IG Review
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Trading forex carries a high level of risk. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
IG is our #1 Overall Broker in 2025 because it offers the ultimate comprehensive trading package, featuring excellent trading and research tools, industry-leading education, and an extensive range of tradeable markets.
A trusted multi-asset broker, IG is publicly traded and regulated across the globe. I've been reviewing IG for over nine years, and I still continue to be impressed by IG's all-around fantastic trading experience.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£1 -
Trust Score:
99 -
Tradeable Symbols (Total):
19537
| 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 Overall | Winner |
| #1 Mobile Trading Apps | Winner |
| #1 Trading Platforms | Winner |
| #1 Trust Score | Winner |
| #1 Forex Options | Winner |
| #1 Mobile App | Winner |
| #1 Most CFDs | Winner |
| #1 Web Platform | Winner |
| #1 UK Forex Broker | Winner |
| 2026 | #1 |
| 2025 | #1 |
| 2024 | #1 |
| 2023 | #1 |
| 2022 | #1 |
| 2021 | #1 |
| 2020 | #1 |
| 2019 | #1 |
| 2018 | #2 |
| 2017 | #1 |
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.
Can I open an account with this broker?
Yes, based on your detected country of US, you can open an account with this broker.
Table of Contents
IG pros & cons
Pros
- #1 Overall Broker in our ForexBrokers.com 2026 Awards.
- Highest Trust Score in 2026; most trusted forex broker.
- tastyfx brings IG access to US forex traders.
- Underlying crypto offering launched in 2025.
Cons
- Customizing IG’s web platform requires some manual setup.
- The MT5 offering is limited on IG.
- Only ~80 symbols available via MetaTrader.
- IG’s Community has been discontinued, and no new educational courses are being offered.
My top takeaways for IG in 2026:
- IG finished Best in Class in 2025 for Range of Investments, with over 19,000 tradeable instruments available across forex, CFDs, shares, options, and futures.
- U.S. traders can access IG’s forex trading experience through tastyfx, while IG’s acquisition of tastytrade expanded its U.S. offering to include listed derivatives such as options and futures.
- IG is best-suited for active traders, multi-asset investors, and anyone who wants a highly trusted broker with excellent platform tools, research, and education.
- In addition to IG Smart Portfolios and share-dealing, IG offers listed derivatives including options and futures trading in the U.S. and Europe, alongside its forex and CFD trading (and spread betting for U.K. traders).
- IG holds more than double the required regulatory capital, with a $498 million capital headroom buffer as of May 31, 2023.
- IG’s MetaTrader offering benefits from premium MT4 add-ons from FX Blue and Autochartist integration, but it remains limited to roughly 80 tradeable instruments, and MT5 is still not available.
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 IG safe?
IG is considered Highly Trusted, with an overall Trust Score of 99 out of 99. IG is publicly traded, does operate a regulated bank, and is authorised by eight Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), two Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (low trust), and one Tier-4 regulator (High Risk). IG is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Markets Authority (FMA), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system Learn more about Trust Score or see where the different IG entities are regulated.
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1974 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
| Bank | Yes |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 8 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 |
Range of investments
The range of markets available to you may vary depending on which of IG’s regulatory entities holds your account. Residents of the U.K., New Zealand, Japan, and the U.S. must choose their respective local IG entity.
Alongside nearly 20,000 CFDs, IG offers exchange-traded securities (non-CFDs) for residents of the U.K. (see our IG U.K. share dealing review), Germany, and Australia to access international stock exchanges, via its share trading account. In addition to forex options, IG offers exchange-traded Turbo warrants as part of Spectrum, its Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) in Europe, and listed derivatives, including futures and options, in the U.S. via tastytrade. IG Bank in Switzerland is also an option for eligible clients.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading is available at IG through CFDs, as well as trading the underlying asset (e.g., buying Bitcoin) via IG's partnership with Uphold. IG does not offer crypto derivatives in the U.K. to retail traders.
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to IG clients.
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 19537 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 97 |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | Yes |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | Yes |
| Copy Trading | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | Yes |
| 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). |
IG fees
IG’s size allows it to provide scalable execution across the board – regardless of the product being traded. IG offers multiple execution methods beyond the market maker option available on its standard account, such as agency execution on its Forex Direct offering. While IG can’t be considered a discount broker, it shines for the active trader pricing available through its Forex Direct accounts and its ability to execute large orders. Spreads on its main Forex Direct account offering are closer to the industry average in 2025, with spreads averaging 0.55 during October 2025 (excluding rollover) or an all-in cost of 0.75 after factoring in a per trade commission equivalent of 0.2 pips.
