What Is Spread in Forex and When Does It Widen

Updated 30 October 2026 · Written by Broker Atlas Guides Desk · Data checked by Broker Atlas Data Desk

Short answer

The spread is the gap between the bid (sell) and ask (buy) price, and it's the cost you pay the moment you open a trade. A 1-pip spread on 1 lot of EUR/USD costs $10. Spreads are variable at most brokers and widen at the daily rollover, around major news, at weekend opens and in thin markets. On ECN accounts the spread is lower but you pay a commission, so compare the total.

The spread: the gap between buy and sell: EUR/USD Sell (bid) 1.10000, Buy (ask) 1.10010, Spread 1.0 pips, Cost on 1 lot: $10 — You pay the spread the moment a trade opens. On EUR/USD 1 pip is 0.0001, worth $10 on 1 lot.

Bid, ask and spread

	Price
Bid (you sell at)	1.08450
Ask (you buy at)	1.08462
Spread	0.00012 = 1.2 pips

If you buy and the market doesn’t move, closing immediately loses the spread: 1.2 pips × $10 = $12 per standard lot. See pips for the arithmetic.

Spread or commission: comparing the true cost

Accounts price trades in two ways:

Standard accounts: wider spread, no commission.
Raw / ECN accounts: spread close to zero, plus a commission per lot.

To compare, convert the commission into pips. On EUR/USD a $7 round-turn commission per lot equals 0.7 pips. So a raw spread averaging 0.2 pips + $7 commission ≈ 0.9 pips total, which you’d compare against a standard account’s spread.

Examples from brokers’ published terms: Titan FX’s Zero Blade charges $3.5 per 100k traded with ECN spreads from 0.0 pips. Some BigBoss accounts charge $2.5 or $4.5 per lot, one way. More in account types and ECN brokers.

When spreads widen

Daily rollover. Around 5 pm New York time liquidity providers reset, and spreads can widen many times over for a few minutes. Avoid opening or closing tight-stop trades then.
Major news. US jobs data (NFP), CPI and central bank decisions. See news trading.
Weekend and holiday opens. Monday’s first minutes and holiday sessions are thin.
Exotic pairs and minor instruments. Less liquidity, wider spreads all the time.
Market stress. Unexpected events widen spreads across all pairs.

Wide spreads can trigger stop-losses and pending orders even if the chart’s mid-price never reached them, because buy positions close at the bid and sell positions at the ask.

Who should care most

Scalpers: spread is the main cost. See scalping rules.
Swing traders: spread matters, but swap usually matters more.

Brokers’ published figures are on our lowest spread brokers page. Where a broker doesn’t publish spreads, we say so rather than estimate.

Lowest Spread Forex Brokers 2026

Broker				Account types	Visit broker
XMFeatured	4.9/5Editorial rating	1.6 pips	35 pips	3 types	Visit
Exness	4.2/5	0.8 pips	16 pips	5 types	Visit
XS.com	4.1/5	1.1 pips	20 pips	5 types	Visit
Titan FX	3.7/5	1.2 pips	22.3 pips	3 types	Visit
Vantage	4.3/5	1.4 pips	25 pips	3 types	Visit
HFM	4.1/5	1.4 pips	38 pips	5 types	Visit
FXGT	4.1/5	1.9 pips	32 pips	5 types	Visit
BigBoss	3.2/5	1.9 pips	32 pips	4 types	Visit

See all: Lowest Spread Forex Brokers 2026

Frequently asked questions

Why does my spread widen at night?

Around the daily rollover (5 pm New York time, when many servers roll to a new day) liquidity is thin and banks reset prices, so spreads often widen sharply for a few minutes.

Is a zero-spread account free?

No. Raw-spread or ECN accounts charge a commission per lot instead. Titan FX's Blade account, for example, charges $3.5 per 100k traded on top of spreads from 0.0 pips.

Are advertised spreads real?

They're usually minimums or averages over a period. What you pay depends on when you trade. Check whether a broker publishes a 'from' or an 'average' figure.

Does spread matter for long-term trades?

Less. Paid once per trade, a spread matters most to scalpers who trade many times a day. For trades held for weeks, swap usually costs more.