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Reviews By
Richard Berry
- Updated
Spread betting brokers let you trade with tax-free profits by speculating on the price movements of shares, indices, commodities, forex, and fixed-income markets.
| Name | Logo | Markets | Overnight Fees | GMG Rating | Customer Reviews | CTA | Feature | Expand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Markets 13,500 |
Overnight Fees 2.5% +/- SONIA |
GMG Rating |
Customer Reviews |
Visit Platform 71% of retail investor accounts lose money |
Account Types:
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City Index Spread Betting Expert Review: Best Spread Betting Broker 2025Account: City Index Financial Spread Betting Description: City Index is one of the best spread betting brokers and is suitable for all types of traders looking for a tax-efficient way to speculate on the financial markets. City Index also won our “Best Trader Tools” award in 2023 and “Best Trading App” in 2024 and “Best Spread Betting Broker” in 2025.. Is City Index a good spread betting broker?
I would say that overal,l City Index is a better spread betting broker than CMC Markets, especially if you are trading a broad range of shares, particularly smaller cap shares. CMC Markets is more focussed on the most liquid markets like EURGBP and indices and can have tighter pricing. But, for an all-round service, City Index is a better spread betting broker for most UK traders. Spread bets at City Index are available on 12,000 markets including, 23 equity indices, thousands of UK and international stocks and ETFs, 19 commodities, bonds, and interest rates, and an industry-leading 182 FX pars. City Index also has an options desk for spread betting on index and populare stock options. When I tested City Index’s spread betting account Performance Analytics really made it stand out which is unique to City Index. Whilst other brokers provide post-trade analysis, When StoneX (City Index’s parent company) acquired Chasing Returns, they were able to exclusively provide a huge amount of data to help their customers stick to a trading plan and provide insights into what can make them a better spread bettor. As with most spread betting brokers, City Index clients trade via two-way bid-offer prices the difference between the bid and offer representing the spread. These vary by product and contract but in the FTSE 100 index City charges a minimum spread of 1 index point and on the Germany 30 or Dax it charges 1.20 points. You can trade Spread Bets on leading equity indices up to 24 hours per day. For stock trading, spreads of 0.8% for UK and 1.8 cents per share are built into the price.
Pros
Cons
Overall4.9 |
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Markets 1,200 |
Overnight Fees 2.5% +/- SONIA |
GMG Rating |
Customer Reviews |
Visit Platform 75.3% of retail investor accounts lose money |
Account Types:
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Pepperstone Spead Betting Expert Review: MT4 & MT5 Financial Spread Betting Account: Pepperstone Spread Betting Description: Pepperstone introduced spread betting in early 2021 with a focus on tight pricing for major instruments and automated trading on through trading platforms. Is Pepperstone a good spread betting broker? Overall, Pepperstone is a good choice for clients that want to spread bet on MetaQuotes as it’s MT4 & MT5 package is one of the best around. Plus Pepperstone are one of only two brokers that offers spread betting through TradingView. Pepperstone operates a tiered approach to spread betting accounts. Newer clients typically joined Pepperstone’s standard accounts; more experienced traders can elect to join the firm’s Razor account. The latter is used mainly for scalping and algorithmic trading. As seen below, Razor accounts have lower spreads than standard accounts in the FX markets but they also incur some commissions. Pepperstone does not charge an inactivity fee, which is excellent for low-latency traders. The firm has no regular maintenance fee like some investment accounts. There is no minimum deposit either. In the UK, Pepperstone offers protection on negative balance for retail clients only. This means that should the market swing violently against you and wipe out your risk capital, your account will not go below zero. Professional accounts, however, will be required to post additional equity and can go into negative equity. For funding, Pepperstone accepts Visa, MasterCard, Paypal or bank transfers. Most withdrawals are free, although international Telegraphic Transfer (TT) may incur fees by the banks which will be passed on to clients.
