Yes, CMC Markets is an excellent trading app for CFDs and spread betting, especially when you compare it to more expensive brokers like eToro. In this review, we have tested CMC Markets’ trading app and highlighted some of the best features.
Experts commend the CMC Markets Trading App for its extensive educational resources and real-time market insights, highlighting its suitability for active traders. The app features a user-friendly interface with excellent sentiment indicators and tight pricing, although it lacks direct market access (DMA) trading and investment accounts.
Across 237 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.2/5, customers frequently praise the app's ease of use, fast execution, and reliable customer service. Many users appreciate the comprehensive educational content and the platform's ability to provide clear data and analysis tools. However, some users suggest improvements in mobile app usability and express a desire for enhanced user-friendly features.
Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.5★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated CMC Markets Trading App across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing5.0
Market Access4.5
App & Platform5.0
Customer Service4.0
Research & Analysis4.0
Pros
Excellent trading app
Tight pricing and spreads
Good sentiment indicators
Cons
No DMA app trading
No investment account
See full expert review
Is CMC Markets trading app any good?
Yes, CMC Markets’ trading app lets you trade over 12,000 markets via CFDs and financial spread bets. It’s suitable for active traders and has the same fast-paced feel as the main platform.
One of the things that makes CMC Markets app stand out for me when I tested it is the focus on media as well as execution. Instead of providing an app that is just a slimmed-down version of the main platform, there is a huge amount of educational and news content available as video. So the app provides a bit more than just a way to stay connected to the markets, it can be a resource and a way to learn whilst on the move.
The analysis section provides insights and intraday updates, news from Reuters, economic calendars and CMC TV can keep you informed and entertained. There are also some quite good platform tour videos, so you can get to know the platform better, some educational videos on how to trade and you can join live events.
The app quite nicely highlights trending, popular and typical markets, which are ranked by activity so you can see the most liquid markets and what is being traded.
One of the standout features though is CMC Markets’ client sentiment data, which is displayed around the order tickets. When you bring up an asset you can see what percentage of clients are long or short, related products and also break it down between which way the profitable and non-profitable clients are trading.
Overall, CMC Market’s trading app is an excellent resource for active traders on the move.
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.
4.2★★★★★★★★★★Very good
Based on 237 reviews
Excellent52%
Very good22%
Basic18%
Poor6%
Bad2%
Read customer reviews
excellent company
Hernan Botero ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Everything, from data sharing to information sharing to ideas to trade. Really good provider. I love it.
Let not mobile app close it self
Mohamed Ali ·
★★★★★★★★★★
You can close all your positions at one -- one click
Excellente
Ferdinand Maligsay ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Customer service
Extremely efficient
Balogun aiye II ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Excellent trading platform
Efficient
Adrian Akers ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Tight spreads
Customary
Augustus Duodu ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Available anytime you need assistance, their educational videos are explanatory
trustworthy
joe wasley ·
★★★★★★★★★★
market price action accuracy and response, good spreads, very easy to use, quick withdraw and depositing
easy
kenny lane ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Makes trading easy
Good
Kevin Willington ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Everything, good customer facing service .
transparent
Kevin Spencer ·
★★★★★★★★★★
very easy to use interface, most competitive spreads also on futures
Efficient
Terry Johnson ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Gives in formation
Efficient
Stephen Morgan ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Web Platform works very well
easy and clear data
Mark Lewandowski ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Presents the information in a clear way and loads of charts and analysis tools
Don't Play games like IG Markets and other providers
Naweed Mahmood ·
★★★★★★★★★★
CMC Markets does a number of things exceptionally well. The app is consistently reliable and always available when you need it, which is crucial in fast-moving markets.
One standout feature is how quickly prices become available. For example, when Sunday trading opens, CMC Markets provides pricing almost immediately, whereas other platforms can take several minutes before showing any market activity. That early access can make a real difference.
Another major advantage is the flexibility in position sizing. CMC allows you to take very small positions, unlike some providers that enforce larger minimum contract sizes. This gives you much better control over your risk, which is especially important when trading CFDs and other leveraged products. It makes the platform more accessible and, in my view, safer for managing exposure.
Overall, the combination of reliability, speed, and flexibility makes CMC Markets stand out from many other providers.
Very good
Abid Hussain ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Really good
Very efficient and been using them for years
Ayodeji John Osibona ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Customer service and execution very precise and no issues over the years , satisfied customer
Reliable
Richard Sharp ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Ease of execution of trades. Simple to amend trades.
