The list: free VPS conditions per broker
We have reviewed all 18 brokers below in full. Each row is the exact entry from that review's fact box; the table is generated straight from it. Conditions change, so confirm them with the broker before funding.
| Broker | Rating | VPS per fact box |
|---|---|---|
| IC Markets | 4.6 | yes (IC VPS from 15 lots FX/metals per month, Global entity) |
| Axi | 4.4 | yes (15 lots in the previous month or 500 USD starting deposit, on request) |
| BlackBull Markets | 4.4 | yes (from 2,000 USD deposit & 20 lots/month, otherwise 25 USD/month) |
| Fusion Markets | 4.4 | yes (more than 20 lots FX/metals within 30 days — fee is charged up front and refunded) |
| FxPro | 4.4 | VIP accounts only (typically from ~50,000 USD deposit), otherwise 30 USD/month |
| IC Trading | 4.4 | yes (IC VPS from 15 lots FX/metals per month) |
| Pepperstone | 4.4 | pro clients with minimum volume only (EU/DE: ≥ 1M USD notional in 60 days) |
| Darwinex | 4.3 | no — VPS via partner BeeksFX (LD4, cross-connected) |
| RoboForex | 4.3 | yes (from 300 USD equity + 3 lots/month; otherwise 5 USD/month) |
| Vantage Markets | 4.3 | yes (from 1,000 USD deposit + 0.5M USD monthly volume: up to 25 USD refund; from 1M USD: up to 50 USD) |
| Admirals | 4.2 | yes, from 5,000 EUR equity in the live account (Equinix data centres) |
| Tickmill | 4.2 | via partner / volume-based (no permanent in-house free VPS) |
| Eightcap | 4.1 | no (no proprietary free VPS documented) |
| FP Trading | 4.1 | available (London data centre, sign-up via form; costs/free-use conditions not stated) |
| IG | 4.1 | yes, from 6,000 EUR MT4 account balance (otherwise 50 EUR/month), hosted by Beeks in London |
| VT Markets | 4.1 | refund from 1,000 USD deposit: ≥ 0.5M USD monthly volume up to 25 USD, > 1M USD up to 50 USD |
| Ultima Markets | 4.0 | yes (from 1,000 USD deposit + 1M USD monthly volume, refund up to 50 USD) |
| XM Group | 4.0 | free from 500 USD balance + 2 round-turn lots within 30 days, otherwise 28 USD/month – VPS terms of XM Global Ltd (version 11/2024, still published unchanged on 30 Sep 2026); the EU website does not advertise a VPS |
How to read the conditions
Balance-only thresholds are easy to keep: deposit once and the VPS stays. The catch is the size, and the money has to sit with that broker.
- Admirals: yes, from 5,000 EUR equity in the live account (Equinix data centres)
- IG: yes, from 6,000 EUR MT4 account balance (otherwise 50 EUR/month), hosted by Beeks in London
- FxPro: VIP accounts only (typically from ~50,000 USD deposit), otherwise 30 USD/month
Volume thresholds reward active EAs. A scalper doing 20 lots a month qualifies easily; a swing EA with three trades a week does not. Axi is the only one that lets you choose between volume and a deposit.
- IC Markets: yes (IC VPS from 15 lots FX/metals per month, Global entity)
- IC Trading: yes (IC VPS from 15 lots FX/metals per month)
- Fusion Markets: yes (more than 20 lots FX/metals within 30 days — fee is charged up front and refunded)
- Pepperstone: pro clients with minimum volume only (EU/DE: ≥ 1M USD notional in 60 days)
- Axi: yes (15 lots in the previous month or 500 USD starting deposit, on request)
Balance plus volume is what the following brokers ask for. At Vantage, VT Markets and Ultima Markets the VPS is also not a free machine but a monthly refund.
- RoboForex: yes (from 300 USD equity + 3 lots/month; otherwise 5 USD/month)
- BlackBull: yes (from 2,000 USD deposit & 20 lots/month, otherwise 25 USD/month)
- XM: free from 500 USD balance + 2 round-turn lots within 30 days, otherwise 28 USD/month – VPS terms of XM Global Ltd (version 11/2024, still published unchanged on 30 Sep 2026); the EU website does not advertise a VPS
- Vantage: yes (from 1,000 USD deposit + 0.5M USD monthly volume: up to 25 USD refund; from 1M USD: up to 50 USD)
- VT Markets: refund from 1,000 USD deposit: ≥ 0.5M USD monthly volume up to 25 USD, > 1M USD up to 50 USD
- Ultima Markets: yes (from 1,000 USD deposit + 1M USD monthly volume, refund up to 50 USD)
Fallback fees, as RoboForex, BlackBull, XM, FxPro and IG state them above, are the honest version: you know exactly what happens if you miss the bar.
No in-house free VPS: none is documented for Eightcap, Darwinex and Tickmill refer to partners, and FP Trading states no free-use conditions. Where a broker only says "subject to conditions", ask support for the written rule before relying on it.
Free broker VPS or your own — the decision
Take the broker’s free VPS if all three are true: you trade at that one broker, you run one or two EAs, and you comfortably clear the threshold every month. It is hosted next to the trading server, so latency is as good as it gets for that broker.
Rent your own VPS if any of these apply: you run EAs at more than one broker, you want to choose the data centre yourself, your portfolio needs more than 2 GB of RAM, or you would rather not have your hosting depend on last month’s lot count. Independent providers in Equinix NY4 and LD4 start at $6.50 per month (Hyonix, Windows licence included, NY4 selectable) and go up to around $30 at the forex specialists — the current picks are in our forex VPS comparison, and the ECN brokers list shows which brokers host where.
Setting up an EA on a broker VPS
- Request the VPS in the client area once you meet the condition; most brokers provision it within a day.
- Connect via RDP, install the broker’s MT4 or MT5 build and log in with the investor password on a second terminal only for monitoring — the trading terminal needs the master login. Why that split matters is in investor password: safe use.
- Copy your EA and set files, attach the EA, enable AutoTrading, and check the journal for “EA initialized”.
- Close the RDP session — do not log off — so the terminal keeps running.
- Track the account from outside the VPS with a portfolio tracker, so a frozen terminal does not go unnoticed for a week. Our free EA portfolio tracker does that for any number of accounts.