Category: Broker Comparison

XM vs Pepperstone

Is XM better than Pepperstone? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions and is safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this XM vs Pepperstone Comparison Review. For this Review we opened real accounts and deposit over $6,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening process at XM vs Pepperstone, also the fees, trading conditions, platform selection and withdrawal process.

What is XM and Pepperstone

XM is a global Forex and one of the regulated CFD brokers, offering trading with forex pairs, indices, stocks, and commodities.

Pepperstone is an Australian Forex and CFDs broker founded in 2010.

Some of the highlights of XM vs Pepperstone are:

	XM	Pepperstone
💻 Website	www.xm.com	www.pepperstone.com
🛡️Founded year	2009	2010
🏦 Headquarter	Limassol, Cyprus	Australia
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	UK, Cyprus, Australia, UAE, Belize	Australia, UK, Cyprus, Bahamas, UAE, Kenya
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	1.6	1.15
💳 Minimum deposit	US$5	AUD $200
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	US$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MT4, MT5	MT4, MT5, cTrader
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Currency index
📉 Number of Products	1336	158
🔎 Our Detailed Review	XM Review	Pepperstone Review

Licenses and Regulation

XM vs Pepperstone are both safe to trade and are highly reliable, low-risk trading Brokers due to regulations and are not a scam.

XM is regulated by the top-tier ASIC, and Cyprus’ CySEC, which have strict rules and enforcement mechanisms.

Pepperstone is regulated by the top-tier UK’s FCA and Australia’s ASIC, which have stringent rules and enforcement processes.

For thisXM vs Pepperstone review, we opened an account with XM Trading Point of Financial Instruments Limited, regulated by CySEC and an account under Pepperstone Limited, the UK entity regulated by the FCA.
We recommend that you open your account with the XM Cyprus entity since it is the only one that offers deposit protection to traders if it is available to you, or a Pepperstone account under the UK entity since it offers the highest deposit protection compensation of up to £85,000 guaranteed by the UK’s FCA, which is the best in the industry.

	XM	Pepperstone
🔒 Licenses	ASIC, CySEC, DFSA FCA, FSC	ASIC, CySEC, SCB, FCA, FSA
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on entity)	✔️ (depending on entity)

XM vs Pepperstone Fees

XM and Pepperstone fees are similar, built into a spread basis, and both have commission based accounts.

There are no additional fees charged by XM, moreover, the broker charges average fees for trading the main instruments and the fees charged on stocks and commodities are lower than industry averages.
In the case of Pepperstone, the average spreads for the popular instruments in each market are also below industry averages. However, the spreads on Bitcoin trades are way above industry averages. This makes the broker unfriendly to cryptocurrency traders.

	XM Fees	Pepperstone Fees
Fees based on spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission based fees	✔️	✔️
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Deposit fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal fee	$0	$0
Active trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	❌

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on XM vs Pepperstone accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread and we were able to find both negative and positive sides for each Broker spreads.

A closer look at the spreads charged in our XM trades revealed that they were all aligned with industry benchmarks. The broker’s spreads on indices, commodities and stocks were slightly lower than those of its peers.
We tested the Standard Account with Pepperstone Limited, which charges a spread on all tradable instruments. Pepperstone stands out for its low fees for most of the instruments on offer, except for cryptocurrencies.

Markets	Instruments	XM commission	Pepperstone commission	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.5	1	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	1.6	1.2	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3.5	1.6	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	1.35	0.9	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	–	110	72.81
ETFs	QQQ	–	–	0.45

Account Types Compared

XM offers 5 account types with different fee structures, that is, the Micro, Standard, XM Zero, XM Ultra-low, and Shares accounts.

Pepperstone offers 2 account types with separate fee structures: the Razor and Standard accounts.

XM account opening is quick and effortless. The registration process took exactly 14 minutes, and our account was approved two days later.
Account Opening with Pepperstone is quite straightforward. The registration process took a total of 20 minutes, and our account was approved on the next day.

	XM Accounts	Pepperstone Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	❌	✔️
Islamic Account	✔️	❌
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

Both XM vs Pepperstone offer a large variety of tradable instruments in the forex, indices, stocks, and commodities markets.

Markets	XM Instruments	Pepperstone Instruments
Indices	26	14
Forex	57	61
Commodities	17	9
Stocks	1236	64
Cryptocurrency	–	9
Currency index	–	1
ETFs	–	–
Bonds	–	–

Trading Conditions

The trading conditions both at XM vs Pepperstone are great. Both traders allow high-risk strategies such as hedging and scalping.

Trading Method	XM	Pepperstone
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	✔️
Change Leverage	✔️	❌
Copy trading/ Social trading	✔️	✔️
Beginners Trading	✔️	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

Both deposit and withdrawal processes on XM vs Peppoerstone are quick and straightforward.

Both XM vs Pepperstone’s clients can deposit funds into their trading accounts via bank transfers, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill, PayPal, and Neteller.

The deposit methods offered by XM are instant and free. Anyway, the first deposit has to be made via credit card.
All the deposit methods offered by Pepperstone are instant and free. However, a bank transfer can take a few business days to reflect in your trading account.

	XM	Pepperstone
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	$0	❌
💳 Minimum deposit	US$5	AUD $200
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	✔️	✔️
Skrill	✔️	✔️
Neteller	✔️	✔️

Trading Platform

Both XM vs Pepperstone offer the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Pepperstone also offers the cTrader platform to traders.

While the XM MT4 platform is a bit dated, we found the MT5 platform to be more than adequate for traders who prefer a modern platform.
The lack of a proprietary trading platform in Pepperstone may dissuade some traders, but the MT5 and cTrader platforms are great.

	XM Platform	Pepperstone Platform
Proprietary Platform	❌	❌
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	❌	✔️
MetaTrader 4	✔️	✔️
MetaTrader 5	✔️	✔️
Simple to use platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research tools	✔️	✔️

Education and Support

Both XM vs Pepperstone have a great education offering for beginners. XM’s Tradepedia video course provides an in-depth guide to the markets. Pepperstone offers platform tutorial videos, educational videos, and webinars to suit all types of traders.

XM runs over 40 webinars weekly in different languages that its clients can join and learn about the markets. The webinars are based on experience level and take place in different timezones to suit its clients.
Pepperstone also has a YouTube channel that offers dozens of educational videos that cover different topics suitable for all levels of traders.

	XM Support	Pepperstone Support
Trading School for Beginners	✔️	✔️
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	❌	✔️
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	✔️
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	❌

Conclusion on XM vs Pepperstone

Comparing XM vs Pepperstone side by side we found both brokers reliable and with good standing. XM provides great customer support response times and the spreads on most instruments are aligned with industry averages. Pepperstone spreads on all instruments are lower than the industry average. The broker’s customer support team was helpful and provided direct and relevant answers.

Overall, we had a smooth experience with XM vs Pepperstone starting from the account opening, to the deposit, trading and withdrawal processes.
We recommend XM to traders who prefer the MT4/5 platforms and to those who run EAs due to the free VPS service. The broker is also suitable for beginner traders because of its detailed educational materials.
We recommend you to open an account with the Pepperstone UK, Australia or Cyprus entities if any is available to you.

	XM	Pepperstone
Recommended for	✔️ CFD stocks trading ✔️ Beginning traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Trading currency Pairs ✔️ EAs trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ Trading through MT4 / MT5	✔️Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced Traders ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ EA trader ✔️ Trading CFD
Might not be fit for	❌ Commission based trading ❌ Real stock / futures trading	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks

Tags pepperstone vs xm, xm compared to pepperstone, xm vs pepperstone

Broker Comparison

XM vs FXTM

Is XM better than FXTM? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions and is safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this XM vs FXTM Comparison Review. For this Review we opened real accounts and deposit over $6,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening process at XM vs FXTM, also the fees, trading conditions, platform selection and withdrawal process.

What is XM and FXTM

XM is a global Forex and one of the regulated CFD brokers, offering trading with forex pairs, indices, stocks, and commodities.

ForexTime, known as FXTM, founded in 2011, offers trading services with forex pairs, indices, commodities, stocks, cryptocurrencies, spot metals, and also real stocks.

Some of the highlights of XM vs FXTM are:

	XM	FXTM
💻 Website	www.xm.com	www.forextime.com
🛡️Founded year	2009	2011
🏦 Headquarter	Limassol, Cyprus	Cyprus
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	UK, Cyprus, Australia, UAE, Belize	UK, Cyprus, South Africa, Mauritius
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	1.6	1.9
💳 Minimum deposit	US$5	US$10
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	US$0 (with exceptions)
🖥️ Trading Platform	MT4, MT5	MT4, MT5, FXTM Trader
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies
📉 Number of Products	1336	258
🔎 Our Detailed Review	XM Review	FXTM Review

Licenses and Regulation

XM vs FXTM are both safe to trade and are highly reliable, low-risk trading Brokers due to regulations and are not a scam.

XM is regulated by the top-tier ASIC, and Cyprus’ CySEC, which have strict rules and enforcement mechanisms.

FXTM holds 4 regulatory licenses from several top regulators, like the United Kingdom’s FCA.

For this review, we opened an account with XM Trading Point of Financial Instruments Limited, regulated by CySEC and a stock CFD account with ForexTime Limited, regulated by CySEC in Cyprus.
We recommend that you open your account with the XM Cyprus entity since it is the only one that offers deposit protection to traders if it is available to you and with the FXTM UK or Cypriot entity because of their compensation schemes.

	XM	FXTM
🔒 Licenses	ASIC, CySEC, DFSA FCA, FSC	FCA, CySEC, FSCA, FSC
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on entity)	✔️ (depending on entity)

XM vs FXTM Fees

XM and FXTM fees are similar, built into a spread basis, and both have commission based accounts.

There are no additional fees charged by XM, moreover, the broker charges average fees for trading the main instruments and the fees charged on stocks and commodities are lower than industry averages.
FXTM does not have any deposit fee but charges withdrawal fees for some payment modes. The broker, however, charges a $5 monthly inactivity fee after any account is inactive for 6 months.

	XM Fees	FXTM Fees
Fees based on spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission based fees	✔️	✔️
Inactivity Fee	$0	$5
Deposit fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal fee	$0	$0 (with exceptions)
Active trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	✔️

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on XM vs FXTM accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread and we were able to find both negative and positive sides for each Broker spreads.

A closer look at the spreads charged in our XM trades revealed that they were all aligned with industry benchmarks. The broker’s spreads on indices, commodities and stocks were slightly lower than those of its peers.
Our testing with standard account finds that FXTM spreads for forex are above the industry average. Spreads on indices and commodities are significantly higher than the average industry benchmark. Stock spreads are closer to the average industry benchmark but still a bit on the lower side.

