Interactive Brokers vs FXCM 2026

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.

Regulation

Interactive Brokers vs. FXCM: Interactive Brokers was founded in 1977, while FXCM began in 1999. Both are publicly traded and neither is a bank. On ForexBrokers.com’s Trust Score, Interactive Brokers earns 99/99 and FXCM scores 95/99—both sit in the 90–99 “highly trusted” range (80–89 trusted, 70–79 average risk, 60–69 high risk, under 59 not trusted).

Regulation and licenses: Interactive Brokers holds 8 Tier-1 licenses (highly trusted regulators) and 2 Tier-2 licenses (trusted regulators). FXCM holds 4 Tier-1 licenses and 2 Tier-2 licenses. In simple terms, both brokers operate under strong oversight, with Interactive Brokers carrying more top-tier approvals while FXCM still offers broad regulatory coverage.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Year Founded info	1977	1999
Publicly Traded (Listed) info	Yes	Yes
Bank info	No	No
Tier-1 Licenses info	8	4
Tier-2 Licenses info	2	2
Tier-3 Licenses info	0	0
Tier-4 Licenses info	0	0

Fees

Interactive Brokers offers lower-cost forex pricing than FXCM for many traders, especially those who trade larger amounts or place frequent orders. IBKR uses commission-based pricing rather than marking up spreads, and during Q3 2024 the EUR/USD showed an average spread of 0.19 pips, with an estimated all-in spread of 0.59 pips after commissions. Its forex commissions start at 0.00002, or 0.2 basis points, of U.S. dollar trade value with a minimum of $2 per order ($4 round turn), though very active traders can qualify for even lower rates. Interactive Brokers is rated 5 stars and ranked #2 out of 36 brokers for Commissions and Fees.

FXCM’s forex pricing is a bit higher overall, though it can still be competitive in its commission-based accounts and through active trader discounts. Based on May 2024 data, FXCM’s EUR/USD spread averaged 0.78 pips for its EU, U.K., and Australia entities, while its commission-based accounts averaged 0.28 pips before commissions. After adding commission costs, the effective spread is closer to 0.74 pips, which is still a little higher than Interactive Brokers in this comparison. FXCM is rated 4.5 stars and ranked #17 out of 36 brokers for Commissions and Fees.

For low-cost forex trading, Interactive Brokers has the edge for most people, mainly because its commissions are clear and its overall trading costs can be lower at scale. FXCM may appeal to traders who qualify for rebates or use certain commission-based account types, but its average costs are generally higher. In short, Interactive Brokers is the better pick on commissions and fees if keeping trading costs down is your top priority.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Minimum Deposit info	$0	Starts from $50
Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account info	0.226 info	0.9 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info	0.226 info	0.8 info
Non-wire bank transfer info	Yes	Yes
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) info	No	Yes
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) info	No	Yes
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) info	Yes	Yes

Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.

Range of investments

Interactive Brokers offers a much wider range of investments than FXCM. It gives clients access to about 8,500 tradeable symbols and 90 forex pairs, compared with FXCM’s 440 symbols and 46 forex pairs. Both brokers support forex trading, but Interactive Brokers also lets clients buy exchange-traded securities on U.S. and international exchanges, such as Apple and Vodafone shares. In addition, Interactive Brokers allows the purchase of actual cryptocurrency, while FXCM does not.

FXCM does offer a few features that Interactive Brokers does not, including copy trading and cryptocurrency CFDs. However, for overall investment choice, Interactive Brokers comes out ahead with a 5-star Range of Investments rating and a #1 ranking out of 36 brokers from ForexBrokers.com, while FXCM is rated 4.5 stars and ranked #21. If your main goal is access to a broader selection of markets and assets, Interactive Brokers is the stronger pick.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info	Yes	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info	8500	440
Forex Pairs (Total) info	90	46 info
U.S. Stocks (Shares) info	Yes	No
Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) info	Yes	No
Copy Trading info	No	Yes
Cryptocurrency (Underlying) info	Yes	No
Cryptocurrency (CFDs) info	No	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.

