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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 XM 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 XM 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 XM, 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, XM 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 XM has overall lower trading costs than IC Markets.
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 XM offer copy trading.
A broader range of CFD instruments provides more trading opportunities. IC Markets offers a greater variety of instruments compared to XM:
For those interested in trading cryptocurrencies, XM offers 60 cryptocurrencies, while IC Markets offers 18 cryptocurrencies. Therefore, XM 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 XM does not. Overall, XM 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 and XM both have very good educational support. Both IC Markets and XM 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 XM and that both IC Markets and XM 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 popular global broker with a large customer base and a good reputation, XM is a good option for most traders. It has some of the lowest fees in the industry, provides excellent research and education, and has a beginner-friendly trading app. It also has an outstanding range of trading tools and its customer service is responsive and well-trained.
For more detailed reviews, please read our comprehensive assessments of IC Markets and XM.
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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 | |||
 | USD 50 | 1 pips | USD 10 |  | us, es, jp | |||
 | USD 100 | 0 pips | USD 6 | | jp, es | |||
 | 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 | |||
 | 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, es, jp |
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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.
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