Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of IC Markets vs Alpari, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, range of investments, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 51% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
IC Markets, established in 2007, and Alpari, founded in 1998, are both private broker firms, meaning they are not publicly traded on a stock exchange, nor are they banks. When it comes to regulatory oversight, IC Markets stands out with two Tier-1 licenses, recognized for their high level of trust in the industry. In contrast, Alpari does not hold any Tier-1 licenses, which could impact the confidence investors have in its regulatory compliance.
Assessing their overall credibility, IC Markets receives a Trust Score of 84 from ForexBrokers.com, classifying it as a trusted broker. Meanwhile, Alpari's Trust Score is 68, placing it in a higher-risk category according to the same rating system. This implies that IC Markets might be a more reliable choice for those concerned with regulatory assurances and broker stability.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2007 | 1998 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 0 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 3 | 1 |
When comparing the commissions and fees of IC Markets and Alpari, IC Markets stands out for its competitive trading costs and low deposit requirements, competing closely with top low-cost forex brokers like IG and CMC Markets. IC Markets offers three account types: the commission-free Standard account and the commission-based Raw Spread and cTrader Raw Spread accounts. The choice between these accounts often depends on the trading platform, with the cTrader account offering slightly lower commissions. On average, traders see a spread cost on EUR/USD as low as 0.62 pips with the cTrader account, making IC Markets an attractive option. Additionally, active traders can benefit from discounts if they trade over 100 standard lots each month. IC Markets shines in this area, earning a 5-star rating and a #5 ranking out of 62 brokers for commissions and fees by ForexBrokers.com.
In contrast, Alpari’s specific average spread data isn't readily available, which makes it challenging for traders to make direct comparisons based on spreads alone. However, Alpari manages to secure a respectable 4-star rating for its commissions and fees. Though there may be less transparency with the fee structure, Alpari maintains a consistent reputation in the forex trading landscape. The broker ranks #41 out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com for its Commissions and Fees, which indicates a solid standing, albeit not as competitive as IC Markets in this category.
In summary, while both brokers have their merits, IC Markets clearly offers more competitive pricing and flexibility, making it a preferred choice for traders focused on minimizing costs. With a higher star rating and ranking, IC Markets is particularly suited for traders who prioritize low fees and favorable trading conditions.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $200 | $20 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.62 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.62 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
When it comes to the variety of investment options, IC Markets and Alpari both offer opportunities for forex trading through CFDs and spot contracts. IC Markets stands out with an impressive 3,583 tradeable symbols, including 61 forex pairs, providing a broad spectrum for investment enthusiasts. In contrast, Alpari offers 105 tradeable symbols with 46 forex pairs, lending investors fewer choices in comparison. Both brokers, however, do not provide the option to buy exchange-traded securities on U.S. exchanges, though they cover international exchanges where stocks like Vodafone can be purchased. Also, both platforms support copy trading and offer cryptocurrency derivatives without the option to buy actual cryptocurrencies.
Ranking and ratings for the range of investments further distinguish these brokers. IC Markets garners a commendable 4.5 out of 5 stars and is ranked 25th out of 62 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, reflecting its extensive selection. Alpari, on the other hand, receives a rating of 3 stars and lands at the 62nd spot, indicating room for improvement in their offerings. Ultimately, IC Markets seems to have a more diversified range of investment options that might appeal to a wider audience of investors.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 3583 | 105 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 61 | 46 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | 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). | 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). |
Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.
IC Markets and Alpari both offer a comprehensive suite of trading platforms and tools catering to traders of varying experience levels. With both brokers providing free virtual demo accounts, new traders have a chance to practice risk-free. While IC Markets does not have a proprietary platform developed in-house, Alpari offers its own. Both brokers support popular platforms like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, alongside offering web-based and Windows desktop downloads for seamless trading. For those interested in copy trading, both brokers deliver on this front, although IC Markets goes a step further by supporting ZuluTrade, while Alpari does not include this option. Both brokers abstain from offering DupliTrade.