Trading platforms and tools

Interactive Brokers and FXCM both give traders a wide choice of platform options, including free paper trading, a proprietary platform, a Windows desktop app, and a web-based platform. Each also lets you place trades directly from a chart, which is helpful if you like to act fast while watching price movement. ForexBrokers.com rates both brokers 5 out of 5 for Trading Platforms and Tools, showing that each offers a strong setup for active traders.

The main difference is in extras. FXCM supports copy trading and MetaTrader 4 (MT4), while Interactive Brokers does not offer either. Neither broker supports MetaTrader 5 (MT5). In ForexBrokers.com’s ranking for Trading Platforms and Tools, Interactive Brokers comes in at #2 out of 36 brokers, ahead of FXCM at #4, making Interactive Brokers the slightly stronger pick overall for platform and tool quality.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Virtual Trading (Demo) info	Yes	Yes
Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform info	Yes	Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) info	Yes	Yes
Web Platform info	Yes	Yes
Copy Trading info	No	Yes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) info	No	Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) info	No	No
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info	155	115
Charting - Trade From Chart info	Yes	Yes

Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.

Forex trading apps

Interactive Brokers and FXCM both offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android, along with stock or forex price alerts, watchlist syncing, and the ability to draw trendlines on charts. This means either broker can work well for traders who want to monitor markets and manage positions from a phone or tablet. In terms of overall quality, Interactive Brokers has the edge, earning a 5-star rating for Mobile Trading Apps and ranking #4 out of 36 brokers, while FXCM is rated 4.5 stars and ranks #16.

Where the two differ most is charting depth and drawing convenience. Interactive Brokers offers 155 technical studies in its mobile app, compared with 59 at FXCM, which may matter more to traders who rely on chart analysis. On the other hand, FXCM has one useful shortcut that Interactive Brokers does not: drawings on charts auto-save in the mobile app. If you want more chart tools and a higher-rated app overall, Interactive Brokers stands out; if auto-saving chart drawings is important, FXCM has a small practical advantage.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Android App info	Yes	Yes
Apple iOS App info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Price Alerts info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Watchlists - Syncing info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies info	155	59
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave info	No	Yes

Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.

Market research

Interactive Brokers and FXCM both give traders a solid set of market research features. Each one offers daily market commentary, forex news from major sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones, Trading Central tools, sentiment data that shows long and short positioning, TipRanks research, and an economic calendar for tracking global events. Neither broker includes Autochartist tools, so in that area they are the same.

The key difference is that Interactive Brokers goes a step further with Acuity Trading tools such as Signal Centre, while FXCM does not. That extra coverage helps explain why Interactive Brokers earns a higher research score, with 5 stars and a #3 ranking out of 36 brokers, compared with FXCM’s 4.5 stars and #11 ranking.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Daily Market Commentary (Articles) info	Yes	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) info	Yes	Yes
Autochartist info	No	No
Trading Central info	Yes	Yes
Client sentiment data info	Yes	Yes
TipRanks info	Yes	Yes
Acuity Trading info	Yes	No
Economic Calendar info	Yes	Yes

Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.

Beginners and education

For beginners looking for help learning the basics, both Interactive Brokers and FXCM offer a wide range of educational material. Each broker provides forex and CFDs education with at least 10 pieces of content on those topics, along with monthly online client webinars and plenty of beginner-focused videos, as well as advanced videos for traders who want to keep learning. That means either platform gives new traders a solid place to start and room to grow as their skills improve.

Still, Interactive Brokers comes out ahead overall for education. It earns a perfect 5-star education rating and ranks #1 out of 36 brokers in the Education category at ForexBrokers.com, while FXCM receives 4.5 stars and ranks #13. In simple terms, both brokers support learning well, but Interactive Brokers offers the stronger educational experience for beginners who want more guidance and deeper learning tools.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Webinars info	Yes	Yes
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info	Yes	Yes
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos info	Yes	Yes

Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.

Winner

After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that Interactive Brokers is better than FXCM. Interactive Brokers finished with an overall rank of #2, while FXCM finished with an overall rank of #10.