Pros
Cons
Overall4.1 |
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Markets 10,000 |
Overnight Fees 3% +/- SONIA |
GMG Rating |
Customer Reviews |
Visit Platform 64% of retail investor accounts lose money |
Account Types:
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Spreadex Financial Spread Betting Expert Review: Excellent Service All RoundAccount: Spreadex Financial Spread Betting Description: Spreadex won our award for “Best Spread Betting Broker” in 2024 and is one of the last spread betting brokers to offer a mixture of financial and sports spread betting, for those who want to trade the FTSE during the week and the Footie on the weekend. I’ve used both services for nearly 20 years and have seen them mature along with the industry. What is financial spread betting on Spreadex? Overall, Spreadex is an excellent spread betting broker for those who want personal service and the ability to speculate on financial as well as sports markets. Based in St Albans, just outside of London Spreadex offers a simple but innovative spread betting platform for trading a wide range of assets. Spreadex has always focused on customer service, winning business from referrals and maintaining long-term relationships with their clients. It’s a testament to the business that they build their own technology in-house and are reserved with marketing campaigns. They offer access to over 10,000 markets and recently Spreadex has reduced spreads across the major assets and still offers access to smaller-cap stocks compared to some of the other providers. The spread betting platform does have some good charting options, such as adding pro trading tools like WVAP and pro trend lines, as well as the usual obligatory technical indicators like Bollinger Bands and Moving Averages. You can see what percentage of clients are long on watchlists and you can quickly go to a specific time point on a chart. There is also a wide range of ETFs, ETCs and Trackers to spread bet on for sector speculation, and you also have the option to trade political markets.
Pros
Cons
Overall4.2 |
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Markets 17,000 |
Overnight Fees 2.5% +/- SONIA |
GMG Rating |
Customer Reviews |
Visit Platform 71% of retail investor accounts lose money |
Account Types:
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IG Spread Betting Expert Review: The Original & Still One Of The BestAccount: IG Spread Betting Description: IG won “best spread betting broker” in our 2023 and 2022 awards as it continues to be the best spread betting platform. As well as inventing the concept of financial spread betting in 1974, IG also offers access to the most markets, with the most liquidity and are the biggest spread betting broker valued at over £3.7bn. Is IG a good spread betting platform? Yes, IG by far has the most comprehensive market access for any spread betting broker. You can trade around 17,000 markets, which is significantly more than the 12,000 or so offered by City Index and CMC Markets. The majority of the extra markets are made up fo smaller cap shares and exotic fx pairs, commodities and indices meaning that there are more opportunities vailable. However, one downside is that even through IG charges competitive commission (included in the spread) for for spread betting, in some markets brokers like Pepperstone or Spreadex can be cheaper. IG won “best spread betting broker” in our 2023 and 2022 awards as it continues to be the best spread betting platform. As well as inventing the concept of financial spread betting in 1974, IG also offers access to the most markets, with the most liquidity and are, (by market cap as of April ’22) the biggest spread betting broker valued at over £3.5bn. Overall, IG is the best spread betting broker is suitable for beginners through to professional high volume and high-frequency traders. With IG you can spread bet on over 17,000 markets (an industry-leading amount), including 51 forex pairs, 38 commodities, 34 indices and over 10,000 UK and international stocks. A few key features that make IG’s spread betting platform stand out are the ability to bet on smaller-cap shares, trade IPOs pre-market via their “grey market” and their liquidity. IG’s liquidity can actually be better than the underlying exchange, so you can place and get filled in large orders using IG’s internal liquidity when there might not be the volume on the exchange order book. Even though IG internalises order flow they do not profit from client losses, instead hedging or matching order flow and operating symmetrical tolerance levels. This means that you also benefit from positive slippage, so if you place a spread bet limit order and the market moves in your favour before it is executed you get a better fill. When I compared pricing against other spread betting brokers IG spreads are always competitive and often market-leading, especially in the major instruments, but where IG wins business is its ability to continually innovate and add value to its spread betting platform. There are trading signals from Autochartist and PIAfirst, but IG takes it a step further by making executing these signals easier and integrating dealing tickets. IG has a good post-trade analytics feature that can show you where you are profitable or not and they create a huge amount of analysis and research around what their clients are trading based on platform analytics.
