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 |