Between 54-87% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Based on 69 brokers who display this data.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
BrokerDNA™
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
CMC Markets
9
/10
VISIT CMC MARKETS
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
Dukascopy
9.2
/10
VISIT DUKASCOPY
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
XTB
10
/10
VISIT XTB
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
|
About |
CMC Markets is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, NFA and ACN. CMC Markets have provided Forex trading services since 1989. |
Dukascopy is regulated by The Swiss Bank and MIFID. Dukascopy has provided Forex, CFD, commodities, indices and stock trading services since 2004. |
XTB is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. XTB have provided Forex, CFD, and social trading services since 2002. |
|
Why choose them? |
|
|
|
|
Headquarters | London, UK | Geneva, Switzerland | Level 34, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, E14 5AA, London, UK | |
TRADING SERVICES OFFERED |
||||
Spot Forex | ||||
Forex (CFD) | ||||
CFD | ||||
Spread Betting | ||||
Social Trading | ||||
MARKETS & INSTRUMENTS | ||||
Forex (currency pairs) | 32 | 48 | ||
Commodities Offered | 0 | 21 | ||
Stocks Offered | 9000 | 1606 | ||
Bitcoin | ||||
Majors | ||||
Indices | ||||
US Stocks | ||||
Penny stocks | ||||
Energies | ||||
Metals | ||||
Agriculturals | ||||
FTSE | ||||
Dow Jones | ||||
Dax | ||||
Nikkei | ||||
ETFs | ||||
IPO | ||||
See all instruments
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See all instruments
Losses can exceed deposits |
See all instruments
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
||
PLATFORM & FEATURES |
See the platforms and features offered by each broker |
|||
Screenshot |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
MT4 | ||||
MT5 | ||||
MT4 Mac | ||||
WebTrader | ||||
Mirror Trader | ||||
ZuluTrade | ||||
Sirix | ||||
cTrader | ||||
PAMM | ||||
Custom Platforms | Next Generation | SWFX Trader | Xstation5 | |
APPS |
||||
iOS |
||||
Android |
||||
Windows |
||||
Available Languages |
English, German, French, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, and Norwegian |
Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish |
English, Spanish, Czech, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, Turkish, Arabic, and Russian. |
|
See platform & features
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See platform & features
Losses can exceed deposits |
See platform & features
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
||
ACCOUNT INFORMATION |
From micro accounts to ECN accounts, compare the accounts offered by CMC Markets and Dukascopy |
|||
Demo account | ||||
Mini account | ||||
Micro account | ||||
Standard account | ||||
ECN Account | ||||
Islamic account | ||||
Zero spread account | ||||
VIP account | ||||
Fixed spreads | ||||
Variable spreads | ||||
See account options
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See account options
Losses can exceed deposits |
See account options
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
||
TRADING CONDITIONS |
||||
Scalping | ||||
Hedging | ||||
Expert advisors (EAs) | ||||
Virtual private server | ||||
Direct market access | ||||
STP broker | ||||
Market maker | ||||
Min trade | Varies | 0.01 Lot | 0.01 Lot | |
Max trade | Varies | None | 100 Lot | |
Min deposit | $200 | $5000 | $1 | |
RISK MANAGEMENT |
||||
Stop losses | ||||
Limit orders | ||||
One-click trading | ||||
Trailing stops | ||||
Price alerts | ||||
Signal trading | ||||
FUNDING METHODS |
||||
Credit card | ||||
Bank transfer | ||||
Standard account | ||||
Paypal | ||||
Neteller | ||||
Skrill | ||||
Payment processing time | 1-5 business days | Varies | Same day if requested before 1PM | |
Withdrawal processing time | 1-2 business days | Varies | Same day if requested before 1PM | |
See all funding options
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
See all funding options
Losses can exceed deposits |
See all funding options
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
