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In the fast-paced world of forex trading, choosing the right broker is crucial. IG and Interactive Brokers 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 IG and Interactive Brokers 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 IG and Interactive Brokers, 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, IG earned a higher trust rating than Interactive Brokers.
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 Interactive Brokers has overall lower trading costs than IG.
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 IG and Interactive Brokers offer copy trading.
A broader range of CFD instruments provides more trading opportunities. Interactive Brokers offers a greater variety of instruments compared to IG:
For those interested in trading cryptocurrencies, IG offers 10 cryptocurrencies, while Interactive Brokers offers 4 cryptocurrencies. Therefore, IG 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 Interactive Brokers charges a withdrawal fee and IG does not. Overall, IG has better deposit and withdrawal processes than Interactive Brokers.
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.
IG and Interactive Brokers both have very good educational support. Both IG and Interactive Brokers offer educational support for more experienced traders.Access to frequent and high-quality market research and analysis is crucial.
We found that IG offers better research analysis than Interactive Brokers and that both IG and Interactive Brokers offer frequent webinars.
Founded in 1974 and regulated by the CFTC, IG is a low-cost CFD broker with a long history of providing safe and secure trading and a vast range of trading instruments.
Our research found that IG has over 320,000 clients worldwide and has been the largest CFD broker in the world by revenue for the last few years. It has two low-cost trading accounts and a spread betting account with no minimum deposit requirements and offers trading on over 17,000 instruments, all of which can be accessed on its award-winning app and web trader platform.
For more traditional investors, IG also runs a fully licenced stock brokerage on the side. And in addition to a wide range of trading tools, IG has a world-class selection of educational and market analysis materials to get new traders started.
Founded in 1977 and listed on the NASDAQ, Interactive Brokers is one of the best-regulated brokers in the industry. Ideal for sophisticated, active traders, Interactive Brokers is in a league of its own with the astounding number of assets on its books and its feature-rich platforms. However, its website, complicated account structure, and unusual trading rules may leave less experienced traders reeling.
Interactive Brokers’ world-class research, trading tools, and education will leave traders of all experience levels satisfied, and consistent with its excellent reputation, Interactive Brokers’ trading costs are some of the lowest in the industry. Spreads start at 0.1 pips (EUR/USD) in exchange for a round turn commission of 4.4 USD.
However, under the U.S.-regulated entity, traders will only be able to open a margin day trading account if they deposit more than 25,000 USD. Another complaint traders may have is that Interactive Brokers does not offer third-party platforms like MT4 and MT5.
For more detailed reviews, please read our comprehensive assessments of IG and Interactive Brokers.
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Broker | Regulated by FCA | Licenced by | Min. Deposit | Cost of Trading | Broker Score | Official Site | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes | | USD 0 | USD 6 | |||
 | Yes | | USD 1 | USD 5.40 | |||
 | No | | USD 0 | USD 12 | |||
 | Yes |   | USD 0 | USD 10 |
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.
