IG Group vs FXCM

IG vs FXCM Comparison Table 2024
IG	FXCM
Review 4.4	Review 3.5

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.	FXCM is a respected forex and CFD broker, established since 1999. The British-headquartered broker has won multiple awards and operates in various jurisdictions, including the UK and Australia. With zero commissions, over 400 assets, and a range of analysis tools, FXCM remains a popular choice for day traders. The broker is also regulated by top-tier authorities including the FCA and ASIC.
Customer Reviews
4 Based on 2 IG 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."	"FXCM maintains its position as a top pick for traders deploying automated trading strategies, with four powerful platforms, strategy backtesting and algo trading through APIs. The broker is also great for active traders, with discounted spreads and low to zero commissions on popular assets."
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	Alongside the 4 charting platforms, FXCM also offers a market-leading range of specialist software for experienced investors, including QuantConnect, AgenaTrader and Sierra Chart The proprietary Trading Station terminal is a good choice for day traders looking for an all-in-one solution for their short-term and automated trading strategies Traders can utilize several top-tier trading tools including a market scanner, forex signals and third-party research site, eFXPlus FXCM’s global reputation is impressive, with licenses from the FCA, ASIC, CySEC and FSCA and a 20-year business history A range of funding methods are available including bank cards, Apply Pay and PayPal, with instant processing times The broker offers spread discounts and other excellent perks for experienced traders in the Active Trader account FXCM has expanded its range of trading opportunities with 24-hour stock CFDs through MetaTrader 4
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	Although FXCM continues to gear their services towards experienced traders, it’s a shame that there are no managed accounts on offer There is no choice of retail accounts for traders, nor any Cent/Micro account options The live chat support can be slow and unreliable compared to the top competitors
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
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Futures, Options, Crypto, Spread Betting	CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Cryptos, Commodities
Demo Account
Yes	Yes
Minimum Deposit
$0	$50
Trading Platforms
Web ProRealTime L2 Dealer MT4 AutoChartist TradingCentral	Trading Station MT4 TradingView eSignal
Payment Methods
Credit Card Debit Card Mastercard PayPal Visa Wire Transfer	Apple Pay Credit Card Debit Card Google Wallet Klarna PayPal POLi Wire Transfer
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots	Variable
Regulator
FCA, ASIC, NFA, CFTC, DFSA, BaFin, MAS, FSCA	FCA, CySEC, ASIC
Margin Trading
Yes	Yes
Margin Rate
2.5%
STP Account
No	No
ECN Account
No	No
DMA Account
Yes	No
MAM Account
No	Yes
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	No
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android	iOS and 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.
Android App Rating
4
iOS App Rating
4.6
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader, build your own on ProRealTime
Copy Trading
No	Yes
Copy Trading Platform
	FXCM offers social and copy trading on forex, CFDs and cryptos through the hugely popular ZuluTrade platform. The sign-up process is quick and you can track your performance in real-time.
Social Trading
No	Yes
Trade Signals
Yes
VPS Hosting
Yes	No
Tournaments
No	No
Demo Competitions
No	Yes
Ethical Investing
Yes	No
Custodial Account
No	No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Yes	No
Inactivity Fee
$12
Islamic Account
No	No
Account Currencies
USD EUR GBP CAD AUD JPY ZAR SEK DKK CHF HKD SGD	USD EUR GBP CAD AUD ZAR CHF
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	Euronext IBEX 35 Russell 2000
Commodities
Aluminium Coffee Cannabis Copper Gold Iron Lithium Natural Gas Nickel Oil Orange Juice Palladium Precious Metals Silver Soybeans Steel Sugar Wheat	Cannabis Gold Oil Silver
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.	You can trade a range of CFD instruments across forex, shares, indices and commodities. There’s an excellent selection of platforms for day traders, including TradingView and MT4, plus additional tools for experienced algo traders including API solutions.
Leverage
1:30 (Retail), 1:250 (Pro)	1:30
FTSE Spread
1.0	1.18 pts var*
GBPUSD Spread
0.9	0.5 pips*
Oil Spread
2.8	0.05 (var)*
Stocks Spread
0.02	0.2% Var*
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.	FXCM offers an average range of 40+ currency pairs, although there are no commissions and spreads are competitive from 0.78 pips for EUR/USD. The broker also offers 3 forex baskets covering USD, Yen and emerging markets benchmarks.
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	0.5 pips var*
EURUSD Spread
0.8	0.2 pips var*
EURGBP Spread
0.9	0.5 pips var*
Assets
80+	40
Currency Indices
USD	JPY
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.	You can trade some of world's most popular digital coins with zero commission and leverage up to 1:4. FXCM also stands out for its crypto major basket which offers exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash in one trade.
Spread
Variable	Variable
Coins
BTC BCH LTC ETH ADA DOT DOGE LINK UNI XLM	BTC ETH LTC BTC
Crypto Lending
No	No
Crypto Mining
No	No
Crypto Staking
No	No
Auto Market Maker
No	No

Review	Review
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