Best Brokers UK
Richard Montana | August 4, 2022
An online broker is the platform between buyers and sellers of financial instruments. Trading brokerages charge traders and investors a fee or commission for facilitating the purchase and sale of various assets via their platform. They often invest in high-performance and innovative technologies to facilitate top class trading conditions so that their clients can get exposure to a wide range of markets and powerful tools.
Brokers provide three main levels of service and the one you choose will depend on the level of autonomy you want over your investment decisions. Advancing technology has led to an increased number of online brokers over the years, and identifying one that suits your needs might not always be an easy task.
The United Kingdom is home to some of the best trading brokers that you will find anywhere. Whilst this does mean that you have lots of choice, it can be overwhelming trying to sift through all of the available options to find a suitable broker. That is why we have complied this handy guide to help you along the way.
Top 10 Brokers UK
Here you will find the best United Kingdom brokers according to the many hours of research, testing, analysis and comparison that we have conducted across hundreds of brokers. By having all of the best brokers listed in one place, we aim to make it quick and easy for you to identify the best broker in the UK according to your own individual needs.
In order to be included within our best brokers in the UK list, the broker should be regulated and offer top trading conditions, including tight spreads, low fees, lots of liquidity and rapid execution speeds. They should have a choice of easy to use yet powerful trading platforms and trading apps along with a wide selection of quality trading tools for comprehensive market analysis and to assist you with your daily trading activities.
Other factors that we consider to be important when choosing the best UK broker include the variety of account types, funding options provided, reputation within the industry, customer support and range of financial instruments available to trade online. We also like to see enough educational resources provided to help beginners learn more about trading and investing online.
That being said, we have chosen these as the best brokers in the United Kingdom as they meet our criteria and are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They have passed our strict broker reviews with flying colours and been awarded a top broker rating for the excellent range of trading and investing services that they provide.
ADGM FRSA, ASIC, BVIFSC, CBI, FFAJ, FSCA, IIROC, JFSA
Min $100 Deposit
2006
1:400
ASIC, BaFin, CFTC, DFSA, FCA, FINMA, FMA, FSA, FSCA, JFSA, MAFF, MAS, METI, NFA
Min $250 Deposit
1974
1:200
AvaTrade
AvaTrade are a very well-regulated broker that provide an excellent range of trading products and services to UK traders. You can access the markets via the brokers user-friendly platforms on your desktop and mobile devices. They are suitable for manual trading, automated trading and copying signals of other traders using their social trading platform, the innovative AvaTradeGO app.
AvaTrade do not charge any commission fees, you will pay a small spread mark-up instead but the overall costs work out to be some of the lowest that you will find anywhere. The broker has a fantastic selection of educational resources to help bring beginners up to speed with trading online. You can also open a free demo account to see if they meet your expectations before making a financial commitment.
IG
IG have remained one the best UK brokers for many years now. They are an industry leader in many aspects, including best in class platforms, tools, costs and customer support. UK traders are spoilt for choice with a massive range of over 18,000 financial instruments including forex, stocks, commodities and cryptos. You can get free access to comprehensive market research and analysis from the experts.
The broker also offers direct market access (DMA) for professional traders who would like to deal directly into the order books of major equity exchanges. Whatever you are looking to trade and however you want to trade, IG are one the best brokers in the UK by far. Regulation across multiple jurisdictions can also give you the peace of mind that they are a trusted broker in an industry where so many come and go.
Pepperstone
Pepperstone have been around for many years and were one of the very first brokers that I started trading with. They have exceptionally good trading conditions, especially when it comes to trade forex. The spreads are very tight starting from just 0.0 pips and the execution speeds some of the best you will find anywhere.
The broker gives you convenient access to trade online via the user-friendly MetaTrader platforms and the professional cTrader platform. There are some powerful tools available to help with your market analysis so that you can spot potential opportunities and make informed decisions. Overall, I feel that they are one of the best brokers for UK traders who are looking for no-nonsense access to the markets in a regulated environment with excellent support.
IC Markets
For anyone in the UK who is looking to trade forex with some of the best trading conditions, IC Markets are a top choice. They provide you with powerful platforms and lots of robust tools for trading forex with raw spreads from zero pips, low commission fees and superior execution at the best available price from a deep pool of top-tier liquidity providers.
In addition to forex trading, IC Markets have a great selection of stock CFDs which allow you to speculate on the price of a stock without needing to take physical ownership. This also applies to the generous range of commodities and cryptos that the broker provides. I think they can be an excellent choice for UK traders who are looking to day trade using scalping strategies and automated trading systems.
