How to avoid spread in forex

You cannot totally avoid spread but you can minimize the spread you pay by trading actively and receiving rebates on spread. Check if your broker offers rebates on active trading but I know brokers like CMC Markets & FXCM offer 25% and 62% rebates on spread respectively.

Another way to pay lesser spread is to trade during peak periods meaning trade when sessions overlap. For example when the NY & LON sessions overlap it is a peak period and you can get lower spread.

To get lower spread you can also opt to open a Raw Spread Account but this is not fool-proof because with Raw Spread Accounts, you pay a flat commission per trade in exchange for receiving lower spreads.

Avoid paying high spreads by opting for the trading account type that charges you a flat commission per trade. Also avoid paying high spreads by trading only major fx pairs like EUR/USD.

Another way to avoid paying high spread is to trade during the day (instead of night) and avoid trading during high impact news releases 9such as nonfarm payroll news, cpi news etc)

I trade with Tickmill raw account and spread on major fx pairs is near-zero but I am charged a flat commission per trade.

Trading only major fx pairs using a raw spread account with a low cost broker will cut down spreads to near zero but you must still pay commissions on every trade.

In addition to what @robert said, the thing with the raw spread account is that although spread may be lower, the profit you see before you close a trade is not always what you see after you close the trade. The profit before closing is gross profit but the final profit after closing is net profit and is always lower because commission will be deducted.

No, you cannot completely avoid paying a spread in forex, and no legitimate broker will let you trade “for free” in exchange for sharing your profits. But you can reduce spreads significantly by choosing the right broker type and account model.

You can reduce your spread though by the following:

1. Trade Major Pairs Only

Major pairs have the tightest spreads because of high liquidity:

EUR/USD

USD/JPY

GBP/USD

USD/CHF

Avoid exotics like USD/TRY or USD/ZAR — spreads are huge.

2. Trade During Peak Market Hours

Best time to get lowest spreads:

London session

New York session

London–NY overlap

Spreads widen during:

Asian session

News releases

Low liquidity times (holidays, weekends, rollover)

Trading major pairs during London and New York sessions can help keep spreads lower. Thanks for sharing.