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TickmillIC Markets Review
Written by Steven Hatzakis
Director of Online Broker Research
Edited by John Bringans
Managing Editor
Fact-checked by Blain Reinkensmeyer
Managing Partner
Steven HatzakisDirector of Online Broker Research
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for ForexBrokers.com. He is a forex industry expert and an active fintech and crypto researcher.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
I've tested IC Markets annually for seven years, and this time I opened by pricing the same EUR/USD trade on every platform the broker offers. The cost is not identical. Its MetaTrader accounts carry a higher commission per lot than cTrader or TradingView, which is IC Markets' pricing decision rather than anything to do with the software. I also traded live from the MT5 desktop ticket, ran unlimited backtests with full parameter optimization in the strategy tester, and worked the Trading Central tools in the client portal.
IC Markets is built for algorithmic and cost-sensitive forex trading, and very little else. An all-in EUR/USD cost of 0.72 pips on the Raw Spread account keeps the cost of running size low, and free colocated VPS hosting keeps it running unattended. The range of investments is also expansive, with 7,435 CFDs available to trade. Everything outside that core is average or worse. There is no platform of its own, research is split between a blog, a portal, and a YouTube channel, and the education library has none of the structured courses you'd find at the best brokers in this category.
-
Minimum Deposit:
$200 -
Trust Score:
83 -
Tradeable Symbols (Total):
7435
| Range of Investments | |
| Trading Fees | |
| Trading Platforms | |
| Research | |
| Mobile Trading | |
| Education |
Check out ForexBrokers.com's picks for the best forex brokers in 2026.
| #1 Algo Trading | Winner |
| #1 MetaTrader | Winner |
| 2026 | #21 |
| 2025 | #20 |
| 2024 | #21 |
| 2023 | #20 |
| 2022 | #16 |
| 2021 | #17 |
| 2018 | #23 |
Why you can trust us
Led by Steven Hatzakis, Global Director of Online Broker Research, the ForexBrokers.com research team collects and audits data across more than 100 variables. We analyze key tools and features important to forex and CFD traders and collect data on commissions, spreads, and fees across the industry to help you find the best broker for your needs.
We also review each broker’s regulatory status; this research helps us determine whether you should trust the broker to keep your money safe. As part of this effort, we track 100+ international regulatory agencies to power our proprietary Trust Score rating system.
Our researchers open personal brokerage accounts and test all available platforms on desktop, web, and mobile for each broker reviewed on ForexBrokers.com. Learn more about how we test.
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Table of Contents
IC Markets pros and cons
PROS
- Raw Spread pricing lands at 0.72 pips all-in on EUR/USD.
- Deep algo support across MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView.
- 7,435 tradeable symbols spanning six asset classes.
CONS
- No proprietary web, desktop, or mobile platform.
- No structured courses, progress tracking, or quizzes.
- Research scattered across the blog, client portal, and YouTube.
My top takeaways for IC Markets in 2026:
- The Raw Spread account averages 0.02 pips on EUR/USD for an all-in round-trip cost of 0.72 pips when commission is included; the spread-only account starts from a 0.8 pip minimum with no commission.
- 7,435 tradeable symbols across forex, stock CFDs, indices, commodities, bonds, and crypto CFDs.
- The Raw Trader Plus rebate program returns up to $2.50 per standard lot once you close more than 2,000 lots.
- Free VPS hosting colocated in Equinix data centers, starting at 15 standard lots per month.
- A wide range of 22 crypto CFDs (not available to U.K. retail clients).
Trust Score
Developed by ForexBrokers.com and in use for nearly 10 years, Trust Score is a proprietary rating system powered by a range of unique quantitative and qualitative metrics, including each company’s number of regulatory licenses. Trust Scores range from 1 to 99 (the higher a broker’s rating, the better). Learn more.
Is IC Markets safe?
IC Markets is considered Trusted, with an overall Trust Score of 83 out of 99. IC Markets is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank, but is authorised by two Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), zero Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulator (Average Risk), and three 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.
