Forex.com vs Interactive Brokers

FOREX.com vs Interactive Brokers Comparison Table 2024
FOREX.com	Interactive Brokers
Review 4.5	Review 4.3

Founded in 1999, FOREX.com is now part of StoneX, a financial services organization serving over one million customers worldwide. Regulated in the US, UK, EU, Australia and beyond, the broker offers thousands of markets, not just forex, and provides excellent pricing on cutting-edge platforms.	Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is a premier brokerage for experienced traders, providing access to 150 markets in 33 countries, along with a suite of comprehensive investment services. With over 40 years of experience, this Nasdaq-listed firm adheres to stringent regulations by the SEC, FCA, CIRO, and SFC, amongst others, and is one of the most trusted brokers for trading around the globe.
Customer Reviews
4.7 Based on 3 FOREX.com customer reviews	4 Based on 2 Interactive Brokers customer reviews
Comment by Reviewer
"FOREX.com remains a best-in-class brokerage for active forex traders of all experience levels, with over 80 currency pairs, tight spreads from 0.0 pips and low commissions. The powerful charting platforms collectively offer over 100 technical indicators, as well as extensive research tools."	"Interactive Brokers is one of the best brokers for advanced day traders, providing powerful charting platforms, real-time data, and customizable layouts, notably through the new IBKR Desktop application. Its superb pricing and advanced order options also make it highly attractive for day traders, while its diverse range of equities is still among the best in the industry."
Pros
With over 20 years of experience, excellent regulatory oversight, and multiple accolades including runner-up in our 'Best Forex Broker' awards, FOREX.com boasts a global reputation as a trusted brokerage. The in-house Web Trader continues to shine as one of the best-designed platforms for aspiring day traders with a slick design and over 80 technical indicators for market analysis. Alongside a choice of leading platforms, FOREX.com offers a superb suite of supplementary tools including Trading Central research, SMART Signals pattern scanner, trading signals, and strategy builders. FOREX.com offers industry-leading forex pricing starting from 0.0 pips, alongside competitive cashback rebates of up to 15% for serious day traders. There’s a wealth of educational resources including tutorials, webinars, and a stacked YouTube channel to help you get educated in the financial markets.	IBKR is one of the most respected and trusted brokerages and is regulated by top-tier authorities, so you can have confidence in the integrity and security of your trading account. The TWS platform has clearly been built for intermediate and advanced traders and comes with over 100 order types and a reliable real-time market data feed that rarely goes offline. The new IBKR Desktop platform takes the best of TWS while adding bespoke tools like Option Lattice and Screeners with MultiSort to create a genuinely impressive trading experience for day traders at every level. There's a vast library of free or paid third-party research subscriptions catering to all types of traders, plus you can enjoy commission reimbursements from IBKR if you subscribe to Toggle AI. IBKR continues to deliver unmatched access to global stocks with tens of thousands of equities available from 100+ market centres in 24 countries. While primarily geared towards experienced traders, IBKR has made moves to broaden its appeal in recent years, reducing its minimum deposit from $10,000 to $0. With low commissions, tight spreads and a transparent fee structure, IBKR delivers a cost-effective environment for short-term traders.
Cons
Despite increasing its range of instruments, FOREX.com's product portfolio is still limited to forex and CFDs, so there are no options to invest in real stocks, real ETFs or real cryptocurrencies. FOREX.com's MT4 platform offers approximately 600 instruments, significantly fewer than the over 5,500 available on its non-MetaTrader platforms. Funding options are limited compared to leading alternatives like IC Markets and don’t include many popular e-wallets, notably UnionPay and POLi. There’s no negative balance protection for US clients, so you may find yourself owing more money than your initial deposit into your account. Demo accounts are frustratingly time-limited to 90 days, which doesn’t give you enough time to test day trading strategies effectively.	TWS’s learning curve is steep, and beginners may find it challenging to navigate the platform and understand all the features. Plus500's web platform is much better suited to new traders. IBKR provides a wide range of research tools, but their distribution across trading platforms and the web-based 'Account Management' page lacks consistency, leading to a confusing user experience. Support can be slow and frustrating based on tests, so you might find it challenging to reach customer service representatives promptly or encounter delays in resolving issues. You can only have one active session per account, so you can’t have your desktop program and mobile app running simultaneously, making for a sometimes frustrating trading experience.
Awards
Best CFD Broker 2022 - Rankia Best HNW Service 2022 - Dubai Forex Expo Best US Broker 2020 - DayTrading.com Best US Broker 2019 - DayTrading.com Runner-Up - Best Forex Broker 2019 - DayTrading.com
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Cryptos, Futures, Options, Commodities	Stocks, Options, Futures, Forex, Funds, Bonds, ETFs, Mutual Funds, CFDs, Cryptocurrencies
Demo Account
Yes	Yes
Minimum Deposit
$100	$0
Trading Platforms
MT4 MT5 TradingView eSignal AutoChartist TradingCentral	Trader Workstation (TWS) IBKR Desktop GlobalTrader Mobile Client Portal AlgoTrader OmniTrader eSignal TradingCentral
Payment Methods
