Spread, commission and swap: how a brokerage earns

The basic idea: revenue follows trading volume

Spread, commission and swap are all fees on trading activity. A brokerage earns each time a client opens and closes a position, and each night a position stays open. That has a simple consequence: revenue grows with how many clients trade, how often and how long they stay.

This is why pricing and client experience cannot be separated. A competitive spread, fast execution and a platform clients enjoy using keep them trading. A confusing fee structure or slow prices push them to another broker, and their volume goes with them.

Spread: the difference between bid and ask

Every symbol has two prices: the bid (where the client sells) and the ask (where the client buys). The gap between them is the spread. Your price feed delivers a raw spread from the market, and the brokerage can add a spread markup on top of it. The markup is the brokerage's revenue on that trade.

A simple illustration: if the raw spread on a major pair is 0.3 pips and your client sees 1.3 pips, the markup is 1.0 pip. Every time a client trades 1 lot of that pair, the brokerage earns the value of 1.0 pip per lot. Trade 10 lots, and it earns the value of 10 pips.

Clients like spread-only pricing because it is easy to understand: there is no separate fee line. The trade-off is that the spread is visible on every quote, so it is the first number clients compare between brokers.

Commission: a fee per lot traded

A commission is a fixed fee per lot, charged when a position is opened, closed or both. It usually comes with tighter spreads. Many brokerages offer a "raw" or "pro" account where clients see spreads close to the raw market and pay a commission per lot instead of a wider spread.

Commission suits active and high-volume traders, who often prefer a predictable cost per lot and the tightest possible price. It also makes the brokerage's revenue more predictable, because it depends on lots traded rather than on the spread at a given moment.

A common way to describe it to clients is per side or per round turn: per side means it is charged once on opening and once on closing; per round turn means one charge covers both. State which one you use clearly, because it is a frequent source of confusion.

Swap: the cost of holding overnight

A swap (also called rollover or overnight financing) is applied to positions held open past the daily rollover time. It reflects the interest rate difference between the two currencies in a pair, plus any adjustment the brokerage applies. Depending on the direction of the trade and the rates, a swap can be a charge or a credit.

Two details matter for clients. First, many platforms apply a triple swap on one weekday, often Wednesday, to account for the weekend. Second, many brokerages offer swap-free accounts for clients who cannot pay or receive interest, often with other terms in place of the swap. Both should be explained in your client terms.

Swap matters most for clients who hold positions for days or weeks. For short-term traders who close positions the same day, it rarely applies.

Spread, commission and swap side by side

Building account types around your pricing

Most brokerages combine the three into a few account types. A clear structure helps your sales desk explain the offer and helps clients choose. A typical starting point looks like this:

• Standard: spread-only pricing with a markup, no commission. Easy for new clients to understand.
• Raw or pro: tighter spreads plus a commission per lot. Aimed at active traders.
• Swap-free: for clients who need it, with the terms written clearly.

Keep the number of account types small. Every extra type is more for agents to explain, more for clients to compare and more settings to manage. Leverage, symbol choice and risk controls matter as much as the fee structure, because they decide how clients can actually trade.

Pricing and controls in EVO

EVO runs execution in-house with built-in risk management, and the pricing controls sit in the back office, which is part of EVO CRM. You get:

• Spread control: set and adjust the spread on every symbol.
• Limits per symbol: volume and trading limits for each instrument.
• Leverage per client, so each client trades with the leverage you assign.
• Margin call and stop out at your levels, handled automatically, plus take profit and stop loss on every order.

Prices stream in real time from the price feed, with no delays, across 250+ symbols, and any symbol can be added on request. Digital currency feeds run 24/7, so crypto symbols keep trading at weekends. Risk groups, for managing clients per group, are coming soon. If you plan to use commission or swap in your account types, contact us and our team will go through how they fit your setup.

Revenue depends on clients, not only on fees

Even the best pricing earns nothing without active clients. That is why the rest of the stack matters: a CRM where every website sign-up becomes a lead with an owner, sales and retention desks, and deposits by any payment method (USDT and other crypto, cards, bank transfer or local methods) with an approval flow. On the trading side, EVO WebTrader gives clients a fast, modern platform in English, Arabic (full RTL) and German.

EVO can be live in less than 24 hours, on a dedicated isolated VPS per broker, with an IP whitelist, security logs and 24/7 support on Telegram at @evoplatforms. EVO plans start from $2,500 per month. See pricing for the plans.

Frequently asked questions