Which protections apply to you depends entirely on which IC Markets entity opens your account, and the gap between the top-tier and offshore entities is wide. Check the entity-by-entity regulation map before you fund, because your account type, symbol count, and commission schedule can vary based on the entity serving your account.
| Feature |
 IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2007 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
| Bank | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 3 |
Range of investments
IC Markets runs a pure CFD book, and that framing shapes everything else in this section. I counted 7,435 tradeable symbols in the MT5 platform, spanning forex, stock CFDs, indices, commodities, bonds, and crypto CFDs. That is a wide multi-asset lineup, more than most brokers I test carry, though still short of what the largest multi-asset houses put on the board. Forex is the core offering with 61 pairs covering majors, minors, and exotics. Solid, but not category-leading.
Symbol counts move with your entity: The 7,435 figure applies to the EU entity. The IC brand carries just over 2,800. Confirm what your account actually gets before you build a watchlist around a specific market.
Cryptocurrency: 22 crypto CFDs are available, with low margin requirements and relatively high position limits, up to 100 BTC or 2,000 ETH per account. Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents except Professional clients.
What is absent: There is no direct market access and no exchange-traded stock, so you cannot own the underlying anywhere in the lineup. Options, futures, spread betting, and prediction markets are all off the menu. IC Markets did add 24-hour trading on a select range of U.S. stock CFDs, which is useful if you trade American names from an Asian or European session.
Leverage: In some jurisdictions IC Markets offers as much as 5000:1. I would not go near that level of leverage. Extreme leverage compounds losses as fast as it compounds gains, and putting more margin behind the same position size is the more defensible way to run risk.
Available investment products
Our audit verified access to 61 forex pairs and 7,435 total tradeable symbols, alongside CFDs spanning stock, index, commodity, bond, and crypto markets. We confirmed that every product on offer is a CFD. IC Markets does not provide share dealing, options, or futures.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 7435 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 61 |
| Forex trading (Spot) | No |
| Forex trading (CFDs) | Yes |
| Forex trading (Options) | No |
| Forex trading (Futures) | No |
| Forex trading (Crypto) | No |
| Commodities: Agriculturals | Yes |
| Commodities: Oil | Yes |
| Commodities: Gold | Yes |
| Commodities: Silver | Yes |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | No |
| U.S. Stocks (CFDs) | Yes |
| U.S. Stocks (Crypto) | No |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | No |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. CFDs) | Yes |
| 24/5 Trading (U.S. Stocks - Shares) | No |
| 24/5 Trading (U.S. Stocks - CFDs) | Yes |
| 24/7 Trading (Crypto) | No |
| Prediction markets | No |
| Copy Trading | Yes |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | Yes |
| Ethereum (ETH) | Yes |
| Cryptocurrencies (Total) | 22 |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | No |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Futures) | No |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
Available funding options
Our tests confirm support for bank wire, credit and debit cards, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, alongside crypto deposits and withdrawals. Non-wire bank transfers are unavailable, and IC Markets does not charge for international wires. The minimum deposit is $200.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Debit card (Deposit/withdraw) | Yes |
| Credit card (Deposit/withdraw) | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Non-wire bank transfer (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
| Apple Pay (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Google Pay (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Crypto (Deposit/withdraw) | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Wallet transfers) | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Neteller (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
IC Markets fees
Pricing is where IC Markets is at its strongest, and it is the main reason to open an account here. There are two routes to it, and they look nothing alike on a quote screen. The spread-only account starts from a minimum of 0.8 pips on EUR/USD and takes no commission. The Raw Spread account narrows the quote to an average of 0.02 pips and bills the cost as commission instead, for an all-in round-trip of 0.72 pips that puts IC Markets among the lowest-spread forex brokers I track. Spreads are variable, not fixed, so what you pay moves with liquidity.
The account lineup is short, but the cheaper tiers are not offered under every IC Markets brand. The spread-only Standard account trades commission-free, which is what the wider quote pays for. The Raw Spread account charges $3.50 per side per 100,000 units, or $7.00 per round turn, across the IC, IC Trading, and IC Markets brands. Under the IC brand, a Raw Pro account cuts that to $1.50 per side and Raw Pro+ to $1.00 per side.
