11 Best Gold Trading Brokers for 2024

Founded in 2005, MultiBank has a long track record as a CFD broker and has grown to have a major global presence. The Dubai-based broker is regulated across 5 continents and maintains over 20 offices globally to cater to an international client base.

• Spreads in gold: 25 pips, better than the average for the industry
• Available gold trading assets: Spot gold (XAU/USD) and gold futures (GCJ3)
• Available leverage for spot gold: 1:20 leverage at the European entity, 1:30 at the Australian entity, 1:500 at the offshore entity
• Alternative gold pairs: XAU/EUR (live account only)

Gold traders need quality order execution and MultiBank is a non-dealing desk broker using Straight Through Processing (STP) for optimal fills. Low trading-related fees keep costs to a minimum for active traders. Deposits and withdrawals are free and fast, also there is a wide range of available methods. Customer support at MultiBank Group is first class and we experienced almost zero wait times in our tests.

Insurance from Lloyd’s of London can provide peace of mind that funds are safe. MultiBank Group’s offshore subsidiary MEX Atlantic offers a $1M excess loss insurance policy underwritten by Lloyd’s of London.

Exness is a large and well-established forex and CFD broker with a unique offering. The Limassol, Cyprus-based broker was founded in 2008 and offers access to trading in CFDs on currencies, crypto, stocks, indices, and commodities.

• Spreads in gold: 20 pips, much better than the average for the industry
• Available gold CFD assets: Spot gold (XAU/USD)
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:2000 and unlimited leverage is available if certain conditions are met
• Alternative gold pairs; XAU/EUR, XAU/AUD, XAU/GBP, XAU/USD, and BTC/XAU

Gold traders must be nimble and Exness delivers a platform that can cater to day traders in fast-moving markets. The Exness Trading Terminal has an intuitive interface and popular features such as watchlists, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart.

Charting provided by TradingView is robust, with 50 drawing tools, 100 indicators, 9 time frames, and 7 chart types. Standard order types are available and the platform also has a sentiment indicator that tells you the percentage of buy and sell orders that were recently opened by traders. In addition to the Trading Terminal platform, Exness provides clients with the full suite of MetaTrader platforms. In our tests we found Exness to have competitive gold spreads.

Plus500 was founded in 2008 and is now a giant of the brokerage industry: available in over 50 countries, with 400,000 active clients. Listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: PLUS), it is one of a handful of publicly traded CFD brokers. We verified that Plus500 is a multi-regulated broker, authorized by various top-tier authorities. Clients can access 2,500 CFD instruments via the state-of-the-art WebTrader platform and mobile app.

• Spreads in spot gold: 36 pips
• Available gold CFD asset: spot gold (XAU/USD), options on spot gold, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) ETF
• Available leverage for spot gold CFD: 1:20 at the CySEC entity
• Alternative metals available: Silver, platinum, and copper

Plus500 has invested heavily in its web platform and mobile app, and the results are outstanding. The Plus500 mobile app combines an intuitive interface and advanced functionality. Popular features like watchlists, alerts, and light/dark mode are available, along with built-in analysis, news, and an economic calendar. Our research showed that charting within the app is robust, featuring 13 chart types and 119 indicators, and advanced order types like trailing stops are available. It’s easy to flip back and forth from demo to live mode, and the app provides two-factor authentication as an additional layer of security.

An impressive variety of gold-related instruments are available, ranging from spot gold and gold options to various popular gold-related shares like the mining company Royal Gold (RGLD) and exchange-traded funds like VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ). The sentiment data built into the Plus500 mobile app shows the percentage of buyers vs. sellers and can be a powerful indicator of potential trend change in these volatile instruments.

With an operating history of over ten years, BDSwiss has grown to provide brokerage services for over a million clients worldwide. The Cyprus-based firm offers trading in a wide range of CFD assets via its beginner-friendly web and mobile platforms and the popular MetaTrader platform.

• Spreads in gold: 47 pips
• Available gold CFD assets: Spot gold (XAU/USD)
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:500 at the offshore entity
• Alternative gold pairs: XAU/EUR

BDSwiss shines in the research category with high-quality market analysis, webinars, a weekly outlook, and special reports. An in-house team of analysts provides daily market coverage in both written and video formats. Traders can benefit from in-depth reports offering insights into the currents moving the markets. In addition, research from award-winning Trading Central is available to clients.