CFD account average spreads: For both mini and standard-size contracts, typical spreads for IG's retail offering (excluding the US and Japan) averaged 0.91 not factoring the rollover period. It is worth noting that – just like with most forex brokers – IG’s spreads during low-liquid times can be higher than normal, averaging 1.13 pips when including the rollover period using the same October 2025 data referenced above.
CFD account active trader rebates: For volume traders who qualify as professionals under EU rules, IG offers pricing discounts via its three-tier active-trader rebate program, also known as its Premium account in other regions. In tier one, you can earn a 10% spread rebate if you transact over £50 million worth of forex volume per month. Meanwhile, if you trade over £300 million per month, the rebate jumps to as much as 20%. To put this into a different context, 20% off of 0.76 pips is 0.17 pips, which would result in an all-in cost of just 0.60 pips – a very competitive spread. In other regions, where permitted, IG's premium trader program provides various perks and lifestyle benefits that require over $50 million in forex volume, $20 million worth of indices or commodities, or $5 million worth of share trading volume per month to be eligible.
VIP client benefits: There are other VIP-style lifestyle perks available to Premium clients, including an exclusive Gastronomic Masterclass, Trading Seminars, and other events such as its Feng Shui Talk and networking gatherings.
DMA account (Forex Direct): For the savviest traders seeking more significant discounts than what is offered in the CFD account, the DMA account is an even better option than the active trader rebates on IG's spread-only pricing. This commission-based offering, Forex Direct, is available via the DMA account and provides traders access to the L2 Dealer platform. The DMA account requires just a £1,000 minimum and uses a tiered pricing scale based on the trader's previous month's trading volume.
DMA account average spreads: With average spreads of 0.55 on the EUR/USD for October 2025 (including all trading sessions), the all-in spread will be based on the commission you pay, with the base tier of $60 per million for traders that do less than $100 million per month. Traders that do over 1.5 yards (one yard = $1 billion in volume) see their per-side commission drop to $10 per million ($20 round-turn), resulting in an effective spread of 0.75 pips – using the October 2025 data.
Execution method: IG acts as a market maker within its main account offerings, except for its Forex Direct accounts, where IG acts as an agent (offering agency execution). Forex Direct streams from interbank liquidity providers, where IG acts as an agency broker. While IG doesn't add any additional spread for Forex Direct accounts, you do pay a per trade commission to IG (similar to IC Markets, FP Markets, and FOREX.com, in their respective DMA offerings).
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £1 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 0.91 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.82 |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Mobile trading apps
IG's mobile app, IG Trading, competes with the best in the industry and won our 2026 Annual Award for #1 Mobile App. It comes packed with plenty of features that will satisfy both casual and advanced traders. The charts in IG’s app are my favorite from among all brokers, due to the extensive range of available features.
Apps overview: IG offers four trading apps: the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), the TradingView app, and its own flagship mobile app, IG Trading (also known as IG Forex). There are also two additional apps that aren’t for trading: IG Academy for education and IG Access for account security. The IG Trading app has a well-designed layout that’s teeming with features such as alerts, sentiment readings, highly advanced charts, and the ability to drag-to-modify your stop-loss and limit orders on both a pre-trade basis and while your position is open. Research consists of news headlines from Reuters, signals from Autochartist, and PIA First (Acuity).
Ease of use: IG’s mobile app does a decent job of balancing ease-of-use with the depth of its available features. Navigating integrated news headlines from Reuters, or switching to market analysis and trading signals is a breeze on IG’s app.
The only drawback is the lack of predefined watchlists or screeners, which makes it more difficult to sift through IG’s massive product list. Charts, however, are superb on mobile, and sync seamlessly with the web platform. For example, a chart template saved on the web can be applied to charts on the mobile app using the apply layout feature. There are syncing watchlists, though it’s worth noting that trend lines do not sync, like they do on SaxoTraderGO from Saxo. Still, there is a lot to like about the IG mobile app.
Charting: IG's mobile app is loaded with 33 technical indicators, 19 drawing tools, and 17 selectable time frames across five distinct chart types – including tick charts. Setting up charts is easy, and zooming in and out across time frames feels quick and precise. Chart indicators added on the web platform won’t automatically sync with the mobile app (although they can be saved as preset layouts). Still, it was an absolute pleasure to use IG Mobile’s charts.

The IG mobile app allows for sophisticated risk management and technical analysis on the go, without ever needing to leave the main viewing area. IG empowers traders to visually manage risk on a pre-trade basis by dragging "Stop" and "Limit" handles directly on the chart, instantly updating the potential profit/loss figures and displaying a dynamic Risk/Reward ratio (shown here as 2.2:1).