Excellent Service
Richard Blythin ·
★★★★★★★★★★
Great trading platform and a wide range of products
Professional
Paul Gobin ·
★★★★★★★★★★
I always find that CMC customer service always find a solution to any problems i have - this enhances my day to day CFD trading experience.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.9★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated StoneX Trading App across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing4.5
Market Access5.0
App & Platform5.0
Customer Service5.0
Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
Smart trading signals
Performance trade analytics
Wide range of markets
Cons
No DMA trading on app
No investing account
Our verdict
The StoneX Trading app is one of the better trading apps for active traders, giving you access to its spread betting and CFD markets on iPhone and Android. You get TradingView charts, 60+ technical indicators, price alerts, quick trading and Performance Analytics. I’ve used the app for trading and monitoring positions and particularly like that it gives you enough research and analysis to actually find and manage trades rather than simply checking your P&L when you are away from your desk.
Is the StoneX Trading trading app any good?
The StoneX Trading app is very good and one of the few trading apps I've used that feels like more than a cut-down version of the main trading platform.
I've been using it since it was the City Index app and have used it to look for trades, set alerts and monitor positions. When I tested City Index's options offering, for example, I bought $3,300 June gold calls after gold had broken through $3,000. That's the sort of position where having the app is genuinely useful because I don't want to sit in front of a desktop platform all day watching gold move up and down.
What I particularly like, though, is Performance Analytics. I've used this when testing the platform before and it gives you a breakdown of where you have actually been making and losing money and whether you are sticking to your trading plan.
That's much more useful than simply showing you a list of your previous trades.
The app has also improved significantly over the years. You now get full-screen TradingView charts, more than 60 indicators, price alerts and quick trading, and you can see your open positions and orders directly on the charts.
Overall, I'd say the StoneX Trading app is one of the best apps for active spread bettors and CFD traders. It is particularly good if you already use the main StoneX platform because you can find or open a trade on your desktop and then manage it from your phone.
Pricing
There isn't a separate charge for using the StoneX Trading app. You pay the same trading costs associated with your StoneX Trading account.
For spread betting, that means your main trading cost is built into the spread, while CFDs can involve spreads and, depending on what you are trading, commissions.
You also need to remember overnight financing when holding daily funded leveraged positions.
This is particularly relevant when using the app because it is very easy to open a trade and forget about it. When I bought gold options through City Index, one of the reasons I chose options rather than simply leaving a long gold CFD running was that I knew what premium I was risking rather than accumulating daily financing charges on a leveraged position.
So the app itself is free, but you still need to understand the costs of the underlying product you are trading.
Market Access
The StoneX Trading app gives you access to StoneX Trading's spread betting and CFD markets, including shares, indices, forex and commodities.
One of the things I have always liked about the app is how easy it is to move beyond the obvious markets.
When I originally tested it as City Index, you had the major markets front and centre but could also quickly get into sectors, thematic markets, options and whatever markets were attracting attention that day.
That's useful because a mobile trading app shouldn't just be somewhere to close trades you opened on your computer. You should be able to find opportunities on it as well.
StoneX says you can move between devices too, so you can open a CFD or spread bet on Web Trader and close or manage it later from your phone.
That is generally how I use trading apps. I prefer doing the initial research and more complicated analysis on a proper screen, then using the app to keep an eye on the position when I'm away from my desk.
Platform & Apps
The StoneX Trading app is available for iOS and Android and has much of the functionality of the main Web Trader platform.
The biggest improvement is the integration of TradingView charts. You get full-screen charts in portrait or landscape, more than 60 technical indicators and adjustable timeframes, and you can see your positions and orders directly on the chart.
There is also quick trading, which is useful when markets are moving quickly, plus real-time price alerts.
But I don't think you should judge a trading app by how many indicators it can squeeze onto a phone screen. For me, what matters is how quickly I can find a market, see what is going on, check an existing position and trade it without pressing the wrong button.
The old City Index app was already well laid out and intuitive when I tested it, and the current StoneX app adds better TradingView charting without trying to turn your phone into a Bloomberg terminal.
Customer Service
One advantage of using the StoneX Trading app rather than a mobile-only trading provider is that the app is part of a much broader trading service.
If something goes wrong with an account or trade, you aren't completely reliant on the app itself. You have StoneX Trading's wider customer support behind it.
That matters with leveraged trading. If you've got a large spread bet open and can't access your account, you want to be able to contact the broker rather than just submit a support ticket and hope somebody gets back to you.
I've always regarded that as one of the advantages City Index had over some of the newer trading apps, and the move to StoneX Trading doesn't change that.
Research & Analysis
This is probably the strongest part of the StoneX Trading app.
You get TradingView charts, technical indicators, market information and real-time alerts, but the feature I like most is still Performance Analytics.
