Interactive Brokers vs XTB Comparison – 2024

Top Reasons to Choose Interactive Brokers or XTB

Based on our comparative analyses, I have listed the top reasons why I think Interactive Brokers is ideal for professional traders, investors, and portfolio managers and why XTB is perfect for beginner to intermediate traders in the table below:

Interactive Brokers: Snapshot

Founded in 1978, the Interactive Brokers Group is a publicly traded entity based in Connecticut and listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Regulated by ten Tier-1 regulators, Interactive Brokers is a pioneer in the trading industry, with over 2 million tradable instruments, including more than 8,000 CFDs, rock-bottom fees, and an extensive range of accounts, platforms, and tools for professional traders.

Interactive Brokers: Who is it For?

Interactive Brokers is ideal for professional traders, investors, and portfolio managers who seek a wide range of asset classes, financial products, platforms, low fees, safety, and deep trading liquidity.

What Makes Interactive Brokers Stand Out?

Interactive Brokers distinguishes itself with its true global, multi-asset class offering, low trading fees, and professional-grade trading platforms.

XTB: Snapshot

Founded in 2022, XTB is publicly traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and based in Poland. Regulated by the UK FCA, CySEC, CNMV, KNF, and IFSC Belize, XTB offers high-quality in-house research to trade over 2,100 CFD instruments with zero commissions from its proprietary web platform, mobile app, and various trading and investing accounts.

XTB: Who is it For?

XTB is ideal for beginner to intermediate traders who seek a good range of financial instruments with competitive spreads and high-quality market research to aid in trading decisions.

What Makes XTB Stand Out?

XTB stands out by offering zero-commission CFD trading on a good range of asset classes from its feature-rich proprietary trading platforms.

Trust

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Trust and Regulation Comparison

Interactive Brokers, established in 1978 in Connecticut, USA, operates with 10 global entities under top-tier regulators like the CFTC, IIROC, FCA, and others. As a Nasdaq-listed company with over $11 billion in equity capital, it ensures high financial stability and transparent fee structures.

Founded in Poland in 2002, XTB has 5 global entities worldwide. European and UK clients trade with entities regulated by four Tier-1 European authorities, including the FCA, CySEC, CNMV, and KNF. For international clients, XTB operates under the jurisdiction of the IFSC in Belize, a Tier-3 regulatory authority. Listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the broker offers high transparency regarding its fee structure.

Fees

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Spreads, Fees and Commissions Comparison

In our live fee test using the Interactive Brokers CFD account, we found the spread for EUR/USD averaged 0.25 pips with a commission of 2 USD per lot. Trading one lot (100,000 units of currency) resulted in a fee of 27 USD (100,000 * 0.00025 pips + 2 USD commission). This rate is highly competitive compared to the typical industry commission of $3.50 per lot. Interactive Brokers also has no minimum balance or inactivity fees. Short-term traders often favor such commission-based brokers for their tighter spreads and direct interbank market access.

Using the XTB CFD account, we found the spread for EUR/USD averaged 0.85 pips with zero commission. Trading one lot resulted in a fee of $85 (100,000 units of currency * 0.00085 pips). The spread beats the industry average of 1.0 pips. However, an inactive account incurs a $10 monthly fee after a year of no activity. Beginner traders might prefer these commission-free accounts for simpler risk management. Ultimately, traders should select a fee structure aligning with their trading style.

By the way, if you’re looking for a broker with a zero-spread account, we suggest checking out our article on the top zero-spread forex brokers.

Platforms and Tools

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Trading Platforms Comparison

Interactive Brokers provides a range of proprietary platforms. The IBKR Trader Workstation (TWS), Mobile app, and Client Portal feature over 2 million tradable instruments, including more than 8,000+ CFDs. The IBKR Desktop, Impact, and Global Trader cater to stocks, options, and mutual funds. The flagship TWS platform, designed for advanced traders, offers customizable layouts, market scanners, economic news, and various order types. The IBKR Mobile app, ideal for beginners, has an intuitive, easy-to-navigate layout.

XTB‘s xStation 5 is accessible via web, desktop, and mobile, offering consistent features across platforms for trading over 2,100 instruments. Targeting beginner to intermediate traders, it provides an easy-to-use interface with price alerts, customized watchlists, and one-click trading. The xStation mobile app includes market commentary, an economic calendar, and one-click trading options but lacks price alerts.