Pros
Cons
Overall4.3 |
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Markets 12,000 |
Overnight Fees 2.9% +/- SONIA |
GMG Rating |
Customer Reviews |
Visit Platform 70% of retail investor accounts lose money |
Account Types:
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CMC Markets Spread Betting Expert Review: Excellent For Active TradersProvider: CMC Markets Spread Betting Verdict: CMC Markets pioneered electronic trading in the UK during the early 1990’s and introduce financial spread betting to complement its CFD and forex trading in 2001. Since then the Market Maker spread betting platform has evolved into the “Next Generation” platform and is one of the best proprietary trading platforms for active traders in the industry. Is CMC Markets a good spread betting broker? Overall, CMC Markets is an exceptional spread betting platform with innovative features suitable to frequent traders wanting to trade on tight spreads. CMC Market’s spread betting offering has always won business by producing great technology that reduces the cost of trading. By focussing on mobile and online trading, they now see over 70% of spread bets go through on mobile versus online. I found that CMC Market’s spread betting prices were always tight and hail from the original online platform name (Deal4Free, and slogan “compare the spread”). CMC Markets also invented the concept of the daily cash rolling spread bet so traders no longer need to trade the futures price, reducing trading costs further. Whilst CMC Markets focus on the major markets, they do actually offer access to quite a large amount of assets, over 12,00 including an industry-leading 338 fx crosses (CMC did start as a forex platform), 124 commodities, 28 indices and hundreds of UK and international stocks. Two of CMC Market’s very innovative spread betting features are how they break down client sentiment and their share baskets. It’s commonplace for spread betting brokers to display client sentiment, but CMC Markets let you filter that sentiment down to profitable clients so it can become more valuable. They also provide a wide range of weighted share baskets so you can spread bets on sectors like driverless cars, big tech, cyber security and China tech, where ETFs have not yet been created. What’s the difference between spread betting and CFDs on CMC Markets? Spread betting is better for UK CMC Markets traders as you do not have to pay capital gains tax on profits. Other than that, spread betting and CFDs with CMC Markets are the same in terms of price and market coverage.
Pros
Cons
Overall4.3 |
Overall, 
Methodology: Good Money Guide chose the UK’s best spread betting brokers based on:
- User feedback: We analysed over 30,000 votes and reviews in the prestigious Good Money Guide annual awards
- Unbiased, real-world testing: Our team tests each spread betting broker with real money to ensure you have a seamless and user-friendly experience
- In-Depth feature comparison: We conduct a thorough comparison of features, highlighting those that make each broker stand out from their competition
- Exclusive insights from the top: Good Money Guide’s interviews with stockbroker CEOs provide insider perspectives and valuable information to help you make informed decisions
Find your most suitable platform with our comparison tables of the best UK spread betting brokers. Explore how many markets they offer, how much it costs to trade major instruments, minimum deposits and what the overnight financing costs are for holding longer-term positions.
How to choose a spread betting broker
A spread betting broker allows you to trade financial markets by placing bets on price movements instead of making traditional investments. In the UK, spread betting profits are completely tax-free because they’re classified as gambling, meaning no capital gains tax applies. This unique tax advantage makes spread betting an appealing choice for traders looking to maximize their earnings.
.For more information read our guide on why financial spread betting is tax free.
When choosing a spread betting broker, it’s about more than just costs. Look for a broker that offers competitive spreads, a user-friendly platform, good customer support, and tools tailored to your trading style. The right broker can make all the difference in helping you succeed and reach your financial goals.
Here are some factors you might want to consider:
- Market access – how many instruments can you spread bet on? (IG offers the most markets)
- Minimum deposit – can you test the platform with a small amount when you start? (Spreadex, CMC & Pepperstone all have £1 minimum deposits)
- Account types – do they offer DMA spread betting as well as OTC (over-the-counter)? (IG offers the most account types)
- Inactivity fee – is there a charge if you do not use your account? (CMC, Pepperstone and Spreadex don’t charge inactivity fees)
- Founded – how well established is the spread betting platform? (IG is the oldest spread betting broker)
- PLC – public spread bet firms that are listed on stock exchanges have to report their financial health on a more regular basis. (IG and CMC are listed on the LSE, CIty Index is owned by StoneX which is listed on the NASDAQ)
Should You Use a Spread Betting Broker? Pros and Cons to Consider
Pros
- Tax free profits: Capital gains isn’t due for profits as the trade is treated as gambling
- Go long or short: As financial spread betting is a derivative product you can speculate on the market going up or down
- Leverage: You can be more efficient with your risk capital and get more exposure to stocks and financial markets with only a small deposit
Cons
- Risky: You could lose as well as make money when speculating in high risk investment products like spread betting
- No underlying ownership: When trading stocks as a spread bet you have no voting rights on corporate actions
- Leverage losses: As you are trading on margin it is possible to lose money very quickly
✅Good Money Guide only features spread betting brokers and platforms that are FSC regulated:
All spread betting brokers operating in the UK must be regulated by the FCA. The FCA is the Financial Conduct Authority and is responsible for ensuring that UK spread betting brokers are properly capitalised, treat customers fairly and have sufficient compliance systems.
You are also protected by the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme).
Best Spread Betting Broker For Beginners
City Index tops the list as the best spread betting broker for beginners, according to our expert review team. Why? Their intuitive trading platform is designed for simplicity, offering plenty of analysis, real-time news, and powerful tools to help new traders succeed.
