Swissquote vs IC Markets 2024

Swissquote is a publicly traded company, operates a regulated bank, and is authorised by five Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), one Tier-2 regulator (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and zero Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). Swissquote is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Monetary Authority of Sinagpore (MAS), Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.

IC Markets is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. IC Markets is authorised by two Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), zero Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and two Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). IC Markets is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.

Traders choose Swissquote for its quality research and vast multi-asset offering – as long as they are willing to pay a premium to have their brokerage account held with a Swiss bank.

IC Markets’ competitive pricing and scalable execution make it an excellent option for algorithmic traders. Though it supports an impressive range of third-party tools and plugins, IC Markets’ research and education offerings are not as impressive as those offered by industry leaders.

To open a trading account with Swissquote, you'll need to make an initial minimum deposit of $1000.

IC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $200 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. Swissquote offers Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) for banking, whereas IC Markets provides Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), 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 IC Markets 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 Swissquote holds 5 global Tier-1 licenses, while IC Markets holds 2. Swissquote holds 1 global Tier-2 licenses, while IC Markets 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 Swissquote (99) earned a higher Trust Score than IC Markets (84).

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

Here’s what trading platforms are available at Swissquote:

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

Here’s what trading platforms are available at IC Markets:

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

The MetaTrader trading platform suite is wildly popular among forex and CFD traders across the globe. Both Swissquote and IC Markets offer MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Forex traders also appreciate the ability to engage in social copy trading. Swissquote and IC Markets both offer copy trading.

Swissquote provides traders 78 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to IC Markets's 61 available pairs. If you are interested in trading CFDs, IC Markets offers traders access to 3583 CFDs, while Swissquote offers access to 472 CFDs; so IC Markets offers 3111 more CFDs than Swissquote.

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