Is Interactive Brokers better than Plus500? In our analysis of 23 international regulators across 50 brokers, Interactive Brokers is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 94 out of 99. Plus500 is considered low-risk, with an overall trust score of 98 out of 99. Learn more about Trust Score.
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Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 2021
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.
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Overall Rating
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
| Overall | ||
| Commissions & Fees | ||
| Offering of Investments | ||
| Platforms & Tools | ||
| Mobile Trading | ||
| Research | ||
| Education | ||
| Trust Score | 94 | 98 |
| Interactive Brokers Review | Plus500 Review | |
| 66% of retail CFD accounts lose money | 72% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
Regulation
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
| Trust Score | 94 | 98 |
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Year Founded |
1977 | 2008 |
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Publicly Traded (Listed) |
Yes | Yes |
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Bank |
No | No |
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Tier-1 Licenses |
6 | 3 |
|
Tier-2 Licenses |
0 | 4 |
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Tier-3 Licenses |
0 | 0 |
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Authorised in the European Union |
Yes | Yes |
Tier-1 Licenses (High Trust)
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
|
ASIC Authorised (Australia) |
No | Yes |
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IIROC Authorised (Canada) |
Yes | No |
|
SFC Authorised (Hong Kong) |
Yes | No |
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FSA Authorised (Japan) |
Yes | No |
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MAS Authorised (Singapore) |
Yes | Yes |
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FINMA Authorised (Switzerland) |
Yes | No |
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FCA Authorised (UK) |
Yes | Yes |
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CFTC Registered (USA) |
Yes | No |
Tier-2 Licenses (Average Trust)
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
|
CBRC Authorised (China) |
No | No |
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CySEC Authorised (Cyprus) |
No | Yes |
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CBI Authorised (Ireland) |
No | No |
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ISA Authorised (Israel) |
No | Yes |
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FMA Authorised (New Zealand) |
No | Yes |
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CBR Authorised (Russia) |
No | No |
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FSCA Authorised (South Africa) |
No | Yes |
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SEC Authorised (Thailand) |
No | No |
Tier-3 Licenses (Low Trust)
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
| SCB Authorised (Bahamas) | No | No |
| IFSC Authorised (Belize) | No | No |
| BMA Authorised (Bermuda) | No | No |
|
FSC Authorised (British Virgin Islands) |
No | No |
|
FSC Authorised (Mauritius) |
No | No |
Investments
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
|
Forex Trading |
Yes | Yes |
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CFD Trading |
Yes | Yes |
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Tradeable Symbols (Total) |
7400 | 1896 |
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Forex Pairs (Total) |
105 | 71 |
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US Stock Trading (Non CFD) |
Yes | Yes |
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Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) |
Yes | Yes |
|
Cryptocurrency (Physical) |
No | No |
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Cryptocurrency (CFD) |
No | Yes |
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Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
No | No |
Cost
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
|
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard |
N/A | 0.6 (as of Aug 2018) |
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All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active |
N/A | N/A |
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Active Trader or VIP Discounts |
Yes | No |
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Execution: Agency Broker |
Yes | No |
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Execution: Market Maker |
No | Yes |
Funding
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
|
Minimum Deposit |
$0 | €100 |
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Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | Yes |
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Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) |
No | Yes |
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PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) |
No | Yes |
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Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) |
No | Yes |
Trading Platforms
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
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Proprietary Platform |
Yes | Yes |
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Desktop Platform (Windows) |
Yes | No |
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Web Platform |
Yes | Yes |
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Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
No | No |
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MetaTrader 4 (MT4) |
No | No |
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MetaTrader 5 (MT5) |
No | No |
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cTrader |
No | No |
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DupliTrade |
No | No |
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ZuluTrade |
No | No |
Trading Tools
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
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Virtual Trading (Demo) |
Yes | Yes |
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Alerts - Basic Fields |
Yes | Yes |
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Watchlists - Total Fields |
494 | 9 |
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Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) |
121 | 110 |
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Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) |
9 | 21 |
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Charting - Trade From Chart |
