IG Group vs CMC Markets

IG vs CMC Markets Comparison Table 2024
IG	CMC Markets
Review 4.4	Review 4.7

Founded in 1974, IG is part of IG Group Holdings Plc, a publicly traded (LSE: IGG) brokerage. The brand offers spread betting, CFD and forex trading across an almost unrivalled selection of 17,000+ markets, with a range of user-friendly platforms and investing apps. For 50 years, IG has maintained its position as an industry leader, excelling in all key areas for traders.	Established in 1989, CMC Markets is a respected broker listed on the London Stock Exchange and authorized by several tier-one regulators, including the FCA, ASIC and CIRO. More than 1 million traders from around the world have signed up with the multi-award winning brokerage.
	Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Customer Reviews
4 Based on 2 IG customer reviews	4.5 Based on 2 CMC Markets customer reviews
Comment by Reviewer
"IG continues to provide a comprehensive package with an intuitive web platform and best-in-class education for beginners, plus advanced charting tools, real-time data, and fast execution speeds for experienced day traders."	"With advanced charting tools and an extensive range of tradable CFDs, including an almost unrivalled selection of currencies and custom indices, CMC Markets provides a fantastic online platform for traders of all levels. "
Pros
IG is amongst the best in terms of its range of instruments, which includes stocks, forex, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, providing ample diversification opportunities The proprietary web-based platform continues to caters to traders of all levels, with advanced charting tools and real-time market data useful for day trading The IG app offers a superb mobile trading experience with a clean design that helped it secure Runner Up at our Best Trading App award As a well-established broker, IG operates under strict regulatory guidelines in multiple jurisdictions, maintaining a high level of trust IG offers an extensive collection of professional and engaging educational resources, including webinars, articles, and analysis The ProRealTime advanced charting platform is free as long as certain modest monthly trading activity requirements are met	The web platform delivers a fantastic user experience with advanced charting tools for day trading and customizable features, catering to both beginners and experienced traders. MT4 (but not MT5) is also supported. CMC offers excellent pricing, including tight spreads and low trading fees for all but stock CFDs. The Alpha and Price+ schemes also offer perks for active traders with up to 40% discounts on spreads. CMC Markets is heavily regulated by reputable financial authorities and maintains its stellar reputation, helping to ensure a secure and trustworthy trading environment. The brokerage continues to stand out with its wide range of value-add resources, including pattern recognition scanners, webinars, tutorials, news feeds, and research from respected sources like Morningstar.
Cons
Beginners might find IG’s fee structure complex, with various fees for different types of trades or services, potentially leading to confusion or unexpected charges While there is negative balance protection in the UK and EU, there is no account protection or guaranteed stop losses for US clients IG has discontinued its swap-free account, reducing its appeal to Islamic traders Stock and CFD spreads still trail the cheapest brokers like CMC Markets based on tests IG applies an inactivity fee of $12 per month after 2 years, deterring casual investors	Despite improvements, the web platform still requires enhancements to make it as intuitive to trade on as software from rivals like IG. While CMC offers an above-average suite of assets, there is no support for trading real stocks and UK clients can’t trade cryptocurrencies. Trading stock CFDs incurs a relatively high commission, especially compared to the cheapest brokers like IC Markets. An inactivity fee of $10 per month is applied after 12 months of inactivity, which may deter casual investors. The CMC Markets app offers the complete trading package but the design and user experience trails category leaders like eToro.
Awards
Best Customer Service 2022 - Online Money Awards Best Spread Betting Provider 2022 - Online Money Awards Best Platform for the Active Trader 2022 - ADVFN International Financial Awards Best Multi Platform Provider 2022 - ADVFN International Financial Awards Best Finance App 2022 - ADVFN International Financial Awards	Best Trading App 2023 - DayTrading.com No.1 Platform Technology 2022 No.1 New Tool 2022 No.1 Most Currency Pairs 2022 Best Trade Execution 2021 Best Forex Broker For Beginners 2021 Most Transparent Forex Broker Europe 2020 Best Trading Platform 2020 Best Trading App 2019 Best Customer Service 2018
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Futures, Options, Crypto, Spread Betting	CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Treasuries, Custom Indices, Spread Betting
Demo Account
Yes	Yes
Minimum Deposit
$0	$0
Trading Platforms
Web ProRealTime L2 Dealer MT4 AutoChartist TradingCentral	Web MT4
Payment Methods
Credit Card Debit Card Mastercard PayPal Visa Wire Transfer	Credit Card Debit Card Mastercard PayPal Visa Wire Transfer
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots	0.01 Lots
Regulator
FCA, ASIC, NFA, CFTC, DFSA, BaFin, MAS, FSCA	FCA, ASIC, MAS, CIRO, BaFin, FMA, DFSA
Margin Trading
Yes	Yes
Margin Rate
2.5%	1%
STP Account
No	No
ECN Account
No	No
DMA Account
