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Plus500 vs Interactive Brokers

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Plus500
Interactive Brokers

Compare Plus500 vs Interactive Brokers Side by Side

Can’t pick between Plus500 and Interactive Brokers and have doubts of which broker is actually better? Use our detailed guide of Plus500 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

FeaturePlus500Interactive Brokers
Website//www.plus500.com//www.interactivebrokers.co.uk
Founded year20081977
HeadquarterIsraelUSA
LicensesUK, Cyprus, Australia, South Africa, Seychelles, Singapore, New Zealand, Israel, Estonia, UAEUSA, Canada, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Japan, India
Minimum Deposit100 US$100 US$
Trading PlatformsPlus500 PlatformTWS, IB WebTrader
Eurusd avg Spread0.6 pips0.3 pips

Licenses

FeaturePlus500Interactive Brokers
Licenses Countries Info (short)
  • ASIC
  • CySEC
  • ISA
  • FMA
  • IE Singapore
  • FSCA
  • CBUAE
  • FCA
  • FSA
  • ASIC
  • IIROC
  • JFSA
  • FCA
  • CFTC

Both Plus500 and Interactive Brokers enjoy strong trustworthiness, backed by multiple licenses and stringent regulatory oversight, making them reputable choices for Australian and EU clients. Notably, Interactive Brokers holds an additional US license, providing it with a slight edge in its offerings.

Broker Types

FeaturePlus500Interactive Brokers
Broker types
  • Market Making
  • ECN
  • NDD
  • DMA

Interactive Brokers employs a variety of execution models, functioning as a DMA broker for particular instruments like Real Stocks, Futures, and Indices. In the case of other instruments, it makes use of electronic bridges and implements STP and OTC models to execute orders. The execution type solely depends on the asset you trade. In contrast, Plus500 operates as a Market Maker, catering to both novice traders and specific trading strategies, providing stability by offering fixed fees or spreads to maintain consistent trading costs.

Trading Conditions

FeaturePlus500Interactive Brokers
Trading Conditions
  • commission
  • fixed spread
  • floating spread
  • low spread
  • high leverage
  • tight spread
  • zero spread
  • auto
  • hedging
  • scalping
  • beginners
  • commission
  • fixed spread
  • floating spread
  • low spread
  • tight spread
  • expert advisor
  • hedging
  • scalping

Both Plus500 and Interactive Brokers offer competitive spreads, but Interactive Brokers distinguishes itself with its more advanced trading conditions. Interactive Brokers provides a wider range of features, including options like API trading, making it a suitable choice for advanced traders. In contrast, Plus500 offers fewer trading possibilities in comparison.

Fees & Commissions

Fees & CommissionsPlus500Interactive Brokers
Inactivity Feemonth$100$
Deposit fee0$0$
Withdrawal fee0$0$
Rollover fee eurusd buy 1 lot-0.0128% -1.5%
Rollover fee eurusd sell 1 lot0.003%+1.5%
Avg Eurusd standard acc0.6 pips0.3 pips
Gold291.5 bps
Brent oil2 pips0.05%
Bitcoin0.35%0.12-0.18%

Both Plus500 and Interactive Brokers feature low fees, encompassing zero commission for deposits and withdrawals. However, Plus500 does impose an inactivity fee. In contrast, Interactive Brokers offers comparatively lower spreads when compared to Plus500.

Account Types

FeaturePlus500Interactive Brokers
Account types
  • Standard Account
  • MAM Account
  • PAMM Account
  • Standard Account
  • Islamic Account
  • Swap Free Account
  • MAM Account
  • PAMM Account

Plus500 operates on a single account model, utilizing a spread basis and granting access to a wide range of instruments. In contrast, Interactive Brokers holds a slight edge by providing over 10 different account types, catering to the specific needs and preferences of traders. These include Family Accounts, Small Business Accounts, Proprietary Trading Group Accounts, among others. Furthermore, both brokers offer Islamic Accounts tailored to meet the requirements of traders adhering to Shia Laws.

Markets & Instruments

Markets & InstrumentsPlus500Interactive Brokers
Forex71100+
Indices29✔️
Commodities22✔️
Cryptocurrencies144
Shares2000+70+
Bonds❌✔️
Options✔️✔️
Binary options❌❌
Spread betting❌❌
Treasuries❌❌
Futures❌✔️
Etfs9513000

Interactive Brokers range of instruments is more diverse compared to Plus500, the broker offers not only trading with CFD on Currencies, Bonds, and Options products but also Real Stocks and Futures. Also the number of ETFs for Interactive Brokers is larger. While Plus500 range remains relatively limited its number of instruments for some markets is more diverse, especially for CFD Shares

Trading Platforms

FeaturePlus500Interactive Brokers
Platforms
  • own platform
  • own platform
  • WebTrader

The platform offering for Interactive Brokers is more sophisticated with a number of proprietary platforms catered to different trading needs and levels offering advanced API and Algorithmic solutions, as well as the broker offers an additional WebTrader platform. While Plus500 platform offering is restricted to one proprietary platform which is simple with a user-friendly interface suitable for beginner traders.

Deposit & Withdrawal Methods

FeaturePlu500Interactive Brokers
Payment methods
  • credit card
  • debit card
  • neteller
  • PayPal
  • skrill
  • credit card
  • debit card
  • BPay

For Interactive Brokers, the range of supported deposit methods is more limited, as the broker offers only credit/debit cards and a single e-wallet. In contrast, Plus500 provides a variety of e-payment methods, offering their traders a more diverse selection.

Others

FeaturePlus500Interactive Brokers
Others
  • Webinar
  • Video Tutorial
  • live chat
  • 24/5 availability
  • Webinar
  • Video Tutorial
  • telephone
  • live chat

Others

Both Plus500 vs Interactive Brokers provide excellent customer support. However, Plus500 is losing the marks here by providing a rather limited range of educational materials and no trading course in general, while Interactive Brokers is more advanced and offers its Trading Academy that helps to improve traders’ knowledge and includes comprehensive materials, tutorials, and webinars, and a wide range of apps, widgets, and advanced software solutions.

Conclusion on Interactive Brokers vs Plus500

Concluding Plus500 vs Interactive Brokers comparison we found both brokers reliable and trustable with solid regulation and background. Both brokers provide their own proprietary platforms, low spreads and trading fees, and a wide range of trading instruments. However, the advantage goes to Interactive Brokers which caters to advanced traders with a focus on real stocks and futures. Here is our final recommendation:

  • Plus500 – 🥇 Best for CFD Shares Trading and good for beginner traders looking for an easy-to-use platform.
  • Interactive Brokers – 🥇 Best Broker for Long-Term Trading offering a wide range of trading instruments