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Alison Heyerdahl is the Head of Content at FxScouts, a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), and an experienced trader, as well as a financial writer with extensive expertise in Forex trading, broker analysis, and market research. She has reviewed 100+ brokers, publishes weekly YouTube trading videos, and co-hosts the “Let’s Talk Forex” podcast.
In the fast-paced world of forex trading, choosing the right broker is crucial. IC Markets and Plus500 are two popular options, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. This comparison will dive into the key features of both platforms,helping you decide which one best suits your trading style and goals.
The radar chart above illustrates the comparison between IC Markets and Plus500 across several key metrics, with the highest possible score being 100 in each category.
At FxScouts, our mission is to assist traders in finding the broker that best suits their needs. Comparing brokers side-by-side is an effective method to achieve this goal. We evaluated IC Markets and Plus500, using our standard criteria: trust and regulation, trading platforms, costs and trading conditions, and educational and market analysis resources.
Trust and regulation are crucial when selecting a Forex broker. A broker’s credibility is largely built on its regulatory status. We spend considerable time verifying the safety of each broker by examining their regulatory licenses. The more top-tier authorities regulating a broker, the higher its trust rating.
In our comparison:
Based on these findings, Plus500 earned a higher trust rating than IC Markets.
When comparing brokers, trading costs are a significant factor. We consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and ongoing costs, including spreads and commissions. We measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit, including both the spread and any commission charged.
We found that IC Markets and Plus500 have the same trading costs.
Trading Platforms Offered Traders prefer brokers that offer a variety of trading platforms. We rate brokers higher if they support multiple platforms like MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader, and proprietary platforms.
Copy trading is beneficial for beginner traders or those unable to trade full-time. In this case both IC Markets and Plus500 offer copy trading.
A broader range of CFD instruments provides more trading opportunities. Plus500 offers a greater variety of instruments compared to IC Markets:
For those interested in trading cryptocurrencies, IC Markets offers 18 cryptocurrencies, while Plus500 offers 18 cryptocurrencies. Therefore, IC Markets is the better choice for cryptocurrency trading.
Traders prefer brokers with quick and cost-effective deposit and withdrawal processes. We favor brokers that process withdrawals within 24 hours using multiple methods without charging fees.We found that IC Markets charges a withdrawal fee and Plus500 does not. Overall, Plus500 has better deposit and withdrawal processes than IC Markets.
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.
IC Markets has better educational support than Plus500. Both IC Markets and Plus500 offer educational support for more experienced traders.Access to frequent and high-quality market research and analysis is crucial.
We found that IC Markets offers better research analysis than Plus500 and that both IC Markets and Plus500 offer frequent webinars.
Founded in 2007 in Australia, IC Markets is a globally recognised broker known for its low trading costs, raw spreads, and institutional-grade trading conditions. The company is licensed by several major regulators, including ASIC, CySEC, SCB, and the FSA of Seychelles. While IC Markets is not regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SCM), Malaysian traders can legally open accounts through its offshore entities.
IC Markets is widely regarded for its ultra-low-cost trading environment. On its Raw Spread Account, traders benefit from average spreads of just 0.10 pips on the EUR/USD, with a round-turn commission of only 6 USD per lot. It also supports all four major trading platforms—MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView—making it suitable for all types of trading strategies and experience levels.
Malaysian clients also have access to a full suite of professional trading tools, including VPS hosting, Trading Central, advanced charting, and third-party copy trading platforms such as Myfxbook AutoTrade and ZuluTrade. IC Markets offers 24/7 customer support and an intuitive account setup process, making it a solid choice for both beginners and experienced traders. While its educational resources are more comprehensive than many brokers, its in-house market analysis remains limited.
A trustworthy CFD provider with regulation from eight national authorities and a listing on the London Stock Exchange, Plus500 is a good choice for traders looking for a simple account structure, reasonable trading fees, a wide range of tradable assets, and a well-designed mobile trading app.
Plus500 only offers one trading account, but its trading costs are low compared to many brokers, with spreads starting at 0.8 pips* on the EUR/USD and a minimum deposit of 100 GBP. Most traders will also be satisfied with the number of financial assets available, including over 70 Forex pairs and 1900 share CFDs.Unlike other CFD providers that provide support for a variety of trading platforms – such as MT4, MT5, or cTrader – Plus500 only offers support for its own in-house platform. However, the platform is sleek and well-designed. Available as a mobile app or on the web with no need for any downloads, the platform is equipped with a number of useful risk management tools.
We were disappointed that Plus500’s education and market analysis materials are virtually non-existent, but its award-winning customer service is available 24/7, which is exceptional for an industry where the norm is 24/5.
*spreads correct as of 09:00, 21/06/2022
For more detailed reviews, please read our comprehensive assessments of IC Markets and Plus500.
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Broker | Overall Rating Our overall rating evaluates brokers on platform quality, fees, service, regulation, and instruments. Higher scores reflect better performance and reliability. | Official Site Click to visit the broker’s official website for more information and to open an account. | Min. Deposit The minimum amount of money required to open an account with this broker. | Min. Spread | Trading Cost | Licenced by Displays the financial regulators licensing the broker, shown by national flags, ensuring compliance with financial standards for safer trading. | Accepts Traders from %s | Compare Select two brokers using the checkboxes to compare their features, fees, platforms, and more side by side. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD 5 | 0.60 pips | USD 6 |   | us, es, ca, ir, il | |||
 | USD 0 | 0 pips | USD 10 |   | jp, be, el, lt, pt, bg, es, lu, ro, cz, fr, hu, si, dk, hr, mt, sk, de, it, nl, fi, ee, cy, at, se, ie, lv, pl, us | |||
 | USD 50 | 1 pips | USD 10 |  | us, es, jp | |||
 | USD 100 | 0 pips | USD 6 | | us, jp, nz, be, ca, ir, iq, sy, kp, af, cu, lr, ly, mm, ps, ru, so, sd, ye, sg | |||
 | USD 100 | 0.90 pips | USD 9 |    | es, be, cu, ir, kp, sy, us, nz, ru, by, lb, ye, im, uk, je, gg, af, dz, iq, ps, in | |||
 | USD 10 | 0.70 pips | USD 17 | | es | |||
 | USD 200 | 0.10 pips | USD 8 | | jp, es, us, ca, nz, ir, kp | |||
 | USD 0 | 0.10 pips | USD 8 | | es, at, be, bg, cy, cz, de, dk, ee, el, es, fi, fr, hr, hu, ie, it, lt, lu, lv, mt, nl, pl, pt, ro, se, si, sk, us, ca, af, by, cu, ir, kp, ru, sy, ve, ye, sd, so, ly, gu, pr, vi, as | |||
 | USD 100 | 0 pips | USD 6 | | us, es, jp, ca, au, be, iq, kp, sy, mm, cu, ir, su | |||
 | AUD 0 | 0 pips | USD 4.50 |  | us, as, gu, mp, pr, vi, um, af, cg, ir, iq, jp, mm, nz, kp, ca, ps, ru, es, so, sd, sy, ua, ye |
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Alison and Chris cover a range of topics, including how to choose a Forex broker, safety and regulation, how to reduce your risk, trading psychology, trading platforms, and trading strategies, among others.
The FxScouts podcast helps beginner Forex traders get the best start to their trading careers.
