Interactive Brokers vs Questrade 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 Questrade: Interactive Brokers, founded in 1977, is publicly traded and not a bank; Questrade, founded in 2000, is privately held and also not a bank.

On regulation, Interactive Brokers holds 8 Tier-1 licenses and 2 Tier-2 licenses, while Questrade holds 1 Tier-1 license and no Tier-2 licenses. According to ForexBrokers.com’s Trust Score scale (90–99 highly trusted, 80–89 trusted, 70–79 average risk, 60–69 high risk, under 59 not trusted), Interactive Brokers scores 99/99 (highly trusted) and Questrade scores 85/99 (trusted).

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Year Founded info	1977	2000
Publicly Traded (Listed) info	Yes	No
Bank info	No	No
Tier-1 Licenses info	8	1
Tier-2 Licenses info	2	0
Tier-3 Licenses info	0	0
Tier-4 Licenses info	0	0

Fees

Interactive Brokers comes out ahead on commissions and fees, especially for forex traders who want lower trading costs. IBKR uses a commission-based model with tight pricing, and its average EUR/USD spread in Q3 2024 was 0.19 pips, or about 0.59 pips all-in after commission. A standard 100,000-unit EUR/USD trade can work out to roughly $6 to $9 total, which is generally much cheaper than many spread-only brokers. Interactive Brokers is rated 5 stars and ranked #2 out of 36 for commissions and fees by ForexBrokers.com.

Questrade, by contrast, is a spread broker, so the cost is built into the bid-ask spread rather than charged as a separate commission. While Questrade says spreads can be as low as 0.8 pips, real-world major-pair spreads were closer to 2.1 to 2.5 pips in testing, which can make a standard lot trade cost about $20. CFD pricing can also add up quickly, since Questrade charges a $9.95 USD trading fee per unit on top of the spread, plus overnight financing charges if you keep positions open. Questrade is rated 3.5 stars and ranked #33 out of 36 for commissions and fees.

In simple terms, Interactive Brokers is the better choice if low trading costs are your main goal, especially for frequent forex trading or larger order sizes. Questrade may still appeal to some traders for its straightforward spread-based pricing, but its wider spreads and added CFD fees can make it the more expensive option overall. For commissions and fees alone, IBKR offers the better value.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Minimum Deposit info	$0	$0
Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account info	0.226 info	0.8 or higher
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info	0.226 info	N/A
Non-wire bank transfer info	Yes	No
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) info	No	No
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) info	No	No
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 Questrade. It gives clients access to about 8,500 tradeable symbols, including exchange-traded securities on both U.S. and international exchanges, plus the ability to buy actual cryptocurrency. Interactive Brokers also supports forex trading, with around 90 tradeable currency pairs. Questrade, by comparison, offers about 675 tradeable symbols and does not provide access to U.S. or international exchange-traded securities.

Both brokers offer forex trading as a spot contract or CFD-style product, but Questrade lists more forex pairs at around 110. Neither broker offers copy trading, and neither provides cryptocurrency CFDs. For range of investments, both are rated 5 out of 5 stars, but ForexBrokers.com ranks Interactive Brokers #1 out of 36 brokers in this category, while Questrade is ranked #12.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info	Yes	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info	8500	675
Forex Pairs (Total) info	90	110
U.S. Stocks (Shares) info	Yes	No
Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) info	Yes	No
Copy Trading info	No	No
Cryptocurrency (Underlying) info	Yes	No
Cryptocurrency (CFDs) info	No	No
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).

Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.

Trading platforms and tools

Interactive Brokers and Questrade both give traders a solid set of platform choices, including a free simulated paper trading account, their own in-house platform, a Windows desktop download, and a web-based platform you can use in your browser. Each broker also lets you trade directly from a stock chart, which can make order entry faster and easier. Neither broker supports copy trading, MetaTrader 4, or MetaTrader 5, so if you are looking for those features, you will need to look elsewhere.

When it comes to trading platforms and tools, Interactive Brokers stands out with a 5-star rating and a #2 ranking out of 36 brokers from ForexBrokers.com, while Questrade is rated 4 stars and ranks #28. That difference suggests Interactive Brokers offers a stronger overall experience for active traders who want more advanced platform options and trading tools, while Questrade still covers the basics well for everyday investing and trading.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
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	No
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) info	No	No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) info	No	No
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info	155	64
Charting - Trade From Chart info	Yes	Yes

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

Forex trading apps

Interactive Brokers and Questrade both offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android, along with stock and forex price alerts and watchlist syncing between the app and an online account. Each app also lets users draw trendlines on charts, making it easy to follow market moves on the go. For everyday mobile trading features, both brokers cover the basics well.

