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Plus500 vs Interactive Brokers 2020
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 | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
| Overall | ||
| Plus500 Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| 76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money | 63.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
Regulation
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
| Trust Score | 97 | 91 |
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Year Founded |
2008 | 1977 |
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Publicly Traded (Listed) |
Yes | Yes |
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Bank |
No | No |
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Tier-1 Licenses |
2 | 5 |
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Tier-2 Licenses |
3 | 0 |
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Tier-3 Licenses |
0 | 0 |
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Authorised in the European Union |
Yes | Yes |
Tier-1 Licenses
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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ASIC Authorised (Australia) |
Yes | No |
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IIROC Authorised (Canada) |
No | Yes |
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SFC Authorised (Hong Kong) |
No | Yes |
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FSA Authorised (Japan) |
No | Yes |
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MAS Authorised (Singapore) |
Yes | No |
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FINMA Authorised (Switzerland) |
No | Yes |
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FCA Authorised (UK) |
Yes | Yes |
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CFTC Registered (USA) |
No | Yes |
Investments
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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Forex: Spot Trading |
Yes | Yes |
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Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
No | No |
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Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) |
50 | 105 |
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CFDs - Total Offered |
2033 | 7400 |
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Cryptocurrency traded as actual |
No | No |
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Cryptocurrency traded as CFD |
Yes | Yes |
| Offering of Investments | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Cost
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard |
0.6 (as of Aug 2018) | N/A |
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All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active |
N/A | N/A |
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Active Trader or VIP Discounts |
No | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Funding
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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Minimum Initial Deposit |
€100 | $0 |
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Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | Yes |
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Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) |
Yes | No |
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PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | No |
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Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | No |
Trading Platforms
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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Proprietary Platform |
Yes | Yes |
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Desktop Platform (Windows) |
Yes | Yes |
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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 |
Trading Tools
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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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 |
10 | 494 |
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Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) |
103 | 121 |
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Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) |
21 | 9 |
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Charting - Trade From Chart |
No | Yes |
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Charting - Drawings Autosave |
No | Yes |
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Order Type - Trailing Stop |
Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Mobile Trading
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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Android App |
Yes | Yes |
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Apple iOS App |
Yes | Yes |
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Trading - Forex |
Yes | Yes |
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Trading - CFDs |
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 |
18 | 70 |
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Charting - Draw Trend Lines |
No | No |
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Charting - Trend Lines Moveable |
No | No |
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Charting - Multiple Time Frames |
Yes | Yes |
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Charting - Drawings Autosave |
No | Yes |
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Forex Calendar |
No | No |
| Mobile Trading | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Research
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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Daily Market Commentary |
No | Yes |
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Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) |
No | Yes |
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Weekly Webinars |
No | No |
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AutoChartist |
No | No |
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Trading Central (Recognia) |
No | Yes |
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Delkos Research |
No | No |
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Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs |
No | No |
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Economic Calendar |
Yes | Yes |
| Research | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Education
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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Has Education - Forex |
No | Yes |
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Has Education - CFDs |
No | Yes |
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Client Webinars |
No | Yes |
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Client Webinars (Archived) |
No | Yes |
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Videos - Beginner Trading Videos |
No | No |
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Videos - Advanced Trading Videos |
No | Yes |
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Investor Dictionary (Glossary) |
No | Yes |
| Education | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Major Forex Pairs
| Feature | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
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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 | Plus500 | Interactive Brokers |
| Plus500 Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| Overall | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
To assess both of these forex brokers, we will begin with cost. Comparing two fx brokers on cost is not easy. First, not every broker publicizes their average spreads. And, for the brokers that do publish their data, the formulas used to calculate average spreads can vary. Furthermore, the currency pair you are trading can impact cost, as well as the execution policies of the broker. Dealing desk or no dealing desk? The list goes on and on. To make comparing cost easy, we have a star rating that takes everything into account. Both Interactive Brokers and Plus500 share a rating of 4.00 stars.
Next to commissions and fees, regulation and currency availability are important to take into consideration. You want to trust and have confidence the forex broker you choose. Both Interactive Brokers and Plus500 are regulated in a major hub. Interactive Brokers and Plus500 are publicly traded companies. And, when it comes to total currency pairs available to trade, a quick comparison is helpful. Interactive Brokers boasts an offering of 105 different currency pairs compared to Plus500's 50 available pairs.
To round out our comparison of Interactive Brokers vs Plus500, let's look at the tools and features most used by forex traders. For trading platforms, traders are all familiar with MetaTrader. Interactive Brokers nor Plus500 offers Meta Trader. With a platform picked out, looking at charts is a must so they should be of high-quality. As part of our research, we count the number of drawing tools and total technical indicators available. Plus500 boasts an offering of 21 charting tools compared to Interactive Brokers's 9 available charting tools. Plus500 trails Interactive Brokers by 18 total different indicators (for example, moving averages), with Interactive Brokers offering 121 and Plus500 offering 103.
Interactive Brokers Review
Plus500 Review
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 web site as of 01/15/2020 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).