Their standout feature, ‘Smart Signals’, provides actionable trading signals, while the ‘Performance Analytics’ tool helps you track which markets you trade most profitably.
New to trading? Use the table below to show which spread betting platforms have tools that are great for new traders. This comparison table shows which spread betting platforms have tools that are helpful for new traders.
| Account Types: |  | |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading Signals | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Webinars | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Seminars | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Leverage Control | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Low Risk Products | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Investment Account | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
Best Spread Betting Platform For Experienced Traders
IG stands out as the best spread betting broker for seasoned traders. With unmatched liquidity and an extensive market range, IG’s internal matching system often provides better liquidity than the underlying exchange – ideal for handling larger orders beyond the NMS (Normal Market Size). For high-net-worth traders, IG offers a dedicated specialist desk with personal dealers to support your trading needs.
If you are an advanced trader with plenty of experience spread betting, this comparison table shows the features commonly used by professional traders.
| Advanced Features: | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice Brokerage | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Corporate Accounts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Level-2 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Algo Trading | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Prime Brokerage | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
Best Forex Trading Spread Betting Broker
City Index offers the most forex pairs for spread betting on foreign exchange, as well as intra-day trading signals, news, analysis and tight FX pricing.
Spread betting on Forex is all about precision, speed and market timing in one of the world’s most active markets. With positions turning over faster than any other asset class, traders focus on quick profits. Choosing a broker with consistently tight FX spreads can significantly impact your bottom line, helping you maximize gains throughout the trading day.
Our trading experts ranked the best spread betting brokers by how many forex pairs they offer:
- CMC Markets: 338
- City Index: 182
- Pepperstone: 62
- Spreadex: 60
- IG: 51
What Spread Betting Broker Is Best For Stocks & Shares?
IG leads the way with the largest selection of UK, US, and international shares available for spread betting. Beyond their vast range of stocks, IG offers powerful trading tools, including technical and fundamental signals via Autochartist and PIAfirst. You’ll also benefit from integrated news coverage, in-depth analysis, and economic diaries to track upcoming company reports.
For larger traders, IG provides exceptional liquidity to handle orders beyond the usual Normal Market Size (NMS), making it an excellent choice for those managing large positions.
The Good Money Guide team chose these best spread betting brokers by how many shares you can trade:
| Broker | UK Shares | US Shares | Total Equities |
| IG: | 3,925 | 6,352 | 10,277 |
| City Index: | 5,000 | 2,000 | 7,000 |
| CMC Markets: | 745 | 4,968 | 5,713 |
| Spreadex: | 1,575 | 2,110 | 3,685 |
| Pepperstone: | 192 | 880 | 1,072 |
Which Spread Betting Brokers Is Best For Commodities?
CMC Markets stands out as the top choice for spread betting on commodities, with an impressive selection of over 100 options. You can bet on commodities as cash or forwards and explore a wide range of commodity ETFs, covering individual commodities or sectors like agriculture, energy, and precious metals.
After hands-on analysis, Good Money Guide chose these as the best spread betting brokers by how many commodities you can trade:
- CMC Markets: 100+
- IG: 35
- Pepperstone: 32
- City Index: 20
- Spreadex: 20
Which spread betting brokers is best for MT4 & MT5?
Pepperstone is the best MT4 spread betting broker, offering one of the widest ranges of markets to trade and have a pre-built package of indicators exclusively for their traders.
MT4 is a widely popular platform for financial trading, and many spread betting brokers now support it. If you are interested in spread betting on MT4, you can review the best MT4 spread betting accounts here.
Using spread betting companies offering MT4 mean you can to upload and purchase custom indicators, and then run automated trading strategies based on pre-set technical perimeters. You can also follow ‘Expert Advisors’ and trade based on established FX strategies without the need to execute trades manually.
Good Money Guide hand-picked these best spread betting brokers by how many markets you can trade on MT4:
- Pepperstone: 1,200
- CMC Markets: 200+
- IG: 91
- City Index: 84+
Cheapest Spread Betting Platforms By Market
CMC Markets often have the cheapest spreads of all the spread betting brokers. You can compare how much spread betting platforms charge for the most popular markets in this spreads comparison table:
| Trading Costs | | | | |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTSE 100 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| DAX 30 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| DJIA | 3.5 | 2.4 | 2 | 2.4 | 4 | 5 |
| NASDAQ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.9 |
| S&P 500 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| EURUSD | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.09 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| GBPUSD | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.28 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
| USDJPY | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.14 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| Gold | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.05 | 0.4 | 0.28 |
| Crude Oil | 0.3 | 0.28 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0.4 |
| UK Stocks | 0.008 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.002 | 0.30% |
Tight spreads are a key factor when selecting a spread betting broker
That’s because they directly impact your trading costs and how quickly you can turn a profit. While many brokers advertise ultra-tight spreads on popular assets, be cautious – spreads on less common asset classes can be higher.