ACH Transfer Credit Card Debit Card Mastercard Neteller Skrill Visa Wire Transfer	ACH Transfer Automated Customer Account Transfer Service Cheque Debit Card TransferWise Wire Transfer
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots	$100
Regulator
NFA, CFTC, CIRO, FCA, CYSEC, ASIC, SFC, FSA, MAS, CIMA	FCA, SEC, FINRA, CFTC, CBI, CIRO, SFC, MAS, MNB
Margin Trading
Yes	Yes
Margin Rate
	1.55 - 2.59%
STP Account
Yes	Yes
ECN Account
Yes	No
DMA Account
Yes	Yes
MAM Account
No	Yes
PAMM Account
No	No
LAMM Account
No	No
Demat Account
No	No
AI / Machine Learning
Yes	Yes
Robo Advisor
No	Yes
Negative Balance Protection
Yes	Yes
Market Maker
No	No
P2P Trading
No	No
Spot Trading
Yes	Yes
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android	iOS & Android
App Review
Running alongside the MT4 and Web Trader platforms, the FOREX.com app offers full trading capabilities on a user-friendly, compact platform. Integrated news and analysis, plus real time trade alerts, are two mobile specific features that set this app above the crowd. Additionally, it beats out MT4 when it comes to mobile charting tools, with over 80 indicators and 11 chart types, not to mention a slicker design that we love.	The IBKR Mobile app, available on both iOS and Android devices, makes your phone a powerful gateway to your IBKR accounts, offering you the freedom to keep an eye on portfolios, initiate trades, and dive into real-time quotes and charts, all while managing your account activities on the fly. This app stands out for its intuitive design, making it especially welcoming for those just starting their trading journey, providing a smoother and more accessible experience than the more complex TWS platform.
Android App Rating
3.8	4.5
iOS App Rating
3.6	4.3
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader	Capitalise.ai & TWS API
Copy Trading
No	No
Social Trading
No	No
Trade Signals
SMART Signals
VPS Hosting
Yes	No
Tournaments
No	No
Demo Competitions
No	No
Ethical Investing
No	Yes
Custodial Account
No	No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No	No
Inactivity Fee
$15	$0
Islamic Account
Yes	No
Account Currencies
USD EUR GBP CAD AUD JPY CHF PLN	USD EUR GBP CAD AUD INR JPY SEK NOK DKK CHF AED HUF
Stock Exchanges
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Borsa Italiana CAC 40 Index France DAX GER 40 Index Dow Jones Euronext FTSE UK Index Hang Seng Hong Kong Stock Exchange IBEX 35 Japan Exchange Group Nasdaq S&P 500 SIX Swiss Exchange	Borsa Italiana CAC 40 Index France Chicago Mercantile Exchange Euronext IBEX 35 Japan Exchange Group Korean Stock Exchange London Metal Exchange London Stock Exchange Nasdaq Nasdaq Nordic & Baltics New York Stock Exchange Russell 2000 Shenzhen Stock Exchange Toronto Stock Exchange
Commodities
Coffee Cotton Gold Livestock Natural Gas Oil Orange Juice Silver Soybeans Sugar Wheat	Aluminium Gold Lead Natural Gas Precious Metals Soybeans Zinc
CFD Trading
With the ability to take both long and short positions on 5,500+ CFDs across forex, stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, FOREX.com excels. Its exclusive Web Trader platform offers an excellent trading experience, equipped with over 80 technical indicators and average execution speeds of just 20 milliseconds, ensuring an optimal environment for serious day traders.	Over 8,000 CFDs are offered on a vast array of instruments, encompassing stocks, indices, forex, and commodities. Moreover, the TWS platform lends itself to seasoned day traders, offering a comprehensive selection of over 100 order types and algorithms, alongside premium market data sourced from reputable sources such as Reuters and Dow Jones.
Leverage
1:200 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)	1:50
FTSE Spread
1.0	0.005% (£1 Min)
GBPUSD Spread
1.3	0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
Oil Spread
2.5	0.25-0.85
Stocks Spread
0.14	0.003
Forex Trading
FOREX.com continues to uphold its stature as a premier FX broker, offering over 80 currency pairs and boasting some of the most competitive fees in the industry. With EUR/USD spreads dipping as low as 0.0 and $5 commission per $100k, it stands out. Moreover, its SMART Signals help to identify price behaviors across numerous major currency markets.	IBKR presents an extensive range of over 100 major, minor, and exotic forex pairs, surpassing the offerings of nearly all leading alternatives, though not CMC Markets. Forex trading occurs over multiple platforms and boasts institutional-grade spreads starting from 0.1 pips and 20 complex order types, including brackets, scale, and one-cancels-all (OCA) orders.
Forex App
Running alongside the Advanced and Web Trader Platforms, the FOREX.com mobile app offers full trading capabilities on a user-friendly, compact platform. Integrated news and analysis, plus real time trade alerts, are two mobile specific features that set this app above the crowd.
GBPUSD Spread
1.3	0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
EURUSD Spread
1.2	0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
EURGBP Spread
1.4	0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
Assets
80+	100+
Cryptocurrency
You can trade a small range of 8+ cryptos against USD, EUR, GBP and AUD with tight spreads and no virtual wallet required. Algo traders can also utilize Expert Advisors (EAs) to automate their crypto trades.	IBKR lets you purchase and hold Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin at competitive commission rates and without needing a crypto wallet. Additionally, there is a range of other diverse assets to explore, such as crypto indices like the NYSE Bitcoin Index, as well as futures contracts like the BAKKT Bitcoin Futures.
Spread
BTC 1.4%, ETH 2%	0.12%-0.18%
Coins
BTC BCH ETH LTC XRP	BTC LTC ETH XRP
Crypto Lending
No	No
Crypto Mining
No	No
Crypto Staking
No	No
Auto Market Maker
No	No

Review	Review
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