Markets	Instruments	XM commission	FXTM commission	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.5	5.1	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	1.6	1.9	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3.5	4.50	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	1.35	1.57	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	–	–	72.81
ETFs	QQQ	–	–	0.45

Account Types Compared

XM offers 5 account types with different fee structures, that is, the Micro, Standard, XM Zero, XM Ultra-low, and Shares accounts.

FXTM offers both standard and ECN accounts. There are 3 FXTM account types under standard accounts: Standard Account, Cent Account, and Stock CFDs Account. Under ECN, there are 4 types of FXTM accounts: Stocks Account, ECN Account, ECN Zero Account, and FXTM Pro Account.

XM account opening is quick and effortless. The registration process took exactly 14 minutes, and our account was approved two days later.
Opening a new account with FXTM is simple and fast. The registration process took merely 20 minutes, and our account was verified after 1 business day.

	XM Accounts	FXTM Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	❌	✔️
Islamic Account	✔️	✔️
PAMM Account	❌	✔️

Markets and Products

Both XM vs FXTM offer a large variety of tradable instruments in the forex, indices, stocks, and commodities markets.

Markets	XM Instruments	FXTM Instruments
Indices	26	11
Forex	57	62
Commodities	17	8
Stocks	1236	173
Cryptocurrency	–	4
ETFs	–	–
Bonds	–	–

Trading Conditions

The trading conditions both at XM vs FXTM are great. Both traders allow high-risk strategies such as hedging and scalping.

Trading Method	XM	FXTM
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	✔️
Change Leverage	✔️	✔️
Copy trading/ Social trading	✔️	✔️
Beginners Trading	✔️	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

XM processes client withdrawals via the same payment methods available for deposits making it easy for clients to withdraw their funds. It also does not charge any withdrawal fees. FXTM charges a 2% fee on all withdrawals via PayPal.

Both XM vs FXTM’s clients can deposit funds into their trading accounts via bank transfers, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill, PayPal, and Neteller.

The deposit methods offered by XM are instant and free. Anyway, the first deposit has to be made via credit card.
We have tested the deposit process on FXTM using multiple payment modes. There was no deposit fee and the fundings were quick.

	XM	FXTM
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	$0	$0 (with exceptions)
💳 Minimum deposit	US$5	$/€/£100
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	✔️	✔️
Skrill	✔️	✔️
Neteller	✔️	✔️

Trading Platform

Both XM vs FXTM offer the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). FXTM also offers its own FXTM Trader platform.

While the XM MT4 platform is a bit dated, we found the MT5 platform to be more than adequate for traders who prefer a modern platform.
FXTM Trader is available on both Android and iOS devices.

	XM Platform	FXTM Platform
Proprietary Platform	❌	✔️
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	❌	✔️
MetaTrader 4	✔️	✔️
MetaTrader 5	✔️	✔️
Simple to use platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research tools	✔️	✔️

Education and Support

Both XM vs FXTM have a great education offering for beginners. XM’s Tradepedia video course provides an in-depth guide to the markets. The videos are of high quality with excellent delivery from the instructors.

XM runs over 40 webinars weekly in different languages that its clients can join and learn about the markets. The webinars are based on experience level and take place in different timezones to suit its clients.
FXTM offers many learning resources to educate new traders. The broker also offers a demo trading account.

	XM Support	FXTM Support
Trading School for Beginners	✔️	✔️
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	❌	✔️
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	✔️
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	❌

Conclusion on XM vs FXTM

Comparing XM vs FXTM side by side we found both brokers reliable and with good standing. XM provides great customer support response times and the spreads on most instruments are aligned with industry averages. FXTM has excellent customer support and a detailed Q&A section for frequently faced issues.

Overall, we had a smooth experience with XM vs FXTM starting from the account opening, to the deposit, trading and withdrawal processes.
We recommend XM to traders who prefer the MT4/5 platforms and to those who run EAs due to the free VPS service. The broker is also suitable for beginner traders because of its detailed educational materials.
We recommend FXTM ECN accounts to traders who use scalping strategies and focus on expert advisory (EA) trading.

	XM	FXTM
Recommended for	✔️ CFD stocks trading ✔️ Beginning traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Trading currency Pairs ✔️ EAs trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ Trading through MT4 / MT5	✔️ Beginning traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ ECN traders ✔️ Automated trading ✔️ EA trader ✔️ Micro trading ✔️ Trading currency pairs ✔️ Cryptocurrency trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader
Might not be fit for	❌ Commission based trading ❌ Real stock / futures trading	❌ Day trader ❌ Trading of real stocks

Tags fxtm vs xm, xm compared to fxtm, xm vs fxtm

Broker Comparison

AxiTrader vs IC Markets

Is AxiTrader better than IC Markets? Which of them has a lower spread, better trading conditions, and is a safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this AxiTrader vs IC Markets Comparison Review. For this Review, we opened real accounts and deposited over US $11,000 in total to compare both offerings, the account opening process at AxiTrader and IC Markets also, we checked fees, trading conditions, platform selection, and withdrawal process.

What is AxiTrader and IC Markets?

AxiTrader is an Australian Forex and CFDs broker that offers trading with forex pairs, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. In 2020 it was rebranded to Axi.

IC Markets is an Australian Forex and CFDs broker with hundreds of tradable market instruments in such categories as forex pairs, stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

Some of the highlights of AxiTrader vs IC Markets are:

	AxiTrader	IC Markets
💻 Website	www.axi.com	www.icmarkets.com
🛡️Founded year	2007	2007
🏦 Headquarter	Sydney, Australia	Sydney, Australia
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	Australia, the UK, the UAE, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines	Australia, Cyprus, Seychelles, Bahamas
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	1.2	1.02
💳 Minimum deposit	US$0	US$200
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	US$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MT4	MT4, MT5, cTrader
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Indices, Commodities Cryptocurrencies	Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies
📉 Number of Products	132	559
🔎 Our Detailed Review	AxiTrader Review	IC Markets Review

Licenses and Regulation

Both Brokers are safe to trade and are considered reliable, they both provide a low-risk trading environment and are not a scam.

Axi is licensed by 4 regulators globally including the top-tier UK’s FCA, Australia’s ASIC, Dubai’s FSA, and St Vincent and the Grenadines FSA.

IC Markets is licensed by 4 regulators worldwide including the top-tier Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Seychelles’ Financial Services Authority (FSA), and The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB).

For this review, For this review, we opened an account with AxiCorp Limited which is one of the FCA regulated brokers, and a standard MT5 account with IC Markets (EU) Limited, licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). More on CySEC
We recommend that you register your Axi accounts with the UK, Australia or Dubai entities, and IC Markets account with the Australian or Cyprus entity if available in your jurisdiction.

	AxiTrader	IC Markets
🔒 Licenses	FCA DFSA ASIC FSA	AFSL CySEC FSA SCB
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on the entity)	✔️ (depending on the entity)

AxiTrader vs IC Markets Fees

AxiTrader vs IC Markets fees are similar and mainly built into spreads. They do not change any commission-based fees.

Both Axi and IC Markets do not charge any other non-trading fees such as deposit, withdrawal, and account inactivity fees. Only IC Markets’ Raw Spread Account charges a commission.

	AxiTrader	IC Markets
Fees based on the spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission-based fees	✔️	✔️
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Deposit fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal fee	$0	$0
Active trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	✔️

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on AxiTrader vs IC Markets accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument and listed the average actual spread charged on the live trades done through a funded account.

Looking at the spreads charged in our Axi trades, we found that they were all lower than industry benchmarks. None of Axi’s average spreads were above industry averages, which was quite impressive. We also discovered that the broker charges extremely low spreads on Bitcoin trades as compared to its peers.
A deeper look at the IC Markets spreads charged shows that they were mostly below the industry average except dor the stock spreads that were aligned with the industry average.

Markets	Instruments	AxiTrader Avg. spread	IC Markets Avg. spread	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.1	1.0	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	1.2	1.0	1.16
Commodities	Gold	2.8	2.2	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	–	1.5	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	14.4	39.24	72.81

Account Types Compared

IC Markets gives traders a choice to pick different accounts since it offers 4 account types with slightly different functionality. Those types are the Standard account, cTrader raw Spread account, the Raw Spread account, and Islamic account. Axi offers 2 account types with different functionalities: Standard and PRO accounts. Axi also offers its traders swap-free Islamic accounts. Read more about swap-free Islamic account

AxiTrader account opening is rather quick and easy. The registration process took only 15 minutes and our account was approved on the next day, as expected.
Account Opening with IC Markets for our test was smooth, the registration process took exactly 14 minutes. The account was approved in 1 business day.

	AxiTrader Accounts	IC Markets Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	❌	❌
Islamic Account	✔️	✔️
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

Both AvaTrade and IC Markets offer a mostly similar and very wide range of instruments for most of the markets. Stock traders would be pleased with IC Markets since Axi does not offer any instrument with that market.

Both brokers do not offer instruments on bonds and ETFs which is a major drawback.

Markets	AxiTrader Instruments	IC Markets Instruments
Indices	31	23
Forex	75	61
Commodities	20	12
Stocks	–	453
Cryptocurrency	6	10

Trading Conditions

The brokers provide excellent trading conditions to their clients by offering high-risk trading strategies like scalping and hedging, they are a good fit for social and copy traders. Both AvaTrade and IC Markets are suitable for beginners and experts.

The only difference is that, unlike IC Markets, Axi does allow changing leverage.

Trading Method	AxiTrader	IC Markets
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	✔️
Change Leverage	❌	✔️
Copy trading/ Social trading	✔️	✔️
Beginners Trading	✔️	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

The AxiTrader vs IC Markets review shows that deposit processes on both Axi and IC Markets are quick and simple.

We didn’t face any challenges during the deposit and withdrawal processes with both AxiTrader and IC Markets.

Axi’s clients can deposit funds via various options, such as bank transfers, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill, PayPal, and Neteller.
IC Markets’ clients can deposit funds into their trading accounts via bank transfers, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill, and Neteller.
Important to mention, that IC Markets charges an AUD $20 fee for international bank transfers withdrawal

	AxiTrader	IC Markets
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	❌	❌(with an exception)
💳 Minimum deposit	US$0	US$200
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	❌	✔️
Skrill	✔️	✔️

Trading Platform

Both AxiTrader and IC Markets offer their clients the popular MetaTrader4 platform, traders can get access those platforms via desktop, mobile, or web. IC Markets also offers MetaTrader5 and the cTrader platform as well as copy-trading systems attached to each platform. Actually, the lack of alternative platforms from Axi is an oversight on their part.

Both brokers do not have their proprietary platforms.

AxiTrader does not have a proprietary trading platform. Traders can trade via the broker’s website, as well as via the mobile and desktop MT4 applications.
Algorithmic traders will find a home with IC Markets, which offers fast execution speeds and guarantees no requotes on submitted trades. The broker’s cTrader platform offers the cAlgo app that algorithmic traders can use. The cTrader Copy app allows to social/copy trade.