When I tested it previously, I could see where I'd been profitable, where I'd lost money and whether my actual trading behaviour matched the trading plan I thought I was following.
Most trading apps are designed to encourage you to trade more. They show you what's moving, what's popular and give you a big button to buy or sell it. Performance Analytics can actually tell you whether doing that has historically been a terrible idea for you.
The TradingView integration also makes the app much better for technical analysis than it used to be. There are now more than 60 indicators, adjustable timeframes and full-screen charts, and you can see where your stops and limits sit relative to the market.
Overall, I think that's what makes the StoneX Trading app stand out. It's good for finding trades, good for managing them and, unusually, quite good at showing you afterwards whether you should have made them in the first place.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.6★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated FOREX.com across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing4.5
Market Access4.5
Online Platform5.0
Customer Service4.5
Research & Analysis4.5
Pros
Trading signals
Post trade analytics
Forex specialist
Cons
Limited market range
No DMA
Our verdict
FOREX.com is one of the largest forex brokers operating globally and owned by Nasdaq-listed institutional broker StoneX. Forex.com offers traders access to 7,000+ assets including 80+ currency pairs, thousands of stocks, popular commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies (pro accounts only in the UK & EU). Pricing is competitive, especially for those on the RAW spread account or active trader programmme.
The products and services available to you at FOREX.com will depend on your location and on which of its regulated entities holds your account. Pricing may also vary depending on your region and the specific entity that manages your account.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. The products and services available to you at FOREX.com will depend on your location and on which of its regulated entities holds your account.
Is FOREX.com a Good Trading Platform?
FOREX.com won Best Forex Broker in the 2025 Good Money Guide Awards. Plus, as well as being regulated by the top tier FCA in the UK, FOREX.com is regulated by CySEC, NFA, CIRO, MAS, ASIC, CIMA, and FSA with access to over 7,000 markets, exclusively via CFDs.
I took FOREX.com out for a 24-hour test drive, to trade with real money and try out some of the key features on the streets of the City of London. Here's what happened...
"For FX sake", I thought to myself when faced with writing a review about a forex broker. Firstly because all these brokers do is offer access to the forex market (or so I believed). Secondly, because I've never had much success with forex trading. I find the nuances of intra-day technical analysis too complicated.
I'm an old-fashioned trader – I like to look at the market and think it's either overvalued or undervalued and, in my mind anyway, that's easier when looking at a company's share price, an index or even a commodity. But for some reason, with forex trading, I've never really got the hang of it.
Having said that, I have dealt currency for about 20 years now, but more as a broker rather than as a trader. For instance, I used to do some prime brokerage for institutions that would hedge their currency exposure when buying aeroplanes.
But I was so frustrated with how opaque pricing was in currency trading, that I decided to start up my own currency brokerage specialising in high-value currency transfers (£250,000 upwards) and undercutting everyone. It was called Berry FX, you can still see the demo on YouTube. Basically, personal service with the best rates anywhere ever. But now I just let other currency brokers compete for clients by trying to offer the best exchange rates.
I took FOREX.com out for a 24-hour test drive around the City of London, putting some real trades on whilst going about my business to see if I could make any money.
I started out at the Bank of England with £10,000 on account at 11:30am. Lunch was a few minutes' walk from the tube station, so I took the opportunity to put some trades on using FOREX.com's trading signals. I've used these for years; back in 2018, they were known as GetGo and it was a standalone forex trading app. When I reviewed it then, I said these were the future of forex trading signals but are they still?
There are a couple of things that make these signals better than the rest.
They tell you the success rate.
The signal is linked to an order ticket.
When I was walking down King William Street to L’Antipasto to meet some contacts for lunch, I put a few trades on. First, I looked at the traders that had a historic success rate of over 50% and followed them. Then I looked at trading signals that had a success rate of less than 50% and traded against them. It's a pretty simple strategy that generally works (not always, though). I used the classic stop/limit risk/reward ratio, aiming for twice the potential loss as a potential win. Again, simple forex trading strategies. The market is not hard to call, but if you get a trade right, it often pays to let it run for longer, but if it's wrong, close it sooner.
Trading Central
On the way to my next meeting, I took a few moments on London Bridge to look at some of the other signals on FOREX.com: Trading Central. Now, Trading Central has been providing technical analysis to brokers for decades and supplies a constant stream of manually and automatically updated trading ideas throughout the day to give traders an indication of where the markets may go.
It's not as fluid as the trading signals, as you have to put the trades in manually, but still gives you a bit of stimulus. This is great for someone like me because I generally have an idea of what I want to do from eyeballing a chart (I did, after all, run a technical analysis division for 5 years), but it's nice to get confirmation of your thoughts one way or another.
