Between 54-87% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Based on 69 brokers who display this data.
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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. |
Exness
9.5
/10
VISIT EXNESS
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. |
IC Markets
9.1
/10
VISIT IC 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. |
Pepperstone
9.3
/10
VISIT PEPPERSTONE
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. |
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About |
Exness is regulated by CySEC, CRFIN, BaFin, AFM, Banque de France, CNMV, CONSOB, FI, KNF. Exness have provided Forex trading services since 2008. |
IC Markets is regulated by ASIC. IC Markets have provided Forex trading services since 2007. |
Pepperstone is regulated by ASIC. Pepperstone have provided Forex trading services since 2010. |
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Why choose them? |
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Headquarters | Limasol, Cyprus; St. Vincent and the Grenadines | Sydney, Australia | Melbourne, Australia | |
TRADING SERVICES OFFERED |
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Spot Forex | ||||
Forex (CFD) | ||||
CFD | ||||
Spread Betting | ||||
Social Trading | ||||
MARKETS & INSTRUMENTS | ||||
Forex (currency pairs) | 103 | 60 | 61 | |
Commodities Offered | 0 | 19 | 12 | |
Stocks Offered | 0 | 120 | 60 | |
Bitcoin | ||||
Majors | ||||
Indices | ||||
US Stocks | ||||
Penny stocks | ||||
Energies | ||||
Metals | ||||
Agriculturals | ||||
FTSE | ||||
Dow Jones | ||||
Dax | ||||
Nikkei | ||||
ETFs | ||||
IPO | ||||
See all instruments
54.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See all instruments
Losses can exceed deposits |
See all instruments
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
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PLATFORM & FEATURES |
See the platforms and features offered by each broker |
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Screenshot |
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MT4 | ||||
MT5 | ||||
MT4 Mac | ||||
WebTrader | ||||
Mirror Trader | ||||
ZuluTrade | ||||
Sirix | ||||
cTrader | ||||
PAMM | ||||
Custom Platforms | No | No | No | |
APPS |
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iOS |
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Android |
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Windows |
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Available Languages |
English, Russian, Chinese, Urdu, Malay, Indonesian, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, Tamil, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, and Spanish |
English, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Afrikans, Danish, Dutch, and German |
English, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Arabic |
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See platform & features
54.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See platform & features
Losses can exceed deposits |
See platform & features
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
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ACCOUNT INFORMATION |
From micro accounts to ECN accounts, compare the accounts offered by Exness and IC Markets |
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Demo account | ||||
Mini account | ||||
Micro account | ||||
Standard account | ||||
ECN Account | ||||
Islamic account | ||||
Zero spread account | ||||
VIP account | ||||
Fixed spreads | ||||
Variable spreads | ||||
See account options
54.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See account options
Losses can exceed deposits |
See account options
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
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TRADING CONDITIONS |
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Scalping | ||||
Hedging | ||||
Expert advisors (EAs) | ||||
Virtual private server | ||||
Direct market access | ||||
STP broker | ||||
Market maker | ||||
Min trade | 0.01 Lot | 0.01 Lot | 0.01 Lot | |
Max trade | 200 Lot | None | None | |
Min deposit | $1 | $200 | $200 | |
RISK MANAGEMENT |
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Stop losses | ||||
Limit orders | ||||
One-click trading | ||||
Trailing stops | ||||
Price alerts | ||||
Signal trading | ||||
FUNDING METHODS |
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Credit card | ||||
Bank transfer | ||||
Standard account | ||||
Paypal | ||||
Neteller | ||||
Skrill | ||||
Payment processing time | 1 business day | Varies | Varies | |
Withdrawal processing time | 1 business day | Varies | Varies | |
See all funding options
54.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See all funding options
Losses can exceed deposits |
See all funding options
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
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DETAILED INFO |
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Excluded countries | AF, GN, SL, BW, IR, SY, MM, IQ, TG, KH, LS, YE, CI , LR, ZW, CU, LY, TZ, CG, ML, BO, LR, NE, AO, GM, NG, AG, GH, KR, KG, GN, SN, NA | AF, GN, SL, BW, IR, SY, MM, IQ, TG, KH, LS, YE, CI , LR, ZW, CU, LY, TZ, CG, ML, BO, LR, NE, AO, GM, NG, AG, GH, KR, KG, GN, SN, NA | KR,IR,IQ,SY,JP,US,ES | |
Contact email | Send Email | Send Email | Send Email | |
Phone number | 357 25 030 959 | +44 800 014 8775 | 61 3 9020 0155 | |
Live Chat | ||||
Website | https://www.exness.com/ | http://www.icmarkets.com/ | https://pepperstone.com/ | |
Spreads: | ||||
EUR/USD (Average: 0.7 pips) | 1.1 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 0.09 pips + $5.00 | |
GBP/USD (Average: 1.1 pips) | 1.2 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 0.59 pips + $5.00 | |