	AxiTrader Platform	IC Markets Platform
🖥️ Proprietary Platform	❌	❌
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	❌	✔️
MetaTrader4	✔️	✔️
Simple to use platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research tools	❌	✔️

Education and Support

Both AxiTrader and IC Markets offer excellent trading educational materials for new traders. The customer service team was quite helpful and gave us direct answers to our questions.

We found that AxiTrader provided helpful video tutorials on how to navigate their platform. However, the broker could as well provide more video tutorials covering other topics.
We found that IC Markets’ education offering lacks depth, and we would like to see the broker add more content on intermediate and advanced topics.

	AvaTrade Support	IC Markets Support
Trading School for Beginners	❌	❌
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	✔️	❌
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	❌
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	❌

Conclusion on AxiTrader vs IC Markets

Summing up our AxiTrader vs IC Markets review, we came to the point that both brokers are safe to trade and highly reliable.

Both brokers provide excellent trading conditions to their clients with a wide range of instruments, with a slight difference that AxiTrader does not allow change leverage. Both brokers do not provide bonds and ETFs trading which is remiss of them. Also, Axi does not allow trading with stocks hence trades may prefer IC Markets instead.

Both AxiTradaer vs IC Markets fees are mostly built into spreads with no commission fee, only IC Markets’ Raw Spread Account charges commissions.

Both brokers provide excellent trading conditions, only Axi does not allow traders to change leverage. The educational materials for both brokers are quite good as well, however, they both lack depth

Overall, our experience with AxiTrader was smooth from opening our account, to the deposit, trading and withdrawal processes. We recommend that traders open accounts with the UK, Australia or Dubai entities.
Overall, our experience with IC Markets was good. We recommend IC Markets to all levels of traders from beginners, intermediate and advanced traders who can all benefit from its services.

	AvaTrade	IC Markets
Recommended for	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced Traders ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ EA trading	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Trading Currency Pairs ✔️ Cryptocurrency Trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ Trading through MT4/MT5 platform
Might not be fit for	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks ❌ Commission-based trading ❌ Trading on other platforms rather than MT4	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks ❌ Commission-based trading

Tags AxiTrader alternative, AxiTrader vs IC Merkets, IC Markets alternative, IC Markets vs AxiTrader

Broker Comparison

Capital.com vs Trading 212 2023

Post author By George Rossi
Post date March 28, 2022
No Comments on Capital.com vs Trading 212 2023

Is Capital.com better than Trading 212? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions, and is a safe broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this Capital.com vs Trading 212 Comparison Review. For this Review, we opened real accounts and deposited over US$ 9,000 in total to compare both offerings, the account opening process at Capital.com and Trading 212 also the fees, trading conditions, platform selection, and withdrawal process.

What is Capital.com and Trading 212?

Capital.com is a Forex and contracts for differences (CFDs) broker which offers trading services with forex, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, stock CFDs, as well as spread betting.

Trading 212 is a large and popular CFD broker with a great variety of instruments and lower spreads in stock trading, suitable for retail and professional traders.

Some of the highlights of Capital.com vs Trading 212 are:

	Capital.com	Trading 212
💻 Website	www.capital.com	www.trading212.com
🛡️Founded year	2016	2004
🏦 Headquarter	London	London
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	UK, Cyprus, Belarus	UK, Bulgaria
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	0.8	1.37
💳 Minimum deposit	US$20	US$1
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	US$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MT4, Mobile app	Trading 212’s Proprietary Trading Platform
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies	Indices, Forex, Commodities, Stocks, Cryptocurrencies
📉 Number of Products	3720 (depends on the jurisdiction)	2,029
🔎 Our Detailed Review	Capital.com Review	Trading 212 Review

Licenses and Regulation

From the comparison review of Capital.com vs Trading 212 we may assume that both brokers are safe to trade and are highly reliable, low-risk trading brokers due to regulations and are not considered a scam.

Capital.com holds 3 regulatory licenses, regulated in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and Belarus.

Trading 212 has 2 licenses globally including a top-tier license from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). More about International brokers.

For this review, we opened a standard account on the MT4 platform with Capital Com SV Investments Limited which is regulated by CySEC, also a CFD account with Trading 212 UK Ltd, and deposited money so as to run our tests.
We highly recommend you to register your Capital.com account with the CySEC entity and Trading 212 account with the UK entity if they’re available to you since they all offer deposit protection.

	Capita.com	Trading 212
🔒 Licenses	FCA CySEC NBRB	FCA Bulgaria FSC
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on the entity)	✔️ (depending on the entity)

Capital.com vs Trading 212 Fees

Capital.com vs Trading 212 fees are mostly based on spreads with no commission fees.

Both Capital.com and Trading 212 have similar offerings since none of them charges any non-trading fees.

	Capital.com Fees	Trading 212 Fees
Fees based on the spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission-based fees	❌	❌
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Deposit fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal fee	$0	$0
Active trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	❌

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on Capital.com vs Trading 212 accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread, we found both negative and positive sides for each broker’s spreads.

Spreads for our trades in all asset classes for both Capital.com and Trading 212 remained stable. We only recorded minor variations in commodity spreads for Capital.com.

Capital.com spreads for forex are much lower than the industry average. Spreads on indices and commodities are also on the lower side. However, spreads charges on stocks and cryptocurrency traders are too high.
Trading 212 spreads for the indices and commodities are quite high, however, spreads on forex are aligned to those of the industry average, and spreads charged on stocks are much lower than the industry average.

Markets	Instruments	Capital.com Avg. spread	Trading 212 Avg. spread	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.4	2.47	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	0.8	1.37	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3.12	7.47	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	8.3	1.70	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	154	N/A	72.81

Account Types Compared

Capitla.com offers 3 account types. Trading 212 offers CFD and Invest accounts. Both brokers do not offer Islamic accounts, so the traders who follow Shaira law might look for other brokers. Find out more about a Forex swap-free Accounts

Opening a new account with Capital.com was smooth and quick, the registration process took around 16 minutes, and our account was approved on the same day.
Trading 212 account opening was overall satisfying. The registration process took merely 16 minutes. The account was verified in 2 working days.

	Capital.com Accounts	Trading 212 Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	❌	❌
Islamic Account	❌	❌
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

Both Capital.com and Trading 212 allow you to trade CFDs on forex pairs, stock indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Trading 212 is best for commodity traders as it offers a wider range of instruments, while Capital.com is better for cryptocurrency and stocks traders.

Markets	Capital.com Instruments	Trading 212 Instruments
Indices	27	57
Forex	138	184
Commodities	38	118
Stocks	3278	1661
Cryptocurrency	239	9

Trading Conditions

In terms of trading conditions, Capital.com wins the offering since it allows high-risk trading instruments like scalping and hedging also changing leverages, unlike Trading 212 which doesn’t allow any of these. However, Capital.com is not best for beginner traders, so beginners might choose Trading 212 instead.

Trading Method	Capital.com	Trading 212
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	❌
Change Leverage	✔️	❌
Copy trading/ Social trading	❌	❌
Beginners Trading	❌	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

Both deposit and withdrawal processes on Trading 212 are simple enough, however, we were disappointed by the lack of support for eWallets on Capital.com. Also, we encountered some issues with our first withdrawal process. Trading 212 offer of funding methods is larger allowing to use eWallets.

The minimum deposit on Trading 212 is quite attractive, traders can start with a $1 deposit.

We tested the deposit process on Trading 212 via 3 payment methods available.
We tested the deposit by Debit Card on XTB. All the deposit methods offered by XTB are instant and free.

	Capital.com	Trading 212
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	❌	❌
💳 Minimum deposit	✔️ (based on account type)	US$1
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	❌	✔️
Skrill	❌	✔️

Trading Platform

Trading 212 offers a proprietary web and mobile app platform as the only platform available for trading. Capital.com has a better offering in this case since it has not only its proprietary platform but also offers alternative platforms such as MetaTrader4, one of the most popular platforms among traders. MT4 offers web, desktop, and mobile versions.

Trading 212 platform is quite user-friendly and the navigation is intuitive. The research is quite good as well. We were dissapointed by the lack of alternarive platform.
The trading conditions at Capital.com are good, we were satisfied with its proprietary platform, and we find it a good alternative to MT4. We would be more glad to see the broker offer the MT5 platform as well since its iterface is more user friendly and up-to-date.

	Capital.com Platform	Trading 212 Platform
Proprietary Platform	✔️	✔️
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	❌
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	✔️	❌
MetaTrader4	✔️	❌
Simple to use platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research tools	✔️	✔️

Education and Support

Capital.com vs Trading 212 shows that both brokers offer excellent educational resources for traders like detailed articles and exceptional video tutorials. Both Capital.com and Trading 212 offer 24/1 customer support.

From the perspective of information comprehensibility Trading 212 educational program is considered one of the best in the industry.
Capital.com offers detailed courses, in-depth articles, and guides to educate traders.

	Capital.com	Trading 212
Trading School for Beginners	❌	❌
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	✔️	✔️
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	✔️
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	✔️	✔️

Conclusion on Capital.com vs Trading 212

In conclusion to our Capital.com vs Trading 212 review, we can assure you that both brokers are highly reliable and safe to trade since they both are regulated by top-tier licenses. Their fees are similar and built into a spread basis.

Trading 212 is not suitable for indices and commodity traders, as the spreads in those markets are quite high; unlike those of Capital.com which are all aligned with the industry average. Trading 212 may also be not a good fit for MT4 traders, as it does not offer any alternatives. While Capital.com offers trading via MT4.

Capital.com is a good choice for traders who prefer high-risk strategies, as it allows scalping and hedging also changing leverages. Trading 212 does not allow to trade with high-risk strategies, however, it is more beneficial for beginner traders.

Overall, our experience with Capital.com was positive. Although, we did face some issues with the first withdrawal process. We recommend Capital.com to forex traders who run EA and other trading strategies.
Overall experience with Trading 212 was smooth, we liked the broker’s educational materials, which are some of the best we have seen, also a huge selection of actual stocks and low spreads.

	Capital.com	Trading 212
Recommended for	✔️ Cryptocurrency Trading ✔️ Scalping Trader ✔️ MT4 Trader ✔️ EA Trader ✔️ Stocks Trader	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Trading Currency pairs and CFD Stocks ✔️ Investment
Might not be fit for	❌ Futures Trading ❌ Commission Based Trading ❌ Beginner traders	❌ Scalping Traders ❌ EA traders ❌ Trading through MT4/MT5 platforms ❌ Commission-based trading ❌ Trading Gold or Indices

Tags capital.com alternative, Capital.com vs Trading 212, Trading 212 alternative, Trading 212 vs Capital.com

Broker Comparison

AvaTrade vs IC Markets

Is AvaTrade better than IC Markets? Which of them has a lower spread, better trading conditions, and is a safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this AvaTrade vs IC Markets Comparison Review. For this Review, we opened real accounts and deposited over US $9,000 in total to compare both offerings, the account opening process at AvaTrade and IC Markets, also, we checked fees, trading conditions, platform selection, and withdrawal process.

