Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Interactive Brokers vs Capital.com, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, range of investments, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
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Interactive Brokers and Capital.com are both regulated online brokers, but their profiles differ. Interactive Brokers, founded in 1977, is publicly traded and not a bank. Capital.com, launched in 2016, is not publicly traded and also not a bank. In terms of licensing, Interactive Brokers holds 9 Tier-1 licenses and 2 Tier-2 licenses, while Capital.com holds 3 Tier-1 licenses and 2 Tier-2 licenses. Tier-1 licenses are considered highly trusted by ForexBrokers.com.
According to ForexBrokers.com, Trust Scores of 90–99 indicate a highly trusted broker, 80–89 trusted, 70–79 average risk, 60–69 high risk, and below 59 not trusted. Interactive Brokers scores 99/99, placing it in the highly trusted category, while Capital.com scores 87/99, placing it in the trusted category. This reflects stronger global oversight and a longer track record for Interactive Brokers, with Capital.com still offering a credible, regulated option.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Capital.com
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1977 | 2016 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 9 | 3 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 2 |
When comparing the commissions and fees of Interactive Brokers and Capital.com, both platforms offer competitive pricing, but there are key differences to consider. Interactive Brokers is rated 5 stars for its pricing structure and ranks #2 out of 63 brokers for commissions and fees by ForexBrokers.com. However, it does not publish its average forex spreads, making comparisons challenging. During Q3 2024, the average spread for EUR/USD was reported at 0.59 pips after commissions. Forex trading commissions begin as low as 0.00002 of the U.S. dollar trade value, with discounts available for active traders meeting certain volume thresholds. A minimum charge of $2 per trade may apply, making smaller trades proportionally more costly.
Capital.com is also a 5-star rated broker, achieving the #3 rank among 63 brokers for its commissions and fees. Known for slightly better-than-average industry pricing, Capital.com offers a universal account option suitable for most traders, along with a professional account with fewer regulatory protections for qualifying users. Its average spread for EUR/USD in April 2024 was a low 0.67 pips, making it a strong contender for those seeking cost-effective forex trading.
In summary, while both Interactive Brokers and Capital.com offer excellent pricing structures, Interactive Brokers may be better suited for very active traders who can take advantage of volume discounts, while Capital.com provides consistently low spreads across trades. Both platforms ensure traders can benefit from cost-saving opportunities, though their approaches to spreads and commission differ.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Capital.com
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|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $20 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 0.59 | 0.64 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.65 | 0.67 |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
Interactive Brokers and Capital.com both support forex trading either as CFDs or via spot contracts, but their overall range of investments differs. Interactive Brokers lists about 8,500 tradeable symbols versus Capital.com’s 5,585. For currency traders, Capital.com offers more forex pairs (125) than Interactive Brokers (90). In third-party ratings for range of investments, Interactive Brokers earns 5 stars and ranks #1 out of 63 brokers, while Capital.com earns 4.5 stars and ranks #18.
If you want access to real exchange-traded shares, Interactive Brokers lets you buy U.S. and international stocks (for example, Apple on NASDAQ and Vodafone in London), whereas Capital.com does not offer exchange-traded securities. Neither broker supports copy trading. For crypto, Interactive Brokers provides both actual cryptocurrency (not a CFD) and crypto CFDs, while Capital.com offers crypto CFDs only. In short, pick Interactive Brokers for the widest mix and the ability to own shares and crypto directly, or Capital.com if you mainly want CFD trading with a strong selection of forex pairs.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Capital.com
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8500 | 5585 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 90 | 125 |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | Yes | No |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | Yes | No |
| Copy Trading | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | Yes | No |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.
Interactive Brokers vs Capital.com: both brokers check the core boxes for trading platforms and tools. Each offers a free paper trading (demo) account, a proprietary platform, a web (browser) platform, and a Windows desktop download. You can place trades directly from charts on both. Neither broker supports copy trading. A key difference is MetaTrader: Capital.com offers MT4, while Interactive Brokers does not support MT4 or MT5. Capital.com also does not offer MT5.
For overall platform quality, Interactive Brokers earns 5 stars and ranks #2 out of 63 brokers for Trading Platforms and Tools at ForexBrokers.com, while Capital.com earns 4.5 stars and ranks #10. Choose Interactive Brokers if you want a top-rated, feature-rich in-house platform suite; pick Capital.com if MT4 access alongside a simple web and desktop platform matters most. Both make it easy to test strategies with a free demo and to trade from charts, but neither provides copy trading.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Capital.com
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Copy Trading | No | No |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 155 | 97 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Comparing the mobile trading apps from Interactive Brokers and Capital.com, both offer iPhone and Android apps with price alerts, plus tools to draw trendlines on charts. The key differences show up in syncing and charting depth. Interactive Brokers syncs watchlists between the mobile app and your online account, while Capital.com does not. For charting, Interactive Brokers packs in 97 technical studies compared with 30 at Capital.com. On the flip side, Capital.com automatically saves your chart drawings, whereas Interactive Brokers does not.