Vantage is an award-winning CFD broker headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Since launching in 2009, Vantage has grown to acquire over 50,000 active clients worldwide, according to its website. Clients have access to CFDs on forex, commodities, indices, shares, and cryptocurrencies. We confirmed that Vantage is regulated by ASIC and CIMA. Furthermore, all client funds are held in segregated custodial accounts with an AA-rated Australian bank.

• Spreads in gold: 32 pips, better than the average for the industry
• Available gold CFD assets: Spot gold (XAU/USD)
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:20 at the UK and European entities, 1:333 at the offshore entity
• Alternative gold pairs: XAU/EUR, XAU/GBP (offshore entity only).

Our analysis confirmed that Vantage offers a comprehensive range of educational materials – including articles, videos, courses, and webinars. The Academy section of the website hosts detailed guides covering topics such as trading strategies and trading psychology. For novice traders, there are materials styled as a course, ranging from market terminology to technical and fundamental analysis. We observed that these materials are frequently updated and of high quality.

Multiple live webinars take place weekly, featuring market outlook and trading strategy themed sessions. If you struggle with getting up to speed with software, Vantage also offers a series of useful tutorials, enabling traders make the most of the platforms.

Australian CFD brokers have a reputation for high standards, and FP Markets is no exception. The Sydney-based broker has won over 40 industry awards and has a long operating history of 18 years. FP Markets earned a high trust score in our review, with entities regulated by top-tier ASIC and CySEC.

• Spreads in gold: 20 pips, better than the average for the industry
• Available gold CFD assets: Spot gold (XAU/USD)
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:20 at the European entity, 1:30 at the Australian entity, 1:500 at the offshore entity
• Alternative gold pairs: XAU/EUR and XAU/AUD

Clients can access thousands of instruments across stocks, indices, forex, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The Standard Account is great for beginner traders as it offers commission-free trading. The Raw Account is suited to professional traders as it is commission based but with lower spreads. FP Markets also provides an IRESS Account, enabling clients to trade with Direct Market Access (DMA).

Available trading platforms include MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrader, IRESS, and a user-friendly proprietary mobile trading app.

FP Markets offers a great range of tools for professional traders. MAM/PAMM accounts allow clients to manage money on behalf of others. Algorithmic traders can use a Virtual Private Server (VPS) to run automated trading strategies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with low latency and reduced risk of downtime. Industry-leading third-party tools Autochartist and Trading Central are also available and provide good coverage of the gold market.

IG was founded in 1974, making it the oldest broker we have reviewed. The London-based forex industry giant now has over 300,000 clients and offices across five continents. IG Group Holdings PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is part of the FTSE 250 Index.

• Spreads in gold: 30 pips
• Available gold CFD assets: Spot gold (XAU/USD) and the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) ETF
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:20 at the UK and EU entities
• Alternative gold pairs: Platinum, Copper, and Nickel

The IG Academy offers material catering to beginner, intermediate, and advanced traders. Courses are broken down into short, easy-to-digest lessons and feature a quiz at the end to aid the learning process. There is good coverage of commodities trading, including videos like How to trade gold: bullion, coins, ETFs, and shares. I judged the content as well crafted and a great reference for both new and experienced traders.

The award-winning IG Web Platform is intuitive, highly customizable, and packs a robust range of features. These include popular items like watchlists, alerts, one-click trading, and trading from the chart. While trading on the IG Platform, I appreciated the ability to customize it to your preference and create multiple workspaces. The suite of tools – including trading signals from Autochartist, client sentiment, and the news feed from Thomson Reuters – is outstanding.

Founded in 2010, IronFX offers trading in a broad range of CFDs, including forex, commodities, indices, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. CFDs on futures are also available, including futures on metals. The Cyprus-based broker has entities regulated by top-tier CySEC and FCA and an unregulated offshore entity. In our live tests, we found that spreads in gold are competitive.

