By Albert Czajkowski, Editor and founder of ForexRev

Admirals (Admiral Markets) Review 2026: Trade, Zero and Invest Accounts, Fees

Admirals (formerly Admiral Markets) is a forex and CFD broker that also offers stocks and ETFs. EU clients are served by Admirals Europe Ltd (formerly Admiral Markets Cyprus Ltd), a Cyprus investment firm licensed by CySEC (201/13).

In short: three MetaTrader 5 accounts — Trade (from 0.5 pips, no FX commission), Zero (from 0 pips + $1.80–$3.00 per lot) and Invest (real stocks and ETFs from €1). Free deposits, one free withdrawal per month and a €10 monthly inactivity fee only after 24 months without trading. Checked on admiralmarkets.com on 26 October 2026.

1. Is Admirals safe?

Yes. Admirals Europe Ltd holds CySEC licence 201/13. Retail clients have negative balance protection and the Cyprus ICF up to €20,000. Since 1 March 2021, the funds of Admirals Europe Ltd clients have also been protected by an insurance policy of up to €100,000 — according to the broker it covers over 99% of clients, with exclusions. FCA, ASIC or FSCA licences belong to other group companies.

2. Trade, Zero and Invest accounts

Share and ETF CFDs in a currency other than the account currency incur a conversion fee. Retail leverage: 1:30–1:20 on forex depending on position size.

3. Non-trading fees

• No account opening, maintenance, closing or statement fees.
• Inactivity fee: €10 per month, only after 24 months without trading and only on positive balances; up to three recent fees may be refunded on request after resuming trading.
• Free deposits; one free withdrawal per calendar month per method.
• Transfers between own accounts in different currencies — 1%.

4. Platforms

• MetaTrader 5 and 4, WebTrader, Admirals app.
• MetaTrader Supreme Edition, StereoTrader, VPS.
• Invest.MT5 — real stocks and ETFs, incl. fractional shares.

5. Pros, cons and verdict

6. Alternatives

• Tickmill — Raw account from 0.0 pips.
• Pepperstone — Razor, cTrader, no inactivity fee.
• XTB — CFDs plus real stocks and ETFs.

7. How to open a Admirals account — step by step

1. Register on the Admirals website — EU clients should be served by an EU company: Admirals Europe Ltd (Limassol, Cyprus) — CySEC licence 201/13. Check the company name in your client agreement before depositing.
2. Enter your personal details and complete the questionnaire. Before offering CFDs, an EU broker must assess your knowledge and experience (the MiFID II appropriateness test) and warn you if CFDs are not appropriate.
3. Verify your identity with a passport or ID card and a proof of address (e.g. a utility bill or bank statement), as required by anti-money-laundering rules.
4. Choose the account type and base currency. An account in the currency you deposit in saves conversion costs.
5. Fund the account — minimum deposit according to the broker: Trade and Zero: €100 / $100. Deposits are accepted only from accounts or cards in your own name; available methods: free deposits.
6. Install the platform (MT5, MT4, WebTrader, Admirals app, MetaTrader Supreme Edition, StereoTrader, VPS) or log in via your browser. Practise on a demo account first, if the broker offers one.

8. What trading with Admirals really costs

Below are the costs from the summary table above — taken from Admirals’s website and documents when we updated this review:

• Spread and commission: Trade: from 0.5 pips, no commission (except share/ETF CFDs from $0.02/share); Zero: from 0 + FX and metals $1.80–$3.00 per lot
• Deposits and withdrawals: free deposits; one free withdrawal per month per method

How to work it out: on EUR/USD one pip on a 1-lot position (€100,000) is worth about $10, so a 1-pip spread costs about $10 when you open the trade. A commission quoted “per lot per side” is charged twice — on opening and on closing. Add overnight swaps for every night the position stays open and any currency conversion if your account currency differs from the instrument’s. On 0.1 lot all these amounts are ten times smaller.

Inactivity fee: €10 per month after 24 months without trading (positive balances only). If you plan a long break from trading, withdraw your funds or close the account so the fee does not eat into your balance.

9. Withdrawing money from Admirals — how it works

You request a withdrawal in the client area. Under anti-money-laundering rules, funds usually go back via the method used to deposit (e.g. to the card up to the amount deposited by card) and only to an account or card in your own name. The first withdrawal may require full account verification, so upload your documents right after registering. Only free funds that are not used as margin can be withdrawn.

10. Admirals compared with other brokers

For comparison, here is Admirals next to other brokers whose reviews we updated in October 2026. Figures come from their summary tables — see the full reviews for details.

11. Leverage and client protection in the EU (ESMA)

As an EU investment firm, Admirals applies the restrictions introduced by ESMA and adopted permanently by national regulators to retail clients:

• leverage up to 1:30 on major currency pairs, 1:20 on other pairs, gold and major indices, 1:10 on other commodities and indices, 1:5 on shares and 1:2 on crypto;
• margin close-out at 50% of required margin;
• negative balance protection — retail clients cannot lose more than they deposited;
• a ban on bonuses and trading incentives for retail CFD clients;
• a mandatory risk warning with the share of losing retail accounts — for Admirals: 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Higher leverage is only available to professional clients who meet the MiFID II criteria — at the cost of some protections, including negative balance protection.

12. Tax on profits from Admirals

Tax treatment depends on your country of residence. Admirals generally does not file tax returns for you, so keep the annual statement of trades from the client area. For Polish residents: profits from a foreign broker are reported in the PIT-38 return (19% tax), with foreign-currency amounts converted at the National Bank of Poland average rate from the business day before each trade.

13. Glossary: terms to know before opening a Admirals account

• Spread — the difference between the buy and sell price, paid on every trade.
• Pip — the smallest typical price move of a currency pair (0.0001 for EUR/USD).
• Lot — the standard position size: 1 forex lot is 100,000 units of the base currency; 0.01 lot (micro lot) is 1,000.
• Commission — a fixed fee per trade, usually on raw-spread (ECN/Raw) accounts.
• Swap — the daily cost or credit for holding a position overnight, based on the interest-rate differential.
• Margin — the part of the position value set aside as collateral; at 1:30 leverage about 3.33% of the position.
• Margin call and stop out — a warning and automatic closing of positions when equity falls relative to required margin.
• Slippage — execution at a different price than requested, common around news releases and price gaps.

14. FAQ

Risk warning: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. This review is for information only and is not investment advice.