Yes	No
MAM Account
No	No
PAMM Account
No	No
LAMM Account
No	No
Demat Account
No	No
AI / Machine Learning
No	No
Robo Advisor
Yes	No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes	Yes
Market Maker
Yes	Yes
P2P Trading
No	No
Spot Trading
Yes	Yes
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android	iOS & Android
App Review
IG offers a superb all-round trading app. One of the pioneers of mobile trading, the application has been developed and refined over many years, meaning it is now among the best trading apps. Quick response, user-friendly layout, access to full charting and a stable and reliable application. It also offers guaranteed stops – an important risk management tool not available on many apps we’ve tested.	The award-winning app from CMC Markets has transformed mobile trading. The app’s modern and customizable interface offers a unique user experience, distinct from competitors. Moreover, with its comprehensive charting capabilities featuring 25 technical indicators and 15 drawing tools, as well as its fast and stable trading environment, it’s an exceptional choice for day traders.
Android App Rating
4	3.7
iOS App Rating
4.6	4.1
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader, build your own on ProRealTime	Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
Copy Trading
No	No
Social Trading
No	Yes
Trade Signals
Yes	Yes
VPS Hosting
Yes	Yes
Tournaments
No	No
Demo Competitions
No	Yes
Ethical Investing
Yes	No
Custodial Account
No	No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Yes	Yes
Inactivity Fee
$12	$10
Islamic Account
No	Yes
Account Currencies
USD EUR GBP CAD AUD JPY ZAR SEK DKK CHF HKD SGD	USD EUR GBP CAD AUD NZD SEK NOK SGD PLN
Stock Exchanges
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Borsa Italiana Bombay Stock Exchange Deutsche Boerse Dow Jones Euronext Hong Kong Stock Exchange IBEX 35 Japan Exchange Group Korean Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange National Stock Exchange Of India Russell 2000 S&P 500 Shanghai Stock Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange Shenzhen Stock Exchange Tadawul Toronto Stock Exchange Taiwan Stock Exchange	Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) CAC 40 Index France DAX GER 40 Index Deutsche Boerse Dow Jones Euronext FTSE UK Index Hong Kong Stock Exchange IBEX 35 Japan Exchange Group Nasdaq S&P 500 SIX Swiss Exchange Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Commodities
Aluminium Coffee Cannabis Copper Gold Iron Lithium Natural Gas Nickel Oil Orange Juice Palladium Precious Metals Silver Soybeans Steel Sugar Wheat	Coffee Cannabis Copper Gasoline Gold Livestock Natural Gas Nickel Oil Orange Juice Palladium Platinum Precious Metals Silver Soybeans Steel Sugar Wheat
CFD Trading
IG offers a huge selection of 17,000+ CFDs, providing more trading opportunities than most CFD brokers. Traders can go long or short on popular markets like stocks, currencies, commodities and cryptos, while custom price alerts and the IG Academy continue to enhance the trading experience.	CMC lets you trade CFDs on 12,000+ assets across currencies, indices, commodities, shares, ETFs and treasuries. Spreads are relatively tight, there are no hidden fees and the industry-leading MetaTrader 4 platform is also supported for leveraged trading. Year after year, CMC shines as one of the best CFD brokers in the market.
Leverage
1:30 (Retail), 1:250 (Pro)	1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)
FTSE Spread
1.0	1 pt
GBPUSD Spread
0.9	0.9
Oil Spread
2.8	3.5
Stocks Spread
0.02	0.02
Forex Trading
IG offers an above-average suite of 80+ currency pairs on its proprietary web platform, mobile app or MetaTrader 4, with more advanced charts and forex analysis tools available on the ProRealTime software. Forex spreads are competitive based on tests, starting from 0.1 pips on majors like the EUR/USD.	CMC presents an extensive array of 300+ forex pairs characterized by tight spreads and rapid executions, surpassing the offerings of many competitors in terms of currency diversity. Forex indices also present a fairly unique and holistic way to speculate on the value of key currencies like the USD, EUR and GBP.
Forex App
IG offers a superb all-round trading app. One of the pioneers of mobile trading, the application has been developed and refined over many years, meaning it is now among the best trading apps. Quick response, user friendly layout, access to full charting and a stable and reliable application. Top marks.
GBPUSD Spread
0.9	0.9
EURUSD Spread
0.8	0.7
EURGBP Spread
0.9	1.1
Assets
80+	300+
Currency Indices
USD	USD EUR GBP JPY CAD AUD NZD CHF
Cryptocurrency
IG's modest selection of 11 crypto CFDs trails top crypto brokers like Vantage which offers 40+ tokens. That said, it stands out with its crypto index, which tracks the value of the top 10 digital currencies by market cap and provides a holistic way to speculate on the value of the crypto market.	CMC Markets offers trading on popular digital tokens like Bitcoin but really stands out for its crypto indices that provide broader exposure to the cryptocurrency market. There is also minimal slippage and an excellent 99.9% fill rate, making CMC a great option for active crypto day traders.
Spread
Variable	From 1.3
Coins
BTC BCH LTC ETH ADA DOT DOGE LINK UNI XLM	BTC BCH ETH LTC EOS TRON NEO ADA XLM
Crypto Lending
No	No
Crypto Mining
No	No
Crypto Staking
No	No
Auto Market Maker
No	No

Review	Review
	Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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