When it comes to technical tools, IC Markets and Alpari provide equal access with 15 drawing tools for charting and the ability to trade directly from stock charts. Watch lists for both brokers feature a robust seven columns for better tracking of trading pairs or assets. Although both brokers score similarly with four stars in trading platforms and tools, IC Markets ranks higher at 17th place compared to Alpari's 55th among 62 brokers, according to ForexBrokers.com. With these features, both brokers offer effective environments for analyzing and executing trades, allowing traders to make informed decisions in the market.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | Yes | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
When it comes to mobile trading apps, both IC Markets and Alpari provide solid options for traders. Both platforms cater to iPhone and Android users, offering stock or forex price alerts and the ability to create watchlists with real-time quotes. They also share a common feature set with 30 technical studies for charting and the ability to draw trendlines and view multiple time frames. However, IC Markets pulls ahead by allowing auto-saving of chart drawings, unlike Alpari, which lacks this feature. Both brokers do not offer watchlist symbol syncing, meaning changes made on the mobile app won't mirror those on the online account.
In terms of user ratings, both IC Markets and Alpari receive 4 out of 5 stars for their mobile trading apps. Yet, a closer look at rankings by ForexBrokers.com highlights a significant difference, with IC Markets standing at #22 out of 62 brokers, while Alpari lags behind at #56. This distinction may serve as a valuable consideration for traders looking to prioritize a slightly more well-regarded app experience.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | No |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When comparing IC Markets to Alpari in terms of market research offerings, IC Markets takes the lead with its comprehensive daily market commentary, which is not available through Alpari. Both brokers provide forex news from top-tier sources such as Bloomberg and Reuters, ensuring traders stay informed about market movements. Additionally, both platforms offer tools from Autochartist, a well-known research company, though IC Markets adds an edge by also providing technical tools from Trading Central, something Alpari does not offer. This gives IC Markets users more robust data to inform their trading strategies.
Another point in favor of IC Markets is its sentiment-based trading tool, allowing traders to analyze market sentiment through the ratio of long and short positions on currency pairs. This feature is absent in Alpari's offerings. Both brokers do, however, provide an economic calendar to track global events. In terms of overall research ratings, IC Markets scores 4 out of 5 stars compared to Alpari's 3 stars. On ForexBrokers.com, IC Markets ranks at #22, whereas Alpari is much lower at #57, reflecting IC Markets' stronger reputation in research capabilities.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | No |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When it comes to educating beginner traders, both IC Markets and Alpari offer a broad range of materials to help you understand forex and CFDs better. Each broker provides more than 10 educational resources, including articles and videos. However, IC Markets stands out with monthly online webinars and a handy archive to revisit past sessions, features that Alpari does not currently offer. This adds a unique advantage for traders seeking live, interactive learning experiences that they can later review.
Additionally, IC Markets supports learners with a collection of beginner-friendly educational videos, as well as more advanced content for those ready to deepen their skills. While Alpari provides similar basic content, it falls short in advanced offerings. Both brokers offer dictionaries with key trading terms, but overall, IC Markets earns a higher rating of four stars for its educational offerings, compared to Alpari’s three stars. Ranked 16th versus Alpari's 48th position by ForexBrokers.com, IC Markets presents a more extensive educational resource suite for aspiring traders.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | No |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 62 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that IC Markets is better than Alpari. IC Markets finished with an overall rank of #20, while Alpari finished with an overall rank of #57.
IC Markets’ competitive pricing and scalable execution make it an excellent option for algorithmic traders. Though it supports an impressive range of third-party tools and plugins, IC Markets’ research and education offerings are not as impressive as those offered by industry leaders.
| Feature |
IC Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 84 | 68 |
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Both IC Markets and Alpari do not offer the ability to buy actual delivered cryptocurrency but provide options to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
When comparing online brokers IC Markets and Alpari, both offer Skrill, Visa or Mastercard, and bank wire options for depositing or withdrawing funds; however, only IC Markets provides the PayPal option, while neither broker supports ACH or SEPA transfers.
Please note:
We review each broker’s overall global offering – a “Yes” checkmark in our Compare Tool does not guarantee the availability of any specific features in your country of residence. To verify the availability of any features within your country of residence, please contact the broker directly.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | IC Markets | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 84 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | IC Markets Review |
| Broker Screenshots | IC Markets | Alpari | |
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| Regulation | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 84 | 68 | |
| Year Founded | 2007 | 1998 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | No | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 0 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 3 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | No |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 3583 | 105 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 61 | 46 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | 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). | 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). |
| Cost | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.62 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.62 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $200 | $20 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | No |
| Trading Platforms | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | No | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes | |
| cTrader | Yes | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | Yes | No |
| Trading Tools | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | No | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | No | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | IC Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/JPY | Yes | Yes | |
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CAD | Yes | Yes | |
| NZD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| AUD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| Review | IC Markets Review |
| Overall | IC Markets | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 84 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | IC Markets Review |
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