• Spreads in gold: 43 pips, slightly better than the average for the industry
• Available gold CFD asset:  Spot gold (XAU/USD)
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:20 at the UK and European entities, 1:1000 at the offshore entity
• Alternative gold pairs: XAU/EUR

IronFX offers the popular MetaTrader 4 platform and its proprietary Web Trader app. Traders have seven types of accounts to choose from four accounts with live floating/fixed spreads and three STP/ECN accounts. Islamic account options are available for the four floating/live fixed spreads accounts.

Deposits and withdrawals are made easy at IronFX. Clients have a broad choice of payment methods, including bank wire, credit cards, digital wallets, and cryptocurrencies. There are no fees for deposits or withdrawals except for bank wires under $300.

Founded in 2014, Tickmill earned a high mark in our trust category, with five entities primarily licensed by first and second-tier regulators. The London-based broker offers a wide range of CFD instruments. Futures and options on gold are also available for UK clients, giving traders a broader choice of contracts.

• Sreads in gold: 21 pips, better than the average for the industry.
• Available gold assets: the spot gold CFD (XAU/USD), real (non-CFD) gold future, options (Standard, Mini, and Micro)
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:20 at the UK and European entities, 1:500 at the offshore entity.

Tickmill is a user-centric broker that bucks the CFD industry trend by not charging inactivity fees or fees for deposits and withdrawals. Clients can choose between a standard account providing commission-free trading and floating spreads or Pro and VIP accounts with raw spreads and fixed commissions.

Our live tests showed that Tickmill has competitive spreads for gold and most other instruments. Swaps and commissions are also relatively low. You get the sense that Tickmill genuinely wants to see its clients succeed in the market and does its best to support this by cutting costs.

IC Markets launched in 2007 and has grown to become a market leader, providing access to trading in currencies, stocks, commodities, futures, bonds, and digital assets. The Sydney, Australia-based broker caters to the needs of advanced traders with cutting-edge trading platforms, low-latency connectivity, and better-than-average liquidity. In our live tests, we found spreads to be highly competitive.

• Spreads in gold: 18 pips, much better than the average for the industry
• Available gold CFD assets: Spot gold (XAU/USD)
• Available leverage for the spot gold CFD: 1:20 at the European entity, 1:30 at the Australian entity, and 1:500 at the offshore entity
• Alternative gold pairs: XAU/EUR

Traders can take advantage of the full range of MetaTrader platforms and the cTrader platform, which offer automated trading and copy trading capabilities. A Virtual Private Server (VPS) allows traders to run automated trading strategies nonstop with the fastest possible connectivity to the IC Markets trading servers.

IC Markets introduced 20 exclusive trading tools previously unavailable on MetaTrader 4. These include apps such as ‘Correlation Trader’, which enables users to compare the correlation between two symbols and trade emerging differences. Correlation strategies are beneficial for gold traders, as the yellow metal has a positive correlation with instruments such as AUD/USD.

A giant of the CFD industry, Plus500 has recently expanded into the United States to offer futures trading via its state-of-the-art proprietary web platform and mobile app. Since launching in 2008, Plus500 is now available in over 50 countries and has 400,000 active clients. US clients can access futures contracts on forex, indices, commodities, bonds, and cryptocurrencies.

• We experienced low spreads in gold, an average of 10 cents, plus a commission of $‪2.46‬ per side including exchange and NFA fees.
• Available gold futures contracts include CME Gold, E-mini Gold, and Micro Gold.
• The intraday margin requirement for the full-sized CME gold futures contract is $500 per contract (currently equal to leverage of roughly 1:400).
• Alternative metals futures contracts include silver, platinum and copper.

Plus500 has invested heavily in its proprietary WebTrader platform, which takes ease of use to a new level. WebTrader has a range of popular features, including watchlists, trading from the chart, and access to live chat support from within the platform. I especially liked the ease with which you can flip between demo and live trading. The ability to easily enter three orders at once (your initial, order, profit target and stop loss) is another great feature. Futures trading becomes simple and straightforward with this ultra-intuitive platform.

To freely day trade stocks in the US requires an account balance of at least $25,000, but this is not the case with futures. Plus500 US lowers the barrier of entry to active trading with a $100 minimum deposit, competitive commissions, and low intraday margin requirements for a diverse range of futures contracts. For example, to trade the CME Micro Gold futures contract, the intraday margin requirement is just $50.