Platform choice changes your commission: MetaTrader accounts denominated in euros are billed at 3.50 EUR per side per 100,000, or 7 EUR per round-turn lot. cTrader and TradingView run at roughly $3.00 per side, with conversion applied to normalize the pip value. MetaTrader is the more expensive route, which matters given how many clients default to it.
Active trader rebates: The Raw Trader Plus program pays back a per-lot rebate in three tiers. Close 100 standard lots on forex or metals and the rebate starts at $1.50 per lot; past 1,000 lots it rises to $2.25, and past 2,000 lots it reaches $2.50. On $100 million of turnover at a 1 pip all-in cost, the top tier returns about $2,250, or 22.5% of your trading cost. VPS hosting and dedicated support come with it, but you have to email the broker to enroll.
Non-trading costs: The minimum deposit is $200 and international wires are free. An inactivity fee of 10 units of your base currency per month kicks in only after six full months without a trade; deposits and withdrawals do not count. Holding one open position avoids it.
Trading fees
In our live pricing analysis, we recorded an average EUR/USD spread of 0.8 pips on the spread-only account and 0.02 pips on the Raw Spread account, where a $7.00 round-turn commission adds 0.70 pips for an all-in cost of 0.72. We confirmed that IC Markets quotes variable spreads only; fixed spreads are not offered.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Spread-only account | 0.8 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Raw spread account | 0.02 |
| Commission per trade (EUR/USD) - Raw spread account | $7 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Raw spread account | 0.72 |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes |
| International Wire Fee | 0 |
| Minimum Deposit | $200 |
Account types
During our evaluation we verified four live account routes: the commission-free Standard account, the Raw Spread account, and the Raw Pro and Raw Pro+ tiers available under the IC brand. We also confirmed Islamic swap-free accounts, professional accounts, and an active trader rebate program.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Variable Spreads | Yes |
| Fixed Spreads | No |
| Active Trader Program | Yes |
| VIP/Premium Account | Yes |
| Professional Account | Yes |
| Islamic Account | Yes |
Mobile trading apps
IC Markets does not build its own app, so the mobile experience is whatever MetaTrader, cTrader, and TradingView ship. I focused on MT5, the default for most clients here. The layout is spare. A fixed bottom bar with Quotes, Charts, Balance, History, and Messages, plus a hamburger menu in the top left holding settings, the economic calendar, and the rest of the resources. Newer features tend to sit deeper inside a tab than on the surface.
Charting: Tapping the chart raises a shortcut wheel with timeframes, drawing tools, and the indicator list, so there is no dropdown hunting. There are 30 built-in indicators and 25 drawing tools, including Fibonacci, Gann, and the Equidistant channel, a personal favorite. Nine timeframes show by default and 21 are available once you dig into chart settings. Tick charts and sub-minute intervals are not offered on mobile.
Order management: Drag-to-modify now works properly. Tap the clock icon in the chart's top bar and a minified ticket slides in where you can drag SL and TP to price, then release. The user experience is smooth and on par with the best apps I've used. As you move a stop, the app converts it to base currency: on a 100,000-unit AUD/NZD sell limit at 1.20191, a 50 pip stop showed -$29.23 and a 100 pip target $58.47.
Discovery: This is the weak spot. One universal watchlist, no screeners, no heatmaps, no top movers, so nothing surfaces what is actually moving. Search is fast and forgiving, though. Typing "XAU" returned every gold pair and "GOLD" returned those plus stock CFDs carrying the word, such as Barrick Gold Corp.
The mobile application interface displays the Quotes tab within the MetaTrader 5 platform configured for currency pair tracking. The screen lists multiple foreign exchange pairs, including major pairs and cross rates, detailing the current real-time bid and ask quotes.
Trailing stops and alerts: Neither works natively on mobile. MetaTrader holds pending orders locally on the device, which is why trailing stops stay desktop-only and why serious algo traders here run a VPS. Alerts you configure on desktop do push through to the app once you link a MetaQuotes ID. Mobile copy trading runs through cTrader Copy, ZuluTrade, or IC Social powered by Pelican, each requiring its own app and login.
