68% of retail investor accounts lose money
- Experts regard IG CFD Trading as one of the top platforms for CFD trading, highlighting its extensive market access and excellent liquidity. They commend the option for direct market access (DMA) which allows for better pricing and quicker fills, making it particularly advantageous for high-volume traders. However, they note that some pricing may not be competitive for smaller capitalisation stocks.
- Across 746 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4/5, customers frequently praise IG for its user-friendly platform, reliability, and comprehensive range of products. Many users appreciate the seamless integration of various investment options, including crypto, and commend the educational resources that enhance their trading skills. Some users express concerns about occasional technical issues affecting trading efficiency, but overall, the sentiment remains highly positive regarding the platform's performance and support.
Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.- Pricing4.0
- Market Access4.5
- Online Platform4.5
- Customer Service4.0
- Research & Analysis4.5
Pros
- Wide range of CFD markets
- Excellent CFD liquidity
- DMA & level-2 CFD trading
Cons
- Some CFD pricing is not competitive on smaller caps
See full expert review
Our verdict
IG Index (as they were then called) was one of the originators of retail CFD trading and offers access to the widest range of markets with the best liquidity. I’ve used them for over 20 years and regularly test the platform. In fact, CFD liquidity on major instruments is often better with IG than the underlying exchanges does to IG’s symmetrical hedging policy and order flow.
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 a good for CFD trading?
Yes, IG is one of the best CFD trading platforms as they offer a huge range of markets to trade and DMA access for more sophisticated traders. Also, because IG offers CFDs globally (with the exception of the US) they have a huge amount of volume and liquidity meaning that sometimes you can place bigger orders via IG's order book than you could do on the underlying exchanges like the LSE or NYSE. Because of the sheer volume of CFD trades, IG is able to internally match up orders for quicker and larger fills.
CFD costs are included in the spread for retail traders, but you also have the option of trading with direct market access (DMA) on level-2 prices. This enables CFD traders to place orders within the bid/offer spread and get better prices. The commission is then charged post-trade. DMA CFD trading is often must more cost-effective for high-volume larger traders as fills are quicker and at better prices.
You can trade over 17,000 CFD markets with IG including 51 forex pairs, 38 commodities, 34 indices and over 10,000 stocks. You can also trade CFDs on IPO through their grey market. The CFD trading platform is constantly evolving due to customer feedback and IG has a wide range of news, sentiment and analysis that is based on the analytics from the platform on what traders are trading. So for example, if there is a lot of order flow around a particular stock or market, research is created to help traders better understand market moves.
The main thing though that makes IG stand out is it’s size and coverage. As a public company valued at over £3.5bn April 2022) they cater for new, experienced, professional as well as institutional CFD traders.
One key disadvantage of trading CFDs through IG is that you have to pay tax on profits. However, CFDs are not the only product that IG offer. You can also trade financial spread bets, where you do not have to pay capital gains tax on profits.
Overall, IG offers one of the best CFD trading platforms around and provides excellent educational guides and market access for every sort of trader.
Customer reviews for IG
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 746 reviews
- Excellent38%
- Very good36%
- Basic18%
- Poor5%
- Bad3%
Read customer reviews
4/5
Interesting
Interesting
Good functionality and resources
Good functionality and resources
Extensive platform and share choice
Extensive platform and share choice
3/5
Effective not always clearest advice
Effective not always clearest advice
ok
ok
Lovely platform, possibky too much...
Lovely platform, possibky too much info can be a bit confusing for the novice
Absolute best for spread betting.
Absolute best for spread betting.
good service and ease of...
good service and ease of transactions. Quarterly fee is a pain if you don't trade very much. Cheap trade over 3 a month.
very good
very good
no comment
no comment
Its good if you have...
Its good if you have an idea initially, may be overwhelming for novices.
EASY
EASY
2/5
This is an excellent trading...
This is an excellent trading platform with very clear charting.
Overall Good. Good value. Easy...
Overall Good. Good value. Easy to use platform
I find the platform overly...
I find the platform overly complex
good and expensive
good and expensive
Ok
Ok
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.