Look for a broker that offers tight spreads not only during peak trading hours but throughout the day, across a wide range of asset classes. If you mainly trade a few key indices or forex pairs, choosing a broker with the lowest costs for those specific assets makes sense.
For more diverse trading, consider brokers with consistently tight spreads across all instruments, even if it means using multiple accounts to optimize costs.
You can use our financial spread betting costs calculator to see how much your trading fees will be over time with different brokers below:
Spread Betting Brokers For The Best Market Access
IG offers you the most markets for spread betting with an impressive 17,000 financial instruments including UK and international stocks, commodities, forex pairs and indices.
Find the spread betting broker offering the most tradable assets using this table:
| Market Access: | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Markets | 12000 | 17000 | 11000 | 1200 | 10000 | 3700 |
| Forex Pairs | 84 | 51 | 338 | 62 | 54 | 138 |
| Commodities | 25 | 38 | 124 | 32 | 20 | 28 |
| Indices | 21 | 34 | 82 | 28 | 17 | 23 |
| UK Stocks | 3500 | 3925 | 745 | 192 | 1575 | 450 |
| US Stocks | 1000 | 6352 | 4968 | 880 | 2110 | 1575 |
| ETFs | n/a | 2000 | 1084 | 107 | 160 | 0 |
Choose a spread betting broker with the best range of offered markets
Some spread betting companies focus on tight spreads on a few key markets. Others focus on providing a good overall value and service. When opening a new account, have in mind what asset classes and individual instruments you want to trade.
If you have AIM and small-cap shares, you will need a spread betting broker that specialises in them, like Spreadex, or IG.
You may need to consider separate accounts if you have a favourite broker for one market but want to trade on a market they don’t offer. However, remember that all brokers will offer the major index, commodities and FX pairs though.
Spread Betting Brokers For The Best Leverage & Margin Rates
Leverage and margin rates can seem confusing for beginners, but they’re important to understand if you’re going to start spread betting. Thanks to regulations from the FCA and ESMA, retail traders have standardized margin requirements to keep trading safer and more manageable. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Indices: 20% margin (5x leverage)
- Major Forex Pairs: 3.33% margin (30x leverage)
- Commodities: 10% margin (10x leverage)
- UK & US Shares: 20% margin (5x leverage)
For example, if you want to trade shares, you’ll need to deposit 20% of the trade value as your initial margin, which gives you leverage of 5:1. These rules are designed to protect traders from over-trading and prevent brokers from facing excessive client losses. Regulators also ensure retail accounts can’t go into negative equity, meaning you can never lose more than your account balance – a great safeguard for new traders.
Retail vs. Professional Trading Accounts
When you start, you’ll be classified as a ‘retail trader.’ This status provides extra regulatory protections, standardized fees, and capped leverage to help you trade responsibly.
If you’re an experienced trader, however, you may qualify for a ‘professional account.’ Professional traders benefit from lower fees and higher leverage, but do lose some of the protections offered to retail accounts.
To upgrade, you’ll need to meet specific criteria, like having a large portfolio, financial industry experience, and a history of frequent trading. If you’re a beginner spread bettor, retail accounts are the safest way to learn and trade safely.
Which Spread Betting Platform Offers The Most Other Account Types?
IG offers the most account types in addition to spread betting. You can also trade CFDs, DMA equities and invest for long term capital growth through a general investment account or ISA.
Looking for a specific account type? Use this table and see what’s offered by spread betting brokers to see how else you can trade through them.
| Account Types: | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spread Betting | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| CFD Trading | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| DMA | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Pro Accounts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Investments | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Futures & Options | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Spread Betting Broker With The Best Added Value, Research & Tools
City Index is a great choice with top-tier trading signals that give you valuable insights into potential market movements. Their platform also includes powerful tools to analyse your trading history, so you can see what’s working and where you can improve.