Yes | No |
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Charting - Drawings Autosave |
Yes | No |
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Order Type - Trailing Stop |
Yes | Yes |
Mobile Trading
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
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Android App |
Yes | Yes |
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Apple iOS App |
Yes | Yes |
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Alerts - Basic Fields |
Yes | Yes |
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Watch List |
Yes | Yes |
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Watch List Syncing |
Yes | Yes |
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Charting - Indicators / Studies |
70 | 110 |
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Charting - Draw Trendlines |
No | Yes |
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Charting - Trendlines Moveable |
No | No |
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Charting - Multiple Time Frames |
Yes | Yes |
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Charting - Drawings Autosave |
Yes | No |
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Forex Calendar |
Yes | Yes |
Research
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
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Daily Market Commentary |
Yes | Yes |
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Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) |
Yes | No |
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Weekly Webinars |
No | No |
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Autochartist |
No | No |
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Trading Central (Recognia) |
Yes | No |
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Delkos Research |
No | No |
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Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs |
Yes | Yes |
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Economic Calendar |
Yes | Yes |
Education
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
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Has Education - Forex or CFDs |
Yes | No |
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Client Webinars |
Yes | No |
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Client Webinars (Archived) |
Yes | No |
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Videos - Beginner Trading Videos |
No | Yes |
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Videos - Advanced Trading Videos |
Yes | No |
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Investor Dictionary (Glossary) |
Yes | No |
Major Forex Pairs
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
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GBP/USD |
Yes | Yes |
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USD/JPY |
Yes | Yes |
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EUR/USD |
Yes | Yes |
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USD/CHF |
Yes | Yes |
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USD/CAD |
Yes | Yes |
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NZD/USD |
Yes | Yes |
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AUD/USD |
Yes | Yes |
Overall
| Feature | Interactive Brokers | Plus500 |
| Overall | ||
| Commissions & Fees | ||
| Offering of Investments | ||
| Platforms & Tools | ||
| Mobile Trading | ||
| Research | ||
| Education | ||
| Trust Score | 94 | 98 |
| Interactive Brokers Review | Plus500 Review |
Comparing forex brokers side by side is no easy task. For our 2021 annual forex broker review, we spent hundreds of hours assessing 27 forex and CFD brokerages to find the best forex broker. Let's compare Interactive Brokers vs Plus500.
Does Interactive Brokers or Plus500 offer lower pricing?
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, Interactive Brokers offers better pricing overall for traders.
Is Interactive Brokers or Plus500 safer for forex and CFDs trading?
At ForexBrokers.com, we track where each forex and CFD broker is regulated across over 20 international regulator databases. Here's our findings. Interactive Brokers holds 6 global Tier-1 licenses, while Plus500 holds 3. Plus500 holds 4 global Tier-2 licenses, while Interactive Brokers holds 0. In our analysis of 23 international regulators across 50 brokers, Plus500 earned a higher Trust Score than Interactive Brokers.
Which trading platform is better: Interactive Brokers or Plus500?
To compare the trading platforms of both Interactive Brokers and Plus500, 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 Interactive Brokers to provide better mobile trading apps.
What about MetaTrader and copy trading?
For forex and CFDs traders, copy trading and MetaTrader are both popular platform options. Copy trading is not offered by either broker. Neither broker offers Meta Trader.
How many forex pairs and CFDs are available to trade?
Interactive Brokers provides traders 105 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to Plus500's 71 available pairs. Forex pairs aside, Interactive Brokers offers traders access to 7400 CFDs while Plus500 has 1896 available CFDs, a difference of 5,504.
Can I trust Interactive Brokers?
Interactive Brokers is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by six tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero 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), 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).
Can I trust Plus500?
Plus500 is publicly traded and does not operate a bank. Plus500 is authorised by three tier-1 regulators (high trust), four tier-2 regulators (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). Plus500 is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Is Interactive Brokers good?
Professional forex and CFD traders seeking a global multi-asset broker will find Interactive Brokers offers a sophisticated, institutional grade trading platform, and competitive fees.
Is Plus500 good?
Plus500 is a trusted global brand that offers online traders an easy-to-use trading platform and a thorough selection of CFD instruments. However, Plus500 trails industry leaders in market research and advanced trading tools desired by active traders.
Overall winner: Interactive Brokers
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Trading CFDs, FX, and cryptocurrencies involve 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 website as of 12/14/2020 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.
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Plus500UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 509909).