Educational videos: For educational content, IG offers a separate standalone mobile app called IG Academy.
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 33 |
Trading platforms
IG provides an outstanding selection of trading platforms and tools, with functionality that serves traders of all experience levels.
Platforms overview: IG offers a wide range of platforms. Besides its flagship web platform, traders have access to the popular TradingView, the full MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platform suite, the L2 Dealer platform for DMA trading, and finally the ProRealTime charting platform. For this review, I focused my testing on IG's award-winning web platform.
Usability is at the heart of the experience for IG’s proprietary web-based platform, which won our 2026 Annual Award for #1 Web Platform and comes loaded with a vast selection of features.
Charts open from nearly any view, and display live market prices and streaming bid/ask rates. There is a seemingly endless variety of research and trading tools, including integrated risk-management modules. One minor caveat is that you must take a few minutes to set up the layout, as the default view is mostly empty – though you can save multiple custom layouts. IG's overall implementation of charts into the platform is why they are one of my top picks for day trading forex.

The IG web platform features integrated video on its charting as well as a full layout combining a watchlist with relevant news headlines.
Charting: Default charts within the IG platform feature advanced functionalities, such as the ability to add up to four alerts to any of its 11 supported indicators. Besides five chart types, there is also a tick chart – a useful feature that isn’t offered by every broker. I also appreciated that zooming in and out and resizing the view across time frames all felt very fast and smooth. Lastly, trading from the chart with an integrated trade ticket shows risk/reward ratios, and allows you to drag stops/limits with great precision. I find this to be one of the most innovative trading features on the platform since you can modify your stop-loss and limit order by dragging it to the desired price, before you even place the trade.
Specialty platforms: IG offers the MetaTrader platform suite, TradingView, and its L2 Dealer platform, where Forex Direct and Direct Market Access (DMA) are available for share trading. While I do not recommend MetaTrader or TradingView with IG due to its limited available product range, L2 Dealer - which requires a minimum deposit of $1,000 - can be a viable option due to the discounts available for active traders, and for its support of advanced algorithmic order types. Just be aware that L2 Dealer is more complex than IG’s web platform, which is far more modern and easy to use by comparison.
ProRealTime charts: ProRealTime – a third-party platform exclusively offered by IG in the U.K. – offers advanced charting with nearly 100 indicators and support for automated strategies. ProRealTime costs £30 per month unless you make at least four trades during each calendar period. While the ProRealTime layout is highly customizable, my testing left me thinking it could use a modern upgrade. For example, floating windows can get messy and are inferior to modern snap grid layouts.
Steven's expert take
"Overall, IG’s web and mobile app continue to set the industry standard when it comes to charting, copying signals onto a trade ticket, and dragging to modify your stop-loss and take-profit orders both on a pre-trade basis or when modifying an open position within the chart window."
Trading Signals: Traders who want to use forex signals will appreciate that PIA First (Acuity) and Autochartist are directly integrated within IG’s web platform. One thing I appreciate about IG’s integration of trading signals is the ability to copy a trading signal directly into a trade ticket. Learn more about forex signals by checking out our guide to the best forex trading signal providers.
Algorithmic and API trading: In addition to the MetaTrader suite and TradingView, IG offers IG Labs, an API hub that allows access to the US, DMA, and OTC APIs, along with support for REST API trading. I found it relatively easy to create an API token within the client dashboard for both demo and live accounts. IG’s GitHub repositories also have useful code examples to help you get started trading algorithmically via API.
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| Copy Trading | No |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 33 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes |
Research
IG provides a vast selection of excellent quality market research from both in-house and third-party providers. The sheer amount of content in IG's platform – including in-house broadcasting with IGTV – helped it win best-in-class honors for Research in our 2026 Annual Awards.
Research overview: IG's research tools include streaming news and TV from Reuters, trading signals, in-house broadcasting via IGTV, and an economic calendar and weekly forecast (The Week Ahead series) in video and article format, alongside multiple daily blog updates with market analysis. IG also delivers 10 hours of daily live programming as part of its coverage of global markets. IG's platform is also fully integrated with TipRanks, adding in-depth analysis for those also using the broker to trade non-forex asset classes.

IG enhances its research offering with "The Art of Investing," an award-winning video podcast that features expert panel discussions on timely themes like commodity cycles and seasonal market strategies. This professional-grade content underscores the broker's focus on delivering deep, actionable market analysis beyond standard charts and news feeds.