CMC Markets, one of the most established spread betting brokers, offers a robust selection of webinars, trading tools, and indicators to support traders of all levels. IG takes it a step further with extensive sentiment analysis, data insights, and advanced analysis tools, while Spreadex is renowned for its exceptional customer service, making it a favourite for those who value support alongside trading features.
| Added Value: | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading Ideas | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Client Sentiment | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Post Trade Analytics | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| News & Analysis | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Web Based Platform | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Spread betting companies can’t give you advice, but can provide research and analysis to help you find potential trading opportunities. However, one thing to look out for if you are after value (other than tight spreads) is what else you get as part of the spread betting trading platform. Some spread betting accounts provide access to third-party research and analysis services such as autochartist, PIAfirst, trading central and Tipranks.
Spread Betting Platforms With The Best Voice Brokerage
City Index, IG, and CMC Markets offer dedicated support for large account holders, while smaller brokers like Spreadex provide dealer access to all clients. Spreadex stands out for its personal touch as their small-brokerage approach gives you a more personalised trading experience.
It’s important in spread betting to have access to support when you need it, including the ability to trade over the phone. While most trades (over 95) are executed online or via trading apps, there are times when you might prefer expert dealer assistance . For example, you might need help with corporate actions on stock positions, handling large orders, fixing errors, understanding margin requirements, adding new markets, or answering general questions about trading products.
All the brokers featured in our comparison tables provide access to experienced dealers when you need them. As spread betting is unique to the UK, these companies maintain offices around London, offering direct lines to knowledgeable dealing staff.
Industry experts told us...
"Financial spread betting is unique to the UK where trader’s profits are not taxed as capital gains are positions are structured as bets. For UK traders, it is a very tax-efficient way to speculate on the financial markets."
Spread Betting Brokers FAQ:
Commonly, only around 20% of retail clients make money with spread betting brokers. If you are a complete beginner or new to trading altogether, then the sensible thing to do is to read around the subject, define a strategy and practice spread betting using a free demo account before you commit any real money.
See our guide on how to make money spread betting.
Stuart Wheeler the founder of IG, is generally credited with inventing and popularising the concept of betting on financial markets in 1974.
The most popular markets for spread betting are in order:
- Indices
- Stocks & shares
- Forex
- Commodities
You can read more about why these markets are so popular in our guide to the best markets for financial trading.
Yes if you have a professional spread betting account, but not if you are classified as a retail trader. The FCA has banned trading on cryptocurrencies. However, you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies through crypto exchanges.
Yes, spread betting brokers are regulated by the FCA and client funds protected up to a certain amount by the FSCS.
However, over that amount your funds are not protected and as spread betting is an OTC product your risk is with the broker rather than the exchange. The best way to ensure your funds are protected is to always use a well capitalised broker.
An easy way to keep an eye on a company’s financials is to go with brokers that have traded themselves on the London Stock Exchange. Being a public company means that you have to submit financial reports regularly. The share price and market cap are also good indicators of whether or not a company is heading for trouble.
IG, CMC Markets and CIty Index are publicly listed spread betting brokers.
CFDs are for professional traders who use them for direct market access and anonymity (to an extent). Outside the UK, CFDs are used by private clients as there are no tax benefits. Read what the difference is between spread betting and CFDs for more information.
Spread betting in the UK is only possible because there is no capital gains tax on spread betting profits. This does of course mean that you cannot offset spread betting losses, and tax laws can and always will change. Spread betting outside the UK does not exist, as UK spread betters are the only traders that benefit from the tax breaks.
In short, the answer is a simple one, which involves spread betting brokers not having enough experience. Amateur or beginner traders are often guilty of over trading, over leveraging and not cutting their losses or running their profits. However, spread betting is not an easy way to make money, and should not be marketed or promoted as such.
It is a facility to bet on the financial markets to be used appropriately. Most brokers do a good job of ensuring that clients have some investment experience before allowing them an account.
Further reading:
Yes, plus you do not have to pay tax on forex trading if you are spread betting, however you do if you are trading spot or CFDs.
As an alternative to trading CFDs on forex, individuals and UK taxpayers can spread bets on foreign exchange.
Spread betting, as the name suggests, are wagers on the performance of an instrument or market rather than a trade, and though the methodology and pricing of these two types of transactions can look very similar, the tax treatment of any profits made in them is very different.
Profits made from trading are subject to UK capital gains tax, whilst under current legislation, profits generated through spread betting are tax-free. By the same token, losses made in trading can be offset against capital gains made elsewhere, whilst spread betting losses cannot.
For more information on forex trading tax, read our Q&A: Do you have to pay tax on forex trading?
