How do CMC Markets and InstaForex stack up against each other?
The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.
At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.
To compare CMC Markets and InstaForex, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.
Does CMC Markets or InstaForex have a better trust and regulation rating?
Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.
In our comparison, we found that CMC Markets holds three Tier 1 and two Tier 2 licences, and InstaForex holds no Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.
Is CMC Markets financially regulated?
Yes CMC Markets was founded in 1989 and is regulated by ASIC, BaFin, FCA, FMA and MAS.
Is InstaForex financially regulated?
Yes InstaForex was founded in 2007 and is regulated by B.V.I FSC and FSA-St-Vincent.
Based on these findings, CMC Markets earned a higher trust rating than InstaForex.
Does CMC Markets or InstaForex have lower costs?
Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged.
Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that CMC Markets has overall lower trading costs than InstaForex.
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Does CMC Markets or InstaForex offer a better choice of trading platforms?
Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms.
In this case, CMC Markets offers support for and InstaForex offers support for .
Do the brokers offer copy trading?
In this case both CMC Markets and InstaForex offer copy trading.
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Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?
A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that CMC Markets offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than InstaForex. CMC Markets offers 350 Forex pairs to trade and InstaForex offers 110 Forex pairs to trade.
And what about Cryptocurrencies?
In this case, 0 offers 12 cryptocurrencies while 0 offers 12 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with 0.
Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?
Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals.
We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that InstaForex charges a withdrawal fee and CMC Markets does not. Overall, CMC Markets has better deposit and withdrawal processes than InstaForex.
Which broker offers better educational support?
We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas.
CMC Markets has better educational support than InstaForex. Both CMC Markets and InstaForex offer educational support for more experienced traders.
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Which broker offers better market analysis materials?
To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field.
We found that CMC Markets offers better research analysis than InstaForex and that both CMC Markets and InstaForex offer frequent webinars.
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Our overall Verdict on CMC Markets
Founded in 1989, CMC Markets is a well-known Forex and CFD broker with a high trust rating and a strong presence in the UK. It has local FCA regulation and local customer support and offers spread betting accounts.
CMC Markets offers two live accounts with no minimum deposit requirements - a low-cost commission-free account with spreads starting at 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD, and a commission-based account with spreads of 0.1 pip and commissions of 0.005% (which amounts to 50 USD per lot traded), which is extremely high.
Trading is offered on both MT4 and its powerful, innovative proprietary platform that features numerous technical and fundamental analysis tools. CMC Markets also offers excellent education and market analysis materials to get new traders started, and although customer service is offered 24/5, it does not provide a live chat feature, which is a serious oversight by this broker.
Our overall Verdict on InstaForex
With a broad range of tradable assets and a number of accounts with higher deposits linked to tighter spreads, InstaForex appeals to traders looking for flexible trading conditions.
A well-regulated broker, InstaForex offers trading on shares, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and over 70 Forex pairs – a much larger range than is typically available at other brokers.
InstaForex offers six live instant execution accounts, with higher minimum deposits linked to tighter spreads. Its entry-level accounts have a minimum deposit of 100 EUR, but high trading costs, with spreads of 2 pips (EUR/USD) on its Standard Account. Trading costs improve significantly on its commission-free VIP ECN Account with spreads of 0.5 pips (EUR/USD), but this is in exchange for a minimum deposit of 20,000 EUR.
Support is offered for both MT$ and InstaForex’s own proprietary trading platform, alongside a range of trading tools, including VPS hosting services, various copy trading applications, and a number of technical analysis tools.
One drawback is that the educational materials are poorly presented and lack depth, making it a poor choice for beginner traders. However, InstaForex’s market analysis materials are detailed and frequently updated to help traders make better trading decisions.
Which broker has the highest overall rating?
CMC Markets has an overall rating of 4.53 and InstaForex has an overall rating of 3.02. For more detail please read our reviews of
CMC Markets and
InstaForex.