IC Markets vs Plus500 Review
After spending seven months and hundreds of hours researching 43 different forex brokers for trading FX, our team at ForexBrokers.com team collected over 6,000 data points. For this review, we will compare IC Markets vs Plus500.
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. IC Markets received a rating of 4.00 stars over Plus500's 3.00 stars.
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. IC Markets alongside Plus500 are regulated in a major hub. Plus500 is a publicly traded company while IC Markets is not. As far as how many currency pairs are available for trading, here's the answer. IC Markets boasts an offering of 63 different currency pairs compared to Plus500's 60 available pairs.
Next, let's look at the tools and features fx traders desire. With trading platforms, forex traders are all familiar with MetaTrader. IC Markets offers Meta Trader while Plus500 does not. 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. Plus500 trails IC Markets by 31 total charting tools, with IC Markets offering 31 and Plus500 offering 0. Plus500 boasts an offering of 103 different indicators (for example, moving averages) compared to IC Markets's 51 available indicators.
Overall, IC Markets comes out on top with 4.00 stars over Plus500's 3.00 stars. And, when it comes to individual category awards, unfortunately, neither IC Markets nor Plus500 received awards Best in Class - Platforms & Tools, Best in Class - Research, Best in Class - Customer Service, Best in Class - Active Trading, Best in Class - Mobile Trading and Best in Class - Investor Education.
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. IC Markets received a rating of 4.00 stars over Plus500's 3.00 stars.
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. IC Markets alongside Plus500 are regulated in a major hub. Plus500 is a publicly traded company while IC Markets is not. As far as how many currency pairs are available for trading, here's the answer. IC Markets boasts an offering of 63 different currency pairs compared to Plus500's 60 available pairs.
Next, let's look at the tools and features fx traders desire. With trading platforms, forex traders are all familiar with MetaTrader. IC Markets offers Meta Trader while Plus500 does not. 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. Plus500 trails IC Markets by 31 total charting tools, with IC Markets offering 31 and Plus500 offering 0. Plus500 boasts an offering of 103 different indicators (for example, moving averages) compared to IC Markets's 51 available indicators.
Overall, IC Markets comes out on top with 4.00 stars over Plus500's 3.00 stars. And, when it comes to individual category awards, unfortunately, neither IC Markets nor Plus500 received awards Best in Class - Platforms & Tools, Best in Class - Research, Best in Class - Customer Service, Best in Class - Active Trading, Best in Class - Mobile Trading and Best in Class - Investor Education.
% of retail CFD accounts that lose money
Overall
Offering of Investments
Commissions & Fees
Platform & Tools
Customer Service
Research
Mobile Trading
Education
Trust Score
Year Founded
Publicly-Traded Company (Listed)
Regulated in Major Hub
Regulated in Emerging Hub
CFTC Registered (USA)
FCA Regulated (UK)
FINMA Authorised (Switzerland)
ASIC Authorised (Australia)
MAS Authorised (Singapore)
IIROC Authorised (Canada)
SFC Authorised (Hong Kong)
FSA Authorised (Japan)
CySEC Authorised (Cyprus)
FMA Authorised (New Zealand)
Forex: Spot Trading
Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs)
CFDs - Total Offered
Cryptocurrency traded as actual
Cryptocurrency traded as CFD
Advantage
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard
Active Trader or Premium/VIP
Advantage
Proprietary
Desktop Platform (Windows)
Web Platform
Social Trading / Copy-Trading
MetaTrader4 (MT4)
MetaTrader5 (MT5)
cTrader
Currenex
ZuluTrade
MirrorTrader
Advantage
Virtual Trading (Demo)
Watchlists - Total Fields
Alerts - Basic Fields
Charting - Trade From Chart
Charts can be saved
Charting - Drawing Tools (Total)
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total)
Charting - Drawings Autosave
Order Type - Trailing Stop
Advantage
Android App
Apple iOS App
Forex News
Alerts - Basic Fields
Alerts Delivery - Push Notifications
Watch List
Watch List Syncing
Charting - Technical Studies/Indicators
Charting - Draw Trend Lines
Advantage
Daily Market Commentary
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)
AutoChartist
Trading Central (Recognia)
Delkos Research
Acuity Trading
Social Trading / Copy-Trading
Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs
Client Webinars
Client Webinars (Archived)
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos
Economic Calendar
Calendar Includes Forecasts
Economic News Sentiment
Trade Ideas - Backtesting
Advantage
GBPUSD (or USDGBP)
USDJPY (or JPYUSD)
EURUSD (or USDEUR)
USDCHF (or CHFUSD)
USDCAD (or CADUSD)
NZDUSD (or USDNZD)
AUDUSD (or USDAUD)
USDCNH (or CNHUSD)
USDSGD (or SGDUSD)
USDMXN (or MXNUSD)
USDNOK (or NOKUSD)
USDSEK (or SEKUSD)
USDTRY (or TRYUSD)
USDZAR (or ZARUSD)
USDDKK (or DKKUSD)
USDBRL (or BRLUSD)
Minimum Initial Deposit
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw)
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit)
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw)
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw)
UnionPay (Deposit/Withdraw)
Overall
Advantage
Comparing 2 brokers
Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
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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.
IC Markets
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
69
2007
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
63
41
No
Yes
0.7
0.7
No
check_circle
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
check_circle
Yes
7
Yes
Yes
Yes
31
51
Yes
Yes
check_circle
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
30
Yes
check_circle
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
check_circle
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
$200
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
check_circle
Plus500
80.6% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
83
2008
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
60
2045
No
Yes
check_circle
N/A
0.6
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
10
Yes
No
No
0
103
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
18
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
€100
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
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 4/03/2018 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.
Plus500UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 509909).
