Interactive Brokers vs Spreadex 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. Spreadex: Interactive Brokers, founded in 1977 and publicly traded, is not a bank. Spreadex, founded in 1999, is privately held and also not a bank. On the ForexBrokers.com Trust Score, Interactive Brokers earns 99/99 (highly trusted, 90–99), while Spreadex scores 70/99 (average risk, 70–79).

Regulation and licenses: Interactive Brokers holds 8 Tier-1 licenses (considered highly trusted by ForexBrokers.com) and 2 Tier-2 licenses (considered trusted). Spreadex holds 1 Tier-1 license and no Tier-2 licenses. This difference in top-tier licensing aligns with their Trust Scores and is useful context when comparing these online brokers.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Year Founded info	1977	1999
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 of Spreadex on commissions and fees, especially for active forex traders. IBKR uses a commission-based model rather than adding a markup to spreads, with EUR/USD average pricing measured at 0.19 pips in Q3 2024 and an estimated all-in cost of 0.59 pips after commission. Its forex commissions start at 0.00002 of U.S. dollar trade value per side, with a $2 minimum per order, which means smaller trades can feel pricier, but larger and more frequent traders may benefit from lower rates and volume discounts.

Spreadex is simpler, but not as cheap on pricing. In January 2024, its average EUR/USD spread was 0.81 pips, with a minimum spread of 0.6 pips reached 60% of the time during the month. Compared with Interactive Brokers, that puts Spreadex behind on overall forex trading costs, especially for traders who care most about tight pricing. Interactive Brokers is rated 5 stars and ranked #2 out of 36 brokers for Commissions and Fees, while Spreadex is rated 4 stars and ranked #25 out of 36.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Minimum Deposit info	$0	$0
Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account info	0.226 info	0.81 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info	0.226 info	N/A info
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 and Spreadex both give traders access to forex, but they differ in what else you can trade. Interactive Brokers offers a larger forex lineup with 90 currency pairs, compared with 52 at Spreadex. It also supports a wide range of exchange-traded securities on both U.S. and international markets, so clients can buy real shares such as Apple or Vodafone. In addition, Interactive Brokers lets investors buy actual cryptocurrency, while it does not offer crypto CFDs.

Spreadex offers a slightly larger total number of tradeable symbols overall, with 10,000 versus 8,500 at Interactive Brokers, and it does provide crypto CFDs rather than delivered crypto. However, it does not offer exchange-traded securities on U.S. or international exchanges. Both brokers earn 5 out of 5 stars for Range of Investments, but Interactive Brokers is ranked #1 out of 36 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, while Spreadex is ranked #13.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info	Yes	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info	8500	10000
Forex Pairs (Total) info	90	52
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	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 Spreadex both give traders a choice of paper trading, so you can practice with a free demo account before putting real money on the line. Each broker also offers its own in-house platform and a web-based trading experience, and both let you place trades directly from a chart. Neither broker supports copy trading, MetaTrader 4, or MetaTrader 5, so traders looking for those features will need to look elsewhere.

The main difference is that Interactive Brokers adds a Windows desktop platform, while Spreadex does not. That extra software option, along with Interactive Brokers’ higher platform rating of 5 out of 5 stars and its #2 ranking out of 36 brokers from ForexBrokers.com, gives it the edge over Spreadex, which is rated 4 out of 5 stars and ranked #34. For traders focused on trading platforms and tools, Interactive Brokers offers more choice and a stronger overall setup.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Virtual Trading (Demo) info	Yes	Yes
Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform info	Yes	Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) info	Yes	No
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	58
Charting - Trade From Chart info	Yes	Yes

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

Forex trading apps

Interactive Brokers and Spreadex both offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android, and both let users set stock or forex price alerts. Each app also supports drawing trendlines on charts, which is helpful for basic technical analysis. Neither app automatically saves chart drawings, so traders may need to redraw them later when they return to a chart.

