trading strategies of thousands of registered currency traders from 192 countries. Using ZuluTrade’s proprietary performance evaluation algorithm and feedback from ZuluTrade’s knowledgeable community, Royal clients can customize trades according to their preferences and risk tolerance.

Myfxbook is a social trading site, which allows users to share, analyze, track and compare their trading activities. It also allows users to set up auto-trading to follow selected traders. Myfxbook is an affiliate of Royal and MetaTrader 4 is fully integrated with the Myfxbook system. All that a Royal client has to do is sign up for a Myfxbook account and link it to their Royal account.

We tested the research tools available on the MetaTrader platform.

Trading ideas

Royal provides trading ideas through Trading Central, a third-party research provider. The ideas are based purely on technical analysis and cover FX pairs. There is a detailed definition of the pattern, and the actual trend is indicated with a target price.

In the 'technical insights' section you can find analyses on different asset classes, such as forex, indexes and stocks. You can also find suggestions for buying or selling on different time horizons, e.g. short or long term.

Fundamental data

Royal offers some fundamental data through an economic calendar, which is a useful tool for forex traders.

Charting

Royal's MetaTrader has OK charting tools. You can use 31 technical indicators and other tools, such as trendlines, Fibonacci retracements and channels.

News feed

There is no news feed in MetaTrader 4.

Other research tools you may enjoy

You can use a great research tool to test your strategy with relation to automated trading. It is called 'Strategy Tester' and you can find it by clicking on 'View' and selecting 'Strategy Tester'.

Compare research pros and cons

You can contact Royal via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

Royal has great live chat support. It is fast and we always received relevant responses.

Royal phone support was also fast and provided relevant answers.

However, email support could use some improvement, as a couple of our emails went unanswered.

We missed 24/7 availability, as the broker provides customer support only 24/5.

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86.67% of retail CFD accounts lose money

At Royal you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• General educational videos
• Quality educational articles

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86.67% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Is Royal regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the following financial authorities:

• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)
• Lebanese Capital Markets Authority (CMA)
• Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC)
• Financial Services Authority (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)

Is Royal safe?

To be certain if a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

Clients are onboarded under multiple legal entities that are regulated by different authorities. This matters because the amount of protection you're eligible for differs from entity to entity. In Royal's case, only clients under the Cyprus entity are covered by any protection.

When you start the registration process, you can select the country that you would like to be onboarded to.

Royal provides negative balance protection. If the balance on your account goes into negative, you will be protected.

Background

Royal was established in 2006. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Find your safe broker

We recommend Royal for traders looking for low forex fees and preferring the metatrader platform.

Below you can find links to all aspects of Royal in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Royal fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the Royal minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your Royal account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the Royal account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the Royal trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Royal customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Royal legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether Royal is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Royal good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Royal?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Royal guide

I want to trade options, are they available at Royal?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Royal?

What is the minimum account balance at Royal?

Check out the current account balance requirements at Royal in our What is the minimum account balance at Royal article.

Looking for commission and fees data for Royal?

We collected them in Royal commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from Royal?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Royal.