ForexBrokers.com is committed to the highest ethical standards and reviews services independently. Advertiser Disclosure
CMC Markets vs Interactive Brokers 2019
Is CMC Markets better than Interactive Brokers? After assessing forex brokers on nearly 100 different variables, CMC Markets is better than Interactive Brokers. Through its offices regulated in major global financial centers, CMC Markets offers traders a wide range of offerings with excellent pricing and its Next Generation trading platform, which is packed with innovative trading tools and charting.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
|
|
|
Overall Rating
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
| Overall | ||
| CMC Markets Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| 75% of retail CFD accounts lose money | 63.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
Regulation
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
| Trust Score | 98 | 91 |
|
Year Founded |
1989 | 1977 |
|
Publicly Traded (Listed) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Bank |
No | No |
|
Tier-1 Licenses |
4 | 5 |
|
Tier-2 Licenses |
2 | 0 |
|
Tier-3 Licenses |
0 | 0 |
|
Authorised in the European Union |
Yes | Yes |
Tier-1 Licenses
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
ASIC Authorised (Australia) |
Yes | No |
|
IIROC Authorised (Canada) |
Yes | Yes |
|
SFC Authorised (Hong Kong) |
No | Yes |
|
FSA Authorised (Japan) |
No | Yes |
|
MAS Authorised (Singapore) |
Yes | No |
|
FINMA Authorised (Switzerland) |
No | Yes |
|
FCA Authorised (UK) |
Yes | Yes |
|
CFTC Registered (USA) |
No | Yes |
Tier-2 Licenses
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
CBRC Authorised (China) |
Yes | No |
|
CySEC Authorised (Cyprus) |
No | No |
|
ISA Authorised (Israel) |
No | No |
|
FMA Authorised (New Zealand) |
Yes | No |
|
CBR Authorised (Russia) |
No | No |
|
FSB Authorised (South Africa) |
No | No |
|
SEC Authorised (Thailand) |
No | No |
|
DFSA / Central Bank Authorised (UAE) |
No | No |
Tier-3 Licenses
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
FSC Authorised (British Virgin Islands) |
No | No |
|
FSC Authorised (Mauritius) |
No | No |
|
Offshore Authorised |
No | No |
Investments
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Forex: Spot Trading |
Yes | Yes |
|
Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) |
183 | 115 |
|
CFDs - Total Offered |
9959 | 6100 |
|
Cryptocurrency traded as actual |
No | No |
|
Cryptocurrency traded as CFD |
Yes | Yes |
| Offering of Investments | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Cost
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard |
0.744 (as of Sep 18) | N/A |
|
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active |
0.744 (as of Sep 18) | N/A |
|
Active Trader or VIP Discounts |
Yes | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Funding
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Minimum Initial Deposit |
$0.00 | $0 |
|
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) |
Yes | No |
|
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | No |
|
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) |
No | No |
Trading Platforms
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Proprietary Platform |
Yes | Yes |
|
Desktop Platform (Windows) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Web Platform |
Yes | No |
|
Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
Yes | No |
|
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) |
Yes | No |
|
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) |
No | No |
|
cTrader |
No | No |
Trading Tools
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Virtual Trading (Demo) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Alerts - Basic Fields |
Yes | Yes |
|
Watchlists - Total Fields |
8 | 300 |
|
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) |
81 | 121 |
|
Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) |
24 | 9 |
|
Charting - Trade From Chart |
Yes | Yes |
|
Charting - Drawings Autosave |
Yes | Yes |
|
Order Type - Trailing Stop |
Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Mobile Trading
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Android App |
Yes | Yes |
|
Apple iOS App |
Yes | Yes |
|
Trading - Forex |
Yes | Yes |
|
Trading - CFDs |
Yes | Yes |
|
Alerts - Basic Fields |
Yes | Yes |
|
Watch List |
Yes | Yes |
|
Watch List Syncing |
Yes | Yes |
|
Charting - Indicators / Studies |
23 | 68 |
|
Charting - Draw Trend Lines |
Yes | No |
|
Charting - Trend Lines Moveable |
Yes | No |
|
Charting - Multiple Time Frames |
Yes | Yes |
|
Charting - Drawings Autosave |
Yes | Yes |
|
Forex Calendar |
Yes | No |
| Mobile Trading | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Research
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Daily Market Commentary |
Yes | No |
|
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Weekly Webinars |
Yes | No |
|
AutoChartist |
No | No |
|
Trading Central (Recognia) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Delkos Research |
No | No |
|
Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
Yes | No |
|
Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs |
Yes | No |
|
Economic Calendar |
Yes | Yes |
| Research | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Education
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
Has Education - Forex |
Yes | Yes |
|
Has Education - CFDs |
Yes | Yes |
|
Client Webinars |
Yes | Yes |
|
Client Webinars (Archived) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos |
No | No |
|
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos |
Yes | Yes |
|
Investor Dictionary (Glossary) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Tutorials/Guide (PDF or Interactive) |
Yes | Yes |
| Education | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Major Forex Pairs
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|
GBP/USD |
Yes | Yes |
|
USD/JPY |
Yes | Yes |
|
EUR/USD |
Yes | Yes |
|
USD/CHF |
Yes | Yes |
|
USD/CAD |
Yes | Yes |
|
NZD/USD |
Yes | Yes |
|
AUD/USD |
Yes | Yes |
|
USDCNH (or CNHUSD) |
Yes | Yes |
|
USDSGD (or SGDUSD) |
Yes | Yes |
Overall
| Feature | CMC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
| CMC Markets Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| Overall | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
After spending several months and hundreds of hours researching 28 different forex brokers for trading FX, our team at ForexBrokers.com team collected over 2,200 data points. For this review, we will compare CMC Markets vs Interactive Brokers.
