Rebate vs bonus: what is the difference?
A rebate is cash returned for every lot you trade, paid into your balance and withdrawable like any other money. A deposit bonus is usually trading credit sized to your deposit, often with a volume target before any of it can be withdrawn, and it can be removed when you take money out.
Both offers sound like free money, and both sit in the same corner of broker marketing. They work in opposite ways. One pays you for trading you have already done. The other lends you trading power on conditions.
This lesson compares the two in general terms. Bonus terms differ from broker to broker and from offer to offer, so the only rules that count are the ones written in the offer you are looking at.
How a deposit bonus usually works
A deposit bonus is sized to the money you put in, for example 30% or 50% of the deposit, often with a cap. It is usually added as credit, which MetaTrader shows on its own line, apart from your balance.
Credit can help you hold positions, because many brokers count it toward equity and margin. But it is not your money. You normally cannot withdraw it until you meet the terms, and those terms often include a trading volume target.
Typical conditions you will find in bonus terms include:
- a number of lots to trade before the credit, or part of it, becomes withdrawable
- an expiry date after which unused credit disappears
- removal of some or all of the credit when you withdraw from the account
- instruments or account types that do not count toward the target
None of this makes a bonus a trick. It is a marketing offer with rules. The trouble starts when people treat credit like cash and size their trades on money they cannot keep.
How a rebate works
A rebate is a cash payment for each lot you close, taken from the commission the broker pays the introducing partner on your account. If rebates are new to you, that lesson covers the basics.
There is no target to reach before it counts. Every closed lot earns its rebate on its own, win or lose. With AutoFXRebate, the broker pays it into your trading account as balance, withdrawable like any other money.
Side by side
| Rebate | Deposit bonus | |
|---|---|---|
| Based on | Lots you trade | Money you deposit |
| Where it lands | Balance, as cash | Usually credit |
| Can you withdraw it? | Yes, like any balance | Usually only after the terms are met |
| What a withdrawal does | Nothing to rebates already paid | Often reduces or removes the credit |
| Main effect | Lowers the cost of each trade | Adds margin for a while |
| Who sets the size | The broker's partner schedule | The offer's terms |
A worked example: same deposit, two outcomes
Say you deposit $1,000 and trade 5 lots of gold (XAU/USD) on the XM Standard account in a month. On 29 October 2026 the XM rebate page listed $18.00 per lot for gold on that account.
- Rebate: 5 lots × $18.00 = $90.00.
- Your balance with no open trades and no profit or loss: $1,000.00 + $90.00 = $1,090.00.
- All of it is withdrawable, the $90.00 included.
Exness pays its rebate the same way, per lot into the trading account; its rates are on the Exness rebate page. How much a rebate is worth next to your cost shows in the Spread Checker.
Now picture a made-up 50% deposit bonus on the same $1,000, to show the mechanics. It adds $500.00 of credit, so equity reads $1,500.00 while the balance is still $1,000.00.
Suppose you withdraw $200 before meeting the bonus target, and the terms remove the credit. Your balance drops to $800.00, the credit goes to $0.00, and equity falls from $1,500.00 to $800.00 in one step.
If you had open trades at that moment, the lost credit could also cut your margin level. That is the real risk of bonuses: not that they are fake, but that they vanish at awkward times.
Rules that apply to bonuses in some places
In the European Union, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) restricted incentives for retail CFD trading in 2018. So whether you see a bonus at all can depend on which regulated entity holds your account.
Some bonus terms also exclude accounts that receive a rebate, or the reverse. If you are offered both, ask the broker in writing whether they can be combined before you rely on either.
Which one suits you
If you trade regularly, a rebate works quietly on every lot, with no target to chase. It suits scalpers and EA users especially, since their costs pile up fastest.
A bonus can suit someone who understands the terms and wants extra margin for a short time. Remember that extra margin invites bigger positions, and bigger positions lose faster.
To see what a rebate does to your numbers, read how a rebate lowers your breakeven.
Questions
Can I withdraw a forex rebate?
Yes. A rebate paid into your trading account is balance, so you withdraw it the same way as any other money in the account.
Why can't I withdraw my deposit bonus?
A deposit bonus is usually credit, not balance. Most terms only let you withdraw it, or profits made with it, after you meet a trading volume target.
Is a rebate a type of bonus?
No. A bonus is a promotional credit set by the offer's terms. A rebate is your share of the commission the broker pays for your trading volume.
Can a bonus be taken away?
Often, yes. Many bonus terms remove some or all of the credit when you withdraw, when the offer expires, or when the account breaks a rule.
Keep learning
Chapter 1What is a forex rebate?A forex rebate is money paid back to you for every lot you trade. It comes from the commission a broker pays the partner who introduced your account, and that partner passes some or all of it back. You trade the same way at the same spread, and the cash arrives per closed lot.
Chapter 1Where do forex rebates come from?A forex rebate comes from the introducing commission a broker pays the partner who referred your account. That commission is funded by the spread and fees you already pay. The partner passes part or all of it back to you, so you pay nothing extra and your trading conditions stay as they are.
Chapter 1How does a rebate lower your breakeven point?Every trade starts slightly behind, because you pay the spread and any commission the moment you open it. A rebate returns part of that cost per lot, so the net cost is smaller and price needs to travel fewer pips before the trade pays for itself. Here is how to work it out with real rates.
Chapter 1How do you move a forex account to a new IB?Moving an account to a new introducing broker changes one thing: the partner the broker pays commission to. Your balance, open positions, spread and leverage stay where they are. Brokers usually offer two routes, a partner change on the existing account or a new account opened under the new partner.
Chapter 1What are the red flags of a forex rebate service?A sound rebate service only needs your account number to track volume, and the broker pays the rebate into your trading account. Warning signs are requests for your trading password, offers to hold your money, rates with no stated source, slow or unexplained payouts, and pressure to deposit through a private wallet.
Chapter 1Forex rebates cheat sheet.A forex rebate returns part of the commission your broker pays the introducing partner, per lot you trade. It lowers your net cost and your breakeven distance without changing your spread. This page sums up the chapter: the key formulas, real rates read on 29 October 2026, the switching steps and the warning signs.