What is AvaTrade and IC Markets?

AvaTrade is a large and popular broker that offers trading with forex, indices, commodities, bonds, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and ETFs.

IC Markets is an Australian Forex and CFDs broker with hundreds of tradable market instruments in such categories as forex pairs, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

Some of the highlights of AvaTrade vs IC Markets are:

	AvaTrade	IC Markets
💻 Website	www.avatrade.com	www.icmarkets.com
🛡️Founded year	2006	2007
🏦 Headquarter	Dublin, Ireland	Sydney, Australia
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	Ireland, Japan, Australia, UAE, South Africa, British Virgin Islands	Australia, Cyprus, Seychelles, Bahamas
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	0.87	1.02
💳 Minimum deposit	US$100	US$200
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	US$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MT4, MT5, AvaTradeGO, AvaOptions, WebTrader	MT4, MT5, cTrader
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Indices, Commodities, Bonds, Cryptocurrencies, Stocks, ETFs	Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies
📉 Number of Products	796	559
🔎 Our Detailed Review	AvaTrade Review	IC Markets Review

Licenses and Regulation

Both Brokers are safe to trade and are considered reliable, they both provide a low-risk trading environment and are not a scam.

AvaTrade has gained 7 regulatory licenses from some of the top regulators, including Australia, Ireland, Abu Dhabi, and Japan.

For this review, we opened an account with AvaTrade EU Ltd which is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, and a standard MT5 account with IC Markets (EU) Limited, licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
We recommend that you register your AvaTrade account with the Irish, Australian, or Abu Dhabi entity and IC Markets account with the Australian or Cyprus entity if available in your jurisdiction.

	AvaTrade	IC Markets
🔒 Licenses	ASIC, CySEC, DFSA FCA, FSC	AFSL, CySEC, FSA, SCB
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on the entity)	✔️ (depending on the entity)

AvaTrade vs IC Markets Fees

AvaTrade vs IC Markets fees are built into spreads with no commission-based fees, IC Markets charges low fees trading most of the instruments on offer. The fees charged for trading forex pairs, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies are lower than the industry average. From all account types, only Raw Spread Account charges commissions.

As for additional fees, AvaTrade charges an inactivity fee of $50 or €50 or £50 every quarter after 3 months of account inactivity, also administration fees of $100, €100, £100 after a year of inacticity, while IC Markets does not charge any non-trading fees.

	AvaTrade	IC Markets
Fees based on the spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission-based fees	❌	❌
Inactivity Fee	$50, €50, £50	$0
Deposit fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal fee	$0	$0
Active trader/ VIP Programs	❌	✔️

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on AvaTrade vs IC Markets accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument and listed the average actual spread charged on the live trades done through a funded account. Forex traders may prefer AvaTrade more since it offers lower spreads than IC Markets, whereas, for indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies traders IC Markets wins the offering.

AvaTrade’s spreads for forex are much below the industry standards. The offered spreads on indices and commodities are also below the average industry benchmark, while for stock and cryptocurrencies are above the industry average.
A deeper look at the IC Markets spreads charged shows that they were mostly below the industry average except dor the stock spreads that were aligned with the industry average

Markets	Instruments	AvaTrade Avg. spread	IC Markets Avg. spread	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.17	1.0	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	0.87	1.0	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3.67	2.2	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	2.1	1.5	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	57.93	39.24	72.81
Bonds	GVD/EUR Bonds	0.04	–	–
ETFs	VXXB	0.13	–	–

Account Types Compared

IC Markets gives traders a choice to pick different accounts since it offers 4 account types with slightly different functionality. Those types are the Standard account, cTrader raw Spread account, the Raw Spread account, and Islamic account. AvaTrade account range is limited to 2 account types: Standard and Islamic accounts.

With AvaTrade our account opening experience was quick and smooth. The registration process took merely 15 minutes. Our account was verified after 1 business day.
Account Opening with IC Markets for our test was smooth, the registration process took exactly 14 minutes. The account was approved in 1 business day.

	AvaTrade Accounts	IC Markets Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	❌	❌
Islamic Account	✔️	✔️
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

Both AvaTrade and IC Markets offer a similar and very wide range of instruments with a slight difference across all the markets. Both brokers offer all instruments on a CFD basis. However, ETFs and Bonds traders should use Avatrade since IC Markets does not offer instruments in those markets.

Markets	AvaTrade Instruments	IC Markets Instruments
Indices	23	23
Forex	55	61
Commodities	29	12
Stocks	614	453
Cryptocurrency	14	10
ETFs	59	–
Bonds	2	–

Trading Conditions

The brokers provide excellent trading conditions to their clients offering high-risk trading strategies like scalping and hedging, they are a good fit for social and copy traders. Both AvaTrade and IC Markets are suitable for beginners and experts.

The only difference is that, unlike Avatrade, IC Markets does allow changing leverage.

Trading Method	AvaTrade	IC Markets
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	✔️
Change Leverage	❌	✔️
Copy trading/ Social trading	✔️	✔️
Beginners Trading	✔️	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

The Avatrade vs IC Markets review shows that deposit processes on AvaTrade and IC Markets are quick and simple.

Our experience with withdrawal on Avatrade was mixed. We faced some issues with our initial withdrawal request, but it was resolved as soon as possible, also deposit via debit card was not instant. It showed “pending” for 3 hours.

We didn’t face any challenges during the deposit and withdrawal processes with IC Markets.

AvaTrade allows clients to deposit through wire transfers, credit cards, and popular e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, and Paypal.
IC Markets’ clients can deposit funds into their trading accounts via bank transfers, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill, PayPal, and Neteller.
Important to mention, that IC Markets charges an AUD $20 fee for international bank transfers withdrawal.

	AvaTrade	IC Markets
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	❌	❌(with an exception)
💳 Minimum deposit	US$100	US$200
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	✔️	✔️
Skrill	✔️	✔️

Trading Platform

Both AvaTrade and IC Markets offer their clients popular MetaTrader4 and MetaTrader5 platforms, traders can get access those platforms via desktop, mobile, or web. IC Markets also offers the cTrader platform as well as copy-trading systems attached to each platform.

In contrary to IC Markets, AvaTrade offers its clients a proprietary web-based platform WebTrader, also AvaTradeGo for mobile trading, and AvaOptions for forex vanilla options.

AvaTrade’s own web trading platform and its mobile trading platform are also very clean and easy to use for the traders. For our tests, however, we placed the orders on the MetaTrader 4 mobile platform.
Algorithmic traders will find a home with IC Markets, which offers fast execution speeds and guarantees no requotes on submitted trades. The broker’s cTrader platform offers the cAlgo app that algorithmic traders can use. The cTrader Copy app allows to social/copy trade.

	AvaTrade Platform	IC Markets Platform
🖥️ Proprietary Platform	✔️	❌
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	✔️	✔️
MetaTrader4	✔️	✔️
Simple to use platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research tools	✔️	✔️

Education and Support

Both AvaTrade and IC Markets offer excellent trading educational materials for new traders. The customer service team was quite helpful and gave us direct but sometimes inaccurate answers to our questions.

AvaTrade offers tutorial videos on trading and platform-tools, eBooks and web-based guides on trading, as well as webinars. The broker also offers a demo account for novice traders.
We found that IC Markets’ education offering lacks depth, and we would like to see the broker add more content on intermediate and advanced topics.

	AvaTrade Support	IC Markets Support
Trading School for Beginners	❌	❌
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	✔️	❌
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	❌
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	❌

Conclusion on AvaTrade vs IC Markets

Summing up our AvaTrade vs IC Markets review, we came to the point that both brokers are safe to trade and highly reliable.

Both brokers provide excellent trading conditions to their clients with a wide range of instruments, with a slight difference that AvaTrade does not allow change leverage. However, bonds and ETFs traders have to choose AvaTrade since IC Markets does not provide trading with these markets.

In contrast to IC Markets, AvaTrade fees are mostly built into spreads with no commission fee, only Raw Spread Account charges commissions. However, AvaTrade charges an inactivity fee, while IC Markets does not have non-trading fees.

We didn’t face any deposit and withdrawal issues with IC Markets, but there’s was an issue on AvaTrade with our initial withdrawal which was quickly resolved by the excellent customer support after all.

Overall experience with AvaTrade was smooth, we liked the broker’s educational materials, which were quite impessive. Our experience with customer support was also good. We recommend AvaTrade to traders who focus on trading currencies and traders who would like to run hedging or scalping as their trading strategies.
Overall, our experience with IC Markets was good. We recommend IC Markets to all levels of traders from beginners, intermediate and advanced traders who can all benefit from its services.

	AvaTrade	IC Markets
Recommended for	✔️Trading currency pairs or CFD stocks ✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ EA trader ✔️ Trading through MT4/MT5 platform	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Trading Currency Pairs ✔️ Cryptocurrency Trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ Trading through MT4/MT5 platform
Might not be fit for	❌ Commission-based trading ❌ Real Stock/Futures Trading	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks ❌ Commission-based trading

Tags AvaTrade alternative, AvaTrade vs IC Markets, IC Markets alternative, IC Markets vs AvaTrade

Broker Comparison

FP Markets vs IC Markets

Is FP Markets better than IC Markets? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions and is safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this FP Markets vs IC Markets Comparison Review. For this Review we opened real accounts and deposit over $6,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening process at FP Markets vs IC Markets, also the fees, trading conditions, platform selection and withdrawal process.

What is FP Markets and IC Markets

First Prudential Markets, popularly known as FP Markets, is an Australia-headquartered forex broker founded in 2005.

IC Markets is an Australian Forex and CFDs broker founded in 2007, headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Some of the highlights of FP Markets vs IC Markets are:

	FP Markets	IC Markets
💻 Website	www.fpmarkets.com	www.icmarkets.com
🛡️ Founded year	2005	2007
🏦 Headquarter	Australia	Australia
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	Cyprus, Australia, St Vincent, and the Grenadines	Australia, Cyprus, Seychelles, Bahamas
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	1.2	1.02
💳 Minimum deposit	US$50	US$200
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0 (with some exceptions)	$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, IRESS	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies
📉 Number of Products	9018	559
🔎 Our Detailed Review	FP Markets Review	IC Markets Review

Licenses and Regulation

FP Markets vs IC Markets are both safe to trade and are highly reliable, low-risk trading Brokers due to regulations and are not a scam.

FP Markets is licensed by two reputed regulators, the UK’s FCA and Australia’s ASIC.

IC Markets is licensed by Cyprus’ CySEC, Seychelles’ FSA, and the Bahamas’ SCB.