To compare these two FX brokers, we will first take a look at the fees charged for trading (no easy task). Not every forex broker publicizes their average spreads, spreads data can vary, as can execution policies and how commissions are charged. Specifically, is the broker a dealing desk (market maker), no dealing desk (agency broker) or are both execution methods offered (dealing desk + STP/ECN)? To simplify this research, we assessed everything for you and provide a single star rating for cost. CMC Markets is a better option with a 5.00 star rating over Interactive Brokers's 4.00 star rating.
Commissions and fees aside, let's take a look at regulation and currency availability. Trust is critical, and you should highly consider choosing a broker that regulated in a major hub. CMC Markets alongside Interactive Brokers are regulated in a major hub. CMC Markets alongside Interactive Brokers are publicly traded companies. As far as how many currency pairs are available for trading, here's the answer. CMC Markets boasts an offering of 183 different currency pairs compared to Interactive Brokers's 115 available pairs.
Next, let's look at the tools and features fx traders desire. With trading platforms, forex traders are all familiar with MetaTrader. CMC Markets nor Interactive Brokers offers Meta Trader. Regardless of the trading platform you use, charting should be feature rich. To help compare these two brokers, we counted the number of drawing tools and total technical indicators made available. Interactive Brokers trails CMC Markets by 15 total charting tools, with CMC Markets offering 24 and Interactive Brokers offering 9. Interactive Brokers boasts an offering of 121 different indicators (for example, moving averages) compared to CMC Markets's 81 available indicators.
CMC Markets Review
Interactive Brokers Review
To compare these two FX brokers, we will first take a look at the fees charged for trading (no easy task). Not every forex broker publicizes their average spreads, spreads data can vary, as can execution policies and how commissions are charged. Specifically, is the broker a dealing desk (market maker), no dealing desk (agency broker) or are both execution methods offered (dealing desk + STP/ECN)? To simplify this research, we assessed everything for you and provide a single star rating for cost. CMC Markets is a better option with a 5.00 star rating over Interactive Brokers's 4.00 star rating.
Commissions and fees aside, let's take a look at regulation and currency availability. Trust is critical, and you should highly consider choosing a broker that regulated in a major hub. CMC Markets alongside Interactive Brokers are regulated in a major hub. CMC Markets alongside Interactive Brokers are publicly traded companies. As far as how many currency pairs are available for trading, here's the answer. CMC Markets boasts an offering of 183 different currency pairs compared to Interactive Brokers's 115 available pairs.
Next, let's look at the tools and features fx traders desire. With trading platforms, forex traders are all familiar with MetaTrader. CMC Markets nor Interactive Brokers offers Meta Trader. Regardless of the trading platform you use, charting should be feature rich. To help compare these two brokers, we counted the number of drawing tools and total technical indicators made available. Interactive Brokers trails CMC Markets by 15 total charting tools, with CMC Markets offering 24 and Interactive Brokers offering 9. Interactive Brokers boasts an offering of 121 different indicators (for example, moving averages) compared to CMC Markets's 81 available indicators.
CMC Markets Review
Interactive Brokers Review
Trading CFDs, FX, and cryptocurrencies involves a high degree of risk. All providers have a percentage of retail investor accounts that lose money when trading CFDs with their company. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money and whether you understand how CFDs, FX, and cryptocurrencies work. All data was obtained from a published web site as of 02/18/2019 and is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. The ForexBrokers.com staff is constantly working with its online broker representatives to obtain the latest data. If you believe any data listed above is inaccurate, please contact us using the link at the bottom of this page.
