Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Comparison – 2024

Top Reasons to Choose Interactive Brokers or Plus500

Based on our assessment, Interactive Brokers is particularly well-suited for professional traders and portfolio managers who value diverse asset classes, account options, reliability, and competitive fees. On the other hand, Plus500 is more advantageous for novice traders who appreciate user-friendly trading platforms, commission-free trading, and beginner educational materials.

Interactive Brokers: Snapshot

Established in 1978, Interactive Brokers Group, headquartered in Connecticut, is publicly listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. Regulated by seven Tier-1 regulators, the broker offers access to over 8 million tradable instruments, including 8,500 CFDs. Access competitive fees, diverse account options, platforms, and tools tailored for professional traders.

Interactive Brokers: Who is it For?

Interactive Brokers caters to professional traders, portfolio managers, and investors seeking a broad spectrum of asset classes, trading and investment products, advanced trading platforms, and robust trading liquidity.

What Makes Interactive Brokers Stand Out?

Interactive Brokers stands out as one of a handful of publicly listed brokers with global licensing, an extensive asset range and account types, institutional-grade trading platforms, and deep liquidity providing low spreads.

Plus500: Snapshot

Established in 2008, Plus500 is listed on the London Stock Exchange and licensed by 4 Tier-1 regulators worldwide. Experience commission-free trading on over 2,800 tradable instruments with an easy-to-use web trading platform and mobile trading app.

Plus500: Who is it For?

Plus500 caters to novice traders looking for a user-friendly trading experience. It offers an intuitive web trading platform and a mobile app, which is both user-friendly and feature-rich. Educational materials include videos, ebooks, and in-depth webinars catering mainly to beginner and intermediate traders.

What Makes Plus500 Stand Out?

Like Interactive Brokers, Plus500 is also a publicly listed broker with global licensing, positioning it as a strong competitor. It stands out for its straightforward approach to trading global markets, offering accessible products, an intuitive platform, and extensive educational resources.

Trust

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Trust and Regulation Comparison

Interactive Brokers, headquartered in Connecticut, USA, is one of the most reputable brokers globally. It’s regulated by seven Tier-1 regulators, including the US SEC/CFTC, the UK’s FCA, and Japan’s FSA, among others. The broker’s long-standing presence since 1978, combined with its public listing on the NASDAQ and equity capital exceeding $11 billion, reinforces its reliability. Client funds are kept in segregated accounts, ensuring they are separate from the company’s operating funds. Additionally, Interactive Brokers offers negative balance protection, ensuring clients cannot lose more than their initial investment.

Plus500 is also a highly trusted broker, regulated by four Tier-1 regulators, including the UK’s FCA, Cyprus’ CySEC, and Australia’s ASIC. Established in 2008 and listed on the London Stock Exchange, Plus500 has built a strong reputation for reliability. The broker ensures client funds are held in segregated accounts, providing an extra layer of security. Plus500 also offers negative balance protection, so clients are protected from losing more than their deposited funds. Note, that the Tier-1 regulated entities offer the highest level of investor protection, stability, security of funds, and transparency.

If you want to learn more about brokers’ regulations, be sure to check out our article on the top regulated forex brokers.

Fees

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Spreads, Fees and Commissions Comparison

Using the Interactive Brokers’ Individual Account, we found that the spread for trading EUR/USD CFDs averaged 0.25 pips (several times lower than the industry average), coupled with a commission of $2 per lot. This offering is highly competitive compared to the industry norm, where most brokers typically charge a commission of $3.50 per lot in addition to the spread fee. Furthermore, there are no minimum balance requirements or inactivity fees associated with this account.

From Plus500’s commission-free Standard CFD Account, we discovered that the spread for EUR/USD averaged 0.8 pips across the London and New York sessions, beating the industry average of 1.08 pips. Overall, we judged Plus500 fees to be average to competitive. Additionally, an inactivity fee of $10 per month applies for accounts that remain dormant for three months.

Platforms and Tools

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Trading Platforms Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers a wide selection of proprietary trading platforms. The IBKR Trader Workstation (TWS), IBKR Mobile app, and IBKR Client Portal, grant access to over 8 million tradable instruments, including over 7,600 CFDs. The IBKR Desktop, IBKR Impact, and IBKR Global Trader platforms specialize in stocks, options, and mutual funds. The flagship TWS platform targets advanced, professional traders, providing customizable layouts, market scanners, integrated economic news, and various order types. The IBKR Mobile app caters more to beginners, featuring an intuitive layout for easy navigation.

Plus500 offers a proprietary web trading platform and mobile trading app. Both are perfect for beginner traders and offer access to over 2,800 CFD markets. The web platform offers standard drawing tools, chart types, timeframes, and indicators, along with one-click trading and guaranteed stop-loss orders. The mobile platform includes the same features as the web platform and also offers the +Insights tool with market sentiment data.

