59.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
- Experts highlight Interactive Brokers Trading Platform as a top choice for advanced traders, winning accolades for its sophisticated tools and extensive market access. While the platform excels in pricing and execution capabilities, it may be overly complex for some retail users, with a noted need for improved customer service response times.
- Across 1375 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.6/5, customers frequently commend the platform's low costs, broad market access, and advanced trading tools. However, some users express concerns regarding the complexity of the desktop interface and occasional delays in customer support. Overall, the platform is praised for its reliability and comprehensive service, making it suitable for both novice and experienced investors.
Interactive Brokers Trading Platform Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated Interactive Brokers Trading Platform across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing5.0
- Market Access5.0
- Online Platform5.0
- Customer Service4.0
- Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
- Low cost
- Wide market range
- Investment accounts
Cons
- Complex desktop platform
- Customer service can be slow
See full expert review
Our verdict
Overall, Interactive Brokers, as the pioneer of the online trading industry, remains one of the best all-round online trading platforms for sophisticated investors and traders. We rank Interactive Brokers as the best online trading platform as it is exceptionally good for sophisticated trading. It offers by far the most access to the most markets through DMA futures, options, physical shares and CFDs. it also has the most advanced execution tools for retail traders, including complex order types such as VWAP, pairs trading, iceberg, and algorithmic trading.
60% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Is Interactive Brokers trading platform any good?
Interactive Brokers won "best trading platform" in our 2024 and 2023 awards as they offer an exceptionally advanced platform for advanced traders, but also a very simple interface for beginners. They also scored very highly in our annual survey for pricing and market range.
We rank Interactive Brokers as the best online trading platform as it is exceptionally good for sophisticated trading. It offers by far the most access to the most markets through DMA futures, options, physical shares and CFDs. it also has the most advanced execution tools for retail traders, including complex order types such as VWAP, pairs trading, iceberg, and algorithmic trading.
When I was testing the trading platform, one thing that is immediately obvious though is that the desktop version is almost too good for retail traders and most will only use a small percentage of its capabilities. However, new traders should not be put off by its institutional-grade offering. The heavy-duty Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation is available as a download on PC, but there is also a simplified web-based version that is very simple to use called Portal.
On the web-based Portal trading platform, you can execute trades as physical deals, CFDs, futures and options (on the widest range of stocks). There are lots of webinars (with the founder Thomas Peterffy and his team) that cover trading strategy. You can also evaluate your portfolio based on how ethical your positions are. There are stock scanners, fund scanners, bond scanners, a fundamentals explorer for hunting out undervalued stocks and you can convert currency at some of the best exchange rates around.
IBKR also gives you more control over your currency exposure. Most other trading platforms automatically convert currency when you trade instruments outside your base currency but IBKR lets you do it manually on a per-trade or ad hoc basis.
What does Interactive Brokers trading platform look like?
Customer reviews for Interactive Brokers
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 1,375 reviews
- Excellent74%
- Very good14%
- Basic7%
- Poor2%
- Bad2%
Read customer reviews
excellent
Excellent easy to use app, best priced platform fees, excellent fund choice, responsive customer service
Advanced
Provide all the tools you need to take your investing to a whole new level.
Thank you so much for your support 🙏
It's describes how you feel about it to start to Investment!
Consistency
Excellent service
Functional, easy-to-use platform
Provides a highly functional platform to hold all my private market investments, making buy, sell or monitoring activities a doddle. I invest all over the world, in multiple currencies, and I've never had an issue on any side of any transaction, to date. Just what one expects, but doesn't always get elsewhere.
Reliability
Trading over 10,000 US Stocks and ETFs, US Equity Index futures and options, US Treasuries, global corporate bonds, European government bonds and UK gilts.
It has abeen a nice and geniune Service to use
I have been able to increase my investment capability and understood more about investment from them likewise chaincapital dot us that exhibits more profit making with a huge margin.
Very happy client of IBKR
1$ Fee per transaction and access to a wide spread of investment assets across the globe.
The one and only platform needed
It is not just trading platform but full solution from beginners' requirements to experts.
Simply the best
Vast product choice, low fees, complete guidelines and formation, great reports
Best investing platform
I have been using the platform for 3 years now.
It offers a wide choice of investment options with an app that is very complete and easy to use.
Shining in the woods.
Quite transparent, saving money of investors, giving lot of options to choose from.
Best brokers for global investors and traders
I have been using this platform from UAE for more than 5 years and completely happy with that platform, technical support and withdrawal convenience.
Great, simple, easy
Great platform!
Best in Class
Simply 5* , great Trading and Investing Platform. Keep going...
The best
Great comprehensive platform with low fees and excellent service
For both begginers and pros
The platform has just made my life so much easier. I feel like I have been trading and investing for decades.
reliable, fast and well-priced service
Provides what I wan't, executes as I wan't it and provides even more. I'm fine with it since several years
Excellent, Accurate and Fast
Very efficient, fast and accurate platform
Ibkr pioneer and the best
It's the best no doubt
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.