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The spread is the gap between the price you can buy at and the price you can sell at. A quote of 1.1000 and 1.1001 on EUR/USD has a spread of one pip, and that pip is the broker’s charge for the trade.
Every quote has two prices. The bid is what the broker pays you when you sell. The ask is what you pay when you buy. The ask is always higher, and the difference is the spread. You start every trade behind by the spread, so it is the first cost to check.
EUR/USD is quoted at 1.1000 to 1.1001. You buy one standard lot of 100,000 euros at 1.1001. If you closed at once you would sell at 1.1000 and lose one pip, which is $10 on a standard lot, $1 on a mini lot and 10 cents on a micro lot. A 3-pip spread on the same trade costs $30.
A fixed spread stays the same whatever the market does. A variable spread widens when the market is busy or thin, such as during news or at the daily rollover. A raw spread account shows the market price with almost no markup and charges a commission per lot instead, often $3 to $3.50 a side on a standard lot. Which is cheaper depends on how often you trade and at what time.
On EUR/USD a standard account at a major broker shows about 0.8 to 1.5 pips, and a raw account 0.0 to 0.3 pips plus commission. Minor and exotic pairs cost more, sometimes 10 pips or above. Our fee calculator turns any spread into a dollar cost for your position size.
See spread-only pricing for accounts with no commission, micro lot for how size changes the cost, and base currency for which side of the pair you are paying in.
Only if the commission and the swap are also low. A raw spread with a commission can cost more than a standard spread for a trader who holds for weeks.
Fewer banks quote prices between the New York close and the Tokyo open, so brokers widen spreads to cover the risk. Spreads also widen for a few seconds around big news.
Sources: Published spread pages of FOREX.com, Pepperstone and IC Markets, checked 25 September 2026. Checked 25 September 2026.
Risk warning: trading forex and CFDs on margin carries a high risk of losing money. Most retail accounts lose money. Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.