Execution
When you are actually trading there are some great other features on the app:
Swipe to trade: a bit like Tinder (so I hear)
Chart on tickets: with a quick tap, you can bring up a chart when on the order ticket (to double-check)
Working orders on charts: when looking at a chart, you can see your working orders and positions
Position potential: as well as seeing what margin is required when placing a trade, you can also see and set your stops and limits as a potential monetary amount instead of pips
Post-Trade Analytics
Once you've done a bit of trading, you can review your trading history and see where you do well and where you can improve. This is a great feature as it can break down how well you trade by time of day, markets or volatility.
You can also set up "Play Maker" if you have a trading strategy and want to stick to it. Obviously, you can't get that sort of data in a 24-hour test drive, so I'll have to revisit that another time.
Demo Account
FOREX.com has a pretty good demo account. In fact, it's hard to tell the difference between the demo and live trading platform. You get the same functionality and as trades are OTC, the same prices.
However, when I opened a demo account to test it, I already had a real account. So after I got my demo account login details, I clicked through to the "Webtrader" portal and (funny or alarming, depending on how you look at it) my live account details were auto-filled in by Google Chrome.
Now, had I not been checking my email, to ensure that the platform had sent me through my credentials, I might not have noticed that I was logging into a live account. It could have been disastrous if I'd started trading away thinking it was paper money. Even more so as you get £10,000 in demo funds and I'd deposited £10,000 in my live account when I took FOREX.com on a 24-hour trading signal test drive.
It reminded me of when a trader thought that he was trading on a demo account and put $1bn worth of orders through and then sued his broker because it voided his €10m profits.
TradingView & MetaQuotes
I had a good play about with TradingView, as it's now the go-to destination for traders. TradingView is a sort of social network for traders where you can view charts (they are excellent) and post trading ideas (take with a pinch of salt). As TradingView has grown, it has also become an execution venue, so you can link your FOREX.com trading account and deal straight from the charts. This shouldn't be too much of a stretch for most traders as the charts on the app and web-based platform are provided by TradingView (which, incidentally, is one of the largest financial-based websites in the world now).
You can also trade on MT4 or MT5 (but only MT5 in the EU), if you are into that sort of thing...
Am I a Forexpert?
I did make money on day one, mainly thanks to putting on a GBP-USD trade that covered most of the losses from some of the other trades. When I used the trading signals 5 years ago, I also made money. Day 2 wasn't so good. On my way to an investor show, I gave back a few pennies but still ended up on top. But I have to admit my traders were calculated guesses rather than heavily researched positions.
I don't like holding positions overnight, as day trading reduces not only your margin requirements but also increases the amount of sleep you get because you don't wake up with cold sweats in the middle of the night worrying about Asian interest rates.
Overall would I recommend forex.com? Yes, if you are going to trade forex and don't know where to start, as it's a massive brand with global reach and owned by a listed brokerage with an institutional pedigree. As far as box-ticking is concerned, it ticks the lot. Or should I say pips the lot...
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.5★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated Capital.com across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing & Spreads4.5
Market Access4.0
Apps & Trading Platform5.0
Customer Service4.5
Research & Analysis4.5
Pros
Innovative and intuitive app
Set your own leverage
Proprietary technology
Cons
Trading only
No options markets
Our verdict
Capital.com was voted best CFD broker in 2026 and won the People's Choice vote for "Best Trading Account" in the 2025 Good Money Guide Awards and "Best Trading App" in our 2023 awards as they have one of the most intuitive apps for trading the most popular markets globally. Capital.com was founded in 2016 and is a CFD trading platform broker with offices in the UK and around the world. Since then, they have grown to offer over 5,500 tradable assets to 100,000 monthly active clients. 65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. CFDs trading carries risk. Capital.com is regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority.
Is Capital.com any good for trading?
Capital.com has a user friendly and intuitive trading platform and app, that gives access to the most popular financial markets with competitive spreads with the ability to reduce risk by decreasing your leverage. Trading via the app has always been capital.com's forte, and in 202, it won our award for "best trading app" not in part due to the fact that the company CTO has extensive experience in building engaging apps like Candy Crush.
What makes Capital.com different? Thumbs up, literally
Do you know what one of the most impressive thing about Capital.com is? They put the buy and sell buttons at the bottom of the app.
I don't mean that in a facetious way, it's genuinely a brilliant feature.
This may not sound like much but it's a good example of how Capital.com has integrated decades of analytics, experience, feedback and customer data into creating a very easy-to-use intuitive trading app from scratch.
When Capital.com first became authorised by the FCA back in 2018, I visited their offices in London to have a chat about what they offer. The two main things we discussed were button placement and AI.
