• FCA-verified · Independent ratings · Updated weekly
Side by side
Every FCA-regulated broker we cover, lined up on the metrics that actually decide which account you should fund next. There are 500 head-to-head pairings published, and each one opens a full comparison page with desk-tested spreads, pros and cons, pillar-by-pillar scoring and an editorial winner.
The research desk funds and trades every broker on this leaderboard with real capital across a sixty-day evaluation window. Nothing here is influenced by commercial arrangements, and every fact is cross-referenced against the FCA register before publication.
FCA regulated, FSCS £85K, since 1974
Rated 4.9 out of 5 after live-account testing by the desk.
Min spread
0.6 pips
Min deposit
£0
Regulator
FCA
Best for
Deepest UK market coverage
CFDs are complex instruments. Your capital is at risk.
On this page
This page is the compare tool for FCA-regulated UK brokers. The hero carries the editor's first pick because most readers arrive already halfway to a shortlist and want a quick sanity check against a name they know. Below it sit the featured head-to-head cards covering the match-ups UK traders search for most often.
Under those cards is the full comparison table, ranking the leading FCA firms against nine metrics with a review link in every row. After the table comes the pairings grid: 48 match-ups on this page, with the remaining 452 one click away on the full index, so whether your shortlist is XTB against Plus500 or Interactive Brokers against Saxo you can jump straight into the dedicated page.
Every dedicated pair page is a full editorial document: a side-by-side data table, a worked monthly cost example on a realistic trade size, per-broker pros and cons, the four checks our desk runs and a verdict that names a winner rather than sitting on the fence.
How our comparison scoring works
The same weighted framework decides every score on the site, so a rating on one page means the same thing as a rating on another. Nothing is adjusted after the fact to suit a commercial relationship.
FCA authorisation checked against the public register, segregation of client money, FSCS eligibility, ownership and the most recent audited accounts.
Spreads sampled every fifteen minutes through the London session, commission and overnight financing added on top, slippage measured across a thousand live market orders.
Platform depth, order types, charting, mobile experience, API access and how well third-party tools such as TradingView actually behave in practice.
Onboarding speed, the time a real withdrawal took from our funded account, quality of research and how quickly a human answers a hard question.
Featured head-to-head
Every card below opens a dedicated pair page with a side-by-side data table, a worked monthly cost example, per-broker pros and cons and an editorial verdict.
Best-in-class charting. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on Next Generation.
Deepest UK market coverage. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on Web.
Editorial take, CMC Markets takes the verdict on our weighted framework, but the gap is narrow enough that the deciding factor is how you trade: best-in-class charting versus deepest uk market coverage.
Best-in-class charting. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on Next Generation.
Lowest all-in FX cost. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on MT4.
Editorial take, CMC Markets takes the verdict on our weighted framework, but the gap is narrow enough that the deciding factor is how you trade: best-in-class charting versus lowest all-in fx cost.
Global multi-asset access. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on TWS.
Lowest all-in FX cost. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on MT4.
Editorial take, Pepperstone takes the verdict on our weighted framework, but the gap is narrow enough that the deciding factor is how you trade: global multi-asset access versus lowest all-in fx cost.
Global multi-asset access. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on TWS.
Institutional-grade platform. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on SaxoTraderGO.
Editorial take, Interactive Brokers takes the verdict on our weighted framework, but the gap is narrow enough that the deciding factor is how you trade: global multi-asset access versus institutional-grade platform.
Institutional-grade platform. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on SaxoTraderGO.
Cleanest proprietary platform. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on xStation 5.
Editorial take, Saxo takes the verdict on our weighted framework, but the gap is narrow enough that the deciding factor is how you trade: institutional-grade platform versus cleanest proprietary platform.
Strong UK service desk. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on Web.
Cleanest proprietary platform. Minimum deposit £0, leverage capped at 1:30, trading on xStation 5.
Editorial take, XTB takes the verdict on our weighted framework, but the gap is narrow enough that the deciding factor is how you trade: strong uk service desk versus cleanest proprietary platform.
Full comparison table
Scan the metric that matters most to your style, then open the full review straight from the row. Costs shown are the tightest published starting point; our pair pages add commission and financing on top.
