Our Methodology

This page explains who researches the site's pages, why we no longer show review scores, how each comparison list is ordered, and what we check and do not check. It also sets out when we do not link to a provider and how to report a correction.

TheRockTrading.com is operated from Australia by The Trustee for Compare Forex Brokers Unit Trust (ABN 49 909 258 897), part of the CompareForexBrokers team. An AI language model writes page text from sources we collect and check; since 16 September 2026 this has been GLM, from Z.ai, used through OpenRouter.

Since 9 October 2026, before publication, a second AI model from a different provider, an OpenAI model used through OpenRouter, checks new text, title, description and structured data against our sources, a content checklist and a banned-phrase list, fixing problems by asking the writing model again. Automated checks compare figures with primary sources; the site build blocks pages with testing claims the records do not support. A page reviewed by a named person says so with the person and date. A page without that statement has had no named review.

We do not currently show review scores or rankings. Earlier versions showed scores out of 100, ranking providers by them. They were set or changed from March to August 2026 without retained assessment evidence. No record shows who assessed each provider, the criteria and weights used, or how numbers were calculated. Some scores changed after the review dates shown beside them.

On 9 October 2026 we withdrew every score and ranking. The values remain in our records; none are shown. A score will be shown again only with a documented assessment, meaning all of: a named assessor, criteria tied to fields we can evidence (such as dated fee schedules, product documents and register lookups), published weights, an assessment sheet per provider, and the assessment date. The dated correction notice for this change is in the next section of this page.

The exchange comparison puts first exchanges on AUSTRAC's register for the entity serving Australians. An exchange whose lookup could not be completed joins that group only on the registration number the exchange itself states, labelled provider-stated. Others form a second group. Each group is ordered by the lowest documented base-tier spot fee, the taker fee on a maker and taker schedule or the trade fee on a flat schedule, from the exchange's fee schedule on the date shown; those without a documented fee follow, alphabetically.

The CFD issuer comparison puts first issuers with dated Australian retail product documents on record. That group is ordered by the round-trip cost in one bitcoin, the spread plus the commission on both sides of a trade, only when at least three document their spread on the same basis and currency; on 9 October 2026 fewer than three did, so it is alphabetical. Others follow, alphabetically.

The prop firm comparison orders firms by the challenge fee divided by the maximum loss allowance at the same account size, showing the loss type (static or trailing); firms without both figures follow, alphabetically. A provider's own site is linked only from a row that shows the dated evidence behind its place, never for providers covered by the "When we do not link to a provider" policy. Each list compares one measure; none is a ranking of overall quality, safety or suitability.

We check the following:

• Exchange spot fee schedules: product, account tier and rate from the exchange's own published schedule (15 exchanges, 30 September 2026; two rechecked 9 October 2026).
• Australian retail CFD product documents: issuing entity, licence declared, retail crypto leverage and margin, from the product disclosure statement, target market determination and account terms (nine issuers, 3 October 2026).
• Prop firm programme rules: named programme and stage, entry fee, loss limits and crypto leverage, each with a dated source (3 to 9 October 2026).
• Register lookups on 9 October 2026 for the entity serving a page's readers: AUSTRAC's register for exchanges serving Australians, ASIC's licensee register for CFD issuers, FinCEN's money services business register and the NYDFS regulated virtual currency list for US-only exchanges, plus that country's register for overseas entities a page names. A CAPTCHA or login block leaves a lookup not completed. We never bypass one.
• A regulatory and reputation screen of each provider on 9 October 2026, using IOSCO's I-SCAN investor alerts portal, ASIC's Moneysmart list of companies you should not deal with, ASIC media releases, the UK FCA Warning List, the Hong Kong SFC and Reserve Bank of India alert lists, US court records and the provider's own legal pages. An item is published only when a primary source confirms it.

We do not check opening an account, deposits, withdrawals, live orders or customer support.

Costs vary by product, account, country and tier, and a published rate applies only to the product and tier it names. Each exchange fee entry gives the product, tier, rate, check date and a link to the exchange's own schedule. A rate we could not confirm is shown as not confirmed. This does not mean zero. A published rate is also not the full cost of an executed order: spreads, funding and conversion charges and network fees can add to it, so confirm figures with the provider before trading. See the comparison table.

A crypto CFD gives exposure to the price of a coin without ownership of the coin itself, while spot trading on an exchange buys coins you can hold. Which coins and products are available depends on the provider, the account and the country. See our CFD issuers and exchanges pages for details.

Where a provider page lists trading platforms or apps, they are the ones the provider says it offers. Features change, so confirm a tool is available before relying on it.

The entity that serves you, and the licence or registration it holds where you live, matter more than the brand name. Our register lookups appear with their dates on the provider pages. A lookup confirms a listing existed on that date; it is not a guarantee of safety. A provider's statement about a licence is a declaration until a register shows it.

For exchanges, a proof-of-reserves report can be a third-party attestation; it is not by itself a full financial audit or deposit insurance. Our research does not establish where a provider holds client assets or how its custody works; read its own terms on custody. Adverse items from the screen, such as penalties, regulator orders, lawsuits and security incidents, appear in the dated regulatory record on the provider's page whether or not we link to them.

Where a provider page lists deposit and withdrawal methods, they are the methods and conditions the provider publishes. Terms change, so check the current funding terms with the provider before opening an account.

Each prop firm entry names the programme and the stage (evaluation or funded), because targets, loss limits, daily resets and reward conditions differ between programmes. Every programme fact is marked confirmed, conflicting, not confirmed or not applicable, with its source and check date, and an unknown rule is shown as unknown rather than guessed. Rules can change after the check date, so read the provider's current terms for the stage you are entering. Details are in the prop firm comparison.

Review pages show third-party ratings from Trustpilot, the Apple App Store (Australian storefront), Google Play and TradingView, captured once a month by an automated capture and shown with the capture date. Trustpilot and TradingView figures are brand-level global profiles, and Google Play figures are not split by country. Where a platform shows a warning or withholds a rating, the page shows that instead of a figure.

These ratings are third-party snapshots, not our assessment. They play no part in how any list on this site is ordered; see our disclaimer. Search interest tables show how often people in Australia search Google each month for each provider's brand terms (Google Ads search volume, collected monthly); they measure attention, not quality.

Readers can report an error or an out-of-date figure through our contact page. When a correction changes what a page says, the page's update date changes, and a changed provider record carries the date of the new check. A correction that withdraws something the site published earlier is stated on the page concerned with its date, as the notice earlier on this page is.