Tickmill Fees: Spreads, Commissions, Swaps and Non-Trading Charges

Tickmill prices its accounts in two ways. The Classic account charges through the spread, from 1.6 pips, with zero commission. Its Raw account passes on spreads from 0.0 pips and charges $3 per lot per side on forex and precious metals. TradingView Raw charges $3.50 per side.

Other costs are few. Deposits and withdrawals carry no commission from Tickmill. Swaps apply to positions held overnight, with a special rule for cryptocurrencies. The broker reserves the right to charge an inactivity fee under its terms, and it sells discounted VPS hosting through a partner.

Costs of each account

Tickmill's spreads page shows a minimum and a typical spread for each instrument, along with the long and short swap. Use the typical figure for planning. A minimum tells you the best case, which you won't get around news or at the daily rollover.

What a forex trade costs

The 0.1-pip raw spread is an illustration. On those figures Raw costs less than half of Classic at every size. In dollar terms the gap is trivial on micro lots and large on standard lots: nine cents a trade at 0.01 lots, nine dollars at one lot.

Classic charts show the market price without the mark-up, according to Tickmill, so the wider spread appears at execution. The Tickmill Raw account guide has more on where Raw stops being cheaper.

Costs on other markets

Commission on the Raw account is limited to forex and precious metals. Indices, oil, bonds and cryptocurrencies are priced through the spread on every account. Stock and ETF CFDs, which trade on MT5, are described on Tickmill's leverage page as having zero commissions.

Swaps

A swap is charged or credited each night a position stays open past the rollover. Rates differ for long and short positions and for each instrument, and Tickmill lists them beside its spreads. Check both columns, since one direction can cost several times more than the other.

Cryptocurrencies have a published rule. A 10% swap charge per year applies to all long positions. New crypto positions placed on MT4 or MT5 get a five-day swap-free period first. Tickmill's example puts the cost of one lot of BTCUSD at 66,200 dollars at 18.40 dollars a night.

Swap-free Islamic accounts replace swaps with a fixed handling fee per lot after a grace period. On Classic, that grace period runs to 40 days for gold, silver, yen and several franc pairs. See the Tickmill Islamic account guide.

Non-trading fees

The inactivity fee is the one to read up on. Tickmill's deposit page says it reserves the right to charge one in accordance with its terms and conditions where there is a lack of trading activity. No amount or waiting period is given there. If you plan to step away for months, withdraw your balance or check the terms first.

A month of costs, three ways

Swaps come on top for overnight positions and are the same on both accounts. The beginner's choice hardly matters in money terms. An active trader saves about $450 a month on Raw, which over a year is more than most people deposit.

Free extras tied to volume

Tickmill offers free TradingView subscriptions to clients who trade enough each month, starting from three lots. That is a real saving for people who would pay for the plan anyway, and a poor reason to trade more. Details are in our Tickmill TradingView guide.

Ways to pay less

• Use Raw if you trade more than about one standard lot a month.
• Trade major pairs during the London and New York sessions.
• Stay out of the market in the minutes around rollover and major releases.
• Hold a wallet in your own currency if it is USD, EUR, GBP or ZAR.
• Withdraw less often, in larger amounts, to cut conversion and bank costs.
• Check the swap for your direction before holding a trade for days.

Fees are only part of what a broker costs you. Leverage and position size decide your losses far more than a pip of spread, as the Tickmill leverage guide explains.

Costs that never appear on a fee page

Slippage is the first. With market execution, an order is filled at the price available, which in a fast market can sit a little away from the quote you clicked. Tickmill reports an average execution speed of 0.15 seconds and no partial fills on MT4. Speed reduces slippage; it can't remove it around major news.

Currency conversion is the second, and for many readers the largest. Tickmill handles only four currencies. A trader whose bank account is in rupees, naira, baht or pesos pays a conversion margin to a bank or wallet on every transfer in and out. One per cent each way on $1,000 is $20 a round trip, more than the commission on three lots.

Excess trading is the third. Low commission makes marginal setups look affordable. A hundred unnecessary round turns at 0.10 lots cost $60 on Raw before spread, and that ignores the losses on trades that had no good reason behind them.

Added together, these can exceed the visible fees for an occasional trader. Someone who places five trades a month and moves money twice pays more to banks and currency desks than to the broker.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• Tickmill Raw account
• Tickmill account types
• Tickmill withdrawal
• Tickmill Islamic account
• Our full Tickmill review