IG is better than CMC Markets if you want an all-round investing and trading platform, whereas CMC Marktes is better if you are just trading on the major and most liquid markets. When we objectively compared IG against CMC Markets using our unique scoring system IG is technically better than CMC Markets because they have on average lower trading costs, a wider range of markets, have a larger market capitalisation, and are more established. See how these top two brokers compare side by side. Check broker fees, trading platform features and reviews to see which is best for your trading.
CMC Customer Reviews
IG Customer Reviews
70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.
CMC Markets Versus IG Expert Ratings
| Account | Features | Overall | Price | Buy Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 CMC Markets Customer Reviews & Expert Test |
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Visit CMC Markets | |
 IG Expert Review: The Original & Still One Of The Best Brokers |
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Visit IGIG Reviews |
Fees, Market Access & Account Types
CMC Markets Total Markets | 12,000 |
| ➡️Forex Pairs | 338 |
| ➡️Commodities | 124 |
| ➡️Indices | 82 |
| ➡️UK Stocks | 745 |
| ➡️US Stocks | 4968 |
| ➡️ETFs | 1084 |
CMC Markets Key Info | |
| 👉Number Active Clients | Over 308,600 |
| 💰Minimum Deposit | 0 |
| ❔Inactivity Fee | £10 per month |
| 📅Founded | 1989 |
| ℹ️ Public Company | ✔️ |
| 🏢 Head Office | London, UK |
CMC Markets Account Types | |
| ➡️CFD Trading | ✔️ |
| ➡️Forex Trading | ✔️ |
| ➡️Spread Betting | ✔️ |
| ➡️DMA (Direct Market Access) | ❌ |
| ➡️Futures Trading | ❌ |
| ➡️Options Trading | ❌ |
| ➡️Investing Account | ❌ |
CMC Markets Average Costs | |
| ➡️FTSE 100 | 1 |
| ➡️DAX 30 | 1.2 |
| ➡️DJIA | 2 |
| ➡️NASDAQ | 1 |
| ➡️S&P 500 | 0.5 |
| ➡️EURUSD | 0.7 |
| ➡️GBPUSD | 0.9 |
| ➡️USDJPY | 0.7 |
| ➡️Gold | 0.3 |
| ➡️Crude Oil | 2.5 |
| ➡️UK Stocks | 0.1% |
| ➡️US Stocks | $0.02 per share |
IG Total Markets | 17,000 |
| ➡️Forex Pairs | 51 |
| ➡️Commodities | 38 |
| ➡️Indices | 34 |
| ➡️UK Stocks | 3925 |
| ➡️US Stocks | 6352 |
| ➡️ETFs | Over 2000 |
IG Key Info | |
| 👉Number Active Clients | Over 313,000 |
| 💰Minimum Deposit | 250 |
| ❔Inactivity Fee | Yes – £12 per month |
| 📅 Founded | 1974 |
| ℹ️ Public Company | ✔️ |
| 🏢 Head Office | London, UK |
IG Account Types | |
| ➡️CFD Trading | ✔️ |
| ➡️Forex Trading | ✔️ |
| ➡️Spread Betting | ✔️ |
| ➡️DMA (Direct Market Access) | ✔️ |
| ➡️Futures Trading | ❌ |
| ➡️Options Trading | ❌ |
| ➡️Investing Account | ✔️ |
IG Average Fees | |
| ➡️FTSE 100 | 1 |
| ➡️DAX 30 | 1.2 |
| ➡️DJIA | 2.4 |
| ➡️NASDAQ | 1 |
| ➡️S&P 500 | 0.4 |
| ➡️EURUSD | 0.6 |
| ➡️GBPUSD | 0.9 |
| ➡️USDJPY | 0.7 |
| ➡️Gold | 0.3 |
| ➡️Crude Oil | 0.28 |
| ➡️UK Stocks | 0.1% |
| ➡️US Stocks | 0.1% |
Which trading platform has the best customer reviews?
Based on our unique average customer reviews scoring system IG has better customer reviews. IG has a higher average customer rating of 4.05 versus CMC Markets 3.95. IG also have far more customer reviews, over 37,000 in total versus CMC Markets 4,500.
Find out why customer reviews are important
Which trading platform offers the most markets?
IG is technically better than CMC for market access as they offer accounts to over 17,000 markets versus CMC Markets 9,300. IG offers access to more UK and international stocks and shares, commodities and indices, but CMC Markets does offer access to more forex pairs. CMC Markets offers 71 currency pairs versus IG’s 51.
Find out why market access is important
Which trading platform offers the most platforms?
IG has technically better trading platforms that CMC Markets because they offer their own trading platform, MT4, iphone and Android Apps as well as direct market trading through L2 Dealer. CMC Markets offers a similar suite of trading platforms but does not have a DMA (direct market access) trading platform.
Find out why trading platforms are important
Which trading platform offers the most different types of account?
IG offers the most trading accounts (5) options compared to CMC Markets (3). Both IG and CMC Markets offer financial spread betting, CFD trading, Forex trading and professional accounts, but IG also offers stocks and shares ISAs as well as direct market access and prime brokerage.
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Which trading platform is a more established business?
IG (founded in 1974) is the more established versus CMC Markets (founded in 1989). Both IG and CMC Markets are public companies and at the time of writing (10th August 2021) IG Group has a market capitalisation of £3.8 billion versus CMC Markets capitalisation of £1.2 billion. IG also has more active clients than CMC Markets with 178,000 versus CMC Markets 53,000. IG Groups 2019 revenue of £476 million was also higher than CMC Markets 2019 revenue of £130 million.
Find out why a trading platforms history is important
Which trading platform has the lowest trading costs?
Overall IG has lower trading costs than CMC Markets with an average cost of 2.28 for index trading versus CMC Markets average cost of 3.28. IG also has lower trading costs for commodities, but CMC Markets has lower Forex trading costs. Both IG and CMC Markets charge the same for UK stock trading. However, IG charges 0.1% for US stock trading, where as CMC Markets charges 0.2 cents per share. This can make US stock trading cheaper with IG for lower priced stocks and US stock trading cheaper with CMC Markets for high priced stocks.
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Which trading platform offers the most margin?
CMC Markets offers much better margin rates than IG for professional clients. For major indices and forex pairs CMC Markets offers 0.2% margin versus IG’s 0.63%. For Gold you get more leverage with CMC Markets as they only charge 0.5% margin versus IG’s 0.63%, for other commodities CMC Markets also charges 0.75% margin versus IG’s 1%. For equities stock trading CMC Markets also charges 5% versus IG’s 9%.
Find out why leverage and margin are important
Which trading platform offers the lowest overnight financing rates?
For stock trading IG offers lower overnight financing rates than CMC Markets. IG charges libor +/- 2.5% whereas CMC Markets charges libor +/- 2.93%.Meaning that based on the current libor rate of 0.09% holding a £100,000 UK stock position for a year with IG would cost £3,400 versus £3,830 with CMC Markets.
IG also charges lower overnight fees for Forex trading. IG charges 0.0022% versus CMC Markets 0.0027%. This means that a £100,000 UK forex position would cost £80 to hold for a year with IG versus £98.55 with CMC Markets.
Find out why overnight financing rates are important
Which trading platform offers the most added value?
CMC Markets offers slightly more added value than IG. Both trading platforms offer client sentiment tools, although CMC Markets is slightly better as you can filter client positions by clients that are generally profitable or not. Both trading platforms have news feeds, analysis, technical analysis, charting tools and research.
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