Interactive Brokers vs Charles Schwab 2024

Interactive Brokers is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by nine Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), one Tier-2 regulator (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and zero Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). Interactive Brokers is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.

Charles Schwab is publicly-traded, does operate a bank, and is authorised by five Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), zero Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and zero Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). Schwab is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

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.

Charles Schwab is a highly trusted financial institution and multi-asset broker catering to U.S.-based and international forex traders. Schwab's award-winning thinkorswim platform offers over 70 tradeable currency pairs alongside impressive tools, research, and education. That said, the broker’s forex offering is still largely limited to what is available on thinkorswim.

To open a trading account with Interactive Brokers, you'll need to make an initial minimum deposit of $0.

Charles Schwab requires a minimum deposit of $0 before you can open an account and start trading.

It's important to make sure that your forex broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. Both Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab offer Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw). Neither have Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw), Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) and Neteller (Deposit/Withdraw).

Comparing the trading costs of forex and CFDs is not easy. Not every broker publishes average spread data, and pricing structures vary. Based on our thorough, data-driven testing of each broker's commissions and fees, we found that Interactive Brokers offers better pricing overall for traders.

Methodology: When testing each broker's commissions, fees, and pricing, we analyze multiple trade scenarios and award points based on the expansiveness (or inexpensiveness) of the broker's spreads. We then run multiple scenarios for different investor types, incorporating any miscellaneous fees, to determine an "all-in" cost per trade. Learn more about how we test.

At ForexBrokers.com, we track over 110 international regulatory agencies and sort them by tiers (Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, Tier-4, and Tier-5) to help you choose well-regulated, highly trusted forex brokers. Learn more about our proprietary Trust Score rating system. Based on our research on the regulatory status of over 60 brokers, we've found that Interactive Brokers holds 9 global Tier-1 licenses, while Charles Schwab holds 5. Interactive Brokers holds 2 global Tier-2 licenses, while Charles Schwab holds 0.

After evaluating each broker based on their number of held licenses, years in business, and a range of other data-driven variables, we've determined that Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab have earned the same Trust Score (99).

To compare the trading platforms of both Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab, we tested each broker's trading tools, research capabilities, and mobile apps. For trading tools, Interactive Brokers offers a better experience. With research, Interactive Brokers offers superior market research. Finally, we found Charles Schwab to provide better mobile trading apps.

Here’s what trading platforms are available at Interactive Brokers:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - No
• MT4 - No
• MT5 - No
• ZuluTrade - No
• TradingView - Yes

Here’s what trading platforms are available at Charles Schwab:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - No
• MT4 - No
• MT5 - No
• ZuluTrade - No
• TradingView - No

The MetaTrader trading platform suite is wildly popular among forex and CFD traders across the globe. Neither broker offers Meta Trader. Forex traders also appreciate the ability to engage in social copy trading. Copy trading is not offered by either broker.

Interactive Brokers provides traders 90 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to Charles Schwab's 73 available pairs. If you are interested in trading a full range of securities, Charles Schwab offers traders access to 40000 tradeable symbols, while Interactive Brokers offers access to 8500 tradeable symbols; so Charles Schwab offers 31500 more tradeable symbols than Interactive Brokers.

We found in our testing that Interactive Brokers offers a more diverse selection of investment options than Charles Schwab, allowing you to trade Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), U.S. Stocks (CFD), Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) and Cryptocurrency (Physical). Neither have Social Trading / Copy Trading and Spread Betting.