Where Interactive Brokers stands out is in charting depth and overall mobile app quality. Its app offers 155 technical studies, compared with Questrade’s 64, and it earns a 5-star rating for Mobile Trading Apps versus Questrade’s 3.5 stars. ForexBrokers.com also ranks Interactive Brokers much higher in this category, placing it #4 out of 36 brokers, while Questrade comes in at #28. One area where Questrade has an edge is that its mobile app auto-saves chart drawings, while Interactive Brokers does not.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
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	64
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave info	No	Yes

Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.

Market research

When comparing Interactive Brokers and Questrade for market research, Interactive Brokers comes out ahead overall. It offers daily market commentary, forex news from top sources like Bloomberg and Reuters, a sentiment tool that shows long and short positioning, Acuity Trading research, and an economic calendar with global events. It also includes Trading Central and TipRanks, giving traders access to useful third-party insights and analysis.

Questrade also provides some helpful research features, including Autochartist, Trading Central, and TipRanks, but it lacks several extras offered by Interactive Brokers, such as daily commentary, top-tier forex news, sentiment tools, Acuity Trading, and an economic calendar. This gap is reflected in the ratings and rankings: Interactive Brokers earns 5 out of 5 stars for Research and ranks #3 out of 36 brokers, while Questrade scores 3.5 out of 5 stars and ranks #34.

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

Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.

Beginners and education

For beginners looking for trading education, Interactive Brokers has a clear edge over Questrade. Interactive Brokers offers forex and CFD learning materials, monthly client webinars, and plenty of video content for both new and experienced traders, including at least 10 beginner videos and 10 advanced videos. That depth of coverage helps new users build skills step by step, whether they want to learn the basics or explore more complex topics.

Questrade provides some educational support, but it falls short in several key areas compared with Interactive Brokers. It does not offer the same level of forex or CFD-specific education, monthly webinars, or large video libraries for beginners and advanced traders. That difference is reflected in their scores and rankings: Interactive Brokers earns 5 stars for Education and ranks #1 out of 36 brokers, while Questrade gets 3.5 stars and ranks #28.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Webinars info	Yes	No
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info	Yes	No
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos info	Yes	No

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 Questrade. Interactive Brokers finished with an overall rank of #2, while Questrade finished with an overall rank of #29.

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	Questrade
Overall Rating info
Trust Score info	99	85
Range of Investments
Trading Fees
Trading Platforms
Research
Mobile Trading
Education

FAQs

Can you trade cryptocurrency with Interactive Brokers or Questrade?

What funding options does each broker offer?

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Overall Rating	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Overall Rating info
Trading Fees
Range of Investments
Trading Platforms
Mobile Trading
Research
Education
Trust Score info	99	85
Winner	check_circle
Review	Interactive Brokers Review	Questrade Review

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

Regulation	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Trust Score info	99	85
Year Founded info	1977	2000
Publicly Traded (Listed) info	Yes	No
Bank info	No	No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info	Yes info	No
Tier-1 Licenses info	8	1
Tier-2 Licenses info	2	0
Tier-3 Licenses info	0	0
Tier-4 Licenses info	0	0

Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted)	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Australia (ASIC Authorised) info	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	No
United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) info	Yes	No
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	No

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

Investments	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info	Yes	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info	8500	675
Forex Pairs (Total) info	90	110
U.S. Stocks (Shares) info	Yes	No
Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) info	Yes	No
Copy Trading info	No	No
Cryptocurrency (Underlying) info	Yes	No
Cryptocurrency (CFDs) info	No	No
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).

Cost	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account info	0.226 info	0.8 or higher
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info	0.226 info	N/A
Inactivity Fee info	No	No
Order execution: Agency info	Yes	Yes
Order execution: Market Maker info	No	No

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

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

Trading Tools	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Virtual Trading (Demo) info	Yes	Yes
Price Alerts info	Yes	Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info	155	64
Charting - Trade From Chart info	Yes	Yes
Charts can be saved info	Yes	Yes

Mobile Trading	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
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	64
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave info	No	Yes
Mobile Research - Economic Calendar info	Yes	Yes

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

Education	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Webinars info	Yes	No
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info	Yes	No
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos info	Yes	No

Major Forex Pairs	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
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	Questrade Review

Overall	Interactive Brokers	Questrade
Overall Rating info
Trading Fees
Range of Investments
Trading Platforms
Mobile Trading
Research
Education
Trust Score info	99	85
Winner	check_circle
Review	Interactive Brokers Review	Questrade Review