Interactive Brokers vs IC Markets Comparison
Weโve made it easy to compare the best forex brokers, side-by-side. Our editorial team has collected thousands of data points, written hundreds of thousands of words of research, and tested over 60 brokers to help you find the best forex brokers in the industry. Our research is unbiased and independent; learn more about how we test. That same research and data powers our broker comparisons. Let's compare Interactive Brokers vs IC Markets.
Can I trust Interactive Brokers?
Interactive Brokers is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by nine Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), one Tier-2 regulator (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and zero Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). Interactive Brokers is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.
Can I trust IC Markets?
IC Markets is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. IC Markets is authorised by two Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), zero Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and two Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). IC Markets is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.
Is Interactive Brokers good?
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.
Is IC Markets good?
IC Marketsโ 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 Marketsโ research and education offerings are not as impressive as those offered by industry leaders.
What is the minimum deposit requirement for opening an account with Interactive Brokers?
To open a trading account with Interactive Brokers, you'll need to make an initial minimum deposit of $0.
What is the minimum deposit requirement for opening an account with IC Markets?
IC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $200 before you can open an account and start trading.
What funding options does each broker offer?
It's important to make sure that your forex broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. Interactive Brokers offers Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) for banking, whereas IC Markets provides Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw), Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) and Neteller (Deposit/Withdraw).
Does Interactive Brokers or IC Markets offer lower pricing?
Comparing the trading costs of forex and CFDs is not easy. Not every broker publishes average spread data, and pricing structures vary. Based on our thorough, data-driven testing of each broker's commissions and fees, we found that Interactive Brokers offers better pricing overall for traders.
Methodology: When testing each broker's commissions, fees, and pricing, we analyze multiple trade scenarios and award points based on the expansiveness (or inexpensiveness) of the broker's spreads. We then run multiple scenarios for different investor types, incorporating any miscellaneous fees, to determine an "all-in" cost per trade. Learn more about how we test.
Is Interactive Brokers or IC Markets safer for forex and CFDs trading?
At ForexBrokers.com, we track over 110 international regulatory agencies and sort them by tiers (Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, Tier-4, and Tier-5) to help you choose well-regulated, highly trusted forex brokers. Learn more about our proprietary Trust Score rating system. Based on our research on the regulatory status of over 60 brokers, we've found that Interactive Brokers holds 9 global Tier-1 licenses, while IC Markets holds 2. Interactive Brokers holds 2 global Tier-2 licenses, while IC Markets holds 0.
After evaluating each broker based on their number of held licenses, years in business, and a range of other data-driven variables, we've determined that Interactive Brokers (99) earned a higher Trust Score than IC Markets (84).
Which trading platform is better: Interactive Brokers or IC Markets?
To compare the trading platforms of both Interactive Brokers and IC Markets, we tested each broker's trading tools, research capabilities, and mobile apps. For trading tools, Interactive Brokers offers a better experience. With research, Interactive Brokers offers superior market research. Finally, we found Interactive Brokers to provide better mobile trading apps.
Hereโs what trading platforms are available at Interactive Brokers:
- Proprietary Platform - Yes
- Web Platform - Yes
- cTrader - No
- DupliTrade - No
- MT4 - No
- MT5 - No
- ZuluTrade - No
- TradingView - Yes
Hereโs what trading platforms are available at IC Markets:
- Proprietary Platform - No
- Web Platform - Yes
- cTrader - Yes
- DupliTrade - No
- MT4 - Yes
- MT5 - Yes
- ZuluTrade - Yes
- TradingView - Yes
What about MetaTrader? How about copy trading?
The MetaTrader trading platform suite is wildly popular among forex and CFD traders across the globe. IC Markets offers MetaTrader 4 (MT4), while Interactive Brokers does not. Forex traders also appreciate the ability to engage in social copy trading. While IC Markets offers copy trading, Interactive Brokers does not.
What can I trade with each broker?
Interactive Brokers provides traders 90 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to IC Markets's 61 available pairs. If you are interested in trading a full range of securities, Interactive Brokers offers traders access to 8500 tradeable symbols, while IC Markets offers access to 3583 tradeable symbols; so Interactive Brokers offers 4917 more tradeable symbols than IC Markets.
We found in our testing that Interactive Brokers offers a more diverse selection of investment options than IC Markets, allowing you to trade Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), U.S. Stocks (CFD), Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) and Cryptocurrency (Physical). Neither have Spread Betting.
Overall winner: Interactive Brokers
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We review each brokerโs overall global offering โ a โYesโ 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.