XTB vs IC Markets 2022

XTB has a trust score of 95, giving it a "Highly Trusted" trust label.

• "Highly Trusted" (90-99) - These brokers are considered the most trustworthy firms in the industry. Simply put, we would not hesitate to open and fund an account with a Highly Trusted broker
• "Trusted" (80-89) - These brokers are reliable and trustworthy. "Trusted" firms are a solid choice, and may simply hold fewer regulatory licences or feature different corporate structures than those brokers that have earned our top Trust Score rating.
• "Average Risk" (70-79) - Average Risk brokers are firms we generally consider to be safe, but that may warrant a closer inspection before you open and fund a live trading account. At the least, we always encourage traders to check the regulatory licenses for Average Risk firms to verify that they are regulated in their own country of residence.
• "High Risk" (60-69) - High-risk firms should be scrutinized and carefully reviewed before opening an account. These forex brokers are – in most cases – operating without credible regulatory licensing, and likely have a history of legal or financial issues. Before considering an account with a high-risk firm, we recommend checking our country guides for your country of residence to see if a more trusted broker is available.
• "Do Not Trust" (<59) - We do not recommend opening an account of any kind with a broker that earns a “Do Not Trust” rating.

IC Markets has a trust score of 86, giving it a "Trusted" trust label. Here's what each trust score label means:

Tier-1 regulators go above and beyond by requiring additional capital requirements, checking in on brokers more frequently, and putting brokers through a tougher screening process. IC Markets is ASIC Authorised (Australia), while XTB is FCA Authorised (U.K.). Both do not have IIROC Authorised (Canada), SFC Authorised (Hong Kong), CBI Authorised (Ireland), FSA Authorised (Japan), MAS Authorised (Singapore), FMA Authorised (New Zealand), FINMA Authorised (Switzerland) and CFTC Registered (USA)

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, IC Markets is CySEC Authorised (Cyprus), while XTB is CySEC Authorised (Cyprus), FSCA Authorised (South Africa) and DFSA / Central Bank Authorised (UAE). Both do not have CBRC Authorised (China), NSE Authorised (India), ISA Authorised (Israel), CBR Authorised (Russia) and SEC Authorised (Thailand). When comparing tier-3 licenses IC Markets is SCB Authorised (Bahamas), while XTB is IFSC Authorised (Belize). Both do not have BMA Authorised (Bermuda), FSC Authorised (British Virgin Islands), CIMA Authorised (Cayman Islands), FSC Authorised (Mauritius) and VFSC Authorised (Vanuatu).

For trading platforms XTB supports a Proprietary Platform and Desktop Platform (Windows), whereas IC Markets supports a Desktop Platform (Windows), cTrader and ZuluTrade. Both do not have DupliTrade.

For MetaTrader IC Markets provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), while XTB provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4). If MetaTrader is a must for you, read our guides on the best MT4 brokers or best MT5 brokers.

XTB requires a minimum deposit of $0, while IC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $200. From our testing we found XTB offers spreads of 0.9 (Q3 2021), while IC Markets offers spreads of 0.62 (August 2021). Both XTB and IC Markets offer Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) for deposits.

IC Markets offers a more diverse selection of investment options than XTB allowing you to trade Forex Trading, Trading - Forex or CFDs, Social Trading / Copy Trading, Metals, Energies, Agriculturals, ETF and U.S. Stocks (CFD). Both do not have Spread Betting. Looking at total tradeable symbols, XTB has 10000, compared to 3583 from IC Markets.

Crypto trading is popular with forex traders. Most crypto assets are offered either as the underlying physical asset or as a CFD or other derivative — including spot forex contracts. In terms of trading physical cryptocurrency neither XTB nor IC Markets allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

In terms of research and research tools IC Markets gives traders the following tools: Autochartist, Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources), Trading Central (Recognia) and Social Trading / Copy Trading. In comparison XTB has the tools listed here: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) and Social Trading / Copy Trading.