City Index
City Index are an established and well backed UK broker that offers a superb range of investment products and services to clients. You can trade a wide variety of financial instruments within a regulated environment and get all of the support you need to help you reach your trading goals.
The broker has some of the best trading platforms and apps, with lots of robust trading tools for analysing the markets and finding trade opportunities. They also have an abundance of helpful educational resources to educate those of you who are new to trading. This includes comprehensive trading guides and videos.
I think City Index are a very reputable broker for UK trader who want to trade in a professional environment with all of the resources needed being available at your fingertips. Forex.com is another trading broker under the same umbrella which further emphasises the size of the company.
Markets.com
Markets.com is a regulated broker that provides clients with a large range of trading instruments on powerful yet user friendly platforms, with tight spreads, rapid execution speeds, low commissions, various funding options and excellent 24/5 support.
ActivTrades
Established in 2001, ActivTrades are an award winning and regulated online UK broker offering traders a great selection of over 500+ trading instruments. They provide powerful trading platforms, useful trading tools and educational materials.
Valutrades
Valutrades is a regulated trading brokerage firm with flexible platforms and accounts. They have a selection of tools and educational materials but non-FX instruments are lacking in comparison to some of the other UK brokers.
Key to Markets
Key to Markets is a regulated ECN broker with a good selection of trading instruments available via MT4 and FIX API. Eligible clients can claim a free VPS although they lack additional trading tools and educational materials.
Capital.com
Capital.com is a UK based online broker providing a great range of financial products and services. Through their award-winning platform, traders can trade CFDs online with a choice of over 2,000+ markets across indices, commodities, cryptocurrency, stocks, and forex currency pairs.
Choosing a UK Broker
First and foremost, we ensured that the UK broker was regulated and authorised to provide online trading services to traders in the UK. We then conducted many hours of thorough research and analysis into the brokers UK services. From there, we were able to collate what we consider to be amongst the most important factors to consider when choosing the best UK brokers and allocated them an unbiased broker rating based on our findings.
Regulation
Due to the increasing popularity of trading and investing online, there are new brokers in the UK opening all the time. This can make it difficult to choose the best UK broker according to your individual requirements. We believe one of the most important factors to consider is that a broker providing services to clients in the UK is authorised and regulated to offer financial services in the UK.
If a broker has been licensed to operate in the United Kingdom (UK), they are given a registration number. This number can usually be found near the footer of a broker’s website where they state that they are regulated. You can then check on the regulators website if the registration number is valid and up to date. It has been known for some scam brokers to fake registration, some even going as far to clone another broker. When you lookup the registration number you should find details of the brokerage firm including their website, contact details and if they have had any cases brought against them or warnings.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent public body that regulates the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its role is to help protect consumers, keeping the industry stable, and promoting healthy competition between financial service providers.
The FCA was established from the Financial Services Act 2012 replacing the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Its purpose was to create a new regulatory framework for financial services, including brokers. The FCA is funded through charging fees to members of the financial services industry. It is, however, still accountable to the Treasury and to Parliament.
The FCA has the power to regulate how financial products are marketed and to set minimum standards and requirements on products that firms offer. They also have the power to investigate financial organisations and individuals. With the possibility of imposing bans on those who breach the regulations put in place to protect investors. The FCA is able to ban financial products for up to a year while considering an indefinite ban. Further, the FCA is able to freeze assets of individuals or organisations under investigation.
By trading online with a broker that is regulated by the FCA, there is also the benefit of protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). FCA regulated firms are required to become a member of the FSCS. The aim of this scheme is to offer the possibility of compensation to eligible clients if the broker runs into financial issues.
We believe that a broker who is authorised and regulated can give traders peace of mind that they are using a brokerage firm which must abide by strict rules and regulations put in place to protect them. It is worth noting that some non-UK brokers can still solicit clients located within the UK whilst UK brokers are also able to offer online trading services to clients located in some countries outside of the UK. In this instance, it would be a wise idea to make sure that they have the relevant regulation within the jurisdiction that they operate from.
Trading Platforms
The best UK brokers should have a variety of different trading platforms for multiple devices including desktop, web and mobile trading apps. The brokers trading platforms should be user friendly, with plenty of trading tools and advanced functionality for all types of trading strategies. You will find that there are lots of MetaTrader brokers which is one of the most user-friendly platforms that gives convenient market access for manual and automated trading strategies. If you don’t have the time or skills to trade and want to copy trading signals, you should look for a social trading platform.
