Best Futures Brokers

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Futures trading is a contract between a buyer looking to invest and a seller and where the contract is made for the future and has an expiration date. There are primarily two participants, hedgers and speculators. Hedgers look to try and protect their assets from risks whilst speculators are usually floor traders.

Futures trading is a popular choice for active investors who would like to trade long and short with leveraged positions on a variety of different asset classes. The wide range of futures contracts means that there is ample opportunity to look for trades. The types of futures available to trade include a wide range of financial and commodity-based contracts, from indexes, currencies, and debt to energies and metals, to agriculture products.

Individual investors and traders most commonly use futures as a way to speculate on the future price movement of the underlying asset. They seek to profit by expressing their opinion about where the market may be headed for a certain commodity, index, or other financial product. Future contracts, because of the way they are structured and traded, have many inherent advantages over trading stocks.

In order to trade futures, you will need an account with a future broker and access to a trading platform. There are quite a few options when it comes to choosing a broker, so it can be quite hard to decide on which is the right one for you.

We have put together this futures trading broker guide to help you understand more about the options available to you and discover some of the best futures brokers out there today. Having the best brokers for trading futures according to our findings listed in one place, can help you save time when looking for the best future broker for your own individual needs.

Top 10 Futures Brokers

ASIC, BaFin, CFTC, DFSA, FCA, FINMA, FMA, FSA, FSCA, JFSA, MAFF, MAS, METI, NFA

$250

1974

1:200

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, CFTC, FCA, IIROC, NFA, SFC

1978

1:200

Review Trade Trade

FINRA, SEC, SFC

1975

N/A

Review Trade Trade

FINRA

1982

N/A

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, CySEC, FSA, SCB

$200

2007

1:500

Review Trade Trade

CySEC

€10,000

2011

1:50

Review Trade Trade

CySEC, FCA, FSCA, FSC, LOFSA

$100

2015

1:500

Review Trade Trade

ASIC, FCA

$100

2015

1:1000

Review Trade Trade

CFTC, NFA

$250

2015

1:20

Review Trade Trade

10.

CFTC, NFA

$100

2005

N/A

Review Trade Trade

IG

IG are one of the most well established and regulated brokers you will find. You can trade futures and speculate on exclusive 24/7 indices, popular global commodities and selection of bonds. When trading futures with IG, you will be speculating on the underlying market price, without entering the futures contract yourself. They have a great selection of futures to choose from with over 80 indices and a huge range of commodity and bond futures.

Pros

Deal from web-based, mobile app and third-party platforms
Trade more 24/7 markets with IG than many other providers
Access index, commodity and bond futures from one centralised account
Speculate on rising and falling prices with the option of leverage
Get better execution with deep internal liquidity
Get your full size with advanced dealing options
Welcome traders in the USA
Free demo trading accounts

Cons

Could offer some more deposit and withdrawal methods
Minimum deposit of $250 is not the lowest
Limited instruments on MetaTrader 4
No MetaTrader 5 platforms
Inactivity fee after 2 years

Visit IG

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers are one of the best futures brokers as they have an excellent range of futures, commodities and future options available to trade on over 35 market centers worldwide. You can get professional access to agriculture, currency, energy, equity index, fixed income, metals, and volatility futures from a single powerful platform. The broker provides you with a great choice of advanced tools free of charge to help you trade the futures market effectively.

Pros

Trade a great selection of futures and future options in combination with stocks, ETFs, and options worldwide from a single screen
Gain insights into the markets with daily futures arbitrage and interest rates tables
Visit the traders’ university to listen to one of their futures product webinars
The trading application offers specialized futures trading tools and a us futures market scanner
Low cost pricing plans for us futures and futures options
Welcome traders in the USA
Free demo trading accounts

Cons

Limited deposit and withdrawal options
Customer support response time
Prolonged account opening process
Could be quite overwhelming for beginners
Complex pricing schedule
Inactivity fees apply

Visit Interactive Brokers

TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade offers a broad array of futures trading tools and resources. You can learn all about futures and prep yourself for trading with a fantastic collection of in-depth videos, articles, and quick info guides. Commodities, index, treasury – you can trade all that and more.

With a TD Ameritrade account, you’ll have access to thinkorswim, a powerful trading platform for futures trading, as well as other investments. This feature-packed trading platform lets you monitor the futures markets, plan your strategy, and implement it in one convenient, easy-to-use, and integrated place.

Designed especially for futures traders, the Active Trader tab on thinkorswim features an easy-to-use bid/ask price ladder, one-click order entry, fully customizable charting, and advanced order types. Identify trends, pinpoint exit and entry points, and get access to more than 400 technical studies and custom charts, all in one place.

With thinkorswim Mobile, you can place trades, access technical studies and drawings on charts, explore education, and contact support, all from the palm of your hand. Plus, monitor and manage positions and risk, at any time, from anywhere.

Pros

Impressive choice of more than 70 futures products available to trade
Free access to powerful integrated trading platforms for all of your devices
Excellent range of premium trading tools for complex market analysis
Get help and guidance from professional traders
There are no hidden fees or complicated pricing structures with futures trading
There are no clearing fees, no routing or platform fees, and no daily carrying fees for positions held overnight
Welcome traders in the USA

Cons

Limited countries accepted
No contract for differences (CFDs)
Limited account funding options
Account currency limited to USD
Slightly prolonged account opening process

Visit TD Ameritrade

TradeStation

TradeStation offers over 350 futures and futures options products to trade, which means expanded trading opportunities in a wide range of markets, including indexes, commodities, metals, and more. They have all of the trading tools and data you need to trade futures effectively, including an advanced trading platform, dedicated futures specialists, educational resources, and commission-free pricing plans.