||
DETAILED INFO |
||||
Excluded countries | US | US | US,IN,PK,BD,IQ,IR,IL,AF,AU,CA | |
Contact email | Send Email | Send Email | Send Email | |
Phone number | +1300 303 888 | 41 227994848 | 44 2036953085 | |
Live Chat | ||||
Website | https://www.cmcmarkets.com | https://www.dukascopy.com/ | www.xtb.com | |
Spreads: | ||||
EUR/USD (Average: 0.7 pips) | 0.7 pips + $0.00 | 1.8 pips + $10.00 | 0.1 pips | |
GBP/USD (Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.9 pips + $0.00 | 2.3 pips + $10.00 | 0.1 pips | |
USD/JPY (Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.7 pips + $0.00 | 1.7 pips + $10.00 | 0.1 pips | |
AUD/USD (Average: 0.8 pips) | 0.9 pips + $0.00 | 1.7 pips + $10.00 | 0.2 pips | |
USD/CHF (Average: 2.3 pips) | 1.5 pips + $0.00 | 1.7 pips + $10.00 | 0.2 pips | |
USD/CAD (Average: 2.9 pips) | 1.7 pips + $0.00 | 2.3 pips + $10.00 | 0.3 pips | |
NZD/USD (Average: 3.6 pips) | 2.0 pips + $0.00 | 2.5 pips + $10.00 | 0.3 pips | |
EUR/GBP (Average: 2.4 pips) | 1.1 pips + $0.00 | 1.4 pips + $10.00 | 0.1 pips | |
View all spreads
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
View all spreads
Losses can exceed deposits |
View all spreads
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
||
FEES |
||||
Inactivity Fee | Yes | Yes | No | |
Commission | Yes, 0.10% | Yes | Yes | |
Deposit Fee | Varies | No | No | |
Withdrawal Fee | Varies | No | No | |
View All Fees
78% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider |
View All Fees
Losses can exceed deposits |
View All Fees
82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
||
Featured In | Best CFD BrokersBest Spread Betting BrokersBest Brokers For StocksBest Brokers For IndicesBest FCA Regulated Brokers | Best Brokers For CocoaBest Brokers For MetalsBest Brokers For Natural GasBest Dow Jones BrokersBest DAX Brokers | Best Brokers That Accept PayPalBest Forex Islamic AccountsBest Litecoin BrokersBest Brokers For GoldBest Brokers For Copper | |
Last update |
All information collected from https://www.cmcmarkets.com. Last updated on 01/01/2021. |
All information collected from https://www.dukascopy.com/. Last updated on 01/01/2021. |
All information collected from www.xtb.com. Last updated on 01/01/2021. |
|
Company |
CMC Markets were founded in 1989 and are one of the leading CFD and spread betting providers. The main differentiator about CMC Markets is their bespoke award-winning trading platform. CMC Markets also offer very reasonable spreads and offer a wide range of instruments. |
Dukascopy is the broker designed for active traders, hedge funds, banks and professionals. Dukascopy allow you to trade both Forex and metals through the same platform. Dukascopy have focused on providing an attractive pricing model with spreads for popular forex pairs starting as low as 0.2 pips. For more information about trading with Dukascopy, we have put together an indepth Dukascopy review with some of the pros and cons about this broker. |
XTB provides hyper fast execution and facilitates seminars with external professional traders, providing personalised education depending on your individual circumstances. |
|
Popular comparisons |
Popular comparisons feat. CMC Markets
ETX Capital vs CMC Markets |
Popular comparisons feat. Dukascopy
Dukascopy vs Swissquote |
Popular comparisons feat. XTB
XTB vs IG |
If you’re a trader looking for a broker with low spreads on popular instruments like EUR/USD, CMC Markets is likely a better option. However, if you want a broker that offers MetaTrader4 as a trading platform, Dukascopy may be more suitable.
You can determine a broker’s reliability & trustworthiness by looking at eight factors:
Based on these eight factors, we consider CMC Markets to be the more reliable broker. We’ve broken down why below:
CMC Markets is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority, while Dukascopy is regulated by FINMA & FSA.
XTB are also regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
If a broker has been around for a long period of time, they’re likely to be more reliable (in comparison, most scam brokers only exist for several years before they disappear).