Available mobile platforms and tools
In our hands-on testing, we found 30 built-in charting indicators alongside an economic calendar, a news feed, and price alerts across the iOS and Android apps, though the platform surfaces no market movers and will not let you build multiple watchlists.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Proprietary Mobile Trading App | No |
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 32 |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators Autosave | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Column Filtering | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Column Customization | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Create & Manage | No |
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | No |
Trading platforms
Four platform suites are on offer: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView. None belong to IC Markets, and there is no proprietary platform and no Windows or Mac desktop client, a real constraint if you want a broker-built experience. I spent my time in MT5, which is simple on the surface and complex underneath. The layout is modular with Market Watch, Toolbox, and chart windows you can resize, arrange, and save so the platform reloads as you left it.
Charting: 32 indicators ship by default, thin on its own, but the MQL5 marketplace carries thousands more and you can code your own. Trendlines are the highlight here with three anchor points let you set the origin, a second axis, then extend, which makes support and resistance precise in a way most platforms do not manage. Twenty-one timeframes sit in the chart window, plus a standalone tick chart in Market Watch. Saving a layout as a .tpl file preserves your trendlines and indicator settings for the next session.
Order management: The trade ticket leans complex. Notional value is visible as you adjust volume, 10,000 EUR on a 0.10 lot, but tabs for the tick chart, depth of market, and pending order types crowd the screen for a first-time user. Drag-to-modify exists for pending orders but is easy to miss entirely, and I'd like the developer to fix that: competing platforms make it obvious, and several let you drag a stop before the order is even placed. Trailing stops are the only complex order type and there are no OCO, OTO, or guaranteed stop-loss order types.
Algorithmic trading: This is why traders come here. The MT5 strategy tester runs unlimited backtests with full parameter optimization and trade-by-trade chart visualization, with no premium tier gating granular data the way TradingView does. Execution is agency-style, routed to at least eight liquidity providers, with no requotes and positive or negative slippage on fills. IC Markets is still the counterparty to your trades. Its published order execution policies state that it deals as principal rather than as agent and acts as the sole execution venue for client orders, and it does not hedge every trade, so some of that risk stays on its own book. IC Markets cleared more than $2 trillion in volume in Q3 2025 alone. The free VPS is colocated in Equinix data centers beside those servers, starting at 15 standard lots per month and scaling to 75 lots for a 4 CPU box. There is no API into the broker's own servers, though the cTrader Algo FIX API covers that platform.
Steven's expert take
"The integrated Exposure tab shows a pie chart of your profit and loss across open positions, but it's rudimentary and I've never found it useful for assessing risk-reward. The performance analysis in the strategy tester is the opposite: average profit, average loss, even average trade duration is analyzed."
Steven Hatzakis
Director of Online Broker Research
Add-ons and gaps: The Advanced Trading Tools suite from FX Blue layers plugins onto MetaTrader, and the Correlation Trader is worth installing if you run statistical arbitrage or mean-reversion pairs. Copy trading routes through ZuluTrade, cTrader Copy, SignalStart, or the Pelican Network. Performance analytics for manual trading is missing, however. The Exposure tab is rudimentary, the journal logs platform events rather than your reasoning, and screeners are absent outside sorting Market Watch columns.
Available trading platforms and features
Our platform walkthrough verified 32 charting indicators, saveable chart templates, trading directly from the chart, and full algorithmic trading support across MetaTrader, cTrader, and TradingView. We confirmed that IC Markets offers no proprietary platform and no Mac desktop client.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Mac) | No |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| FX Blue | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | No |
| Proprietary Web Trading Platform | No |
| TradingView | Yes |
| cTrader | Yes |
| Algorithmic trading | Yes |
| API Access | Yes |
| Charts can be saved | Yes |
| Client sentiment data | Yes |
| Trading Signals | Yes |
| Price Alerts | Yes |
| Virtual Private Server (VPS) | Yes |
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 32 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Charting - TradingView | Yes |
Available order types
We verified the availability of market, limit, stop, and trailing stop orders directly within the trade ticket. OCO and OTO orders are not supported, and guaranteed stop-loss orders are unavailable.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Order Type - Market | Yes |
| Order Type - Limit | Yes |
| Order Type - Stop | Yes |
| Order Type - Trailing Stop | Yes |
| Order Type - OCO | No |
| Order Type - OTO | No |
| Order Type - GSLO | No |
Research
The research at IC Markets is good in parts and badly organized as a whole. Headlines arrive through MetaTrader, cTrader, TradingView, Trading Central, and the company blog, with nothing pulling them together. Syndicating the blog into the client portal would fix most of this. As it stands, you have to know where to look.
