Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of CMC Markets vs LegacyFX, 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.
CMC Markets, established in 1989, stands out as a highly trusted online broker with a Trust Score of 99 out of 99 from ForexBrokers.com. As a publicly traded company, CMC Markets is regulated with five Tier-1 licenses, reflecting a high level of trust and security. Additionally, CMC Markets holds one Tier-2 license, further solidifying its status as a secure choice for traders.
LegacyFX, founded in 2012, offers a different profile by comparison. With a Trust Score of 67, indicating a higher risk level, LegacyFX operates without being listed on a stock exchange. In terms of regulatory oversight, it holds just one Tier-1 license and lacks Tier-2 licenses, which may influence a trader's confidence in its services. Both companies are not banks but serve as dedicated online brokers in the financial markets.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1989 | 2012 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
When comparing CMC Markets to LegacyFX in terms of commissions and fees, CMC Markets emerges as the leader, earning a commendable 5-star rating and securing the top position, #1, in the Commissions and Fees category. CMC Markets offers consistently low spreads, such as an average of 0.61 pips on the EUR/USD, which proves enticing for traders of all levels. Their innovative FX Active program further enhances their pricing model by providing competitive commission-based pricing, charging $2.50 per side with spreads as low as zero pips. These features make CMC Markets a favored choice for those looking to minimize trading costs.
LegacyFX, in contrast, offers a varied fee structure based on the account type and location of the trader. For EU-based clients regulated under CySEC, the minimum spread varies significantly, starting at 1.6 pips on the EUR/USD for the Silver account. International clients have access to a wider range of accounts, but the lack of publicly available average spread data makes it difficult to gauge the true cost of trading with LegacyFX. The service options and tools provided do increase with higher account tiers, though this comes at a higher trading cost.
Ultimately, LegacyFX receives a 3.5-star rating and ranks #56 in the category of Commissions and Fees. While LegacyFX does offer flexibility in account types and supporting services, the indeterminate spread figures and higher initial costs make CMC Markets the superior choice for traders prioritizing lower trading fees and transparent costs.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $500 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.61 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.51 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
CMC Markets and LegacyFX both allow forex trading as a CFD or spot contract, catering to those interested in currency markets. However, CMC Markets stands out with a vast selection of 11,925 tradable symbols, including 156 forex pairs, versus LegacyFX's offering of 425 symbols and 44 forex pairs. Additionally, CMC Markets provides access to exchange-traded securities on both U.S. and international exchanges, enabling clients to purchase shares like Apple and Vodafone, which LegacyFX does not offer. Both platforms provide copy trading features, although neither supports the purchase of actual cryptocurrencies, only derivatives.
When looking at their ratings, CMC Markets receives a solid 5 stars for its range of investments, ranking ninth out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com. This high ranking reflects the broad selection and versatility available to clients. On the other hand, LegacyFX is rated 3.5 stars, positioned at 48th, indicating a more limited selection compared to CMC Markets. For traders seeking extensive investment options, CMC Markets offers a far broader scope while LegacyFX provides a more straightforward range.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 11925 | 425 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 156 | 44 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| 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.
When comparing CMC Markets and LegacyFX, both brokers provide users with simulated trading through free demo accounts, making it easy for new traders to practice trading risk-free. CMC Markets stands out with its proprietary platform, as well as support for both MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). LegacyFX lacks a proprietary platform and does not support MT4 but does offer MT5. Both brokers cater to traders on different devices with Windows-based desktop downloads and web-based platforms. Users interested in social trading will find copy trading on both platforms, though neither offers DupliTrade or ZuluTrade.
In terms of trading tools, CMC Markets takes the lead with 40 charting drawing tools, compared to LegacyFX's 15. CMC offers a more comprehensive experience with 11 fields available for watch lists, whereas LegacyFX provides 7. Both brokers allow trading directly from stock charts, enhancing user convenience. CMC Markets is rated a stellar 5 out of 5 stars and holds a high-ranking position, being 4th out of 62 brokers for its trading platforms and tools. Conversely, LegacyFX garners a 3.5-star rating, placing it at 59th in the same category, highlighting a notable difference in the user experience and depth of tools offered by both brokers.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | No |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 79 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 40 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 11 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Both CMC Markets and LegacyFX offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android users, catering to traders who are always on the go. They provide essential features such as stock or forex price alerts and the ability to create watchlists with real-time quotes. A significant difference is in watchlist management; CMC Markets allows for seamless syncing of watchlists between the mobile app and online account, while LegacyFX lacks this feature. Chart enthusiasts will be pleased to know both apps permit drawing trendlines and viewing various time frames on charts, with the added convenience of auto-saving these drawings.