Trading App
But anyway, if you've updated your iPhone to the latest iOS you'll notice that Apple has started moving things to the bottom of the screen, the search bar for instance. This is because, phones are getting bigger, and your thumb can't reach the top of the screen if you are holding it with one hand. This is something that Capital.com figured out would make trading easier 5 years ago. I've just been through a bunch of other trading apps on my phone and still, amazingly enough, none of the other brokers have done this yet.
Capital.com was also the first to integrate artificial intelligence to help you improve your trading, they say, based on the Martingale theory. When I spoke to Chris Demetriou, the head of sales in the UK, he said that the system should give you prompts based on your previous trades. So for example, if you are about to do a trade that is similar to ones you have constantly lost on before, you should get a "are you sure you want to do this" notification.
Leverage Control
Everybody knows, that one of the main reasons people lose money when trading is overleverage. This could be either from not having enough free cash on account to give your position breathing space, or simply putting on trades that are too risky. One really good feature is that you can change your leverage based on asset class. The default leverage is the max that retail traders in the UK are permitted, but you can change this to 1:1 so you need to fully pay up for positions. A sensible thing to do if you are just getting started, which can help reduce excessive losses. As your experience grows you can increase your leverage accordingly.
Hedging
You can also set the platform to put on hedging positions, so you can be long and short the same thing at the same time. Why you ask? Well, it can help you run longer-term positions and short-term hedges. This in fact is the very point of CFDs. They were originally hedging tools, and still a good way to protect your long-term investment portfolio against short-term market corrections without having to close off your positions.
Customer Support
Customer support is pretty good too, you can get in touch via the chat widget on the platform, whatsapp or telegram. When I tested it I got a response within a minute and the issue I had was dealt with quickly (uploading ID to verify my account if you must know).
TradingView
You can't trade from the charts, but when you have open positions they are overlayed along with your stops and limits, which you can move by dragging and dropping. But, if charting is your thing, you can join the other 78,000 Capital.com customers using and trading from TradingView.
Proprietory Tech
One thing I quite like though is that instead of relying on third-party software, the Capital.com trading platform is built in-house, and if you want something you can ask for it. For example, previously on the app you could see where an asset is as a percentage relative to the daily range. But, a customer asked, if you could see it in points too. So, that was quickly integrated so that you can now toggle between percentages and points. A small thing, but indicative of a broker that can do things and does do things, rather than just logging a helpdesk ticket.
Refinitiv
There are no trading signals on the platform or app, but you do get access to Refinitiv reports on US stocks, which give you a good overview of historic and potential future financial health. A good feature for those looking at slightly longer-term positions.
Overnight funding
Talking of long positions, or longer long positions, Capital.com also display quite clearly what your overnight financing rates are going to be on a daily basis. I'm sure this is a regulatory obligation anyway, but it's done in a way that you can actually see what the price is, rather than an opaque formula. It gives a bit more transparency about how much a position is going to cost you.
Investmate
If you are new to trading, they have a stand-alone app called Investmate, which puts you through a series of bitesize courses that explain the financial markets. Capital.com also own currency.com if you fancy a punt on crypto, and shares.com so we can expect to see more comprehensive physical investing options soon.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.6★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated Plus500 UK across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing4.5
Market Access5.0
Online Platform5.0
Customer Service4.5
Research & Analysis4.0
Pros
With Plus500, you can trade CFDs on a range of assets including shares, currencies, indices, and ETFs.
There are no commissions when placing a CFD trade on Plus500’s platform.
Plus500 offers a range of features to help traders navigate the markets and capitalise on opportunities including charting tools, alerts, an economic calendar, and market news.
Cons
Other platforms offer more markets than Plus500.
You can only trade CFDs on the platform (you can’t invest in stocks directly).
You can’t contact the company by telephone if you require support.
Our verdict
Plus500 is one of the largest online trading platforms and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. Founded in 2008, it has more than 26 million customers today.
Plus500 is headquartered in Israel, however, it’s listed in the UK on the London Stock Exchange (it’s a member of the FTSE 250 index). Here in Britain, its platform is operated by Plus500UK Ltd, which has offices in London.
In the UK, you can only trade CFDs with Plus500. CFDs are financial instruments that allow you to profit from the price movements of a security without owning the underlying security itself.
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Is Plus500 a good broker?
Yes, Plus500's trading platform has evolved nicely over the years from a simple interface to an intuitive execution venue for CFDs on the major markets and stocks.
Opening a Plus500 account is really simple:
Submit some documents to the company (identification, residence verification, etc.)
Read through several documents and complete a questionnaire
To be able to trade, you will need to fund your account (in the UK, the minimum initial deposit is £100).