In-house content: The Daily Technical Analysis series is the strongest piece. Each post covers several assets with a chart marked up for support and resistance plus a few paragraphs of analysis, and the writing is clear. A Fundamental Analysis series, general market commentary, and market news sit alongside it. My main criticisms are that no author is credited anywhere, and the fundamental posts run long-form without a single chart, a strange contrast to the technical series.
The market research dashboard displays an array of educational and market analysis briefs tailored around notable economic calendar items. The grid presents categorized columns focusing on central bank interest rate announcements, employment figures, and regional gross domestic product reports across major currency pairs like USD/CAD, NZD/USD, and EUR/USD.
Webinars and podcasts: Several run daily across languages and time zones, split between pre-market and live analysis sessions, all archived on YouTube. I sat through a live session where an analyst walked an ETHUSD chart pattern cheat sheet, showing how price moved sideways before he looked for entries. That narrated thought process teaches more than a written forecast. The IC Your Trade podcast is in its sixth season, produced with Bloomberg, running 5 to 15 minutes with industry executives across sectors, at a production quality almost no broker matches.
The interactive digital learning terminal features a complete registration page for upcoming live training webinars, complete with a day-by-day calendar schedule tracking future sessions.
Third-party tools: Trading Central supplies the economic calendar, complete with an event chart of prior releases, plus Featured Ideas, Technical Insights, Market Buzz, and the Alfa Generation indicators for MetaTrader. TipRanks arrives through the IC Insights module in the client portal, though availability varies by region and by which IC Markets entity holds your account. Neither Autochartist nor Acuity is offered.
Gaps: There is no earnings calendar, just a list of stocks and reporting dates. Financial statement data is limited to what TipRanks and Trading Central aggregate, and client sentiment is confined to TradingView and the FX Blue plugin suite. Acting on a Trading Central signal means reading it in the portal and rebuilding the order yourself, where brokers with proprietary research platforms push a signal into a ticket in one click.
Available research tools
Our analysis highlights daily technical and fundamental briefings, multiple live webinars per day, and the Bloomberg-produced IC Your Trade podcast, alongside Trading Central and TipRanks tools inside the client portal. We confirmed that Autochartist and Acuity are not available.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes |
| Daily Market Commentary (Videos) | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes |
| Research - Earnings Calendar | Yes |
| Acuity Trading | No |
| Autochartist | No |
| TipRanks | Yes |
| Trading Central | Yes |
| Mobile Research - News | Yes |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes |
| Mobile Research - Market Movers | No |
Education
Education is the weakest part of the IC Markets offering. There is no course structure. What exists is the 101 series, a set of guides covering Forex, Fundamental Analysis, Risk Management, Technical Analysis, Trading Plan, and Psychology. The articles read easily, use screenshots well, and balance their coverage, but each runs only a few hundred words. Consolidating them into sequenced courses with progress tracking and embedded video would turn a decent article library into an actual learning path.
No interactivity: Progress tracking does not exist, quizzes do not exist, and the mobile apps carry no education area at all beyond whatever MetaTrader, cTrader, and TradingView provide themselves. Written content, videos, and podcast episodes all live in separate places, which is the same organizational problem that holds back the research section.
Platform tutorials: These are thin. For MetaTrader, cTrader, or TradingView you are mostly sent to the developer's own documentation, which is comprehensive but is not the broker's work. The exception is a YouTube playlist covering MT4 with at least 10 tutorials on placing orders and managing pending orders, and it is worth watching. Coverage of broker-specific features, such as the client portal, is bare minimum.
