Questrade vs CMC Markets

Questrade vs CMC Markets Comparison Table 2024
Questrade CMC Markets
3
4.7

Questrade is an award-winning Canadian investment platform offering self-directed and pre-built portfolios. Investors can access a suite of tax-free savings accounts, retirement plans, income funds and more. Regulated by CIRO, Questrade is an established broker, trusted by new and experienced investors.

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
4.5
Bonus Offer
5 commission-free trades
Comment by Reviewer
"Questrade is a top pick for Canadian clients with both long-term and short-term investment goals. The firm boasts competitive fees and a range of tax-efficient savings accounts." "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
  • Transparent pricing structure with stocks starting from 1 cent per share and portfolio management fees from 0.25%
  • An impressive range of 17 accounts, suitable for both long-term investment goals, as well as short-term saving
  • Easy account opening with no set-up fees and a choice of flexible portfolio types, depending on risk appetite
  • Dual currency self-directed accounts in CAD and USD for convenient and fee-free investing across US and Canadian exchanges
  • Excellent mobile trading app for active equity or options traders, with advanced charting and order types, plus a strategy builder tool
  • Comprehensive learning centre with goal-tracking advice, platform tutorials and investment webinars
  • Trusted firm with oversight from the CIRO
  • 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
  • $1000 minimum deposit is high for beginners
  • No fractional shares for lower entry requirements
  • Canadian citizens accepted only
  • No youth investment accounts
  • 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
  • #1 Investor Satisfaction 2020 - J.D. Power's Self Directed Investor Satisfaction Study
  • Seal of Service Excellence 2019 - DALBAR
  • 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
Forex, CFDs, indices, shares, precious metals, mutual bonds, options, warrants, GICs, ETFs CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Treasuries, Custom Indices, Spread Betting
Demo Account
Yes Yes
Minimum Deposit
$1000 $0
Trading Platforms
  • Own
  • Web
  • MT4
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots 0.01 Lots
Regulator
CIRO FCA, ASIC, MAS, CIRO, BaFin, FMA, DFSA
Margin Trading
No Yes
Margin Rate
1%
STP Account
No No
ECN Account
No No
DMA Account
No No
MAM Account
No No
PAMM Account
No No
LAMM Account
No No
Demat Account
No No
AI / Machine Learning
No No
Robo Advisor
No No
Negative Balance Protection
No Yes
Market Maker
No Yes
P2P Trading
No No
Spot Trading
No Yes
Mobile Apps
Yes iOS & Android
App Review

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
3.7
iOS App Rating
4.1
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
Copy Trading
No No
Social Trading
No Yes
Trade Signals
Yes Yes
VPS Hosting
No Yes
Tournaments
No No
Demo Competitions
No Yes
Ethical Investing
No No
Custodial Account
No No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No Yes
Inactivity Fee
$10
Islamic Account
No Yes
Account Currencies
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • NZD
  • SEK
  • NOK
  • SGD
  • PLN
Stock Exchanges
Commodities
CFD Trading
Trade a good range of CFDs on commodities, indices and more. Questrade offers advanced mobile and web trading platforms with top research features including Morningstar and Trading Central. 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
1:3.33 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)
FTSE Spread
N/A 1 pt
GBPUSD Spread
2 0.9
Oil Spread
0.05 3.5
Stocks Spread
1 cent per share 0.02
Forex Trading
Access over 110 FX pairs with spreads from 0.8 pips and no inactivity fees. Seasoned traders can also unlock advanced market data packages with fee rebates and competitive pricing. 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.
GBPUSD Spread
2 0.9
EURUSD Spread
1.9 0.7
EURGBP Spread
2.1 1.1
Assets
110+ 300+
Currency Indices
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • JPY
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • NZD
  • CHF
Cryptocurrency
Crypto trading not offered 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
From 1.3
Coins
  • 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
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.
More Comparisons
Questrade
vs
CMC Markets
vs