For this review, we opened an account with First Prudential Markets Ltd, regulated by the CySEC in Cyprus and with IC Markets (EU) Limited, licensed by the CySEC.
We recommend that you open your account with the FP Markets’ regulation of the United Kingdom or Australian regulators if they are available in your jurisdiction and with the IC Markets Australian or Cyprus entities if either is available to you.

	FP Markets	IC Markets
🔒 Licenses	ASIC, CySEC, SVGFSA, FCA	ASIC, CySEC, SCB, FSA
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on the entity)	✔️ (depending on the entity)

FP Markets vs IC Markets Fees

FP Markets vs IC Markets fees are similar, built into a spread basis, and both have commission-based accounts.

Spreads for our trades with the FP Markets standard account were lower than the industry average for forex and indices, but it was on the higher side for other asset classes.
Most of the account types offered by IC Markets have very low spreads and do not charge a commission. Only the Raw Spread Account charges a commission.

	FP Markets Fees	IC Markets Fees
Fees Based on Spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission Based Fees	✔️	✔️
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Deposit Fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal Fee	$0 (with some exceptions)	$0
Active Trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	✔️

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on FP Markets vs IC Markets accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread and we were able to find both negative and positive sides for each Broker spreads.

Comparing the spreads charged in our trades to industry benchmarks, we found that FP Markets standard account spreads for indices are lower than the industry average. Spreads on forex, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, however, are on the average benchmark..
Through our testing we found that IC Markets spreads were generally low. The fees charged for trading indices, forex, commodities and cryptocurrencies were much lower than industry averages.

Markets	Instruments	FP Markets commission	IC Markets commission	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.3	1.1	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	1.2	1.0	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3.9	2.2	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	2.3	1.5	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	75.7	39.24	72.81
ETFs	QQQ	–	–	0.45

Account Types Compared

FP Markets offers multiple accounts based on the trading platforms, MetaTrader (Standard and Raw accounts) and IRESS (Standard, Platinum, and Premier accounts), available on FP Markets Demo Account. Forex trading is only based on MetaTrader accounts.

IC Markets offers 4 account types with slightly different features: the Standard account, cTrader raw spread account, the Raw spread account, and the Islamic account.

Opening a new account with FP Markets is quick and smooth. The registration process took around 20 minutes. Our account was verified in 1 working day.
IC Markets account opening is quick and seamless. The registration process took exactly 14 minutes, and our account was approved in one working day.

	FP Markets Accounts	IC Markets Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	✔️	❌
Islamic Account	✔️	✔️
PAMM Account	✔️	❌

Markets and Products

FP Markets vs IC Markets both offer a large variety of tradable instruments. FP Markets offers CFDs trading services in many popular markets, including forex, indices, commodities, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. IC Markets offers a wide variety of tradable instruments in the Forex, indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies markets.

Markets	FP Markets Instruments	IC Markets Instruments
Indices	14	23
Forex	61	61
Commodities	1737	12
Stocks	8936 (54 stocks on MetaTrader and 8,884 on IRESS)	453
Cryptocurrency	14	10
ETFs	–	–
Bonds	–	–

Trading Conditions

The trading conditions both at FP Markets vs IC Markets are great. Both traders allow high-risk strategies such as hedging and scalping.

Trading Method	FP Markets	IC Markets
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	✔️
Change Leverage	✔️	✔️
Copy-trading/ Social trading	✔️	✔️
Beginners Trading	✔️	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

FP Markets does not charge any fees for withdrawal into credit/debit cards, PayPal, or Australian domestic bank wire transfers. However, for the rest of the methods, it charges a fee to process each withdrawal request.

IC Markets does charge an AUD $20 fee on international bank transfer withdrawals.

Both FP Markets vs IC Markets’ clients can deposit funds into their trading accounts via bank transfers, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, and PayPal.

We tested the deposit process on FP Markets using multiple payment modes and there was no deposit fee and most of the fundings was made in 5 minuites.
We also tested the deposit process on IC Markets using multiple payment modes. Both deposit and withdrawal processes on IC Markets are quick and simple.

	FP Markets	IC Markets
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	$0 (with some exceptions)	$0 ($20 for international bank withdrawals)
💳 Minimum deposit	US$50	US$200
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	✔️	✔️
Skrill	✔️	✔️
Neteller	✔️	✔️

Trading Platform

Both FP Markets vs IC Markets offer the popular MT4 and MT5 platforms and do not have proprietary trading platforms.

Besides MetaTrader, FP Markets also offers IRESS platforms. IRESS is popular for offering stock CFDs and is only available to traders on the ASIC-regulator entity.
Algorithmic traders will find a home with IC Markets, which offers fast execution speeds and guarantees no requotes on submitted trades. The broker’s cTrader platform offers the cAlgo app that algorithmic traders can use. The cTrader Copy app allows for social copy trading.

	FP Markets Platform	IC Markets Platform
Proprietary Platform	✔️	❌
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	❌	❌
MetaTrader 4	✔️	✔️
MetaTrader 5	✔️	✔️
Simple to Use Platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research Tools	✔️	❌

Education and Support

Both FP Markets vs IC Markets have a great education offering for beginners. FP Markets offers some good market research and analysis tools. IC Markets offers a great forex trading course for beginners that covers topics such as technical analysis and trading psychology.

FP Markets offers some good quality educational resources to rookie traders. The broker’s customer support is good, too.
We found that IC Markets’ education offering lacks depth, and we would like to see the broker add more content on intermediate and advanced topics. The broker’s customer support team was quite responsive and resolved our issues.

	FP Markets Support	IC Markets Support
Trading School for Beginners	✔️	✔️
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	✔️	✔️
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	✔️
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	✔️	✔️

Conclusion on FP Markets vs IC Markets

Comparing FP Markets vs IC Markets side by side we found both brokers reliable and with good standing. The most impressive part with FP Markets is the ECN pricing and low spreads for forex and indices. IC Markets provides relatively low spreads and breakneck execution speeds.

Overall, we had a smooth experience with FP Markets starting from account opening to deposits and trading. The availability of many stock CFDs on IRESS is also a positive feature for traders.
However, we were disappointed with the multiple inaccurate answers by the FP Markets customer support executives.
Overall, our experience with IC Markets was positive. Our experience with customer support was also good.
We recommend IC Markets to all levels of traders from beginners, intermediate and advanced traders who can all benefit from its services.

	FP Markets	IC Markets
Recommended for	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ ECN traders ✔️ EAs trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ EA trader	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Trading Currency Pairs ✔️ Cryptocurrency Trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader
Might not be fit for	❌ Trading Futures ❌ Real Stocks or Index	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks ❌ Commission-based trading

Tags fp markets compared to ic markets, fp markets vs ic markets, ic markets vs fp markets

Broker Comparison

CMC Markets vs Plus500

Is CMC Markets better than Plus500? Who has lower spread, better trading conditions and is a safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this CMC Markets vs Plus500 Comparison Review. For this Review, we opened real accounts and deposited over US$ 11,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening process at CMC Markets and Plus500 also we check fees, trading conditions, platform selection, and withdrawal process.

What is CMC Markets and Plus500?

CMC Markets is a global Forex broker that offers financial trading services with CFDs and spread betting.

Plus500 is a large and quite popular CFD broker with a good number of instruments for retail and professional traders.

Some of the highlights of CMC Markets vs Plus500 are:

	CMC Markets	Plus500
💻 Website	www.cmcmarkets.com	www.plus500.com
🛡️Founded year	1989	2008
🏦 Headquarter	UK	Israel
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	UK, Germany, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, UAE	UK, Cyprus, Australia, South Africa, Seychelles, Singapore
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	0.7	0.8
💳 Minimum deposit	US$0	US$100
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	US$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MetaTrader4, the Next Generation platform	Plus500’s proprietary trading platform
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Indices, Stocks, ETFs, Commodities, Treasuries, Cryptocurrencies	Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs, Options
📉 Number of Products	10063 (depends on the jurisdiction)	2,400
🔎 Our Detailed Review	CMC Markets Review	Plus500 Review

Licenses and Regulation

Both Brokers are safe to trade and are considered reliable, they both provide a low-risk trading environment and are not a scam.

CMC Markets holds 8 regulatory licenses from top financial regulators. The broker is regulated in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates

Plus500 holds 6 regulatory licenses from several top regulators, like the United Kingdom’s FCA, Singapore’s MAS, and Australia’s ASIC.

For this review, we opened CFD account with CMC Markets UK Plc and deposited money so as to run our tests, and with Plus500AU Pty Ltd ASIC regulated broker in Australia.
You can register your account with any of the CMC Markets entities since all of them are overseen by reputed regolators. For Plus500 the United Kingdom, Australian, or Singapore entity are considered the best.

	CMC Markets	Plus500
🔒 Licenses	FCA, BaFin, AFSL, MAS, FMA, IIROC, DFSA,	FCA, Bulgaria FSC
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	✔️	✔️
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on the entity)	✔️ (depending on the entity)

CMC Markets vs Plus500 Fees

CMC Markets and Plus500 fees are similar and mainly built into a spread basis, there is no commission-based accounts or commission charge for Plus500, however, CMC Markets does charge fixed commissions on share CFDs.

For additional fees, CMC Markets has bare minimum non-trading fees. It offers free deposit and withdrawal fees (with exceptions), however, it charges £10 after a year of inactivity. The broker also charges fees for Guaranteed stop losses (GSLO), which gets refunded if GSLO is not triggered.
Plus500 does not charge funding fees but charges a $10 monthly fee after 3 months of inactivity.

	CMC Markets Fees	Plus500 Fees
Fees based on the spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	✔️	✔️
Commission-based fees	✔️	❌
Inactivity Fee	£10	$10
Deposit fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal fee	$0	$0
Active trader/ VIP Programs	❌	❌

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on CMC Markets vs Plus500 accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument and listed the average actual spread charged on the live trades done through the funded account.

CMC Markets spreads for forex and commodities are much lower than the industry average, while spreads on indices are much higher.
Our testing finds Plus500 spreads for Forex and ETFs were much lower than the industry average. While Spreads on Indices, Commodities, Stocks, and Cryptocurrencies, are on the higher side.

Markets	Instruments	CMC Markets Avg. spread	Plus500 Avg. spread	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	2	2	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	0.7	0.8	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3	4	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	1	1.93	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	–	49.02	72.81
ETFs	QQQ	–	0.17	0.45

Account Types Compared

CMC Markets offers 3 account types: Spread betting account, CFD account, and Professional account. Thus, making the offering more attractive since Plus500 offers a single account.

Overall, the account opening with CMC Markets was smooth; we didn’t face any verification issues. As for Plus500, we failed to verify our first account, thus, we had to register our second account which was approved without any problems.

The account registration on CMC Markets process was simple and took around 10 minutes. Our account was approved on the same day, which was great.
Account Opening with Plus500 for our test was smooth, the registration process took merely 16 minutes. The account was verified the same day.