Tradable Instruments

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Instruments Selection Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers the industry’s largest range of financial products, with 2+ million tradable instruments from 200 countries covering mainly stocks, options, and mutual funds, as well as futures, currencies, warrants, bonds, metals, structured products, and CFDs. The product range is suited to multi-asset traders and portfolio managers, but beginner traders may find the 8,000+ CFDs or the 100+ forex pairs easier to handle. Commodity CFDs are limited to gold and silver, but all global commodities are available via futures and options.

XTB offers CFDs on 1,800+ global stocks, 100 ETFs, 27 indices, 23 commodities, and 54 currency pairs. We discovered that Investors also have the option to purchase 3,000+ physical shares and ETFs from 16 global stock exchanges. The diverse range of markets XTB offers is well-suited for beginner to intermediate traders and investors.

Customer Support

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Customer Support Comparison

Interactive Brokers provides 24-hour multilingual customer support, 6 days a week, through live chat, phone, and a contact form. Our live test revealed that the quality of customer support varies. The knowledge of customer support agents answering basic to complex questions was good, but we noted that connecting with an agent often required time and effort.

XTB offers 24-hour customer support, 5 days a week, in multiple languages via live chat, phone, and email. When testing the customer support service, we found the agents to be knowledgeable and the overall experience satisfactory. However, we experienced long wait times via live chat but almost instant connection over the phone.

Research

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Research Tools Comparison

Interactive Brokers provides high-quality, professional market research on its Traders Insights page and within its proprietary trading platforms, in both written and video formats. Covering various markets (stocks, forex, crypto, commodities) and trading styles (macro, technical analysis), it includes third-party content from Nasdaq, Investopedia, and Redwall Analytics, catering to professional traders and investors.

XTB offers high-quality, in-depth market research from its in-house research team, accessible on its website and xStation platform. It covers breaking news, fundamental and technical analysis, as well as weekly, daily, and macro outlooks. I found additional tools on xStation, including market sentiment, a list of the market’s top gainers and losers, a stock and ETF scanner, and real-time heat maps tailored for beginner to intermediate traders and investors seeking a fundamental market edge.

Deposits & Withdrawals

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Deposit and Withdrawal Methods Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers deposit and withdrawal options via bank wire transfer. Deposits are fee-free, but withdrawal fees vary depending on the region and currency. US dollar withdrawals incur a 10 USD fee, while euro and British pound withdrawals incur a 1 EUR or GBP fee using BACS/SEPA methods. Payments are processed within one business day.

XTB offers many deposit options with zero fees for bank wire transfers, Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro. There is a 2% deposit fee when using Skrill. All deposits are immediate except bank wire transfer, which takes one business day. Withdrawals can only be done via bank wire transfer and are free if above $100; otherwise, there is a $20 withdrawal fee.

Account Types and Terms

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Account Types Comparison

Our test showed that Interactive Brokers provides various account types for individual traders, professional investors, fund managers, and family offices, including Individual, Joint, Trust, Family Advisor, ISAs, SIPPs, Small Business, Money Manager, Broker & FCM, and Proprietary Trading Group Accounts. Individual Trader accounts require no minimum deposit and support 19 currencies. The application process takes 15 minutes, with retail trading leverage capped at 1:30.

XTB offers a Standard Account with a 10-minute setup and no minimum deposit, supporting GBP, EUR, USD, and HUF. We found that this account can be configured as Demo, Live, Professional, Islamic, or Corporate, with the Professional Account offering up to 1:100 leverage. The Islamic Account provides swap-free trading in accordance with Sharia Law.

Education

Interactive Brokers vs XTB Educational Content Comparison

Interactive Brokers offers extensive, high-quality educational content for all trader levels. Its Traders Academy features 65 finance courses with articles, videos, and quizzes, covering the basics of different markets (stocks, bonds, cryptos), platform tutorials, and fundamental analysis. In my view, weekly podcasts and interactive live trading webinars provide valuable resources for various traders and investors.

XTB‘s educational content, primarily for beginner and intermediate traders, is accessible in its Knowledge Base. It includes mainly text-based articles on forex, commodities, indices, stocks, technical analysis, CFDs, and platform guides. Live account holders have access to several eBooks. Video content, featuring 1-4 minute tutorials on different topics, is available on XTB’s YouTube channel.

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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