Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Interactive Brokers vs Exness, 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.
Interactive Brokers and Exness are both well-known names in the online brokerage space, but their levels of regulatory oversight and public trust differ significantly. Founded in 1977, Interactive Brokers is a publicly traded company, adding an extra layer of transparency and accountability. While it is not a bank, the firm holds an impressive nine Tier-1 licenses, which are considered highly trusted, and two Tier-2 licenses. With a top-notch Trust Score rating of 99 from ForexBrokers.com, Interactive Brokers is among the most reliable and secure options available.
Exness, on the other hand, was established in 2008 and is not publicly listed. Like Interactive Brokers, Exness is not a bank. It holds two Tier-1 licenses and three Tier-2 licenses, indicating a solid but more modest level of regulatory commitment compared to Interactive Brokers. The firm has a ForexBrokers.com Trust Score of 81, placing it in the "trusted" category but behind Interactive Brokers when it comes to overall security and trust. While both brokers serve their clients well, their differences in trust ratings and regulation make Interactive Brokers the more reliable choice for those prioritizing these aspects.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1977 | 2008 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 9 | 2 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 3 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 3 |
Interactive Brokers is highly regarded for its competitive commission and fee structure, boasting a five-star rating and a second-place ranking out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com. Despite the lack of published average spreads for forex, the broker's forex trading fees are attractive. With average spreads for the EUR/USD at 0.19 pips, and an effective all-in spread of 0.59 pips after commission, the costs are low. Interactive Brokers charges forex commissions starting at 0.00002 (0.2 basis points) of the U.S. dollar trade value per side, with a minimum charge of $2 per order. Active traders benefit from reduced fees, with potential costs dropping as low as $1 per order depending on trading volume.
Exness offers a range of account types, presenting both standard and professional options for traders. Their fee structure earns them a four-star rating and a ranking of 38 out of 62 brokers for commissions and fees. The costs vary by account type; for instance, their Zero Spread account offers a commission rate of $0.05 per trade, while the Raw account charges up to $7 per round turn lot. Meanwhile, accounts vary in execution methods—from market to instant—allowing traders to choose based on their needs. The pricing strategies result in attractive conditions for those preferring lower spreads or particular execution methods.
In summary, Interactive Brokers stands out for active traders seeking low commission rates and scalable discounts, while Exness provides flexibility across different account types, appealing to a broader range of traders in search of tailored commission structures. Whether your priority is low spreads, commission transparency, or execution methods, both brokers present distinct offerings suitable for various trading strategies and preferences.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $10 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.59 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.59 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | No | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
Interactive Brokers and Exness both facilitate forex trading through CFDs and spot contracts. However, Interactive Brokers offers a vast array of 8,500 tradeable symbols, greatly surpassing Exness's 227. When it comes to forex pairs, Exness slightly outpaces Interactive Brokers with 96 available pairs compared to 90. If you're interested in exchange-traded securities, Interactive Brokers provides options on U.S. and international exchanges, allowing purchases of stocks like Apple and Vodafone. Exness, on the other hand, does not offer these exchange-traded securities.
For cryptocurrency enthusiasts, Interactive Brokers allows you to purchase actual cryptocurrencies, alongside derivatives, while Exness is limited to cryptocurrency derivatives only. One area where Exness shines is in offering copy trading, a feature not available with Interactive Brokers. Rated five stars for its range of investments, Interactive Brokers holds the top spot out of 62 brokers on ForexBrokers.com. Exness, with a 3.5-star rating, is ranked much further down at #56. These differences highlight the broader investment opportunities provided by Interactive Brokers compared to Exness.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8500 | 227 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 90 | 96 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | Yes | 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.
Interactive Brokers and Exness both provide simulated trading environments, allowing users to practice with virtual demo accounts. Each broker has developed its own proprietary platform and offers trading software for Windows desktops, along with web-based platforms for convenience. While Interactive Brokers does not support popular MetaTrader platforms, Exness offers both MetaTrader 4 and 5, which are favored by many traders for their extensive features. Importantly, Exness also supports copy trading, enabling users to follow and replicate the strategies of experienced traders, a feature not available with Interactive Brokers.