Pricing: It's dynamic so moves with the market for minimum spreads.
Plus500 does not charge any trading commissions when you place a CFD trade. However, there are some fees you need to be aware of including:
Overnight funding fees - This is either added to or subtracted from your account when holding a position after a certain time
Currency conversion fee - There is a fee (0.7%) for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different to the currency of your account
Guaranteed stop-loss order fees - If you request a guaranteed stop loss on a trade, there will be a small fee
Inactivity fees - If you do not log in to your trading account for three months, a fee of up to USD $10 per month will be applied to your account.
Withdrawals are free of charge no matter how many you make per month.
Deposits are also free of charge.
Market Access: Very good, Plus500 are always first to try new asset classes
With Plus500, you can trade CFDs on a range of assets and instruments including:
Shares (e.g. Lloyds Bank, Tesla, Apple)
Currencies/forex (e.g. GBP/USD)
Commodities (e.g. gold, oil)
Options (exchange-traded options)
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
Indices (e.g. FTSE 100, S&P 500, ESG indices)
Overall, there are over 2,800 assets you can trade with CFDs.
The maximum amount of leverage you can use with Plus500 varies depending on the asset class as shown in the table below. If you are trading forex, you can potentially borrow up to 30 times your own money. For shares, you can only borrow up to five times your own capital.
Plus500 margin rates:
Shares - 1:5
Forex - 1:30
Commodities - 1:20
Indices - 1:20
Options - 1:5
ETFs - 1:5
Platform & Apps: Basic execution, but it does the job well
Plus500 trading apps and platform also offers several tools to help traders manage risk including:
Stop-loss orders - Traders can use these orders to automatically close out a losing position at a specific level
Guaranteed stop-loss orders - A guaranteed stop-loss puts an absolute limit on your potential loss from a losing trade
Trailing stop-loss orders - This type of stop loss moves upwards as the price of the security being traded rises
Take profit orders - Traders can use these orders to automatically close out a winning position at a specific level.
Customer Service: Plus500 doesn't have a phone option, but its live chat is sufficient
Plus500's customer service options are limited to online chat, email and WhatsApp. So, you can’t contact the company by telephone. However, don’t let that put you off. We contacted the company via online chat and were very impressed with the service and support offered.
It’s worth noting that support is available 24/7. This is a big plus – some other CFD providers only provide support during the week.
If you are a larger or professional trader you can get access to Plus500's Premium Service Package which includes:
A dedicated premium service client manager.
Periodic emails containing expert analysis of upcoming trading events.
External trading webinars.
A premium service customer support team.
The premium service is invitation only. To become a premium customer, you must have a real-money trading account.
However, if you want better margin rates but are not interested in the premium package you can upgrade to a professional account. The Plus500 professional account is an account designed for professional traders. With this account, you have access to higher levels of leverage (e.g. 1:20 for shares).
To be eligible for a professional account, you must meet two of the following three criteria:
You’ve performed an average of at least 10 transactions per quarter, of significant size, over the previous four quarters on the relevant market (with Plus500 and/or other providers)
You have a portfolio worth more than €500,000 (including cash savings and financial instruments)
You have worked in the financial sector for at least a year in a professional position that requires knowledge of the related transactions or services.
Research & Analysis: Some sentiment, but limited education and analysis. Plus500 offers a range of additional features designed to help traders make money, including:
Charting tools - Plus500's platform offers charts with a wide range of indicators and drawing tools to help traders identify and capitalise on patterns and trends (there 13 charting tools and over 100 indicators)
Market news - On its website, there is a section dedicated to news and market insights
Alerts - With Plus500, you can set up real-time email, SMS, and push notifications for trade alerts (e.g. price alerts or % change alerts)
An economic calendar - The economic calendar is designed to help traders prepare for important economic data (e.g. inflation data, retail sales data, job reports, PMI data)
+Insights - This is a feature that allows Plus500 users learn more about market trends based on the company’s internal data (e.g. most bought stocks, most sold stocks)
Watchlists - Users can manage multiple watchlists.
Trading Academy - Plus500’s Trading Academy offers a range of educational products including eBooks, videos, and FAQs
Webinars - Plus500 offers regular webinars to its professional clients
A free unlimited demo account - With the demo account, novice traders can learn to trade CFDs without risking real money.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.8★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated Pepperstone Trading Apps across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing5.0
Market Access5.0
App & Platform4.0
Customer Service5.0
Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
Good MT4 indicators for the app
Tight pricing on the Razor account
Lots of stocks on the MT4/MT5 trading app
Spread betting on TradingView
Cons
No proprietary trading app
Limited range of markets on the app
Our verdict
Pepperstone has four trading apps, MT4/MT5, cTrader and TradingView which provide access to CFDs and spread bets on the major markets for active traders with tight spreads. Pepperstone has also just released it's own proprietory trading app. 73% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Does Pepperstone have a good trading app?