The tax treatment is the principal difference between the two forms of speculation, however, some spread bets may be priced in a similar way to futures contracts; that is with the cost of carry or financing included in the quote at the outset, rather than being charged daily, as is the case in forex trade. Spread bets are also likely to have a fixed expiry, whether daily, weekly or quarterly. While FX trades, which are effectively CFD trades, have no fixed expiry unless you are trading a currency future or option, rather than the rolling spot contract.
The mechanics of spread betting on FX are very similar to those of trading FX. Of course, you will need to open a spread betting account to spread bet rather than a trading account. You will also want to familiarise yourself with the bets that spread betting providers offer and the contract lifetimes, and the way that they are priced that could be very different for say a rolling daily bet, a weekly bet or indeed a monthly or quarterly bet.
One obvious thing to try to do is to match the contract you are going to be betting on with your time horizons, and style of speculation daily bets won’t be much use to you if you have a two- or three-week-time horizon. Equally, a quarterly contract may not be your best choice if you are an intraday bettor.
This article contains affiliate links which may earn us some form of income if you go on to open an account. However, if you would rather visit the spread betting brokers via a non-affiliate link, you can view their financial spread betting pages directly here:
Financial Spread Betting Guides
The Real Reasons Most Traders Lose Money
I’ve been involved in brokerage for over 20 years now and have dealt for pretty much every client out there. From the absolute spread bet beginner to $100m hedge funds. And there is one reason why they lose money, and it’s not as complicated as you think. It’s because in a nutshell, it is because
Financial Spread Betting Fees Explained
You may not know it, but even though spread betting is commission free there can be huge costs to trading is you pick the wrong trading platform. Here, we look at the main costs which you will probably encounter once you start trading with a spread betting firm. You can also use our spread betting
Spread Betting vs CFD Trading: 7 Key Differences Explained
On the surface, CFD trading and spread betting may seem similar, but there are some quite significant differences that can have a huge impact on the performance of your profits. In this guide, we will explain in greater detail the differences between CFD trading vs spread betting and why the two products that seem quite
Can you spread bet on Bitcoin for tax free profits?
Yes, you can spread bet on Bitcoin, although to spread bet on Bitcoin you need a professional trading account as the FCA has banned retail investors from trading cryptocurrency derivatives. Different types of Bitcoin spread betting: There are a few different types of Bitcoin spread betting which enables traders to trade Bitcoin in different ways,
3 reasons you really shouldn’t be spread betting
Spread betting is a high-risk, high-reward form of speculating on the financial markets and as such the best spread betting brokers in the UK are heavily regulated by the FCA and have to comply with lots of capital requirements and treating customers fairly rules (like best execution). There are more rules than almost any other
Can you use shares in your portfolio as collateral for CFD trading and spread betting?
Yes, some brokers like IG will let you lodge liquid shares, bonds or funds as collateral for CFD trading or financial spread betting if you have a professional trading account. However, should you? In general, I like to be positive about spread betting. I’ve often said it is one of the greatest innovations to happen
Glossary Of Financial Spread Betting Terms
Financial spread betting may seem complicated at first, mainly because of the jargon. But it’s actually quite easy to understand. Here we explain what the most commonly used phrases mean. Ask Price Sometimes called “buy price” this refers to the price which the buyer pays for their security. It is quoted within a bid/ask quote.
How To Start Spread Betting For Beginners
As spread betting allows you to bet on whether a price is going to fall or rise you will be given a quote from your spread betting broker. This comprises a “sell” price and a “buy” price. As an example, if your provider offers a share at a price of 205/206, the left value is
What Is Financial Spread Betting?
Spread betting is trading the financial markets as a bet rather than buying or selling the underlying instrument. Instead of buying or selling a set amount of shares, futures, options or CFDs, you bet an amount based on every point the market moves through a spread betting broker. As spread betting is trading structured as
Why can’t the media get it that Plus500 does not offer spread betting
CFD broker Plus500 does not offer spread betting. It only offers CFDs (contracts for difference). So why does the nation’s financial media get it wrong all the time? There are some fairly significant differences between financial spread betting and CFDs. I’m not going to go into them here, but you can watch our video discussion
Spread betting strategies that can help you make money from the financial markets
It is possible to profit and make money spread betting on the financial markets, if you have a good strategy and buy low and sell high, or sell high and buy low. But as with any form of short-term leveraged speculating on the financial markets, it may be harder than you think. If you look
Guaranteed stop losses: What are they and which CFD and spread betting brokers offer them?
If you are looking for an online trading platform that offers guaranteed stop losses, we’ve put together a handy little guide on what guaranteed stop losses are, their advantages and disadvantages and also which brokers offer them. What is a guaranteed stop? Guaranteed stop losses are stops are like normal stop losses but differ in
Can I spread bet with zero spreads?
