Zero spread accounts: do the full cost sum before switching

[Amanhasnoname]

"Zero spread" is marketing for raw spread plus commission. Whether it is cheaper depends on arithmetic that many people skip. Say the standard account averages 1.0 pip on EURUSD with no commission, and the raw account averages 0.1 pip plus 7 USD per lot round turn. A pip on a standard lot is about 10 USD, so the raw account costs roughly 0.1 pip plus 0.7 pip of commission, total 0.8. That looks like a small win on paper.

The catch is that the averages hide the behaviour. On a raw account the spread often goes negative-looking quiet, then spikes harder at news and rollover, while the commission stays flat. A scalper trading mostly in quiet hours gains. A scalper trading around releases may not.

What to compare, using your own trade history rather than the advertised numbers:

- Total cost per round turn in pips, including commission, averaged over your actual entry times
- The same figure only for trades during the worst ten percent of spread conditions
- Slippage on exits, since execution models can differ between account types

For a 3-pip target the difference between 0.8 and 1.1 total cost is about ten percent of the gross move. That is material.

Has switching to a commission account actually improved your net per trade, or did it come out a wash?