XM vs Exness for Gold: Costs, Cashback and Which Fits Which Trader
For gold, XM and Exness differ less in cashback than in how you are charged. XMTrading Standard pays about 1.8 USDT per standard lot; Exness Standard is an estimated 2.9 USDT that moves with the spread. Either gap is small next to a gold spread of tens of dollars per lot, so compare net cost: spread plus commission plus swap, minus cashback.
By CB-Dogs Editorial8 min read
Disclosure: CB-Dogs receives an advertising (referral) fee — sometimes called an IB commission — from brokers for accounts opened or linked through us, and returns part of it to you as cashback, the same model used by cashback and points sites. This does not change your trading costs.
On this page
"XM or Exness for gold" is mostly a question about cost structure, not about which broker advertises a bigger rebate. Gold is quoted in dollars per ounce and a standard lot is 100 oz, so a few cents of spread is a few dollars per lot. Cashback per lot, by comparison, is a small fixed-looking number. This guide compares the two brokers for gold only: which account types you would use, how each one charges you, what the CB-Dogs cashback looks like per lot, which trades earn nothing, and which setup tends to fit which style of trading. It is not a verdict on which broker is better.
Key takeaways
- For gold, the XMTrading choices are Standard, Micro, Zero and KIWAMI. The Exness choices are Standard, Pro, and Zero or Raw Spread. Exness does not publish the same four-way split, so check which accounts are open to you.
- XM Standard and KIWAMI charge only through the spread. XM Zero adds a commission of 10 USD per 100,000 USD traded, which on gold is large per lot. Exness Standard and Pro are spread-only, while Zero and Raw Spread are commission-based.
- At CB-Dogs, XM Standard pays about 1.8 USDT per standard lot of gold (a fixed amount). Exness Standard is an estimate of about 2.9 USDT per lot that moves with the spread. Neither number decides which broker is cheaper.
- At XM, trades closed within 5 minutes of opening earn no cashback, which matters to gold scalpers. Exness exclusions have not been confirmed by us.
- Compare net cost per lot: spread + commission + swap - cashback, using the spreads you actually see on your own platform.
Which accounts you would use for gold
Gold is available on every account type at both brokers. The question is which account suits gold.
XMTrading. Gold has its own symbol on each account type, with different minimum spreads and swap treatment. These are XM's listed minimums, in XM's own units, and live spreads are wider, especially around news and rollover.
| XMTrading | Standard | Micro | Zero | KIWAMI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold symbol | GOLD | GOLDmicro | GOLD. | GOLD# |
| Minimum spread (XM units) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Commission | None | None | 10 USD per 100,000 USD traded | None |
| Max leverage | 1000:1 | 1000:1 | 500:1 | 1000:1 |
| Swap on gold | Yes | Yes | Yes | None (swap-free) |
There is no Ultra Low account at XMTrading; that exists at XM Global, which is a separate entity. For the full XM gold specification, see XM gold spread and trading conditions, and for the account choice inside XM, the best XM account for gold trading.
Exness. Exness offers Standard and Pro (spread-only) and Zero and Raw Spread (raw-style spread plus a per-lot commission). We can describe that structure, but not the current gold numbers for each: please read the XAUUSD specification for your account type on Exness' site. The account types are explained in Exness account types explained.
How each broker charges you for gold
Three cost items matter on gold, and the two brokers weight them differently by account type.
| Cost item | XMTrading | Exness |
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Standard, Micro, KIWAMI: the only charge. Zero: low spread plus commission | Standard and Pro: the only charge. Zero and Raw Spread: low spread plus commission |
| Commission | Zero only: 10 USD per 100,000 USD traded. On MT4 the round trip is charged at open; on MT5 at open and at close | Zero and Raw Spread only; amount per instrument is on Exness' site |
| Swap (overnight) | Standard, Micro, Zero: yes, set daily, tripled on Wednesday for gold. KIWAMI GOLD#: 0 both ways | Applies on most accounts; swap-free options exist for eligible clients, details unconfirmed |
On XM Zero, the commission is based on traded value, so it grows with the gold price. At a gold price around 4,000 USD, one lot is worth about 400,000 USD and the commission is about 40 USD for the round trip. That number depends on the gold price on the day, so treat it as an example. Only if the live Zero spread is far tighter than the KIWAMI or Standard spread does Zero come out ahead. For the swap side, see swap-free accounts explained and gold day trading vs swing costs.
