How We Test: Our Methodology

What we measure, and how we handle what we haven’t tested

On this site, “accurate” means following four rules:

• Every value traces to a source. Each number on a review comes from either a first-hand test or a dataset field taken from a primary source. We do not publish unattributed claims.
• Measured data comes from funded live accounts. We capture spreads, fees, and deposit and withdrawal times on live accounts we open with our own funds. Every measured figure shows the date it was captured.
• We never present marketing claims as test results. Where a review has not completed our live-account testing, each figure we have not measured names its source, such as the broker’s published fee schedule, and is not presented as a test result.
• Competitor data only tells us what to check. We use a figure from a broker or another comparison site as something to check against when we test. We never republish it as our finding.

As a result, you can always tell what we measured from what we took from another source. Today the site publishes 5 in-depth reviews. Measured figures are dated, and figures from a broker or another source name that source.

Category weightings

An overall score is the weighted average of ten category scores. The weights are fixed and the same for every broker. We never adjust them to raise or lower one broker’s score. We review for a UAE resident who is a beginner or intermediate trader, and choosing a broker is a YMYL decision, so trust and the actual cost of trading make up over half the score. They are covered by Safety & regulation, Fees, and Deposit & withdrawal. The last of these includes the cost of converting dirhams. The asset range, the web platform, support and education have the lowest weights.

Weights sum to 100% and never change from broker to broker. If we did not test a category for a broker (most often support or education), it is left out and the remaining weights are rescaled to 100%. We do not estimate a score for a category we did not test.

How we test

For a review that has completed our live-account testing, we test the broker as one of its customers:

• We open live accounts with our own funds, anonymously. We sign up as an ordinary UAE resident, so we get the same product and service as any other customer.
• We measure fees ourselves. We record the actual spreads, commissions, financing and non-trading charges on the live account.
• Deposits and withdrawals are tested. We fund the account, including through AED routes where they are offered, and time a withdrawal back out.
• Regulation is verified on the register. We confirm the exact legal entity and licence on the regulator’s own public register: the CMA (Capital Market Authority, formerly the SCA) for mainland UAE, the DFSA for the DIFC, and the ADGM FSRA. We check whether the licence covers retail clients, and we state which protection tier applies.
• Where a review has not been tested on a funded account, it says what it is based on. We publish the facts we have verified on the register, and each figure we have not measured names its source.

No broker pays for a score, and no broker previews one. Fact-checking is done against primary sources and official registers. We do not ask the broker to confirm our findings. A broker is not shown its rating, its ranking or its review before we publish, and cannot buy a better one.

A note on “scam-free”

We do not claim that every broker we cover is safe. We deliberately cover some operators to warn you about them, including unregulated and offshore entities that solicit UAE residents. If a broker appears on this site, that is not an endorsement. Check how it is regulated. Public regulator alerts about unauthorised firms and clones of authorised brokers are collected on our broker warning list.

How long a review takes

The first round of work on a review takes roughly 7–10 days. That is enough time to open and fund an account, run the tests and verify the licence. A review is not finished because a set number of days has passed. It is only done when its measured sections come from our own tests and its regulation has been verified on the register.

Keeping data current

Broker terms change, so we update each review after it is published:

• Everything is dated and change-logged. Each review shows when its data was collected and last reviewed, and material changes are recorded.
• Priority pages are checked monthly. The pages most people rely on are checked most often.
• The full dataset is refreshed quarterly and published as a citable UAE fee study.

We do not do an annual bulk rewrite. Refreshing a whole site once a year so that it looks up to date is the scaled-content practice this methodology is designed to avoid.

Independence

Business24-7 is free to use. These rules keep our reviews independent of the brokers we cover:

• Compensation never sets order or ratings. Some brokers pay us when a reader signs up through a link. A paying broker’s review is held to exactly the same standard as a non-payer’s, including how its drawbacks are reported. Payment has no effect on where it ranks.
• Sponsored placements are labelled and kept separate from editorial rankings. We never sell a position inside a ranking.
• We show you how to pay less, even when that costs us a referral.

See How We Make Money for the full detail.

Category breakdown

What each category measures:

• Fees. Over time, these charges cost you the most. We measure spreads, commissions, overnight financing, currency conversion and non-trading fees on a live account, not the “from” rate on a landing page.
• Safety & regulation. Which legal entity holds your account, which regulator supervises it, whether that licence covers retail clients, and the protection tier. We confirm each of these on the CMA (formerly SCA), DFSA or ADGM FSRA register. A licence is not compensation cover. A CMA, DFSA or FSRA permission does not protect you against losses or against the firm failing, and segregated client money is not the same as compensation. This category assesses the entity that holds your account. A high score here is not a form of protection, so confirm the current protection position before relying on any scheme.
• Deposits & withdrawals. How you get money in, and how easily you get it back out. Brokers say less about withdrawals. We cover AED funding routes, and we make and time a withdrawal ourselves.
• Product range. What you can trade, and whether you own real assets or only CFDs. We also state what is not offered.
• Platform & experience. The web and mobile platforms, execution quality, tools, and how easy they are to use day to day.
• Account opening. How quickly a UAE resident can open and fund an account and start trading, and what steps and documents that involves.
• Customer support. Whether our questions get complete and accurate answers, and how fast, on each channel offered.
• Research & education. Whether the research and learning material is useful, or is mainly marketing.
• Sharia-compliant trading. The most important distinction here is that a swap-free account is not the same as a scholar-certified, Sharia-compliant product. We say which of the two a broker offers.

Questions about how we work

Business24-7 · Meydan Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Email: admin@business24-7.ae · Phone: +971 50 590 2404

Business24-7 does not provide investment advice. CFDs and leveraged products carry a high risk of loss. Confirm which entity holds your account on the official register before depositing. See how we make money and about us.