Pepperstone vs Fusion Markets (2026)

Pepperstone vs Fusion Markets: the verdict on cost against breadth

Fusion Markets charges a flat A$4.50 round turn per standard lot on its Zero account, the second-lowest per-side commission in this coverage behind ACY Securities at A$1.50 per side. Pepperstone charges A$7.00 round turn on Razor and answers with five platforms, a deeper research stack and tier-1 oversight from four regulators beyond ASIC. Both are Melbourne-founded, both hold ASIC licences, and both open an account on A$0.

The decision comes down to how a trader weighs cost against breadth, because the two brokers are close on everything else. The measured numbers, the ownership question behind Fusion Markets and the honest trust gap all sit below. The full Pepperstone review and Fusion Markets review go deeper on each.

Cost: where Fusion Markets leads and by how much

Fusion Markets leads on both halves of the cost and the margin is measurable. The Zero account charges a flat A$4.50 round turn, or A$2.25 per side, that does not move with volume. Pepperstone Razor charges A$7.00 round turn, or A$3.50 per side. On raw spread the May to June 2026 capture measured EUR/USD at 0.04 pips on Zero against 0.10 pips on Razor, and 0.36 pips against 0.46 pips across the eight-pair basket.

At a flat A$2.50 per lot difference on commission alone, a trader placing 50 lots a month pays roughly A$125 a month more at Pepperstone before the spread gap is counted.

Pepperstone runs an Active Trader rebate programme that reduces its effective round turn as monthly volume climbs, and that is the limit of what can be stated here. Neither the rebate rate nor the qualifying volume tier is published, so no crossover point can be calculated and none is quoted on this page. A high-volume trader should get both figures in writing from Pepperstone before treating the rebate as part of the comparison. The wider field on price sits in the lowest commission forex brokers guide.

Who owns Fusion Markets

Fusion Markets is a trading name of FMGP Trading Group Pty Ltd (ABN 74 146 086 017), the entity holding ASIC AFSL 385620. Phil Horner founded the broker in 2017 after years at Pepperstone, and the pitch has always been Pepperstone-style raw pricing at a lower commission.

That same legal entity is also the licensee behind Global Prime, so the two brands share a single AFSL while operating as separate businesses with their own platforms and pricing. The shared licence is disclosed on both review pages, because it explains why a different-looking broker traces back to the same Australian company, and because a regulatory action against the licensee would reach both brands at once.

Regulation and trust

Both brokers clear the ASIC bar. Each holds an Australian Financial Services Licence, belongs to AFCA, and segregates retail client money at an Approved Australian Bank. The trust gap sits in what stands behind that licence rather than in the licence itself.

Pepperstone rates higher on the trust sub-score, on the back of ASIC AFSL 414530 held since 2013 plus tier-1 oversight from the FCA in the UK, CySEC in Cyprus, BaFin in Germany and the DFSA in Dubai. Fusion Markets rates lower on a shorter brand record, with the FMGP Trading Group licence dating to 2011 and the Fusion Markets brand to 2017, and with a Vanuatu registration as its only other licence, used for wholesale and international clients rather than Australian retail accounts.

Neither figure is a safety verdict, and both firms are legitimate ASIC licensees. Either licence can be confirmed on the ASIC professional register by searching the legal entity name. The longer tenure and the tier-1 stack are why Pepperstone rates higher, not any question mark over the Fusion Markets Australian licence.

What the ASIC licence guarantees at both

The retail protections are identical at both brokers, because the regime sets them rather than the broker: a maximum retail leverage of 30:1 on major forex pairs and 2:1 on cryptocurrency CFDs, mandatory negative balance protection so a retail account cannot lose more than the money in it, a standardised margin close-out at 50% of initial margin, and AFCA recourse for disputes. The caps come from a product intervention order extended to 23 May 2027. The full tier list sits in the guide to how ASIC regulates forex brokers.

Platforms and range

Platform choice is where Pepperstone pulls clearly ahead. It runs MT4, MT5, cTrader, native TradingView and its own proprietary platform on a single login, the broadest line-up in this coverage, and pairs that with a deeper research and education stack and around 1,200 share CFDs. Fusion Markets keeps a leaner set of MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView, with no proprietary platform and a lighter research library, which fits its role as the low-cost specialist rather than the all-rounder.

Product range follows the same pattern. Pepperstone carries the wider crypto CFD selection and more indices, ETFs and share CFDs, while Fusion Markets covers the core markets with a smaller major-coin crypto selection. A trader wanting one account to hold forex alongside a broad multi-asset range is the better fit for Pepperstone; a trader who mainly trades forex and wants the cheapest execution rarely misses the narrower Fusion Markets menu.

Which should you choose

Fusion Markets suits a trader whose first filter is commission. The flat A$4.50 round turn, backed by a 0.04 pip EUR/USD raw spread in the May to June 2026 capture, makes it the cheaper account for the low-to-mid volume trading most retail clients actually do, and no minimum deposit stands in the way.

Pepperstone suits a trader who wants the wider platform choice, the stronger research and the tier-1 trust stack, and who is prepared to pay A$2.50 more per lot for them. Its Active Trader programme reduces that gap at volume on terms the broker does not publish.

The full detail sits in the Pepperstone review and the Fusion Markets review, and the best forex brokers in Australia guide shows where each sits against the field. The other close Pepperstone match-up compares Pepperstone against IC Markets on raw spreads, where the cost verdict runs the other way. Running the numbers on a specific lot size is quicker in the broker cost calculator.

Open a Pepperstone account or open a Fusion Markets account (affiliate links, see our advertiser disclosure).