Advanced tools include a customizable screener for various asset classes, including CFDs on global stocks and forex. IG’s innovative “Recommended News” section personalizes your content, aiming to tailor headlines based on your trading account history.
Market news and analysis: IG integrates Autochartist and PIA First into its platform, allowing traders to view trade signals generated by automated pattern recognition and technical analysis. These trading ideas can be conveniently copied with a single click, which pre-populates the trade ticket window. IG also provides multiple daily articles and videos that are posted throughout the trading week.
DiscoverAI tool: IG launched DiscoverAI, powered by Telescope, which lets you research related assets and themes and get insights powered by generative artificial intelligence models. It’s worth noting that this tool is currently only available through IG Australia. Overall, I was delighted to see IG integrate consumer-facing generative AI tools, and believe it is a great foundation to help traders search for opportunities using a natural language prompt However, the implementation of the technology at IG still has much room to improve, and can best be described as an advanced chatbot with educational qualities, akin to a copilot, that helps you find assets related to themes of interest that you search for. For example, the prompt “show me all the USD-related forex pairs" returns a list of pairs with the USD in it.
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes |
| Trading Central | No |
| Client sentiment data | Yes |
Education
IG is best-in-class for Education in 2026 for its wide-ranging educational content. IG offers a vast selection of material in a variety of formats, including video, written articles, numerous weekly webinars, and guides. There are educational courses organized by experience level on IG Academy, complete with progress tracking and quizzes. IG also provides a dedicated mobile app for education, and its strong social community of over 64,000 members provides a selection of crowd-sourced articles.
That said, education is a category that IG has not expanded on in recent years and many peers have caught up. I would like to see IG continue on its course of providing stellar educational materials by again expanding its library of courses.
Learning center: Educational content is scattered across its website, its YouTube channel, and offers eight trading guides for beginners, five advanced guides, and written materials in a well-designed course that features progress tracking. In addition to educational content, there are seven articles about risk-management from Bollinger Bands, 17 beginner articles, and support is also available for additional languages.
IG Academy: IG Academy features eight courses that are organized by experience level, each containing nearly a dozen chapters. These courses are an interactive experience, with video content, lesson summaries, and quizzes incorporated throughout the coursework. There is also a final quiz where you receive a total score reflecting how many questions were answered correctly.

A typical course on IG Academy, detailing the basics of technical analysis with an overview of basic chart patterns.
Videos: In addition to a wealth of archived content and various playlists on its YouTube channels, IG offers its own in-house broadcasting with IGTV. Featuring content such as multiple weekly webinars and weekly podcasts, such as its newly-launched Talking Shop series, IGTV is an excellent educational tool. IG staff also cover educational topics in a live format, such is the Technical Analysis Masterclass. Even archived webinars are organized by experience level, making it easy to find what you need quickly.
Room for improvement: IG remains a long-time leader in forex education, but there’s still room to improve. Merging IG Academy content into the main trading app would simplify access and enhance the user experience. Adding more advanced written and video material, along with new courses, could broaden its appeal to diverse traders and investors. With competitors making notable strides, IG has a clear opportunity to strengthen its edge, and not be left behind, by expanding its educational offerings even further.
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes |
Final thoughts
Whether you trade forex, CFDs, futures, options, shares, crypto, or other derivatives, IG is a trusted multi-asset broker with brilliant tools, research, and access to nearly every global market (over 19,500 tradeable assets). Both new and experienced traders will find IG to be a fantastic choice for investing in their market of choice.
IG finished Best in Class across multiple categories in 2026, including Range of Investments, Trading Fees, Research, Education, Professional Trading, Beginners, TradingView, and Crypto Trading. IG took first place in multiple categories in the ForexBrokers.com 2026 Annual Awards, including Overall, Trading Platforms, Mobile Trading Apps, and Trust Score.
Bottom line, IG is my top pick for 2026.
IG Star Ratings
| Feature |
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Trust Score | 99 |
| Range of Investments |
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| Trading Fees |
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| Trading Platforms |
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| Research |
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| Mobile Trading |
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| Education |
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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 macOS 15.3, and the iPhone XS running iOS 18.3.
- For Android, we use the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra devices running Android OS 15.
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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About IG
As an early pioneer in offering contracts for difference (CFDs) and spread betting, IG was founded in 1974 and has grown to be a global leader in the online trading industry. IG is a London-based public company listed on the London Stock Exchange's FTSE 250 (LON: IGG) with a market capitalization of £3.99B as of December 2025.
As of its annual report for the financial year ending May 31, 2024, IG has over 1949 staff, servicing over 346,000 active clients globally across its regulated entities in the UK and internationally.