	CMC Markets Accounts	Plus500 Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission-based Account	❌	❌
Islamic Account	❌	❌
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

As you can see from the table below, CMC Markets offers a wider range of instruments than Plus500 except for the cryptocurrency markets – both brokers offer the same amount of instruments. However, for CMC Markets cryptocurrency trading is only available from 11 pm (GMT) Sunday – 9 pm (GMT) Friday. Options traders might prefer Plus500 since CMC Markets does not offer instruments for that exact market.

Markets	CMC Markets Instruments	Plus500 Instruments
Indices	95	29
Forex	339	71
Commodities	111	22
Stocks	8000+	1737
Cryptocurrency	14	14
ETFs	1000+	94
Options	–	433
Treasuries	53	–

Trading Conditions

Our CMC Markets vs Plus500 review shows that CMC Markets has better offerings and trading conditions: it allows high-risk trading strategies such as scalping and hedging, allows traders to change leverage (only for professional traders). It also allows copy trading and social trading.

Overall, CMC Markets creates excellent conditions for both beginner and professional traders. Plus500, in its turn, has poor trading conditions. It doesn’t allow scalping, hedging, and changing leverage. It is not suitable for beginners, only for expert traders

Trading Method	CMC Markets	Plus500
Hedging	✔️	❌
Scalping	✔️	❌
Change Leverage	✔️ (with exceptions)	❌
Copy trading / Social trading	✔️	❌
Beginners Trading	✔️	❌
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

Both deposit and withdrawal processes on CMC Markets and Plus500 are simple enough. Both brokers don’t charge any fees for deposits, however, CMC Markets charges a £15 fee for instant withdrawal with bank transfer or transfer to an international bank account. CMC Markets is more attractive with its $0 minimum deposit.

CMC Markets allows deposit and withdrawal by debit/credit cards, bank transfers, and PayPal. Plus500 offers payment methods by credit/debit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, and Skrill.

We tested both deposit and withdrawal processes on CMC Markets by PayPal.
We tested deposit by Debit Card on Plus500 there was no deposit fee and funding was instant. However, the broker credited our funds to credit/debit card when we requested withdrawal on PayPal.

	CMC Markets	Plus500
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	❌ (with an exception)	❌
💳 Minimum deposit	US$0	US$100
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	✔️	✔️
Skrill	❌	✔️

Trading Platform

For our CMC Markets vs Plus500 review, we also tested both brokers’ platforms available. They both have their proprietary platforms, however, CMC Markets makes the offering flexible since it offers traders the MetaTrader4 platform as well. The lack of alternative platforms is a huge flaw for Plus500.

We tested CMC Markets The Next Generation platform and placed test trades via the broker’s mobile platform but the “Confirm” button didn’t work. The customer support didn’t respond to our query so we had to operate our trades through the desktop client.
Plus500 platform is very user-friendly and good for CFD trading, but cannot be customized.

	CMC Markets Platform	Plus500 Platform
🖥️ Proprietary Platform	✔️	✔️
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	❌
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	✔️	❌
MetaTrader4	✔️	❌
Simple to use platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research tools	✔️	❌

Education and Support

CMC Markets education and research section are great with well-organized and easy-to-understand tutorials, webinars, and a demo account, in reverse Plus500 just provides a basic guide and does not offer high-quality education resources so losing in that point for beginners too.

CMC Markets and Plus500 both offer decent customer support with Live Chat and support inquiries.

Our experience with CMC Markets’ customer support was mixed. Most of the time, the support team was very quick in response, and answers were also direct and accurate. However, we did not receive any response to one of our queries.
Plus500 offers only a few basic videos to educate novice traders.

	CMC Markets Support	Plus500 Support
Trading School for Beginners	❌	❌
Tutorials	✔️	❌
Trading Videos	✔️	✔️
Webinars	✔️	❌
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	❌
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	❌

Conclusion on CMC Markets vs Plus500

Our CMC Markets vs Plus500 comparison review shows that both brokers are safe to trade.

CMC Markets wins the offering since it provides better conditions for traders with a greater selection of instruments and high-risk trading strategies, while Plus500 does not allow hedging or scaling and is not suitable for beginners.

Both brokers have their proprietary platforms, but only CMC Markets offers MT4 platform for its traders. Also, the educational materials on Plus500 were quite poor.

Overall, our experience with CMC Markets was satisfying. The broker is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker CMCX. It offers excellent forex spreads, which are low and stable. The deposit and withdrawal methods were limited; we also faced issues with the mobile app. The interaction with customer support left mixed feelings too. We didn’t get answers to one query, however, the remaining replies were fast and accurate.
The experience with Plus500, however, was mixed. There was a striking difference between our first and second account opening; our first attempt wasn’t successful, however, the second one went quite smooth. Also, the lack of decent educational materials was upsetting as well. On the positive side, Plus500 holds 6 regulatory licenses and is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

	CMC Markets	Plus500
Recommended for	✔️Trading currency pairs or CFD stocks ✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Scalping Traders ✔️ Hedging Traders ✔️ EAs Traders ✔️ Spread Betting ✔️ Social/Copy Traders ✔️ MT4 Traders	✔️CFD Trading ✔️ Experienced traders
Might not be fit for	❌ Day Traders ❌ Trading of Real Stocks ❌ MT5 Traders	❌ Beginning Trader ❌ Scalping trader ❌ Hedging trader ❌ EA trader ❌ Trading through MT4/MT5 platform ❌ Commission-based trading

Tags CMC Markets alternative, CMC Markets vs Plus500, Plus500 alternative, Plus500 vs CMC Markets

Broker Comparison

Tickmill vs IC Markets

Is Tickmill better than IC Markets? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions and is safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this Tickmill vs IC Markets Comparison Review. For this Review we opened real accounts and deposit over $6,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening process at Tickmill vs IC Markets, also the fees, trading conditions, platform selection and withdrawal process.

What is Tickmill and IC Markets

Tickmill is a global Forex and CFDs broker, founded in 2014.

IC Markets is an Australian Forex and CFDs broker founded in 2007, headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Some of the highlights of Tickmill vs IC Markets are:

	Tickmill	IC Markets
💻 Website	www.tickmill.com	www.icmarkets.com
🛡️ Founded year	2014	2007
🏦 Headquarter	London	Australia
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	The UK, Cyprus, South Africa, Seychelles, Labuan	Australia, Cyprus, Seychelles, Bahamas
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	1.63	1.02
💳 Minimum deposit	US$100	US$200
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MetaTrader 4	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Commodity, Indices & Bonds	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies
📉 Number of Products	85	559
🔎 Our Detailed Review	Tickmill Review	IC Markets Review

Licenses and Regulation

Tickmill vs IC Markets are both safe to trade and are highly reliable, low-risk trading Brokers due to regulations and are not a scam.

Tickmill is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and CySEC.

IC Markets is licensed by Cyprus’ CySEC, Seychelles’ FSA, and the Bahamas’ SCB.

For this review, we opened an account with Tickmill UK Ltd, regulated by FCA and with IC Markets (EU) Limited, licensed by the CySEC.
We recommend that you open your account with the Tickmill UK entity since it provides compensation of up to £85,000 if the broker goes bankrupt and with the IC Markets Australian or Cyprus entities if either is available to you.

	Tickmill	IC Markets
🔒 Licenses	FCA, CySEC, FSCA FSA	ASIC, CySEC, SCB, FSA
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on the entity)	✔️ (depending on the entity)

Tickmill vs IC Markets Fees

Tickmill vs IC Markets fees are similar, built into a spread basis, and both have commission-based accounts.

Tickmill charges low fees for stock index trades, while forex and commodities fees are average to high.
Most of the account types offered by IC Markets have very low spreads and do not charge a commission. Only the Raw Spread Account charges a commission.

	Tickmill Fees	IC Markets Fees
Fees Based on Spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission Based Fees	❌	✔️
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Deposit Fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal Fee	$0	$0
Active Trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	✔️

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on Tickmill vs IC Markets accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread and we were able to find both negative and positive sides for each Broker spreads.

Comparing the spreads charged in our trades to industry benchmarks, we found the Tickmill spread on stock indices to be quite low, but the spreads on Forex and commodities were in-line with industry averages or higher.
Through our testing we found that IC Markets spreads were generally low. The fees charged for trading indices, Forex pairs, commodities and cryptocurrencies were much lower than industry averages.

Markets	Instruments	Tickmill commission	IC Markets commission	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.00	1.1	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	1.63	1.0	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3.80	2.2	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	–	1.5	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	–	39.24	72.81
ETFs	QQQ	–	–	0.45

Account Types Compared

Tickmill offers 3 account types: the Pro, Classic, and VIP accounts. The broker also offers swap-free forex accounts.

IC Markets offers 4 account types with slightly different features: the Standard account, cTrader raw spread account, the Raw spread account, and the Islamic account.

Tickmill account opening is fast and straightforward. The registration process took about 20 minutes and our account was approved in a day, which was impressive.
IC Markets account opening is quick and seamless. The registration process took exactly 14 minutes, and our account was approved in one working day.

	Tickmill Accounts	IC Markets Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	✔️	❌
Islamic Account	✔️	✔️
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

Tickmill vs IC Markets both offer a large variety of tradable instruments.

At Tickmill, you can trade CFDs on Forex, stock indices, commodities, and German government bonds. Popular asset classes, such as stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds and options are missing.

IC Markets offers a wide variety of tradable instruments in the Forex, indices, stocks, commodities and cryptocurrencies markets.

Markets	Tickmill Instruments	IC Markets Instruments
Indices	13	23
Forex	62	61
Commodities	6	12
Stocks	–	453
Cryptocurrency	–	10
ETFs	–	–
Bonds	4	–

Trading Conditions

The trading conditions both at Tickmill vs IC Markets are great. Both traders allow high-risk strategies such as hedging and scalping.

Trading Method	Tickmill	IC Markets
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	✔️
Change Leverage	✔️	✔️
Copy-trading/ Social trading	✔️	✔️
Beginners Trading	✔️	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

Tickmill processes client withdrawals quite fast with zero charges on each withdrawal. IC Markets does charge an AUD $20 fee on international bank transfer withdrawals.

Both Tickmill vs IC Markets’ clients can deposit funds into their trading accounts via bank transfers, debit/credit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller. IC Markets also accepts PayPal.

All the deposit methods offered by Tickmill are instant and free, except for bank transfers, which take 1 working day and usually incur a $25 fee charged by the bank.
We have tested the deposit process on IC Markets using multiple payment modes. Both deposit and withdrawal processes on IC Markets are quick and simple.

	Tickmill	IC Markets
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	$0	$0 ($20 for international bank withdrawals)
💳 Minimum deposit	US$100	US$200
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	❌	✔️
Skrill	✔️	✔️
Neteller	✔️	✔️

Trading Platform

Both Tickmill vs IC Markets offer the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform and do not have proprietary trading platforms. IC Markets also offers MT5 platform to its clients.

