Admirals (formerly Admiral Markets) is a forex and CFD broker founded in 2001, regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom and CySEC in Cyprus. Unlike several brokers in this comparison it runs exclusively on MetaTrader — MT4 and MT5, with no proprietary platform. The questions that matter are which licensed entity serves your country and what the all-in cost of trading actually is; we publish no spreads, minimums or star ratings here until a hands-on review.
Regulation and safety of funds
Admirals operates through separately licensed entities authorised by the FCA (United Kingdom) and CySEC (Cyprus). The entity that actually onboards you depends on your country of residence: a UK resident is typically served by the FCA-authorised entity with FSCS eligibility, while an EU resident is usually served by the CySEC-regulated entity passporting in under MiFID II. The protections attached to your account — client-money segregation, the relevant compensation scheme, complaint rights — follow that specific licence, not the Admirals brand as a whole.
Confirm the exact legal entity named in your account agreement and verify it on the FCA Register or the CySEC register before depositing. The ESMA-style retail protections apply through these entities — a 30:1 leverage cap on major pairs, negative-balance protection and a ban on trading bonuses — but none of that makes trading low-risk: the standardised risk warning still applies and most retail CFD accounts lose money.
Platforms: MetaTrader only
Admirals operates exclusively on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, with no proprietary platform of its own. For a trader who already runs an MT4 expert advisor or an MT5 automated strategy, that is a straightforward fit — the platform is the long-standing forex standard, and habits and tools built on MetaTrader transfer directly.
The trade-off is that Admirals offers no in-house alternative for traders who want an integrated, proprietary experience like XTB's xStation or eToro's social platform. As with any broker, open a demo account and confirm the order types and execution behaviour suit how you actually trade before funding a live account.
Costs, and what we will not invent
The real cost of trading with Admirals is the spread plus any commission plus overnight financing (swap), and it varies by account type, instrument and market conditions. Admirals is commonly associated with a choice between a spread-only account and a commission-based 'raw spread' account, but the exact figures differ by entity and change over time — any spread quoted by a third party, including the term 'admiral markets spreads', can be stale. We deliberately do not publish a spread, minimum deposit or star rating for Admirals until we complete a hands-on review.
To check the real cost yourself, read Admirals' current pricing page for the entity that serves your country, confirm whether you are on a spread-only or commission-plus-raw-spread account, and factor in swap if you hold positions overnight. Under FCA and ESMA rules Admirals cannot offer a retail client a deposit bonus, so any 'bonus' marketing aimed at EU or UK retail traders is a warning sign, not a perk.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Regulated by both the FCA (UK) and CySEC (Cyprus) — each verifiable on a public register.
- Operating history dating to 2001.
- Runs both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, a natural fit for existing MT4/MT5 strategies.
Cons
- No proprietary platform — MetaTrader only, so no in-house alternative if MT4/MT5 doesn't suit you.
- The entity (and protections) serving your country may differ from the strictest licence the group holds.
- We have not completed a hands-on review, so we publish no spreads, minimums or ratings.
Frequently asked questions
Is Admirals regulated in Europe and the UK?
Yes. Admirals holds an FCA licence in the UK and a CySEC licence in the EU, through separate legal entities. Confirm the specific entity that serves your country on the relevant register before depositing.
Does Admirals offer its own trading platform?
No. Admirals operates exclusively on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, with no proprietary platform. If you already use MT4 or MT5, that is a straightforward fit; if you want an integrated in-house platform, look elsewhere.
What are Admirals' spreads?
We do not publish a spread figure for Admirals until we complete a hands-on review — spreads vary by account type (spread-only vs raw-spread-plus-commission), entity and instrument, and change over time. Check Admirals' current pricing page for the entity serving your country.