Ratings and rankings also set them apart. Interactive Brokers earns 5 stars and ranks #4 out of 63 brokers for Mobile Trading Apps at ForexBrokers.com, while Capital.com earns 4.5 stars and ranks #11. If you want deeper charting features and synced watchlists, Interactive Brokers is the stronger pick. If auto-saving chart annotations matters more, Capital.com may suit you better. Both apps are polished choices for trading on the go.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Capital.com
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 97 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | No | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
Interactive Brokers and Capital.com both offer a wealth of daily market commentary and provide forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg and Reuters. This ensures traders receive timely updates and insights on financial markets. Both brokers feature sentiment-based trading tools to gauge the ratio of long or short positions across various instruments. Additionally, each offers market research powered by TipRanks and includes an economic calendar outlining global economic events, allowing traders to make informed decisions.
However, a key distinction lies in their available research tools. Interactive Brokers stands out by offering tools from Trading Central, including Technical Analytics, as well as research from Acuity Trading's Signal Centre. In contrast, Capital.com does not provide these specific services. This difference is reflected in their ratings, with Interactive Brokers receiving a stellar five-star rating for research and ranking third among 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com. Capital.com, while highly regarded with a 4.5-star rating, ranks 14th, emphasizing that while both platforms serve traders well, Interactive Brokers offers a slight edge in research capability.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Capital.com
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | No |
| Trading Central | Yes | No |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | Yes |
| TipRanks | Yes | Yes |
| Acuity Trading | Yes | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
Interactive Brokers is the clear winner for beginner trading education. It hosts client webinars at least once a month and offers a large library with 10+ beginner videos plus 10+ advanced videos to help you progress. Thanks to its depth and consistency, Interactive Brokers earns a 5-star Education rating and ranks #1 out of 63 brokers on ForexBrokers.com.
Capital.com also supports new traders with 10+ beginner videos and 10+ advanced videos you can watch on demand, but it does not run monthly educational webinars. Even so, its education program is highly regarded, earning 4.5 stars and a #8 ranking out of 63. Bottom line: choose Interactive Brokers if live learning and top-tier ratings matter most; pick Capital.com if you prefer flexible, high-quality video lessons without a webinar schedule.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Capital.com
|
|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | No |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that Interactive Brokers is better than Capital.com. Interactive Brokers finished with an overall rank of #2, while Capital.com finished with an overall rank of #12.
Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted multi-asset broker with an extensive offering of tradeable global markets. It delivers competitive fees and high-quality research and education, as well as a modern, institutional-grade trading platform suite.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
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Capital.com
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| Trust Score | 99 | 87 |
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Interactive Brokers vs Capital.com: Interactive Brokers lets you buy actual (delivered) cryptocurrency and trade cryptocurrency CFDs, while Capital.com does not offer actual crypto purchases but does provide cryptocurrency CFD trading.
Comparing deposit and withdrawal options, Interactive Brokers supports ACH/SEPA and bank wire transfers but not PayPal or Skrill, while Capital.com offers PayPal, Skrill, and bank wires but not ACH/SEPA, with Visa/Mastercard availability not specified for either broker.
Please note:
We review each broker’s overall global offering – a “Yes” checkmark in our Compare Tool does not guarantee the availability of any specific features in your country of residence. To verify the availability of any features within your country of residence, please contact the broker directly.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 87 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Capital.com Review |
| Broker Screenshots | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
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| Regulation | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 99 | 87 | |
| Year Founded | 1977 | 2016 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 9 | 3 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 2 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 2 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Japan (FSA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | Yes | ||
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | Yes | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or SCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) |
| Investments | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8500 | 5585 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 90 | 125 | |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | Yes | No | |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | Yes | No | |
| Copy Trading | No | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | Yes | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
| Cost | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 0.59 | 0.64 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.65 | 0.67 | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | Yes | |
| Order execution: Agency | Yes | No | |
| Order execution: Market Maker | No | Yes |
| Funding | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $20 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes | No |
| Trading Platforms | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Copy Trading | No | No | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | No | |
| cTrader | No | No |
| Trading Tools | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 155 | 97 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist [DELETED] | |||
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 97 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | No | Yes | |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | No | No | |
| Trading Central | Yes | No | |
| TipRanks | Yes | Yes | |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | Yes | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | No | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD [DELETED] | |||
| USD/JPY [DELETED] | |||
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF [DELETED] | |||
| USD/CAD [DELETED] | |||
| NZD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| AUD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Capital.com Review |
| Overall | Interactive Brokers | Capital.com | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 87 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Capital.com Review |
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