The MT4 platform is decent enough and can be customized to a high degree. However, the design is getting old, and we would have loved to see Tickmill offer MT5, too, which is the newer version of the platform.
Algorithmic traders will find a home with IC Markets, which offers fast execution speeds and guarantees no requotes on submitted trades. The broker’s cTrader platform offers the cAlgo app that algorithmic traders can use. The cTrader Copy app allows for social copy trading.

	Tickmill Platform	IC Markets Platform
Proprietary Platform	❌	❌
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	❌	❌
MetaTrader 4	✔️	✔️
MetaTrader 5	❌	✔️
Simple to Use Platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	✔️	❌
Research	✔️	✔️
Advanced Research Tools	✔️	❌

Education and Support

Both Tickmill vs IC Markets have a great education offering for beginners.

IC Markets offers a great forex trading course for beginners that covers topics such as technical analysis and trading psychology.

Tickmill does a good job in education offering webinars, seminars, eBooks, video tutorials, etc. Tickmill’s customer support team was helpful and provided relevant answers to our questions.
We found that IC Markets’ education offering lacks depth, and we would like to see the broker add more content on intermediate and advanced topics. The broker’s customer support team was quite responsive and resolved our issues.

	Tickmill Support	IC Markets Support
Trading School for Beginners	✔️	✔️
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	✔️	✔️
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	✔️
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	❌	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	✔️

Conclusion on Tickmill vs IC Markets

Comparing Tickmill vs IC Markets side by side we found both brokers reliable and with good standing. Tickmill allows traders to trade with almost any trading strategy including scalping, which is great for day trading and EA trading. IC Markets provides relatively low spreads and breakneck execution speeds.

Overall, we had a smooth experience with Tickmill starting from the account opening, to the deposit, trading and withdrawal processes.
We recommend Tickmill for traders who run EAs, scalping and prefer the MT4 platform, as well as those interested in trading with FCA-regulated brokers.
Overall, our experience with IC Markets was positive. Our experience with customer support was also good.
We recommend IC Markets to all levels of traders from beginners, intermediate and advanced traders who can all benefit from its services.

	Tickmill	IC Markets
Recommended for	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Trading Currency Pairs ✔️ EAs trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ Trading through MT4	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Trading Currency Pairs ✔️ Cryptocurrency Trading ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader
Might not be fit for	❌ Commission-based trading ❌ Real Stock / Futures Trading ❌ Prefer other platforms rather than MT4	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks ❌ Commission-based trading

Tags ic markets vs tickmill, tickmill compared to ic markets, tickmill vs ic markets

Broker Comparison

Tickmill vs Pepperstone 2023

Post author By George Rossi
Post date March 23, 2022
No Comments on Tickmill vs Pepperstone 2023

Is Tickmill better than Pepperstone? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions, and is a safe broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this Tickmill vs Pepperstone Comparison Review. For this Review, we opened real accounts and deposited over US$ 14,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening processes at Tickmill and Pepperstone. In this review, we will also compare the fees, trading conditions, platform selection, and withdrawal process.

What is Tickmill and Pepperstone?

Tickmill is a global Forex and CFDs broker licensed by top-tier regulators.

Pepperstone is an Australian Forex and CFDs broker offering tradable instruments like forex pairs, indices, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and a currency index.

Some of the highlights of Tickmill vs Pepperstone are:

	Tickmill	Pepperstone
💻 Website	www.tickmill.com	www.pepperstone.com
🛡️Founded year	2014	2010
🏦 Headquarter	London, UK	Australia
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	UK, Cyprus, South Africa, Seychelles, Labuan	Australia, UK, Cyprus, Bahamas, UAE, Kenya
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	1.63	1.15
💳 Minimum deposit	US$100	AUD$200
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$0	US$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	MetaTrader4	MT4, MT5, cTrader
📈 Markets offered	Forex, Commodity, Indices & Bonds	Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Currency index
📉 Number of Products	85	158
🔎 Our Detailed Review	Tickmill Review	Pepperstone Review

Licenses and Regulation

According to regulations, both brokers are safe and are entitled to the compensation scheme.

Tickmill is licensed by 5 global regulators including the top-tier UK’s FCA, the CySEC, FSCA, Labuan FSA & South Africa’s FSA.

Pepperstone is regulated by the top-tier UK’s FCA and Australia’s ASIC, which have stringent rules and enforcement processes.

For this Tickmill vs Pepperstone review, we opened a standard account under Tickmill UK Ltd regulated by FCA; and an account under Pepperstone Limited, the UK entity regulated by the FCA as well. Read more about FCA
We recommend that traders open their Tickmill accounts with the UK entity, or a Pepperstone account under the UK entity since it offers the highest deposit protection compensation of up to £85,000 guaranteed by the UK’s FCA, which is the best in the industry.

	Tickmill	Pepperstone
🔒 Licenses	FCA, CySEC, FSCA, FSA, Labuan FSA	ASIC, CySEC, SCB, FCA, FSA Kenya
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	❌
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on the entity)	✔️ (depending on the entity)

Tickmill vs Pepperstone Fees

The fees on Tickmill and Pepperstone are similar and mostly built into spreads with no commission accounts. Tickmill charges low fees for stock indices, however, spreads charged on Forex and commodities are in line with the industry average or higher. Pepperstone, in its turn, offers low spreads on almost all market instruments except for cryptocurrency.

Tickmill does not charge non-trading fees like deposit, withdrawal, or account inactivity fees.
As for Pepperstone, it does not charge non-trading fees as well, however, Pepperstone might be not friendly for cryptocurrency traders since the spreads charged on cryptocurrency are too high from the industry average.

	Tickmill Fees	Pepperstone Fees
Fees based on the spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission-based fees	✔️	✔️
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Deposit fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal fee	$0	$0
Active trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	❌

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on Tickmill vs Pepperstone accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread and reveal both negative and positive sides for each broker spreads.

Tickmill offers lower spreads on indices, but the spreads on Forex and commodities are aligned with or higher than the industry average, Pepperstone’s spreads on most of the market instruments are lower.

For the test, we run Tickmill Classic Account which only charges a spread without commissions. We traded through MT4 IOS app and recorded the process for the traders.
We tested the Standard Account with Pepperstone Limited, which charges a spread on all tradable instruments. Pepperstone stands out for its low fees for most of the instruments on offer, except for cryptocurrencies.

Markets	Instruments	Tickmill Avg. spread	Pepperstone Avg. spread	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.00	1	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	1.63	1.2	1.16
Commodities	Gold	3.80	1.6	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	–	0.9	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	–	110	72.81

Account Types Compared

Tickmill offers 3 account types: Classic, PRO, and VIP. Pepperstone offers 2 account types with separate fee structures: the Razor and Standard accounts. Unlike Pepperstone, Tickmill offers swap-free forex accounts for its traders.

Tickmill account opening is rather quick and easy. The registration process took about 20 minutes and our account was approved on the next day, as expected.
Account opening with Pepperstone is quite straightforward. The registration process took a total of 20 minutes, and our account was approved on the next day.

	Tickmill Accounts	Pepperston Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission-based Account	✔️	✔️
Islamic Account	✔️	❌
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

Tickmill allows clients to trade CFDs on Forex, indices, commodities, and German government bonds. Pepperstone gives you an opportunity to trade CFDs on Forex pairs, stock indices, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and a currency index.

As you can see below, Pepperstone offers a wider range of instruments and the choice of the market is much bigger, however, Tickmill is a better fit for bonds traders since Pepperstone does not offer this market.

Markets	Tickmill Instruments	Pepperstone Instruments
Indices	13	14
Forex	62	61
Commodities	6	9
Bonds	4	–
Stocks	–	64
Cryptocurrency	–	9
Currency index	–	1

Trading Conditions

Tickmill vs Pepperstone review shows that both brokers offer great trading conditions; they both allow high-risk trading strategies like hedging and scalping, there are no time limits for how long you keep your hedging positions open. Both allow traders to use Expert Advisors (EAs). However, in contrast to Pepperstone, Tickmill does allow change leverage to its clients.

Also, Tickmill offers a no-deposit bonus worth $30 to its new clients.

Trading Method	Tickmill	Pepperstone
Hedging	✔️	✔️
Scalping	✔️	✔️
Change Leverage	✔️	❌

Deposit and Withdrawal

Both deposit and withdrawal processes on Tickmill and Peppoerstone are quick and straightforward. Both Tickmill and Pepperstone charge zero fees on deposit and withdrawal processes, however, Tickmill charges fees for a deposit fee when deposited via bank transfers, so we recommend that you deposit your money using other payment methods than bank transfers.

Tickmill allows depositing and withdrawing funds into their trading accounts via debit/credit cards, bank transfers, and e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, QIWI. For Pepperstone fundings you can use debit/credit cards, bank transfers, and e-wallets such as Skrill, PayPal, and Neteller.

The deposit methods on Tickmill are instant and free, except for bank transfers that take 1 business day and usually incur a $25 fee charged by the bank
All the deposit methods offered by Pepperstone are instant and free. However, a bank transfer can take a few business days to reflect in your trading account.

	Tickmill	Pepperstone
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	❌	❌
💳 Minimum deposit	US$100	AUD$200
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	❌	✔️
Skrill	✔️	✔️

Trading Platform

Tickmill offers a MetaTrader4 trading platform for its clients, which is quite decent and popular among traders platform; however, the platform interface is getting outdated, and we would like to see the broker offer a newer version – MetaTarder5. Pepperstone, in its turn, offers MT4/MT5, and cTrader platforms for its traders.

Tickmill does not have a proprietary trading platform. Traders can trade via the broker’s website, as well as via the mobile and desktop MT4 applications. In fact, the lack of other platforms is one of the broker’s actual drawbacks.
The lack of a proprietary trading platform in Pepperstone may dissuade some traders, but the MT5 and cTrader platforms are great.

	Tickmill Platform	Pepperstone Platform
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	✔️	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	❌	✔️
MetaTrader4	✔️	✔️
Simple to use platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	❌
Research	✔️	✔️

Education and Support

To help traders improve their trading skills, Tickmill offers wide range of webinars, ebooks, video tutorials, infographics, glossaries, etc. Likewise, Pepperstone also offers a demo account. Moreover, the broker also offers platform tutorial videos, educational videos, and webinars to suit all types of traders.

Tickmill’s customer support team was helpful and provided direct and relevant answers to most of our questions. Pepperstone’s customer support team was helpful as well and provided direct and relevant answers.

We found Tickmill’s customer support quite helpful, however, we were dissapointed to find out that the broker does not have a Live Chat function, which is a crucial support channel offered by most brokers.
Pepperstone also has a YouTube channel that offers dozens of educational videos that cover different topics suitable for all levels of traders.

	Tickmill Support	Pepperstone Support
Trading School for Beginners	❌	✔️
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	✔️	✔️
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	❌	✔️
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	❌	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	❌

Conclusion on Tickmill vs Pepperstone

From this review of Tickmill vs Pepperstone Comparison, we may conclude that both brokers are safe to trade and trustworthy since they are licensed by top-tier regulators.