Pepperstone has a good version of the MT4 app for tight spreads on forex and is one of only two brokers to offer spread betting via TradingView in the UK.
Pepperstone’s version of the MT4 trading app, will connect you to your MT4 account with Pepeprstone but when I tested it the algo and automatic trading functions of the desktop version are not available through the app.
The cTrader Pepperstone App, though is feature-rich including, market sentiment, market depth economic calendars, and technical analysis from Autochartist which displays regularly updated trading signals.
There is no stand-alone trading signal feed, but once you are looking at a market, Autochartist will display the most recent signal from 15 minute, 30 minute, 1 hour and 4 hour time frames and automatically display a buy or sell one-click order button based on if it is a long or short signal.
The app also breaks down your trading statistics based on previous trades per asset. So for example, if you are trading a US stock on the app, it will tell you how well you have done in the past with your overall net profit, what commission you have paid, your best and worst trades and how long you generally hold a position in that stock for.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.6★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated Spreadex Trading App across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing4.5
Market Access4.5
App & Platform4.5
Customer Service5.0
Research & Analysis4.5
Pros
Good in app customer service
Smaller cap stock trading
Wide market range
Cons
Trading app only, no investing
Our verdict
Spreadex's trading app has access to the same 10,000 markets which you can trade by spread betting or CFDs (no physical investing yet). Pricing is very competitive in the major markets but does get wider the more exotic the product. Spreadex has always been very good at offering access to smaller cap stocks, some of which are also available on the app, as well as the main platform and over the phone. 61% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Is Spreadex's trading app any good?
Yes, the Spreadex trading app, as with the main trading platform, offers some of the best customer service and is suited to traders who just require a click-and-trade app and won’t be using it for research or signals.
The watchlists, highlight, popular market, the risers and fallers, but there is not much in the way of cluttered educational content or analysis. you can view market updates, weekly analysis, and financial trading blogs, but these are just links to webpages from the app.
One good feature I found when testing it though is that you can talk directly to customer support via live chat through the app. This is one area where Spreadex has always excelled as a smaller UK broker, offering good customer service where you can get in touch with someone who knows what they are talking about quickly.
Overall, the app is a good compliment to Spreadex’s service.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
5.0★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated IG Trading App across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing5.0
Market Access5.0
App & Platform5.0
Customer Service5.0
Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
DMA trading app
Good liquidity for high volume traders
Excellent in app analysis and tools
Cons
App not a comprehensive as the desktop platform
Our verdict
IG’s trading app offers access to the same range of markets and account types as the main platform. You can trade CFDs and spread bet on over 17,000 instruments and invest in longer-term products like ISAs and physical shares. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Is IG's trading app any good?
Yes, IG is one of the best trading app for market range and DMA trading.
It was nice to see that when I used the IG trading app I could also get access to trading signals from Autochartist with entry, exit and stop levels that can be executed on mobile with the signal data on the same screen as the order ticket. IG’s trade analytics package is also available so you can review your trading win rate, return, and profit and loss ratio as well as see whether you are a better short or long-term trade, the app will also highlight your best and worst markets. The app trade analytics will also show your total financial exposure and your most recent trades.
The app’s news, section, whilst not as comprehensive as the web version can be filtered down by asset class, you can see what is most relevant to you. There is also a macroeconomic event calendar and a diary of company announcements so you don’t get caught off guard with unexpected figures or can take advantage of upcoming market volatility.
One key advantage of the IG app is that IG provides markets over the weekend so you can trade to reduce or increase your exposure on the move and out of normal market hours. You can also see level-2 data and trade DMA on shares. The app syncs with your accounts so watchlists and recently traded and viewed markets will be easy to see. Charting, is good, landscape and portrait, plus you can trade directly from the charts, as well as drag and drop, stop and limit levels.
Overall, IG’s trading app is one of the best out there, with more features and markets than most of the competition.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.5★★★★★★★★★★Excellent
Our experts have rated CMC Markets Trading App across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing5.0
Market Access4.5
App & Platform5.0
Customer Service4.0
Research & Analysis4.0
Pros
Excellent trading app
Tight pricing and spreads
Good sentiment indicators
Cons
No DMA app trading
No investment account
Is CMC Markets trading app any good?
Yes, CMC Markets’ trading app lets you trade over 12,000 markets via CFDs and financial spread bets. It’s suitable for active traders and has the same fast-paced feel as the main platform.