USD/JPY (Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.2 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 0.25 pips + $5.00 | |
AUD/USD (Average: 0.8 pips) | 0.2 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 0.17 pips + $5.00 | |
USD/CHF (Average: 2.3 pips) | 0.3 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 0.35 pips + $5.00 | |
USD/CAD (Average: 2.9 pips) | 0.3 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 0.31 pips + $5.00 | |
NZD/USD (Average: 3.6 pips) | 0.2 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 1.1 pips + $5.00 | |
EUR/GBP (Average: 2.4 pips) | 0.3 pips | 1.0 pips + $4.00 | 1.0 pips + $5.00 | |
View all spreads
54.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
View all spreads
Losses can exceed deposits |
View all spreads
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
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FEES |
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Inactivity Fee | No | No | No | |
Commission | $10- $30 | Yes | Yes | |
Deposit Fee | Yes | Varies | No | |
Withdrawal Fee | Yes | No | No | |
View All Fees
54.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
View All Fees
Losses can exceed deposits |
View All Fees
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
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Last update |
All information collected from https://www.exness.com/. Last updated on 01/01/2021. |
All information collected from http://www.icmarkets.com/. Last updated on 01/01/2021. |
All information collected from https://pepperstone.com/. Last updated on 01/01/2021. |
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Company |
EXNESS was founded in 2008 and have quickly become a global leader in forex brokerage with a monthly trading volume of over 180 billion USD. EXNESS have grown to a leading player in the online brokerage company by providing 0% commission on deposit and withdrawals, tight spreads, no hidden commissions, instant withdrawals and 24/7 technical support in 13 different languages. |
IC Markets is an online forex trading service provider who are regulated by the ASIC. To open an account with IC Markets, minimum deposits start from $200. |
Pepperstone provide a trading platform for retail and institutional investors looking for a broker that provides fast execution, reliable technology, award winning customer service all at superior competitive pricing. |
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Popular comparisons |
Popular comparisons feat. Exness
ETX Capital vs Exness |
Popular comparisons feat. IC Markets
IC Markets vs XM |
Popular comparisons feat. Pepperstone
Pepperstone vs IC Markets |
If you’re a trader looking for a broker that offers a wide variety of instruments to trade, Exness is likely the better option out of these brokers. However, if you want a broker that supports live chat, IC Markets may be more suitable.
You can determine a broker’s reliability & trustworthiness by looking at eight factors:
Based on these eight factors, we consider Exness and IC Markets to be equally reliable. We’ve broken down why below:
Exness is regulated by CySEC, CRFIN, BaFin, AFM, Banque de France, CNMV, CONSOB, FI, KNF, while IC Markets is regulated by ASIC.
Pepperstone 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.
Exness has been around for 13 years, while IC Markets have been around for 14 years. Our third alternative broker, Pepperstone, have been around for 11 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 Exness and IC Markets 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 Exness or IC Markets 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.
Both Exness and IC Markets are privately owned companies.
Most reputable brokers tend to be headquartered in a major capital city or a financial hub such as Cyprus.
Exness are based in Limasol, Cyprus; St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while IC Markets are based in Sydney, Australia .
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 Exness and IC Markets offer forex trading. Exness have a slightly larger variety of currency pairs with 103 pairs, compared to 60 offered by IC Markets. Also, if you’re looking to trade cryptocurrencies, IC Markets offers a handful of cryptocurrency CFDs to trade, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.
If you’re looking to trade commodities like gold, silver or oil, Exness may be a better fit as IC Markets does not offer commodity trading.
IC Markets also offer social trading, which allows you to follow the trading activity, engage in discussion, and even copy the trades of other traders.
If you trade forex, there’s a good chance you might want a broker that offers the popular MT4 trading platform. If that’s the case, both Exness and IC Markets offer this. Both brokers also offer the new & improved MT5 platformOur alternative broker, Pepperstone, also offers MT4 and MT5.
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.
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.
Exness does allow scalping and hedging. While IC Markets also allows scalping and hedging. You can trade with EAs (expert advisors) on both Exness and IC Markets.
In terms of risk management tools, neither Exness or IC Markets offers negative balance protection. Negative balance protection prevents you owing your broker more than you’ve deposited.
Exness accept Neteller while IC Markets accept Paypal.
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, Exness charges 0.10 points, while IC Markets charges 0.00 points. Therefore, IC Markets 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, IC Markets is more reliable based on our criteria above. Exness has a wider range of instruments to trade. Exness 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.