In case you’re looking for brokers that offer third-party platforms, check out our guides on the best MT4 forex brokers, MT5 forex brokers, and cTrader forex brokers.

Tradable Instruments

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Instruments Selection Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers the largest financial product lineup in the industry, featuring over 8 million tradable instruments sourced from 200 countries, including more than 7,600 CFDs. This comprehensive list of markets caters to intermediate to advanced multi-asset traders and portfolio managers.

Plus500 offers over 2,800 leveraged financial CFD instruments covering global asset classes. This range of products is well-suited for beginner to intermediate traders. Advanced traders can also access CFD options contracts on various markets.

Customer Support

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Customer Support Comparison

Interactive Brokers provides customer support via live chat, phone, and a contact form, available 24/6. The proficiency of customer support agents in handling basic to complex inquiries was satisfactory, but connecting with an agent sometimes involved lengthy wait times.

Plus500 offers customer support 24/7 through live chat and email, though there is no phone support. Connecting to the live chat was very quick, with almost immediate responses from knowledgeable customer support agents.

Research

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Research Tools Comparison

Interactive Brokers provides professional market research through its Traders Insights page, with content also accessible on its proprietary platforms. This includes written articles and videos covering various markets and trading styles. Additionally, third-party content from Nasdaq, Investopedia, and Redwall Analytics enriches the platform, catering to the needs of fundamental traders and portfolio managers.

Plus500 offers high-quality market research from its website and trading platforms. The in-house analyst team offers articles covering news and market insights with a fundamental approach three to four times a week. The platform includes its +Insights tool, which offers data on what its other clients are buying and selling. There is also an in-built economic calendar. The tools cater to beginner and intermediate traders.

Deposits & Withdrawals

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Deposit and Withdrawal Methods Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers deposit and withdrawal transactions via bank wire transfers. Deposits are typically exempt from charges, but withdrawal fees vary depending on the region and currency. For instance, withdrawals in US dollars are subject to a $10 fee, while withdrawals in euros and British pounds incur a €1 or £1 fee when using BACS/SEPA methods. Payments are typically processed within one business day.

Plus500 provides fee-free deposit and withdrawal options, including bank wire transfer, Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, PayPal, and Skrill. Bank wire deposits can take 1 to 5 business days, while other methods are instant. Withdrawals are processed within one business day.

Account Types and Terms

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Account Types Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers the industry’s widest variety of account types, serving individual traders, professional investors, fund managers, and family offices. These encompass Individual, Joint, Trust, Family Advisor, ISAs, SIPPs, Family Office, Small Business, Money Manager, Broker, and Proprietary Trading Group Accounts. The Individual Trader account, tailored for novice traders, does not require a minimum deposit and accepts funding in 19 different currencies.

Plus500 offers four account types: Standard, Professional, Islamic, and Demo. Most accounts cater to beginner traders with an easy account opening process and a minimum deposit of 100 units in 16 different currencies. The Professional account caters to advanced traders and offers higher leverage but does require passing a suitability test.

Education

Interactive Brokers vs Plus500 Educational Content Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers an extensive educational resource through its IBKR Campus. Catering to traders of all skill levels, its Traders Academy provides 65 finance courses comprising articles, videos, and quizzes covering a wide range of topics such as stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, platform tutorials, and fundamental analysis. Additionally, weekly educational podcasts and interactive live trading webinars provide valuable resources for traders and investors at every level of expertise.

Plus500 provides a variety of educational resources, including articles, videos, ebooks, an in-depth webinar series, and some YouTube videos. Topics include the basics of CFD trading, trading psychology, technical analysis, and trading strategies. The material is high quality and mainly caters to beginner and intermediate traders.

Our Methodology

Since 2011, FX Empire has developed a detailed methodology for evaluating CFD brokers, involving over 250 variables across nine crucial categories. Our team of experts, with deep industry knowledge, conducts live testing and research by interacting with the brokers directly. We check regulations, open accounts, test spreads, account costs, platform functionality, instrument variety, customer support reliability, and the quality of research and educational content. This granular analysis helps us identify each broker’s strengths and weaknesses, keeping our comparisons current with market trends and ensuring our guides meet traders’ needs.

We strive to evaluate each broker objectively, considering how their offerings align with the diverse trading goals and preferences of our readers. Our focus is on providing a balanced overview of each broker’s strengths and weaknesses. This method ensures that our readers receive clear, insightful comparisons to aid in making well-informed trading decisions.

We employ a comprehensive rating system across nine key categories:

• Trust
• Fees
• Platforms and Tools
• Tradable Instruments
• Customer Support
• Research
• Deposits and Withdrawals
• Account Types and Terms
• Education

In each category, we conduct an in-depth analysis for both brokers, outlining features, advantages, and disadvantages and determining their suitability for different trader profiles. By blending insights from our extensive reviews with first-hand experiences and observations, we ensure each comparison is balanced, informative, and tailored to the trader’s unique needs. You can read more about our review process here.

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