Cashback per lot on gold at each broker
CB-Dogs pays 60% of the IB commission the broker actually pays for your account, per lot closed, in USDT on TRC20. Profit or loss does not matter.
| Account type | Rebate / lot (USDT) |
|---|---|
| StandardSpread-based account, no commission. | 1.8 |
| MicroShown per micro lot (1,000 units), which is 1/100 of a standard lot, so the amount is 1/100 of the Standard amount. | 0.018(1 micro lot = 1,000 units) |
| KiwamiXM's tightened-spread account tier available in select regions. Our rebate for this account type is still being confirmed with XM and will be added here. | Rate to be confirmed |
| ZeroCommission-based account. Rebate is paid in addition to the raw spread, and the commission you pay is unaffected. Our rebate for this account type is still being confirmed with XM and will be added here. | Rate to be confirmed |
Provisional rate
| Account type | Rebate / lot (USDT) |
|---|---|
| StandardNo separate commission — Exness pays partners a share of the spread. The estimate below is for EURUSD at our current partner rank; GBPUSD and gold (XAUUSD) typically pay more per lot, tighter-spread pairs less. Rates rise automatically as our trading volume with Exness grows. | 0.96 |
| ProNo separate commission — Exness pays partners a share of the spread, at a lower percentage than Standard. We don't yet have a reliable per-instrument estimate for this account type, so no figure is shown; your cashback is still 60% of the actual commission Exness pays us. | 0.0 |
| ZeroCommission-based account with near-zero raw spreads. The estimate below is for EURUSD at our current partner rank; other instruments vary. Cashback is paid in addition to the raw spread and does not affect the commission you pay Exness. | 0.25 |
| Raw SpreadCommission-based account with raw interbank spreads. Exness pays partners a fixed amount per lot that varies by instrument; we don't yet have a reliable figure to show, so no estimate is listed — your cashback is still 60% of the actual commission Exness pays us. | 0.0 |
Provisional rate
The XM table shows a fixed amount per standard lot (a lot of gold is 100 oz). At the current partner level that is about 1.8 USDT for Standard, which is 60% of the USD 3 IB commission XMTrading pays, and the level can change. Micro is one hundredth of that per micro lot, so Micro per-lot numbers cannot be compared with the others. The KIWAMI and Zero rates are not confirmed yet; where the table says so, treat the cashback as unknown rather than guessing.
Exness works differently. On Standard, the IB commission is a share of the spread revenue, so it rises when the gold spread widens and falls when it tightens. The partner-screen calculator suggested about 4.80 USD IB commission per lot for XAUUSD on Standard (checked 2026-09-29), which is roughly 2.9 USDT after the 60% share. That is an estimate, and the real cashback is always the commission Exness actually pays multiplied by 60%. For the mechanics, see Exness gold rebate per lot. Do not read a bigger Exness estimate as a better deal: because it follows the spread, it is partly a sign that you paid more.
CB-Dogs does not use Exness' built-in Rebates feature, so you are not paid twice. Typical timing is also different: XM cashback is withdrawable about 3 to 4 weeks after the trade, Exness about 2 to 3 weeks (an estimate).
Trades that earn no cashback on gold
At XMTrading, according to its public partner terms, these trades do not count for IB commission and so earn no CB-Dogs cashback:
- Trades closed within 5 minutes or less of opening (open to close).
- Trades closed with "close by" or "multiple close by".
- Churning, meaning trades made only to generate commission. EA scalping is allowed if it is not churning.
- Trades on a no-deposit trading bonus and the profit from it, unless you deposit and trade with your own funds.