Our test showed that Tickmill’s spreads charged on indices are quite low, while spreads on Forex and commodities are in line with the industry average. Pepperstone offers low spreads on almost all markets, however, it’s not suitable for cryptocurrency traders, as the spreads charged are high.

Deposit and withdrawal processes with both brokers were quick with no fee charged, however, Tickmill charges a $25 fee when depositing via bank transfers. We recommend that you use other payment methods when depositing.

MT4 traders will be satisfied with both brokers offering this platform; unfortunately, Tickmill does not offer other alternatives, so traders who prefer modern platforms might use Pepperstone instead.

Both brokers provided excellent support, however, the lack of a Live Chat function on Tickmill was a big drawback.

Overall, our experience with Tickmill was smooth from opening our account to the deposit, trading, and withdrawal processes. We recommend that you register your account with the UK entity, if it’s available to you, as we consider FCA regulation the best since it provides compensation of up to £85,000 if the broker goes bankrupt.
Our experience with Pepperstone was favorable from the account opening, to the deposit, trading, and withdrawal processes. We recommend you to open an account with the UK, Australia, or Cyprus entities if any is available to you.

	Tickmill	Pepperstone
Recommended for	✔️ Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced Traders ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ EA trading ✔️ MT4 traders	✔️Beginning Traders ✔️ Experienced Traders ✔️ Scalping trader ✔️ Hedging trader ✔️ EA trader ✔️ Trading CFD
Might not be fit for	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks ❌ Commission-based trading ❌ Trading on other platforms rather than MT4	❌ Trading Futures or Real Stocks

Tags Pepperstone alternative, Pepperstone vs Tickmill, Tickmill alternative, Tickmill vs Pepperstone

Broker Comparison

eToro vs CMC Markets

Is eToro better than CMC Markets? Who offers lower spread, better trading conditions and is safer broker to trade?
We provide answers to all questions in this eToro vs CMC Markets Comparison Review. For this Review we opened real accounts and deposit over $6,000 in total to compare both offerings, account opening process at eToro vs CMC Markets also the fees, trading conditions, platform selection and withdrawal process.

What is eToro and CMC Markets

eToro is one of the largest, Best Social trading Brokers and platforms with a good range of portfolios and a Top number of investors.

CMC Markets is a UK forex broker, offering financial trading services with CFDs and spread betting.

Some of the highlights of eToro vs CMC Markets are:

	eToro	CMC Markets
💻 Website	www.etoro.com	www.cmcmarkets.com
🛡️Founded year	2006	1989
🏦 Headquarter	Israel	London
🗺️ Authorized & Regulated in	USA, UK, Australia, Cyprus	the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates
🔒 Is Broker safe	Yes	Yes
💰 EUR/USD Spread	0.97	0.7
💳 Minimum deposit	US$50 or US$500	US$0
💰 Withdrawal fee	US$5	US$0
🖥️ Trading Platform	eToro’s own trading platform	MT4, Next Generation Platform
📈 Markets offered	Indices, Forex, Commodities, Stocks, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs	Forex, Indices, Stocks, ETFs, Commodities, Treasuries, Cryptocurrencies
📉 Number of Products	986	10063 (Depends on the jurisdiction)
🔎 Our Detailed Review	eToro Review	CMC Markets Review

Licenses and Regulation

eToro vs CMC Markets are both safe to trade and are highly reliable, low-risk trading Brokers due to regulations and are not a scam.

eToro is licensed by some of the top global regulators, including the UK’s FCA, CySEC, ASIC, and FinCEN.

CMC Markets holds 8 regulatory licenses from mostly the top financial market regulators, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.

For this review, we opened an account with eToro (Europe) Limited regulated by CySEC and with CMC Markets UK Plc, which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
We recommend you register your account with the eToro UK or CySEC entity and with any of the CMC Markets entities if they are available in your jurisdiction.

	eToro	CMC Markets
🔒 Licenses	ASIC, CySEC, IE Singapore, FCA, NFA	FCA, BaFin, AFSL, MAS, FMA, IIROC, DFSA
Top Tier License	✔️	✔️
Publically Traded	❌	✔️
Compensation Scheme	✔️ (depending on entity)	✔️ (depending on entity)

eToro vs CMC Markets Fees

eToro vs CMC Markets fees are built into a spread basis.

There are additional fees charged by eToro. The broker charges a few non-trading fees, while CMC Markets has bare minimum non-trading fees. The broker offers free deposits and withdrawals (with some exceptions), and there are no account maintenance fees.

	eToro Fees	CMC Markets Fees
Fees Based on Spread	✔️	✔️
Floating Spread	✔️	✔️
Fixed Spread	❌	❌
Commission Based Fees	❌	✔️
Inactivity Fee	$10	$15
Deposit Fee	$0	$0
Withdrawal Fee	$5	$0
Active Trader/ VIP Programs	✔️	✔️

Spreads Charged in Our Trades

For our test trades on eToro vs CMC Markets accounts, we chose popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get the average spread, we found both negative and positive sides for each Broker spreads.

eToro spreads for Indices and Forex are below the industry average. For stock CFDs spreads, Commodities and Cryptocurrencies are above the industry average.
Our testing finds CMC Markets spreads for Forex much lower than the industry average. Spreads on commodities are also lower than the average benchmark, while for indices, it is higher.

Markets	Instruments	eToro commission	CMC Markets commission	Industry avg. spread
Indices	FTSE 100	1.4	2	1.65
Forex	EUR/USD	0.97	0.7	1.16
Commodities	Gold	4.5	3	3.53
Stocks	AAPL	2.23	1	1.75
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin	102.71	–	72.81

Account Types Compared

eToro offers a single account with access to all tools and services from one account, while CMC Markets offers three straightforward accounts: Spread betting account, CFD account, and Professional account.

Opening a new account on eToro was very simple and easy, the registration process took merely 11 minutes.
Account Opening with CMC Markets for our test was quick and simple. The registration process took around 10 minutes.

	eToro Accounts	CMC Markets Accounts
Standard Account	✔️	✔️
ECN / Commission Based Account	❌	❌
Islamic Account	✔️	❌
PAMM Account	❌	❌

Markets and Products

eToro offers trading services with several markets, including forex, stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and indices. Though eToro is primarily a forex and CFD broker, it also offers trading services with real stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies.

CMC Markets is known for its forex and share CFDs offering and has a vast offering in both markets. It offers trading with company stocks in various global markets. Indices, commodities, and cryptocurrency offerings of CMC Trading are also impressive.

Markets	eToro Instruments	CMC Markets Instruments
Indices	13	95
Forex	49	339
Commodities	31	111
Stocks	726	5000
Cryptocurrency	16	14
ETFs	151	4451
Treasuries	–	53

Trading Conditions

Trading conditions on eToro are fair and suitable for beginning traders, however, do not allow scalping.

CMC Markets offers good trading conditions. It allows both hedging and scalping strategies. But only professional clients can change leverage levels.

Trading Method	eToro	CMC Markets
Hedging	✔️ (eToro will retain the profits)	✔️
Scalping	❌	✔️ (Traders cannot open more than 1 position in a minute)
Change Leverage	✔️	❌
Copy trading/ Social trading	✔️	✔️
Beginners Trading	✔️	✔️
Professional Trading	✔️	✔️

Deposit and Withdrawal

Both deposit and withdrawal processes on eToro vs CMC Markets are simple enough, supporting various funding methods. However, eToro charges a flat fee of $5 for every withdrawal.

We tested the deposit process on eToro using multiple payment modes and the deposits were received instantly.
We used card payment and PayPal while testing the deposit process on CMC Markets. There was no deposit fee and the findings were instant.

	eToro	CMC Markets
💰 Deposit Fee	❌	❌
💰 Withdrawal fee	$5	❌
💳 Minimum deposit	US$50 or US$500	$0.00
Bank Transfer	✔️	✔️
Debit/ Credit Cards	✔️	✔️
PayPal	✔️	✔️
Skrill	✔️	❌

Trading Platform

eToro uses its own trading platform. It looks modern and is easy to use.

CMC Markets offers two trading platforms to the traders: MetaTrader4 and Next Generation platform (Proprietary platform).

eToro is known for its social trading feature. In fact, it gained popularity because of this feature. It basically has two features: CopyTrader and CopyPortfolio. eToro vs CMC Markets both offer Copy Trading.

	eToro Platform	CMC Markets Platform
Proprietary Platform	✔️	✔️
Web Platform	✔️	✔️
Desktop Platform	❌	✔️
Mobile App	✔️	✔️
Alternative Platforms	❌	✔️
MetaTrader4	❌	✔️
Simple to Use Platform	✔️	✔️
Demo Account Trading	✔️	✔️
Execution Agency Model	❌	✔️
Research	✔️	✔️

Education and Support

eToro does not offer high-quality educational resources. While CMC Markets offers easy-to-understand and good quality educational resources.

eToro vs CMC Markets both offer decent customer support with Live Chat and support inquiries.

We found eToro developing its learning materials and established eToro Trading School .
CMC Markets’ tutorials are categorized into several sections for ease of learning.

	eToro Support	CMC Markets Support
Trading School for Beginners	✔️	✔️
Tutorials	✔️	✔️
Trading Videos	❌	✔️
Webinars	✔️	✔️
Daily News and Analysis	✔️	✔️
Economic Calendar	✔️	✔️
Live Chat	✔️	✔️
Email Support	✔️	✔️
24/7 availability	❌	❌

Conclusion on eToro vs CMC Markets

Comparing eToro to CMC Markets side by side we found both brokers reliable and with good standing.

Our trading experience on eToro platform was smooth. eToro is good for beginners and experienced/popular traders, also allowing hedging. It has some attractive features like social trading and is Best for the number of Top Traders.
Our overall experience with CMC Markets was smooth, too. The broker offered excellent forex spreads, which were low and stable. The expectation speed was also fast. Our experience with customer support remained mixed as we did not receive any answer to a query. But the remaining replies were fast and accurate.

	eToro	CMC Markets
Recommended for	✔️ Best for social trading ✔️ Beginning traders ✔️ Trading currency pairs ✔️ Cryptocurrency trading ✔️ Stocks trading	✔️ Beginning traders ✔️ Experienced traders ✔️ Trading currency pairs ✔️ Using automated trading ✔️ EA trader ✔️ Trading Stocks ✔️ Hedging ✔️ Scalping ✔️ Spread Betting ✔️ Social Trading
Might not be fit for	❌ Scalping trader ❌ Hedging trader ❌ EA trader ❌ Trading through MT4/MT5 platform only ❌ Commission based trading	❌ Day trader ❌ Trading of real stocks

Tags CMC Markets vs eToro, eToro compared to CMC Markets, eToro vs CMC Markets