Trading Instruments
The brokers should provide UK traders with a wide range of trading instruments across multiple asset classes including Forex, Commodities, Cryptocurrency, Stocks, Indices, Options, ETFs, CFDs and Futures. The more choice that the broker has, the easier it would be to expand your portfolio in the future, should you wish to do so.
Spreads
When you place a trade position with a broker, you will usually need to pay the spread which is the difference between the bid and ask prices at the time of executing your order. In general, the lower the spreads, the cheaper the trading costs can be and the better the prices you may have your trade executed at. Although, this can also be dependent on other factors such as the brokers liquidity, slippage and execution model.
Commission
Many UK brokers will charge a small commission fee for each trade that you place with them. The lower the commission fee per trade, the lower your overall trading costs can be in the long term. Some trading strategies actually depend on low commissions. Thus, the best UK brokers should have the most competitive commissions.
Fees
In addition to the spreads and commissions that brokers may charge, there can be additional fees. These include overnight swap fees, funding fees, platform fees, trading tool fees, educational resource fees, etc. Any other fees charged by the broker should be competitive and transparent to the trader. If you are looking to save as much as possible on your trading costs, you can take a look at our best discount brokers.
Execution Speeds
The execution speed can determine the price your order will be executed at. Instant execution should mean that the order is placed as close to your desired price as possible. The best UK brokers should have rapid execution speeds with minimal slippage so that traders get the best available prices more often than not. Some trading strategies such as scalping are dependent on reliable execution speeds.
Liquidity Providers
The best brokers UK should have top liquidity providers (LPs) with deep liquidity pools so that they can offer competitive bid/ask prices along with reliable trade execution speeds.
Trading Tools
Whilst the trading platforms offered by brokers will usually have more than enough trading tools for the average trader, there are some brokers who offer additional trading tools such as economic calendars, trading calculators, market analysis, trading signals and more. The best brokers in the UK will usually offer some additional trading tools to support traders with their daily trading activities.
Educational Resources
Educational resources can help traders to improve their trading skills and knowledge. They also encourage informed trading. The best brokers will usually offer clients a range of free educational materials such as tutorial videos, trading guides, eBooks, trading glossary, FAQs, webinars and seminars. If you are new to trading and need as much guidance as possible, you might want to explore our best brokers for beginners.
Account Types
Trading brokers can have a variety of different account types that are designed to cater to the differing needs of clients. The accounts can vary according to the minimum deposit required, leverage offered, execution type, spreads, commissions, instruments, additional services and more. The best UK brokers should have a selection of account types for different experience levels and trading strategies. Demo accounts can be useful to practice trading online with virtual funds whilst Islamic accounts that comply with Sharia law support Muslim traders.
Account Funding Options
In order to trade online, you will need to be able to deposit and withdraw funds to and from your trading broker account. Brokers can offer a range of different account deposit and withdrawal methods. This will often include bank transfers, credit/debit card and online payment processors such as Skrill, Neteller and PayPal. The best brokers in the UK should have a variety of convenient funding options. It is worth considering the time taken and any fees involved for processing funds.
Customer Support
Most brokers can be reached via telephone, email and live chat. It is worth ensuring that the broker can be reached in a way that is convenient for your needs. The brokers customer support team should be prompt, polite and efficient in their responses to all clients general and technical questions. You may wish to consider if there is any different between your time zone and the brokers support hours, as this could have an impact on response times.
Best UK Brokers Conclusion
Whilst this article covers what we consider to be amongst the most important things to consider when choosing a broker in the UK, it can differ depending on your individual preferences. Thus, it is important that you choose a broker that meets your needs and use this information only for educational purposes and not as advice. Take your time to research brokers and conduct your own due diligence. You can even test a broker with a free demo account to see if they are suitable before making a commitment. Please feel free to use our broker comparison tool if you are looking for some further inspiration to help you choose a broker.
About the Author
Richard Montana
Richard has many years of experience in broker research, testing, analysis and reviews. He knows what to look for through years of trading himself with different brokers and listening to the feedback of others.
Review Methodology
For all of our broker reviews, we research, validate, analyse and compare what we deem to be the most important factors to consider when choosing a broker. This includes pros, cons and an overall rating based on our findings. We aim to help you find the best broker according to your own needs. You can read more about our review process.