| # | Broker | Rating | Min. deposit | Spread from | Platforms | FCA | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IGEditor's PickDeepest UK market coverage | ★★★★★4.9 | £0 | From 0.6 pips | Web, MT4, ProRealTime | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 2 | CMC MarketsBest-in-class chartingBest-in-class charting | ★★★★★4.9 | £0 | From 0.7 pips | Next Generation, MT4 | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 3 | PepperstoneLowest all-in FX costLowest all-in FX cost | ★★★★★4.9 | £0 | From 0.0 pips | MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 4 | Interactive BrokersGlobal multi-asset accessGlobal multi-asset access | ★★★★★4.8 | £0 | From 0.2 pips | TWS, IBKR Desktop, API | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 5 | SaxoInstitutional-grade platformInstitutional-grade platform | ★★★★★4.8 | £0 | From 0.6 pips | SaxoTraderGO, PRO | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 6 | XTBCleanest proprietary platformCleanest proprietary platform | ★★★★★4.8 | £0 | From 0.5 pips | xStation 5 | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 7 | SpreadexStrong UK service deskStrong UK service desk | ★★★★★4.7 | £0 | From 0.6 pips | Web, mobile | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 8 |  City IndexBalanced all-rounderBalanced all-rounder | ★★★★★4.7 | £100 | From 0.5 pips | Web Trader, MT4, TradingView | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 9 |  FOREX.com UKDeep FX researchDeep FX research | ★★★★★4.7 | £100 | From 0.4 pips | MT4, MT5, TradingView | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 10 |  Tickmill UKRaw spreads, low commissionRaw spreads, low commission | ★★★★★4.7 | £100 | From 0.0 pips | MT4, MT5 | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 11 |  ActivTradesFast, reliable executionFast, reliable execution | ★★★★★4.6 | £0 | From 0.5 pips | ActivTrader, MT4, MT5 | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
| 12 |  Admirals UKGreat educational libraryGreat educational library | ★★★★★4.6 | £100 | From 0.5 pips | MT4, MT5 | ✓ | Trade NowReview |
We publish a dedicated pair page for every combination of brokers on the leaderboard, so you can open the exact comparison you need. The 48 most-read pairings are below; click any card to open the full editorial pair page.
CMC Markets vs IG#2 · #1IG vs Pepperstone#1 · #3IG vs Interactive Brokers#1 · #4IG vs Saxo#1 · #5IG vs XTB#1 · #6IG vs Spreadex#1 · #7City Index vs IG#8 · #1FOREX.com UK vs IG#9 · #1IG vs Tickmill UK#1 · #10ActivTrades vs IG#11 · #1Admirals UK vs IG#12 · #1
FxPro UK vs IG#13 · #1IG vs Swissquote UK#1 · #14
IG vs Trading 212#1 · #15
eToro UK vs IG#16 · #1IG vs Plus500 UK#1 · #17
Capital.com UK vs IG#18 · #1IG vs Vantage UK#1 · #19
IG vs OANDA UK#1 · #20
IG vs LMAX Global#1 · #21
IG vs ThinkMarkets UK#1 · #22
Axi UK vs IG#23 · #1
HYCM UK vs IG#24 · #1
Equiti UK vs IG#25 · #1IG vs Trade Nation#1 · #26
Fortrade vs IG#27 · #1
Darwinex vs IG#28 · #1IG vs Markets.com UK#1 · #29
Eightcap UK vs IG#30 · #1IG vs Valutrades#1 · #31
IG vs Tradu#1 · #32
IG vs InterTrader#1 · #33
Hargreaves Lansdown vs IG#34 · #1
AJ Bell vs IG#35 · #1IG vs interactive investor#1 · #36
Freetrade vs IG#37 · #1IG vs Lightyear#1 · #38
Fineco UK vs IG#39 · #1
Charles Stanley Direct vs IG#40 · #1
Bestinvest vs IG#41 · #1
Barclays Smart Investor vs IG#42 · #1
Halifax Share Dealing vs IG#43 · #1IG vs iWeb Share Dealing#1 · #44
IG vs Vanguard Investor UK#1 · #45
IG vs Nutmeg#1 · #46
IG vs Moneyfarm#1 · #47
IG vs Wealthify#1 · #48
IG vs Revolut Trading UK#1 · #49
452 further match-ups are indexed on the full pairings page.
Click here to view all 500 comparisonsHow to read a broker comparison table
Section 1
Most tables publish one number for spread and stop there. A desk looks through it to the effective all-in cost: half the spread, plus commission, plus overnight financing on anything held past 22:00, plus conversion charges on trades not denominated in sterling. Two FCA-regulated firms quoting the same headline number can still be thirty per cent apart once financing and conversion are added back.
Section 2
A tight spread that slips two pips on a stop costs more than a wider spread that fills where it prints. Across our sixty-day windows the largest FCA firms fill inside the tolerance you would expect from a tier-one venue. Slippage starts to bite at the smaller and offshore-adjacent names, which is exactly why they are not on this page.
Section 3
Everything listed here is authorised in the UK, holds client money in segregated accounts and offers FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims. Offshore entities do not appear regardless of the rebate on offer. If a firm is not on the register, it does not belong on a UK ranking table.
Section 4
The question is never which broker is cheapest in the abstract, it is which broker is cheapest for the way you actually trade. A weekly swing trader pays financing a scalper never sees; a scalper pays commission a swing trader never notices. Use the featured cards and the pairings grid to filter on the pillar that matches your style before you fund anything.
Risk warning
Between 69% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money trading CFDs and spread bets. Leveraged products carry a high risk of losing money rapidly and are not suitable for every investor. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
This comparison tool is built to make broker due diligence faster, not to replace it. Verify current pricing, margin and product terms directly with the firm before you fund an account.
Explore the cluster
Worldwide rankings, comparisons and market-wide broker lists. Every page below is built the same way as this one: a ranked shortlist drawn from our funded-account testing, an all-in cost breakdown that adds spread, commission and overnight financing together, a plain-English note on which regulated entity would hold your money, and the questions readers ask us most. Pick the page that matches how you actually intend to trade rather than the one with the biggest number in the title.
148 pages in this cluster · updated as our testing rotates
View every guide