When it comes to technical studies, CMC Markets offers 29 options, slightly less than LegacyFX's 30. However, CMC Markets shines in overall user satisfaction, receiving a perfect 5-star rating for its mobile trading apps, compared to LegacyFX's 3.5 stars. This acclaim is mirrored in their industry rankings by ForexBrokers.com, where CMC Markets is rated highly at #5 out of 62 brokers, demonstrating superior overall performance and user experience, while LegacyFX trails behind at #60. This detailed comparison indicates that, although both apps are feature-rich, CMC Markets provides a more cohesive and well-rated mobile trading experience.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 29 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
CMC Markets and LegacyFX both provide daily market commentary and access to forex news from renowned sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones, ensuring that traders are well-informed with timely market insights. Each platform also offers tools from Autochartist, enhancing the ability to perform technical and fundamental analysis. However, when it comes to sentiment-based trading tools, CMC Markets has an edge, providing users with insights into the ratio of long and short positions, while LegacyFX lacks this feature.
Although neither broker offers research from firms like TipRanks or Trading Central, both include economic calendars that cover global news events. CMC Markets is highly rated for research with a five-star rating and ranks sixth in the category among 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com, indicating a strong research offering. In contrast, LegacyFX receives a 3.5-star rating and ranks 45th, reflecting a less comprehensive research experience for traders compared to CMC Markets.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | 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 educational resources for beginners, both CMC Markets and LegacyFX provide a solid foundation in forex and CFDs education, each offering more than 10 educational materials such as articles, videos, and archived webinars. Both platforms ensure that learners have access to a wealth of knowledge with searchable archives of past webinars and a comprehensive collection of educational videos tailored to both beginners and experienced traders. For those new to trading, each broker has over 10 beginner-focused videos, making it easier to grasp essential trading concepts. Additionally, both CMC Markets and LegacyFX provide an investor dictionary with definitions of at least 50 investing terms, aiding in demystifying the financial jargon often encountered in trading.
However, a notable difference lies in the frequency of live educational webinars. While LegacyFX hosts monthly webinars to engage users with live learning opportunities, CMC Markets does not. This might influence beginners looking for interactive learning sessions. Despite this, CMC Markets receives a higher rating for its educational offerings, scoring 5 stars compared to LegacyFX's 3.5 stars. In rankings, CMC Markets holds the 10th position out of 62 brokers in the education category, whereas LegacyFX is positioned at 35th. This suggests that while both platforms provide valuable resources, CMC Markets is perhaps more recognized for the quality and breadth of its educational support.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | No | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| 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 CMC Markets is better than LegacyFX. CMC Markets finished with an overall rank of #4, while LegacyFX finished with an overall rank of #62.
CMC Markets is well-trusted across the globe, and delivers a terrific trading experience thanks to its excellent pricing and selection of over 12,000 tradeable instruments.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
LegacyFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
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| Trust Score | 99 | 67 |
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Both CMC Markets and LegacyFX do not offer the purchase of actual delivered cryptocurrency, but they do provide the capability to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
When comparing online brokers, CMC Markets distinguishes itself by offering ACH or SEPA transfers and PayPal for depositing or withdrawing account funds, while LegacyFX lacks these options but supports Skrill instead; both platforms, however, accept Visa, Mastercard, and bank wires.
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 | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 67 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | CMC Markets Review | LegacyFX Review |
| Broker Screenshots | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
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| Regulation | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 99 | 67 | |
| Year Founded | 1989 | 2012 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 11925 | 425 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 156 | 44 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| 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 | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.61 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.51 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | No | No | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $500 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| Trading Platforms | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | No | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | No | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 11 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 79 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 40 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 29 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | No | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | CMC Markets Review | LegacyFX Review |
| Overall | CMC Markets | LegacyFX | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 67 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | CMC Markets Review | LegacyFX Review |
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