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	FXCM
Overall Rating info
Trust Score info	99	95
Range of Investments
Trading Fees
Trading Platforms
Research
Mobile Trading
Education

FAQs

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Overall Rating	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Overall Rating info
Trading Fees
Range of Investments
Trading Platforms
Mobile Trading
Research
Education
Trust Score info	99	95
Winner	check_circle
Review	Interactive Brokers Review	FXCM Review

Broker Screenshots	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Broker Gallery (click to expand) info

Regulation	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Trust Score info	99	95
Year Founded info	1977	1999
Publicly Traded (Listed) info	Yes	Yes
Bank info	No	No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info	Yes info	Yes info
Tier-1 Licenses info	8	4
Tier-2 Licenses info	2	2
Tier-3 Licenses info	0	0
Tier-4 Licenses info	0	0

Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted)	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Australia (ASIC Authorised) info	Yes	Yes
Canada (CIRO Authorised) info	Yes	Yes
Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) info	Yes	No
Japan (FSA Authorised) info	Yes	No
Singapore (MAS Authorised) info	Yes	No
Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) info	Yes
United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) info	Yes	Yes
USA (CFTC Authorized) info	Yes	No
New Zealand (FMA Authorised) info	No	No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info	Yes info	Yes info

Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted)	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Kenya (CMA Authorised) info
Israel (ISA Authorised) info	No	Yes
South Africa (FSCA Authorised) info	No	Yes
UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or CMA Authorised) info	Yes	No
India (SEBI Authorised) info	Yes	No
Jordan (JSC Authorised) info

Investments	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info	Yes	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info	8500	440
Forex Pairs (Total) info	90	46 info
U.S. Stocks (Shares) info	Yes	No
Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) info	Yes	No
Copy Trading info	No	Yes
Cryptocurrency (Underlying) info	Yes	No
Cryptocurrency (CFDs) info	No	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	FXCM
Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account info	0.226 info	0.9 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info	0.226 info	0.8 info
Inactivity Fee info	No	Yes
Order execution: Agency info	Yes	Yes
Order execution: Market Maker info	No	Yes

Funding	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Minimum Deposit info	$0	Starts from $50
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) info	No	Yes
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) info	No	Yes
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) info	Yes	Yes
Non-wire bank transfer info	Yes	Yes

Trading Platforms	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform info	Yes	Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) info	Yes	Yes
Web Platform info	Yes	Yes
Copy Trading info	No	Yes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) info	No	Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) info	No	No
cTrader info	No	No

Trading Tools	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Virtual Trading (Demo) info	Yes	Yes
Price Alerts info	Yes	Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info	155	115
Charting - Trade From Chart info	Yes	Yes
Charts can be saved info	Yes	Yes

Mobile Trading	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Android App info	Yes	Yes
Apple iOS App info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Price Alerts info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Watchlist [DELETED] info
Mobile Watchlists - Syncing info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies info	155	59
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave info	No	Yes
Mobile Research - Economic Calendar info	Yes	Yes

Research	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Daily Market Commentary (Articles) info	Yes	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) info	Yes	Yes
Autochartist info	No	No
Trading Central info	Yes	Yes
TipRanks info	Yes	Yes
Client sentiment data info	Yes	Yes
Economic Calendar info	Yes	Yes

Education	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Webinars info	Yes	Yes
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info	Yes	Yes
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos info	Yes	Yes

Major Forex Pairs	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
GBP/USD [DELETED] info
USD/JPY [DELETED] info
EUR/USD info	Yes	Yes
USD/CHF [DELETED] info
USD/CAD [DELETED] info
NZD/USD [DELETED] info
AUD/USD [DELETED] info
Review	Interactive Brokers Review	FXCM Review

Overall	Interactive Brokers	FXCM
Overall Rating info
Trading Fees
Range of Investments
Trading Platforms
Mobile Trading
Research
Education
Trust Score info	99	95
Winner	check_circle
Review	Interactive Brokers Review	FXCM Review