One of the things that makes CMC Markets app stand out for me when I tested it is the focus on media as well as execution. Instead of providing an app that is just a slimmed-down version of the main platform, there is a huge amount of educational and news content available as video. So the app provides a bit more than just a way to stay connected to the markets, it can be a resource and a way to learn whilst on the move.
The analysis section provides insights and intraday updates, news from Reuters, economic calendars and CMC TV can keep you informed and entertained. There are also some quite good platform tour videos, so you can get to know the platform better, some educational videos on how to trade and you can join live events.
The app quite nicely highlights trending, popular and typical markets, which are ranked by activity so you can see the most liquid markets and what is being traded.
One of the standout features though is CMC Markets’ client sentiment data, which is displayed around the order tickets. When you bring up an asset you can see what percentage of clients are long or short, related products and also break it down between which way the profitable and non-profitable clients are trading.
Overall, CMC Market’s trading app is an excellent resource for active traders on the move.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
3.8★★★★★★★★★★Basic
Our experts have rated XTB Trading App across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing4.0
Market Access3.5
App & Platform4.0
Customer Service4.0
Research & Analysis3.5
Pros
Multi-asset trading
Competitively priced
Lots of markets to trade
Cons
Not UK HQ’d
No DMA
Our verdict
XTB’s trading app provides access to about 2,100 markets through CFDs and does provide some added value over the more basic apps from other brokers. 81% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Is XTB's trading app any good?
Yes, XTB has some pretty good trading apps. They offer MT4, MT5 and xStation Mobile, for traders to trade on the move. Of those, I would say that XTB's xStation mobile is very good, especially compared to basic CFD mobile trading apps like eToro.
Specifically, the app highlights your favourite markets, and what is “hot” at the moment so you can see what traders are trading as well as sentiment indicators for those most popular markets. You can filter XTBs client trader sentiment by buyers and sellers, and also by asset class, so you can see where order flow has been going and decided if you want to follow or take a contrarian position.
Charting is nicely layed out, but you cannot trade from the charts on the app (you can on desktop), but the crosshairs feature, does give you a visual of where your orders are relative to support and resistance on the same screen, which is a nice touch.
I did find when trading on the app though there is a good “Discover” section where you can view popular markets such as stocks that have exposure to “inflation protection”, environmental assets, top ETFs that are being traded and also a tab for stocks and markets that are being talked about on Reddit.
You can get access, via the app, to XTBs educational videos, such as their Masterclass, and interviews with people like Jamie Rogozinksi from WallStreetBets.
Overall, the app has some good features and is a good complement to the main trading platform.
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.
4.3★★★★★★★★★★Very good
Our experts have rated Interactive Brokers Trading App across five key areas of our review framework.
Pricing5.0
Market Access4.0
Online Platform5.0
Customer Service3.5
Research & Analysis4.0
Pros
Discount trading app
Excellent market range
Invest as well as trade
Cons
No financial spread betting
Complex account opening process
Our verdict
As with the main trading platforms, Interactive Brokers’ trading apps are some of the best around. I tried all three different apps on offer, IBKR Mobile, IBKR GlobalTrader and IMPACT. 59.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Is Interactive Brokers' trading app any good?
Yes, IBKR is one of the best app for sophisticated and professional traders is the IBKR Mobile as which replicates some of the functionality of the Interactive Brokers desktop TraderWorkstation platform.
IBKR Mobile is the mobile version of the main trading platform and has the most functionality, where you can view your derivatives and investment portfolio, view charting, trade options, futures, and CFDs. You can also access the iBot feature which helps you search for things like dividend dates, corporate earnings reports, and economic events around stocks or markets you are interested in trading. Charting is initially simple, but under the settings, you can add indicators, show live orders, and annotations and change the bar size and chart type.
There is also the IMPACT lens features that measures your portfolio and gives it a ranking based on how ethical your positions are. The news section also lets you filter and search for IBKR news and analysis from The Fly Swawkbox, Real Vision (an excellent premium analysis vlog from Raoul Pal) and Bloomberg.
IBKR GlobalTrader has a slightly easier feel and is focussed more on stock traders. You get inspiration for investing in stocks, based on their sector, price moves, news flow. News is also filtered down based on the positions in your portfolio.
For more ethical investors the IMPACT app is focussed on helping you make more ethical investment decisions. You get access to the same markets to trade in by the app ranks your portfolio by how ethical they are. It will also show you a more ethical alternative, with a similar investment profile which you can switch to with the click of a button.
Overall, Interactive Brokers’ trading apps, are some of the best around with excellent functionality and access to one of the widest selection of markets and investment products around.
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
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