- Your own introducer accounts (self-rebate).
If part of your required margin is supported by a granted bonus, the commission is proportional to the share of your own funds. The detail is in XM trades excluded from cashback. For Exness, exclusions exist as well, but we have not confirmed the full list.
The 5-minute rule is the one gold traders trip over. A scalper who closes in a few minutes on XM pays the whole spread and receives nothing back on those trades, so the per-lot cashback in the rate table overstates what a very short-term style would receive.
Net cost by example (hypothetical figures)
Net cost per lot = spread cost + commission + swap - cashback. The figures below are example figures only: the spreads are assumed live values chosen for illustration, not quotes from either broker. Assume gold at 4,000 USD per oz and one 100 oz lot opened and closed on a Standard account, held intraday with no swap. For Exness, assume the roughly 2.9 USDT cashback corresponds to a 0.30 USD spread and moves in proportion to it, since Standard pays a share of the spread.
| Example (USD per lot) | Spread assumed | Spread cost | Cashback | Net cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XM Standard | 0.30 | 30.00 | 1.80 | 28.20 |
| Exness Standard | 0.30 | 30.00 | 2.90 | 27.10 |
| Exness Standard | 0.25 | 25.00 | 2.42 | 22.58 |
| Exness Standard | 0.35 | 35.00 | 3.38 | 31.62 |
| XM Standard, closed within 5 minutes | 0.30 | 30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 |
Read the pattern, not the numbers. At the same spread the cashback gap between the two is only about 1 USD per lot. A five-cent difference in the live spread moves net cost by roughly 3 to 5 USD per lot, and that is true in both directions. So the broker whose live gold spread is lower during your trading hours is usually the cheaper one, and the cashback is a secondary adjustment. It is also why the last row matters: for a very short-term XM trade the rebate disappears altogether. For the method in general, see comparing broker cost with rebates, and use the cashback calculator with your own volume.
Decision table by trader type
No row below is a ranking. It points at what to check first.
| Trader type | What drives cost | Check first at XM | Check first at Exness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scalper (seconds to minutes) | Spread and commission per trade, little swap | The 5-minute rule removes cashback on very short trades; compare Zero and KIWAMI on live spreads | Whether short trades pay commission, which is unconfirmed; compare Zero or Raw Spread against Standard |
| Day trader (hours, flat by night) | Spread, and spread widening at news | Standard or KIWAMI for a single simple charge | Standard or Pro; watch the news-time spread, since commission rises with it |
| Swing holder (days to weeks) | Swap can outweigh the spread difference | KIWAMI GOLD# is swap-free, but you also give up positive swap on shorts | Swap and swap-free eligibility on the Exness page, details unconfirmed |
| EA trader | Depends on average holding time and trade count | Holding time under 5 minutes means no cashback; EAs are allowed if not churning | Test on demo; confirm the commission model for your account type |
For an EA, treat it like a scalper or a swing trader depending on its average holding time. See forex trading costs for EA traders. CB-Dogs does not provide EAs or signals; this is about using your own. If your style is scalping, rebates for scalpers covers the maths.
Other practical differences
- Both can be used. You can hold accounts at both brokers and link each to CB-Dogs, then compare real costs from your own trade history.
- Bonuses. XMTrading has a 13,000 JPY account-opening bonus and a deposit bonus on some account types (Standard 100%; KIWAMI and Zero have none). Bonus-supported margin reduces the IB commission proportionally, so it lowers cashback. See the exclusions article above.
- Risk control. XMTrading has a negative balance reset for all clients and a 20% stop-out; check the Exness equivalents on its site.
- Broader comparison. Outside gold, the account lineups and regulation are compared in Exness vs XM.
FAQ
Neither wins in general. The cheaper one for you is the one with the lower net cost on the account type, hours and holding time you actually use. Compare spread, commission and swap from your own platform, then subtract cashback.
Related reading
Risk warning: forex and CFD trading carries a high risk of losing money. Cashback does not offset trading losses. Nothing here is investment advice.
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