Interactive Brokers vs CMC Markets 2023

Comparing the trading costs of forex and CFDs is not easy. Not every broker publishes average spreads data, and pricing structures vary. Based on our thorough annual assessment, CMC Markets offers better pricing overall for traders.

At ForexBrokers.com, we track where each forex and CFD broker is regulated across over 23 international regulator databases. Here's our findings. Interactive Brokers holds 8 global Tier-1 licenses, while CMC Markets holds 5. Both Interactive Brokers and CMC Markets hold 1 global Tier-2 licenses. In our analysis of 23 international regulators across 50 brokers, Interactive Brokers and CMC Markets earned the same Trust Score.

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

For forex and CFDs traders, copy trading and MetaTrader are both popular platform options. Neither broker offers Meta Trader.Copy trading is not offered by either broker.

CMC Markets provides traders 158 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to Interactive Brokers's 90 available pairs. Forex pairs aside, CMC Markets offers traders access to 12377 CFDs while Interactive Brokers has 8500 available CFDs, a difference of 3877.

Interactive Brokers is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by nine tier-1 regulators (high trust), one tier-2 regulators (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). Interactive Brokers is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

CMC Markets is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by five tier-1 regulators (high trust), one tier-2 regulator (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). CMC Markets is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Financial Markets Authority (FMA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

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.

CMC Markets is well-trusted across the globe, and delivers a terrific trading experience thanks to its excellent pricing and selection of over 12,000 tradeable instruments.