A user has asked: I was after a spread betting platform that offered a no-spread account. SpreadCo were offering it but now say they aren’t bringing it back for a little while so I wondered if I could find such an offer on any other platform? Thanks, Jeremy. Answer: At the moment you will find
Do spread betting companies close your account if you win?
A user has asked: Do spread betting companies close your account if you win? This question comes up quite a lot, because financial spread betting contains the word betting people assume that like bookies brokers don’t want their clients to win. But it’s actually quite different. When you spread bet on the markets your trade
Financial Spread Betting Explained: Trading with tax free profits (if you make them)
What is Financial Spread Betting? Spread betting products have been around in the UK since 1974. With a spread bet the customer attempts to take advantage of rising or falling markets by taking a bet with a spread betting company on the price movement of an underlying instrument, rather than buying or selling the underlying
What’s the difference between equity DMA CFDs and spread betting?
If you are wondering if trading with direct market access is for you and what the difference is, then here is the breakdown. Trading with direct market access (or DMA) enables you to place your orders direct with the exchange through a broker. Which means instead of having to buy at the offer (the higher
Why is spread betting still tax free? Anecdotally speaking of course…
The factual reason spread betting is tax-free for profits is because the trades are structured as a bet. i.e. I bet you £10 for every point the FTSE goes up etc. Therefore it is structured as a bet and as with all gambling, exempt from capital gains tax. However, the actual reason (according to old
Why spread betting brokers love it when you make money!
There are two types of spread betting firms. The good and the bad. The good spread betting brokers treat their customers as clients and aim to forge long-term relationships by providing excellent customer service and trading tools. The cost of trading may be slightly higher as most of the client trades are hedged in the
How to choose a spread betting broker – a quick guide to help you decide
Spread betting is one of the greatest innovations in financial markets for the private investor and trader of the last two decades. It has opened up markets and strategies that were previously reserved for professional and institutional investors. By betting on the movement of a share price instead of investing traders can leverage, go short
3 reasons why spread betting margin increases are a good thing
Never mind the ESMA rules. The markets are becoming more and more volatile and the major spread betting brokers have increased margin rates for retail clients. Here are 3 reasons why spread betting brokers put margin rates up. 1) They are based on volatility This is obviously going to upset a few traders, but the bottom
Four spread betting strategies that actually work and some decent brokers to try them with
The right spread betting strategy can make a huge difference to your trading. The market is a ferocious beast and will gobble up the hard earned money of the unprepared quickly. Give yourself a bit of an edge when trading by making sure you stick to a spread betting strategy. Here’s a quick four-step guide
Top accounts for spread betting on US stocks
Even though it is unique to the UK, spread betting on US stocks gives traders the ability to bet on stocks across the pond. Spread betting is unique to the UK, in that it offers UK residents a tax free way to potentially profit on short-term moves in the US financial markets. The US Stock market
A quick guide to how financial spread betting the markets works
Spread betting is a simple cheap and effective way to trade the worlds financial markets. You can trade anything from stocks, FX and commodities to the average cost of houses in the UK. Most spread betting brokers also offer a sort of grey market on unlisted IPO stocks that are about to come to market
The pros and cons of using spread betting as a hedging tool
There are a couple of ways spread betting can be used to hedge exposure. You can hedge pretty much anything as the markets offered by spread betting brokers are so varied. Equity and Stock Hedges though spread betting One of the most common hedges is against profits from equity investments. Traditionally options would have been
Technical analysis versus fundamental analysis in spread betting
Technical analysis and fundamental analysis are both useful tools in trading and investing. The general consensus is that fundamental analysis is more useful for longer-term investments. Technical analysis is better for short-term trading and speculation. Mainly because it looks at market timing and provides a good visual aid for traders to compare to historic events.
Why no decent spread betting or CFD broker should actually want churn and burn clients
Peter Cruddas, the founder of leading spread betting broker CMC Markets was quoted in The Times this morning in an article about the end of churn and burn broking. Cruddas highlighted that the days of high client turnover was gone for CMC and that they were focusing on only the “tastiest fish in the sea”
MT4 spreadbetting accounts in euro?
Thanks to Swing Traderkk for asking… Could you add an account currency filter to your comparison site please? There are many, not least the Irish, who would appreciate being able to spreadbet in currencies other than GBP, like EUR or GBP. This is a question that is asked quite frequently and many brokers handle the