The biggest difference is in charting and syncing. Interactive Brokers stands out with watchlist symbol syncing between its mobile app and online account, plus 155 technical studies in its app charts. Spreadex does not offer watchlist syncing, and its technical study count is not listed. These gaps help explain why Interactive Brokers earns a 5-star mobile trading app rating and ranks #4 out of 36 brokers, while Spreadex holds a 4-star rating and ranks #33.

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

Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.

Market research

Interactive Brokers and Spreadex both give traders daily market commentary, forex news from major sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones, a sentiment tool showing long and short positioning, and an economic calendar for global events. That means both platforms cover the basics well for keeping track of market moves and planned news releases.

Where Interactive Brokers pulls ahead is in the range of extra research tools. It offers Trading Central, TipRanks, and Acuity Trading, while Spreadex offers Autochartist instead. Overall, Interactive Brokers is rated 5 stars for Research and ranks #3 out of 36 brokers at ForexBrokers.com, compared with Spreadex’s 4-star rating and #27 ranking.

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

Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.

Beginners and education

For beginners looking for learning support, Interactive Brokers clearly comes out ahead of Spreadex. Interactive Brokers offers forex and CFDs education, runs online educational client webinars at least once a month, and provides at least 10 beginner videos plus at least 10 advanced videos for more experienced traders. It is also rated 5 stars for Education and ranks #1 out of 36 brokers in the ForexBrokers.com Education category, which suggests a wide range of useful learning tools for new and growing traders.

Spreadex also gives beginners some helpful content, including at least 10 beginner trading videos, but it falls behind in several key areas. It does not offer forex or CFDs education at the same level, does not run monthly educational webinars, and does not provide at least 10 advanced educational videos. With a 4-star Education rating and a #33 ranking out of 36 brokers, Spreadex may suit traders who want some basic learning material, but Interactive Brokers offers a more complete education offering overall.

Feature	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Webinars info	Yes	No
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info	Yes	Yes
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 Spreadex. Interactive Brokers finished with an overall rank of #2, while Spreadex finished with an overall rank of #32.

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	Spreadex
Overall Rating info
Trust Score info	99	70
Range of Investments
Trading Fees
Trading Platforms
Research
Mobile Trading
Education

FAQs

Can you trade cryptocurrency with Interactive Brokers or Spreadex?

What funding options does each broker offer?

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Overall Rating	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Overall Rating info
Trading Fees
Range of Investments
Trading Platforms
Mobile Trading
Research
Education
Trust Score info	99	70
Winner	check_circle
Review	Interactive Brokers Review	Spreadex Review

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

Regulation	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Trust Score info	99	70
Year Founded info	1977	1999
Publicly Traded (Listed) info	Yes	No
Bank info	No	No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info	Yes info	No info
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	Spreadex
Australia (ASIC Authorised) info	Yes	No
Canada (CIRO Authorised) info	Yes	No
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	No info

Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted)	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Kenya (CMA Authorised) info
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

Investments	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info	Yes	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info	8500	10000
Forex Pairs (Total) info	90	52
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	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	Spreadex
Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account info	0.226 info	0.81 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info	0.226 info	N/A info
Inactivity Fee info	No	No
Order execution: Agency info	Yes	No
Order execution: Market Maker info	No	Yes

Funding	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
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	Spreadex
Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform info	Yes	Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) info	Yes	No
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	Spreadex
Virtual Trading (Demo) info	Yes	Yes
Price Alerts info	Yes	Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info	155	58
Charting - Trade From Chart info	Yes	Yes
Charts can be saved info	Yes	Yes

Mobile Trading	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
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	No
Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies info	155	N/A
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines info	Yes	Yes
Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave info	No	No
Mobile Research - Economic Calendar info	Yes	Yes

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

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

Major Forex Pairs	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
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	Spreadex Review

Overall	Interactive Brokers	Spreadex
Overall Rating info
Trading Fees
Range of Investments
Trading Platforms
Mobile Trading
Research
Education
Trust Score info	99	70
Winner	check_circle
Review	Interactive Brokers Review	Spreadex Review