Planning
Forex brokerage cost calculator: cost per client and break-even
Put in your own numbers and see what the platform costs per active client, what the brokerage costs to run each month, and how many months it takes to earn back your start costs. The plan prices are ours; every other figure is yours.
What the calculator works outFrom this guide
- Platform cost per active clientThe plan's monthly price divided by your active clients
- Total monthly costThe plan's monthly price plus your other monthly costs
- Monthly marginYour monthly revenue minus the total monthly cost
- Months to break evenYour one-off start costs divided by the margin and rounded up to whole months
Figures and rows from this guide's own sources. Sample market data, sample clients and sample brands. "Your Brand" stands for your own name and logo.
Work out your cost and break-even
Pick a plan and type your own numbers: only the plan prices come from us. The result changes as you type.
Your result on Starter
- Platform cost per active clienta month
- $6.25
- Total monthly cost$1,250 platform and $0 other
- $1,250
- Monthly margin
- Add your revenue per client
- Months to break even
- Add your revenue per client
The free first month on any plan is left out, so the result errs on the safe side. The result is only as good as the numbers you enter. It is an estimate for planning, not financial advice and not a forecast of revenue.
Platform cost per active client $6.25. Total monthly cost $1,250. Months to break even: Add your revenue per client.
How the calculator works
The calculator does four sums. The platform is the only line with our price in it, taken from the plan prices we publish; every other box is your own figure, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Monthly revenue is your active clients times your average monthly revenue per active client. The margin is that revenue minus the total monthly cost, and the break-even is your one-off start costs divided by the margin, rounded up to whole months.
| Figure | How it is worked out |
|---|---|
| Platform cost per active client | The plan's monthly price divided by your active clients |
| Total monthly cost | The plan's monthly price plus your other monthly costs |
| Monthly margin | Your monthly revenue minus the total monthly cost |
| Months to break even | Your one-off start costs divided by the margin and rounded up to whole months |
On your platform
How it fits the rest of the platform
One deployment on your brand, domain and database: the terminal your clients trade on, and the CRM your team runs.
Deposits
Sample market data and sample clients. "Your Brand" stands for your own name and logo.
What the platform costs per active client
Starter is $1,250 a month for up to 1,000 active clients and Growth is $2,500 a month for up to 10,000, with the CRM, the client terminal and the back office included, no setup fee and no revenue share.
One monthly priceFirst month free on any plan
- Starter$1,250a monthNew brokers launching their first branded desk
- Growth$2,500a monthScaling desks that want automation and a native app
- EnterpriseCustomMulti-brand groups and regulated operators
Prices as on the pricing page, and sample inputs.
Read moreShow less: What the platform costs per active client
Because the price is flat, the cost per client falls as the book grows: Starter at its full 1,000 clients is $1.25 a client a month, and Growth at 10,000 is $0.25. Above 10,000 active clients the plan is Enterprise, priced by quote. Your first month on any plan is free; the calculator leaves that month out, so its result errs on the safe side.
What to put in your other monthly costs
These are the lines founders tend to underestimate, so give each one a real quote rather than a guess.
Read moreShow less: What to put in your other monthly costs
The figures in the hints are published ones from our line by line guide to brokerage costs; a line with no published figure needs your own quote.
- Staff
Compliance, operations, retention and support. In most regimes some of these roles are required. Use your own salary quotes.
- Licence upkeep
A twelfth of the regulator's annual fee, plus your registered agent, legal and compliance work. In Seychelles the regulator charges USD 6,000 a year.
- Liquidity and market data
Only if you cover trades with a provider: terms through our introduction start from $2,500 a month. Licensed real time data is a separate subscription.
- Marketing
Your own budget for ads, content and partner commissions.
What to put in one-off start costs
One-off costs are what you spend once to open, and what you pay before the first client trades.
Read moreShow less: What to put in one-off start costs
Company formation, legal work, the licence application (USD 3,000 to apply in Seychelles) and what you spend before your first client. Leave out regulatory capital you keep in the company, such as the USD 100,000 a Seychelles dealer holds: it is not spent.
Our plans have no setup fee, so the platform adds nothing to this line. Capital still matters for the plan: it stays in the company for as long as the licence is held, and it cannot be used to pay the bills while you wait for the break-even.
Revenue per active client is your own estimate
We do not suggest a figure, because no honest one exists for a brokerage that has not opened.
Read moreShow less: Revenue per active client is your own estimate
What a client earns you depends on your spreads and commissions, how much your clients trade, which instruments they trade and whether you keep their trades in-house or cover them. Two brokers with the same client count can earn very different amounts.
Use the figure from your business plan, or from your own book if you already bring clients to a broker as an introducing broker. Then try a lower figure too: if the break-even only works at your best case, the plan needs more room.
Reading the result
A positive margin means the brokerage covers its monthly costs at these numbers, and the break-even says how many months of that margin pay back the start costs.
Read moreShow less: Reading the result
If the margin is zero or less, the start costs are never paid back at these numbers, and the calculator says so.
The result is only as good as the numbers you put in. It is an estimate for planning, not financial advice and not a forecast of what your brokerage will earn, so check it with your accountant and with real quotes. The ten launch steps, in order, show when each cost arrives.
Common questions
Anything else? Our team answers 24/7.
How is the break-even point worked out?
Your one-off start costs divided by your monthly margin, rounded up to whole months. The margin is your active clients times your revenue per client, minus the platform and your other monthly costs. If the margin is zero or less, there is no break-even at those numbers.
Why does the calculator not suggest a revenue per client?
Because it depends on your spreads, commissions, instruments and clients, and any figure we gave would read as a promise. Use the figure from your own business plan, then test a lower one.
Is the plan price the whole software cost?
On Starter ($1,250 a month) or Growth ($2,500 a month), the price includes the trading terminal, the CRM, the back office and the installable app, with no setup fee, no revenue share and no volume fees. Licensed real time market data is a managed add-on billed separately.
Is the result financial advice?
No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, for planning. It is not financial advice and not a forecast of revenue: check it with your accountant and with real quotes before you commit money.
See the platform behind the numbers
Get a free 14-day demo of the terminal, CRM and back office your plan price pays for.