Plus500 vs IC Markets 2024

Trust Score is a data-driven rating system that provides an at-a-glance rating of a broker’s overall trust by tracking 60+ brokers and over 100 regulatory jurisdictions across the globe. To make things clearer for everyday traders, we’ve created a five-tier system for regulators and Trust Score rating labels. Learn more about Trust Score, and check out our country guides to see the most trusted brokers in your country of residence.

Plus500 has a Trust Score of 99, giving it a "Highly Trusted" Trust Score Label.

IC Markets has a Trust Score of 84, giving it a "Trusted" Trust Score Label.

Plus500 is a highly-trusted broker that holds six Tier-1 regulatory licenses from reputable jurisdictions around the globe and has a Trust Score rating of 99. Traders at Plus500 gain access to share trading via the Plus500 Invest platform, and CFD traders will find good selection of CFDs available via the broker’s separate Plus500 CFD platform. Though Plus500 does not provide access to the popular MetaTrader suite, we found its proprietary trading platform to be intuitive. While its educational content and range of research trails category leaders, Plus500 is still a great choice for less demanding traders.

IC Markets' low spreads, competitive pricing, and scalable execution policies make it a great choice for algorithmic traders. A trusted broker licensed in multiple Tier-1 regulatory jurisdictions, IC Markets boasts support for a variety of social copy trading apps, including its IC Social mobile app. IC Markets consistently ranks near or at the top of our ratings for MetaTrader brokers (and was our top pick for MetaTrader brokers in 2023). Traders at IC Markets gain access to MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, as well as the Advanced Trading Tools package for desktop and support for third-party plugins from Autochartist and Trading Central. It's worth noting that the broker's research and educational offerings still have room to improve.

Tier-1 is reserved for the strictest, most stringent regulatory jurisdictions in the world. Tier-1 regulators impose additional capital requirements and require a tougher initial screening process. Plus500 holds regulatory licenses in the following Tier-1 jurisdictions: Australia (ASIC Authorised), Japan (SFC Authorised), Singapore (MAS Authorised), New Zealand (FMA Authorised) and United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised). IC Markets, on the other hand, is licensed in these Tier-1 regulatory jurisdictions: Australia (ASIC Authorised). Neither have Canada (CIRO Authorised), Hong Kong (SFC Authorised), CBI Authorised (Ireland), Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) and USA (CFTC Authorized)

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, Plus500 is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised), Israel (ISA Authorised), South Africa (FSCA Authorised) and UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised), while IC Markets is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised).. Neither have China (CBRC Authorised), India (SEBI Authorised), Russia (CBR Authorised) and Thailand (SEC Authorised). When comparing tier-3 licenses Plus500 is none, while IC Markets is Bahamas (SCB Authorised) and Mauritius (FSC Authorised).. Neither have Belize (FSC Authorised), Bermuda (BMA Authorised), British Virgin Islands (FSC Authorised), Cayman Islands (CIMA Authorised) and Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).

Whether your broker develops its own proprietary platforms or provides access to popular third-party platforms, you should make sure you can use your preferred type of trading platform. In our testing, we found that Plus500 offers a Proprietary Platform, whereas IC Markets supports a Desktop Platform (Windows), cTrader and ZuluTrade. Neither have DupliTrade

For MetaTrader Plus500 provides neither of these, while IC Markets provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). If MetaTrader is a must for you, read our guides on the best MT4 brokers or best MT5 brokers.

Plus500 requires a minimum deposit of €100, while IC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $200. You'll also want to make sure that your broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. In our testing, we've found that both Plus500 and IC Markets offer Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) for deposits

When choosing a forex broker, it’s important to consider each broker’s available investment products and tradeable asset classes. We’ve researched each broker’s individual offering of investments to help you pick the right broker for what you want to trade. During our testing, we found that Plus500 delivers a more diverse selection of investment options than IC Markets, offering tradeable asset classes and investment types such as Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Metals, Energies, Agriculturals, ETF and U.S. Stocks (CFD). Neither have Spread Betting.

We also keep track of each broker’s total number of tradeable symbols; Plus500 offers 5500, and IC Markets offers a total of 3583 tradeable symbols.

Crypto trading has become popular among forex traders across a range of international jurisdictions. As a result, many forex brokers now offer crypto products to their clients; most crypto assets are offered either as an underlying physical asset (such as when you own actual bitcoin assets, for example) or as a derivative product like a CFD. If you are looking to trade physical cryptocurrencies, you’ll find that neither Plus500 nor IC Markets allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

Market research plays a huge role in any forex trader’s ability to conduct analysis within the global forex market. We test each broker’s research offering to help you decide which broker is right for your technical or fundamental analysis needs. Plus500 delivers the following research tools: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts and Trading Central (Recognia). IC Markets, on the other hand, provides the tools listed here: Autochartist, Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources), Trading Central (Recognia) and Social Trading / Copy Trading

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