Charting tools are integral to the trading experience, and both brokers enable users to trade directly from charts. Interactive Brokers provides an extensive 659 columns for watch lists, significantly more than Exness, which offers 7. Despite Exness offering two more drawing tools than Interactive Brokers, the latter still excels in more advanced technical areas. Rated 5 stars for its trading platforms and tools, Interactive Brokers ranks #3 out of 62 brokers, whereas Exness, with a 4-star rating, stands at #31. These distinctions underscore Interactive Brokers' superior platform and tool offerings, tailored for traders seeking an in-depth trading experience.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 155 | 107 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 85 | 87 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 659 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Both Interactive Brokers and Exness offer user-friendly mobile trading apps available for iPhone and Android users. They both provide essential features such as stock or forex price alerts and the ability to draw trendlines on charts. A notable difference is watchlist symbol syncing; Interactive Brokers supports syncing your watchlists across devices, offering a seamless experience, while Exness does not. This feature can be crucial for traders who frequently switch between their mobile app and online account.
Regarding charting capabilities, Interactive Brokers stands out with 97 technical studies compared to Exness's 35, which could appeal to technically-focused traders. Both platforms allow viewing different time frames on charts, although neither auto-save chart drawings. For building watchlists with real-time quotes, both apps perform effectively. Interactive Brokers earns a higher user rating of 5 stars versus Exness's 4 stars. According to ForexBrokers.com, Interactive Brokers ranks 4th among 62 brokers in the Mobile Trading Apps category, whereas Exness holds the 32nd position, further highlighting Interactive Brokers' strength in mobile trading.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 97 | 35 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | No | No |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When comparing the market research offerings of Interactive Brokers and Exness, both platforms provide daily market commentary and forex news from reliable sources such as Bloomberg and Reuters. They also both integrate Trading Central's technical and fundamental research tools, along with sentiment-based trading tools aimed at showing the balance of long or short positions across various instruments. Furthermore, Interactive Brokers and Exness each provide access to an economic calendar, offering insights into global economic events that can impact trading strategies. However, they diverge when it comes to research from TipRanks and Acuity Trading—Interactive Brokers offers tools from both, while Exness does not provide these resources.
Interactive Brokers receives high accolades for its research capabilities, achieving a perfect 5-star rating. It is ranked as the third best among 62 brokers for research by ForexBrokers.com. In contrast, Exness is given a 3.5-star rating and stands at the 41st position for research. This notable difference highlights Interactive Brokers’ superior offerings, making it a more favorable choice for traders who prioritize comprehensive market research tools and insights.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes |
| TipRanks | Yes | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | Yes | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When comparing the educational resources for beginners between Interactive Brokers and Exness, both platforms provide a solid foundation in forex and CFDs education, each offering a minimum of 10 educational pieces. Interactive Brokers distinguishes itself by holding monthly webinars, providing a continuous learning experience through live sessions. Both brokers have searchable archives of recorded webinars, allowing users to revisit content at their convenience. However, Interactive Brokers takes the lead by offering more comprehensive learning materials, including 10 advanced educational videos that cater to experienced traders, alongside beginner-focused content.
Interactive Brokers also provides a robust investor dictionary containing over 50 investing terms, which is matched by Exness. The difference in educational quality and quantity is reflected in their ratings and rankings. Interactive Brokers boasts a 5-star education rating, ranking third among 62 brokers, signifying the strength of its educational offerings. In contrast, Exness receives a 3.5-star rating and ranks 47th, suggesting room for improvement in catering to both novice and seasoned investors. Overall, Interactive Brokers is better suited for those seeking extensive educational resources to bolster their trading knowledge.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| 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 Interactive Brokers is better than Exness. Interactive Brokers finished with an overall rank of #2, while Exness finished with an overall rank of #41.
Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted multi-asset broker with an extensive offering of tradeable global markets. It delivers competitive fees and high-quality research and education, as well as a modern, institutional-grade trading platform suite.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
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Exness
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|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 81 |
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Interactive Brokers provides the option to purchase actual (delivered) cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency derivatives, whereas Exness only offers the ability to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
Interactive Brokers supports ACH and SEPA transfers along with bank wires for fund deposits and withdrawals, whereas Exness provides options for Skrill and Visa or Mastercard in addition to bank wires, but does not support ACH, SEPA transfers, or PayPal for these transactions.
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 | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 81 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Exness Review |
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| Regulation | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 99 | 81 | |
| Year Founded | 1977 | 2008 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 9 | 2 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 3 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 3 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | Yes | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | Yes |
| Investments | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8500 | 227 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 90 | 96 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | Yes | 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 | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.59 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.59 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | No | Yes |
| Funding | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $10 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | No | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| Trading Platforms | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 659 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 155 | 107 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 85 | 87 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 97 | 35 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | No | No | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | No | No | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | Yes | |
| TipRanks | Yes | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Interactive Brokers | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Interactive Brokers Review | Exness Review |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 81 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Exness Review |
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