This also suggests that a broker has good risk management processes that have prevented them being caught out by major financial events, as was the case with Alpari UK going bust when they were there was a policy reversal of capping the Swiss Franc against the Euro.
CMC Markets has been around for 32 years, while Dukascopy have been around for 23 years. Our third alternative broker, XTB, have been around for 19 years.
You wouldn’t want your broker paying their staff out of the same bank account account that you’re depositing your trading funds into, would you?
Fortunately, all regulated brokers must use segregated bank accounts to hold client money. This is one of the reasons why we only feature regulated brokers here on BrokerNotes.
All three brokers above will hold your money in a separate bank account.
Most tier-1 banks like Barclays and HSBC have been around for over 100 years and manage trillions of dollars of assets, proving that they have stood the test of time.
Both CMC Markets and Dukascopy use tier one banks, but we are not sure of which bank specifically.
If a broker has been penalised by a regulator in the past five years, it may mean that they were caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing - which may be of concern to you as an end client.
We’re not aware of any penalties or fines imposed by regulators on CMC Markets or Dukascopy in the past five years.
While not always the case, the number of traders a broker has can be a good metric for understanding how reputable a brokers is.
Companies that are publicly listed on a stock exchange tend to be considered more reputable as they will be required to disclose their financials, and aspects of their operations, to the public.
CMC Markets is a publicly listed company, while on the other hand Dukascopy is still a privately owned company.
Most reputable brokers tend to be headquartered in a major capital city or a financial hub such as Cyprus.
CMC Markets are based in London, UK, while Dukascopy are based in Geneva, Switzerland .
Assuming the brokers you’re choosing between are reputable, the next point to consider is whether they offer all of the features you require to trade.
This can be broken down into three categories:
If you’re looking to trade currency pairs, both CMC Markets and Dukascopy offer forex trading. CMC Markets have a slightly larger variety of currency pairs with 32 pairs, compared to offered by Dukascopy. Also, if you’re looking to trade cryptocurrencies,
If you’re looking to trade commodities like gold, silver or oil, CMC Markets may be a better fit as Dukascopy does not offer commodity trading.
Dukascopy also offer social trading, which allows you to follow the trading activity, engage in discussion, and even copy the trades of other traders.
In addition to the platform, you’ll also want to ensure that the broker you choose offers the account type best suited to your needs. XTB, for example, offer a mini account, standard account and VIP account.
If you have a certain trading style (e.g. scalping, hedging, or using EAs), you’ll want to double check that the broker you choose allows this, as not all of them do.
CMC Markets does allow scalping and hedging. While Dukascopy also allows scalping and hedging. You can't trade with EAs (expert advisors) on CMC Markets but you can trade EAs (expert advisors) with Dukascopy.
In terms of risk management tools, neither CMC Markets or Dukascopy offers negative balance protection. Negative balance protection prevents you owing your broker more than you’ve deposited.
CMC Markets also offer stop losses, limit orders, and price alerts to help you automate aspects of your trading strategy.
CMC Markets accept Payoneer.
Comparing the fee structures of different brokers can be a minefield at times. The important thing to consider is what the spreads & fees are on the specific instruments and account type that you will be using.
For trading EUR/USD, CMC Markets charges 0.70 points, while Dukascopy charges 0.10 points. Therefore, Dukascopy is the more affordable for this instrument. If you want to compare their spreads across more instruments, You can jump back up to our comparison of their currency pair & indice spreads above.
Another consideration is whether or not your broker charges inactivity, deposit/withdrawal fees, or commissions on trades. If you’re a frequent trader, inactivity fees are unlikely to be an issue.
There’s no such thing as a perfect broker, but some are going to be a better fit for you than others.
Objectively, CMC Markets is more reliable based on our criteria above. CMC Markets has a wider range of instruments to trade. CMC Markets offer lower spreads on popular forex instruments like EUR/USD and are used by more traders.
Both brokers offer demo accounts, allowing you to test their platforms to see which is suitable for you. You can test drive their demos using the links below:
Finally, if you’re really not sure you can always use our free tool (takes 15 seconds) that will help you find a suitable broker based on your precise requirements here.