Starting a forex brokerage from scratch could cost you upwards of several million, depending on the regulatory environment and infrastructure needed.
Using a white-label forex solution, on the other hand, can drastically reduce these startup costs, allowing you to launch your business faster and much more affordably.
In this article, we’ll outline the startup costs for a white-label forex brokerage, the benefits of forex white-labeling, and the key factors that influence these costs. These insights will help you choose the right provider and set your business on the path to success.
Forex white-labeling allows you to offer foreign exchange trading services by licensing a pre-built, unbranded software solution. You’ll be able to customize the platform to fit your brand and your clients’ needs without having to build it from scratch, saving you significant amounts of time and money.
While you’ll still need some development resources to customize and integrate your solution, the core platform is already built, tested, and ready for branding and tailoring.
Key components of a white-label brokerage include the:
Choosing a reputable provider ensures you have a reliable and secure platform, along with the necessary support to maintain smooth operations. Different white-label providers offer varying services and support, which will impact your startup costs and resource requirements. The main options include:
Whether you want to set up a forex brokerage, an OTC trading platform, or a crypto exchange, white-labeling offers a number of advantages. You can enter the market quickly, save on costs, and leverage advanced technology and expertise.
Building a forex trading and brokerage platform from scratch requires extensive research and development time. Whereas white-labeling helps you to enter the forex market fast.
You don’t need to develop your own infrastructure from scratch. Instead, you use a turnkey solution provided by an established white-label software provider. You can launch your forex brokerage business in weeks instead of months.
Developing your own forex trading platform and infrastructure is expensive. But with white-labeling, the upfront and ongoing investment is much smaller. The platform is already developed, and technical support, software updates, and maintenance are built into the price.
With these savings, you can offer competitive pricing to your clients and allocate your budget to other important areas, like marketing and client support.
When you partner with an established white-label provider, you also benefit from their expertise and technology.
These providers have years of trading experience and have already developed reliable trading platforms. And they offer advanced tools and features that can improve your service quality, such as:
You also gain access to technical support, so you don’t have to worry about server issues or software glitches. The provider handles technical difficulties, while you focus on growing your business.
The initial investment for a white-label forex brokerage can vary significantly, depending on your jurisdiction, business model, and white-label provider. But generally, you can be operational for $100,000 or less.
One-time setup fees can be anywhere from $5,000 to upwards of $50,000, while monthly fees for software and technical support average about $1,000–5,000 per month. These fees cover the back-end infrastructure, software, and technical support.
Here’s a comparison to help you visualize the costs of using a white-label solution vs. building a proprietary platform:
| white-label provider | Building your own brokerage | |
| Developer salaries | N/A | About $125,000 a month |
| Time to build | A few weeks | Around 12 months |
| Total cost to build | Less than $100,000 | $6,000,000 |
| Annual maintenance | Around $25,000 | Around $350,000 |
As you can see, partnering with a white-label provider is a much more cost-effective choice and can help you enter the forex trading industry quickly and efficiently.
While the chart above provides a baseline, there are several different factors that will affect the final cost of launching a white-label forex brokerage, including:
You need a forex broker license to operate legally in most regions, but the minimum required capital, cost, and timeframe to obtain these licenses vary significantly depending on the jurisdiction. Each country that allows forex trading falls into one of the following categories:
There are also ongoing regulatory fees that you’ll need to pay to maintain your license, and you’ll need a license for each country you operate in.
While using a white-label provider can significantly cut down on your infrastructure and tech stack requirements and costs, it all depends on the provider you choose.
For example, you’ll need to factor in:
However, you can bypass or reduce many of these expenses with a full-stack solution from a provider like AlphaPoint, since things like CRM, security, and risk management solutions are built into the platform.
Features like custom trading instruments, dashboards, or specific user experiences help your brokerage stand out. But custom features and branding elements can also increase your costs, and each customization option adds to your development time and expenses.
Customization ensures your brand meets your specific needs and appeals to your target market. But the more features you add, the higher your costs will be.
Initial setup fees can vary widely depending on your white-label technology provider, the features and services they include, your preferred customization, and applicable regulatory requirements. But they generally fall in the $5,000–20,000 range.
Monthly or annual fees are the subscription costs that cover your trading platform usage, technical support, and any additional functionalities that your white-label provider offers, such as liquidity solutions. Many providers offer package deals for $5,000 a month or less.
These ongoing fees ensure your brokerage remains operational and competitive, with regular updates and support.
Comprehensive support and training helps you resolve platform issues quickly, reducing downtime. And training for your staff ensures they can fully use the platform’s capabilities and effectively support your clients.
Some providers include support and training in their packages, while others charge extra. Access to professional training sessions offers significant value, enabling your team to operate more efficiently.
There are plenty of different factors that will influence the final cost of launching a forex white-label brokerage, including licensing requirements, customization options, and the provider you choose. But using a white-label solution is still a much more affordable and faster option than starting your own brokerage from scratch.
If you’re ready to start your own forex brokerage, AlphaPoint is one of the best white-label providers on the market.
AlphaPoint offers full-stack white-label solutions that are ideal for launching your forex brokerage or cryptocurrency exchange quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively.
With AlphaPoint’s platform, features like cybersecurity solutions, CRM systems, risk management tools, and liquidity solutions are built in. You get a powerful, battle-tested forex brokerage and trading platform that’s ready for your branding and customization.
Request a demo today to see how AlphaPoint can help you get your forex brokerage up and running quickly and affordably.
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