The video media hub showcases the broker's official streaming platform archive, displaying recent market presentations, structural webinars, and educational episodes.
Where it works: The webinars are done well. They are hosted by traders with real market forecasting experience and prop challenge results behind them, and the analysis reflects that. The IC Your Trade podcast is professionally produced with Bloomberg and stands up on its own merits.
Contextual education: MetaTrader itself does some quiet teaching. The desktop trade ticket carries no tooltips, but every field is properly labeled: symbol, volume, Stop Loss, Take Profit. In Market Watch, clicking a symbol and choosing Specification shows the full name and contract specs, so AUD/NZD resolves to Australian Dollar vs New Zealand Dollar, and hovering gives you the same summary. Size an order beyond your balance and the platform stops you with a text and audio "not enough money" cue.
Available educational offerings
We found an extensive article library across six 101-series topics, daily webinars, and both beginner and advanced trading videos. Structured courses, progress tracking, and quizzes are absent, and we confirmed there is no education area inside the mobile apps.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Education (Forex) | Yes |
| Education (CFDs) | Yes |
| Education (Crypto) | No |
| Education (Stocks) | No |
| Education Area (Website) | Yes |
| Education Area (Mobile App) | No |
| Webinars | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes |
Final thoughts
IC Markets makes it easy for algorithmic and cost-sensitive traders to run strategies at scale, and it earned our 2026 award for #1 Algo Trading on the strength of the unlimited strategy tester, the colocated VPS program, and Raw Spread pricing that lands at 0.72 pips all-in on EUR/USD.
Unfortunately, the total absence of a proprietary platform, research that stays scattered across a blog, a portal, and a YouTube channel, and an education library with no course structure behind it keep the broker out of the top tier. If you code your own systems or run a spread-sensitive manual strategy, IC Markets is a strong choice and I'd point you here ahead of most of its peers. If you're newer to forex trading and want a polished in-house platform with structured learning built into it, I'd look elsewhere before committing.
IC Markets Star Ratings
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Trust Score | 83 |
| Range of Investments |
|
| Trading Fees |
|
| Trading Platforms |
|
| Research |
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
| Education |
|
Our testing
Why you should trust us
Steven Hatzakis is a well-known finance writer, with 25+ years of experience in the foreign exchange and financial markets. He is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for Reink Media Group, leading research efforts for ForexBrokers.com since 2016. Steven is an expert writer and researcher who has published over 1,000 articles covering the foreign exchange markets and cryptocurrency industries. He has served as a registered commodity futures representative for domestic and internationally-regulated brokerages. Steven holds a Series III license in the US as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
All content on ForexBrokers.com is handwritten by a writer, fact-checked by a member of our research team, and edited and published by an editor. Our ratings, rankings, and opinions are entirely our own, and the result of our extensive research and decades of collective experience covering the forex industry.
Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Click here to learn more about how we test.
How we tested
At ForexBrokers.com, our online broker reviews are based on our collected quantitative data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research on the top forex brokers and monitor dozens of international regulator agencies (read more about how we calculate Trust Score here).
Mobile testing is conducted on modern devices that run the most up-to-date operating systems available:
- For Apple, we use MacBook Pro laptops running the latest, and the iPhone XS running the latest version of iOS.
- For Android, we use the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra devices running the latest Android OS.
All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser.
Our researchers thoroughly test a wide range of key features, such as the availability and quality of watch lists, mobile charting, real-time and streaming quotes, and educational resources – among other important variables. We also evaluate the overall design of the mobile experience, and look for a fluid user experience moving between mobile and desktop platforms.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses. Read more on forex trading risks.
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Steven Hatzakis August 31, 2026
ACY Securities is a MetaTrader-only broker with a reasonable range of markets and a balanced account offering.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
Our expert Tickmill review tests the broker's Raw account pricing, spreads, MetaTrader platforms, and tools to help you decide if it fits your trading in 2026.
Steven Hatzakis May 22, 2026
FxPro competes among the top MetaTrader brokers, featuring multiple account options and various execution methods.
