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IC Markets vs Interactive Brokers
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Compare IC Markets vs Interactive Brokers Side by Side
Can’t pick between IC Markets and Interactive Brokers and have doubts of which broker is actually better? Use our detailed guide of IC Markets Review vs Interactive Brokers Review, where we compared safety and licenses, trading conditions with fees, trading platforms, instruments, deposit & withdrawal conditions, and all the essential details side by side.
Summary
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Website | //www.icmarkets.com | //www.interactivebrokers.co.uk |
| Founded year | 2007 | 1977 |
| Headquarter | Australia | USA |
| Licenses | Australia, Cyprus, Seychelles | USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Japan, India |
| Minimum Deposit | 200 US$ | 100 US$ |
| Trading Platforms | cTrader, MT4, MT5 | TWS, IB WebTrader |
| Eurusd avg Spread | 1 pip | 0.3 pips |
Licenses
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Licenses Countries Info (short) |
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Interactive Brokers boasts a comprehensive regulatory framework, holding authorizations from multiple top-tier regulators across Australia, the UK, the US, Canada, and other jurisdictions, thereby strengthening its global standing. In contrast, IC Markets, while reliable, is licensed solely in Australia and by CySEC, with the latter having somewhat less stringent regulation. Additionally, IC Markets maintains an offshore entity to serve international traders.
Broker Types
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Broker types |
|
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Interactive Brokers operates as a DMA (Direct Market Access) broker, offering execution, clearance, settlement, and prime brokerage services to customers who place orders directly in the market through electronic bridges connected directly to exchanges such as NASDAQ. This allows for trading in Real Stocks, Futures, and Indices. IC Markets functions as an ECN/NDD broker, emphasizing price transparency as one of its key strengths.
Trading Conditions
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Trading Conditions |
|
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IC Markets and Interactive Brokers share some common trading conditions, catering to beginners with tight spreads and access to Expert Advisors. However, Interactive Brokers offers a more advanced trading environment, featuring API trading, making it a more suitable choice for experienced traders. In contrast, IC Markets provides Copy Trading which is a good opportunity for beginner traders to gain experience following the pattern of those more experienced traders.
Fees & Commissions
| Fees & Commissions | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Inactivity Feemonth | 0 $ | 0$ |
| Deposit fee | 0 $ | 0$ |
| Withdrawal fee | 0 $ | 0$ |
| Rollover fee eurusd buy 1 lot | -0.62 | -1.5% |
| Rollover fee eurusd sell 1 lot | 0.41 | +1.5% |
| Avg Eurusd standard acc | 1 pips | 0.3 pips |
| Gold | 1 | 1.5 bps |
| Brent oil | 5 pip | 0.05% |
| Bitcoin | 42.036 | 0.12-0.18% |
Interactive Brokers presents a highly competitive fee structure, featuring ultra-low, tight spreads across all markets, and stands out by not imposing any non-trading fees, including deposit/withdrawal or inactivity charges. On the other hand, IC Markets also refrains from levying non-trading fees with spreads lower than the industry average.
Account Types
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Account types |
|
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While both IC Markets vs Interactive Brokers offer Standard accounts, Interactive Brokers have a slight advantage here for offering more than 10 account types based on traders’ needs and peculiarities, such as Family Accounts, Small Business Accounts, Proprietary Trading Group Accounts, etc. Also, both brokers offer Islamic Accounts tailored to the needs of traders following Shia Laws.
Markets & Instruments
| Markets & Instruments | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Forex | 60 | 100+ |
| Indices | 23 | ✔️ |
| Commodities | 19 | ✔️ |
| Cryptocurrencies | 10 | 4 |
| Shares | 120+ | 70+ |
| Bonds | 9+ | ✔️ |
| Options | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Binary options | ❌ | ❌ |
| Spread betting | ❌ | ❌ |
| Treasuries | ❌ | ❌ |
| Futures | 4 | ✔️ |
| Etfs | ❌ | 13000 |
Interactive Brokers boasts a more diverse product lineup in comparison to IC Markets, encompassing Options, Bonds, Futures, as well as trading in both CFD products and Real Stocks, Futures. Moreover, Interactive Brokers offers a wider array of ETFs, thus making the instrument offering of Interactive Brokers more diverse.
Trading Platforms
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms |
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Both Interactive Brokers and IC Markets offer their proprietary trading platforms, supplemented by additional choices like MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader for IC Markets, as well as WebTrader for Interactive Brokers. Interactive Brokers’ platforms are designed with advanced technical solutions, including API trading, catering to experienced traders. Conversely, IC Markets serves traders across the experience spectrum but places a particular emphasis on technical trading through its cTrader offering.
Deposit & Withdrawal Methods
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Payment methods |
|
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The range of supported deposit methods is more diverse for IC Markets traders since the broker offers a variety of e-payment methods, while Interactive Brokers offers credit/debit cards and one e-wallet.
Others
| Feature | IC Markets | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Others |
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Others
Both IC Markets and Interactive Brokers adopt a customer-centric approach that complements their robust trading offerings. They provide comprehensive customer support through channels like Web Live Chat, phone, and email, with IC Markets offering 24/7 availability. Both brokers excel in offering valuable educational resources, although Interactive Brokers holds a notable advantage with its Trading Academy and a wide range of apps, widgets, and advanced software solutions.
Conclusion on Interactive Brokers vs IC Markets
In summary, both IC Markets vs Interactive Brokers are reliable and regulated brokers. Interactive Brokers caters to advanced traders with a focus on real stocks and futures, while IC Markets is more beginner-friendly, emphasizing CFD trading with ultra-low spreads and no commission. Interactive Brokers is suitable for options traders since IC Markets doesn’t offer that range. Here is our final recommendation:
- IC Markets –
Best Broker for Raw Spread Trading offering some of the lowest possible spreads available - Interactive Brokers – 🥇 Best Broker for Real Stock Trading offering advanced technical solutions