Steven Hatzakis May 15, 2026
FOREX.com is a trusted brand that delivers an excellent trading experience for forex and CFDs traders across the globe.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
As a trusted multi-asset broker, XTB offers outstanding customer service, a wide variety of forex and CFDs, and an excellent overall trading experience.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
Pepperstone offers a growing range of tradeable markets, good-quality research, and support for multiple social copy trading platforms.
Steven Hatzakis June 16, 2026
Traders choose Admiral Markets (Admirals) for its excellent investor education and advanced MetaTrader features.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
Traders choose Swissquote for its quality research and vast multi-asset offering.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
Interactive Brokers forex review: I tested IBKR's spreads, commissions, and platforms in 2026. More than 100 pairs, but a $2 minimum commission per order.
Steven Hatzakis September 11, 2026
Formerly named City Index, StoneX Trading is a trusted brand known for its versatile trading platforms, excellent mobile app, and diverse market research.
Steven Hatzakis August 28, 2026
AvaTrade is a trusted global brand best known for offering an extensive selection of trading platforms for forex and CFD traders.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
FP Markets shines as a low-cost broker for trading forex and CFDs – as long as you use the MetaTrader platform.
Steven Hatzakis September 15, 2026
Is Capital.com worth it in 2026? Our expert review covers 450+ crypto CFDs, a 0.7-pip EUR/USD spread, commission-free pricing, and platform quality.
Steven Hatzakis July 21, 2026
Check out our review of Charles Schwab, a highly trusted, multi-asset broker catering to U.S.-based and international forex traders.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
A trusted global brand, OANDA stands out for its reputation and quality market research.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
Best known for its mobile trading app, Trading 212 offers an easy-to-use trading platform suite for CFD and share trading.
Steven Hatzakis May 14, 2026
CMC Markets review 2026: 303 forex pairs (the most we track), 21,000+ CFDs, and top-tier charting. See where its spreads and education fall short.
Steven Hatzakis September 15, 2026
Saxo is an exclusive multi-asset broker with brilliant research and a superb trading platform experience, along with an extensive selection of over 71,000 securities.
Steven Hatzakis September 10, 2026
eToro is a winner for its easy-to-use copy-trading platform, where traders can copy the trades of experienced investors – or receive exclusive perks for sharing.
Steven Hatzakis August 04, 2026
Our 2026 HFM (HF Markets) review covers MT4, MT5, copy trading, the 344-symbol product offering, and 1.8-pip EUR/USD spreads, based on hands-on testing.
Steven Hatzakis August 13, 2026
Octa offers a basic, low-cost MetaTrader platform experience alongside its social copy-trading platform.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
Plus500 is a trusted global brand that offers an easy-to-use trading platform for online traders, alongside access to share trading and selection of CFDs.
Steven Hatzakis July 22, 2026
For traders who appreciate advanced trading tools and quality market research, FXCM is a winner, especially for algorithmic trading.
Steven Hatzakis May 04, 2026
In my 2026 Exness review, I tested the Exness Terminal, MT4, and MT5 across 78 forex pairs. See my verdict on costs, research, and product range.
Steven Hatzakis May 27, 2026
IG offers the ultimate comprehensive trading package, featuring excellent trading and research tools, and industry-leading education.
Steven Hatzakis August 04, 2026About IC Markets
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Sydney, IC Markets operates an agency-style execution model built around low latency and fast execution, with servers colocated in Equinix data centers in New York and London that cater to scalpers and high-frequency algorithmic traders. The group runs its regulated business through two Tier-1 entities, covering Australia and Cyprus, and three Tier-4 offshore entities across the IC Markets and IC Trading brands. Trading volumes exceeded $2 trillion in the third quarter of 2025, a figure driven largely by the automated strategies the broker's infrastructure is designed to carry.
About the Editorial Team
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. A forex industry expert and an active fintech and crypto researcher, Steven advises blockchain companies at the board level and holds a Series III license in the U.S. as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
John Bringans is the Managing Editor at ForexBrokers.com. An experienced media professional, John has a decade of editorial experience with a background that includes key leadership roles at global newsroom outlets. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University, and conducts research on forex and the financial services industry while assisting in the production of content.
Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.