TradeStation’s feature-rich trading platform lets traders monitor the markets, plan strategies, and implement them in one easy-to-use and convenient place. You have everything you need to stay up to date on the latest financial news with Market Insights. Get daily briefings on market activities, trading opportunities, and education, including earnings recaps and insights from industry veterans.

TradeStation FuturesPlus powered by Trading Technologies is a feature-rich platform for futures options traders. TradeStation customers can trade the leading international exchanges and liquidity platforms, including CME and ICE, on the web or a mobile device.

Overall, TradeStation can be a great futures trading broker for investors and traders who want to get started in futures trading, with low minimums and one of the most impressive selections of futures to choose from. They have everything you need from a futures broker and more.

Pros

Superb futures trading platforms with an abundance of tools and educational resources
Access a wide array of diversified investments including indices, treasuries, metals, energies, currencies, and more
Increased leverage allows futures traders to control a large amount of notional value with a relatively small amount of capital
Virtually 24-hour around the clock access to major futures exchanges across the U.S. and Europe
No pattern day trading rules with no minimum account value to trade multiple times per day
Easy to short with no short sale restrictions or hard-to-borrow availability concerns
Welcome traders in the USA

Cons

Minimum $2,000 required for free trading on the desktop platform
Limited choice of deposit and withdrawal options
Slightly confusing pricing structure
No forex trading available

Visit TradeStation

IC Markets

IC Markets offer a decent range of futures from around the world, including ICE Dollar Index and CBOE VIX Index. I have included them as they also have a great selection of other financial instruments including CFDs on stocks, forex, commodities and cryptocurrency. Online futures based CFDs are offered exclusively on IC Markets’ MetaTrader 4 Platform. Futures CFD are priced directly from the underlying futures markets, with commissions, financing charges and dividend adjustments all built into the spread itself. IC Markets offers competitive spreads across all of their future CFDs. They have excellent trading conditions including fast execution speeds via powerful trading platforms that are loaded with powerful tools for comprehensive market analysis. This is backed up by excellent 24/7 multilingual customer support.

Pros

4 Global Futures available to trade
No commissions and tight spreads
Possibility to trade futures with leverage
Deep liquidity for good execution speeds
User-friendly MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms
Trade futures 24/5 from web, desktop and mobile
Free demo trading accounts
Excellent 24/7 customer support

Cons

Do not have a proprietary trading platform
Available trading products can vary depending on your location
Minimum $200 deposit is not the lowest
Cannot accept traders in the USA

Visit IC Markets

EXANTE

EXANTE is a multi-asset brokerage firm for professionals that offers direct access to trade 400,000+ financial instruments over 50 financial markets through one account via sophisticated trading platforms.

Pros

Professional trading platforms
Intuitive mobile trading app
Access over 400,000 instruments
Various asset classes to trade and invest in
Low fees and reliable execution speeds
Transparent pricing for everyone
Market insights and analysis
Educational resources for beginners
Free demo accounts
Excellent 24-hour support
Dedicated account manager

Cons

Minimum deposit of €10,000
Bank wire deposit/withdrawals only
Inactivity fees may apply
No Islamic accounts

Visit EXANTE

Tickmill

Tickmill is a multi-regulated online broker offering retail and institutional clients across the globe a decent choice of financial instruments. Spreads and commissions are competitive with flexible accounts. Platforms and tools are sufficient but educational material is lacking and they could offer more trading products.

Pros

User-friendly trading platforms for multiple devices
Range of trading instruments to choose from
Low spreads and quick execution speeds
Various accounts types and funding methods
Autochartist for efficient market analysis
Free VPS for eligible clients
FIX API trading solutions
Commission free accounts
Great client support
No deposit or withdrawal fees
No inactivity fees
Free demo accounts
Islamic swap-free accounts

Cons

Lack of educational resources
Limited non-FX instruments
No cryptocurrencies
Minimum $100 deposit
Cannot accept traders in the USA

Visit Tickmill

FXGiants

FXGiants is a multi-regulated online broker offering clients a good range of financial instruments to trade on powerful trading platforms with very flexible account types, trading tools for market analysis and vast range of educational materials for beginners.

Pros

Hundreds of financial instruments to trade
Easy to use MT4 platform for web, desktop and mobile
Commission free trading
Tight spreads from 0.0 pips
Fixed spread accounts
Free VPS option for eligible clients
Myfxbook AutoTrade implemented for copy trading
Managed accounts for investors and money managers
Islamic account for Muslim traders
Demo accounts to practice trading
1-minute registration (approx.)
24/5 customer support via multiple channels

Cons

Limited account funding options
Minimum $100 deposit is not the lowest
No MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform
Cannot accept traders in the USA

Visit FXGiants

Tradovate

Tradovate is a great broker for trading futures and options with competitive fees on excellent platforms for web, desktop and mobile. You get access to a great range of powerful tools to improve your trading strategies and can integrate with third-party solutions.

Pros

Trade futures, options on futures, as-well-as get stock data from leading exchanges
Trade anywhere and from any device with the cloud-trading platform
40+ advanced trading tools to enhance your market analysis
Expand your trading possibilities with 3rd party integration tools
Create your own indicators and import tools from a large community of traders
Build custom trading solutions with powerful API tools
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees
Good choice of membership plans to choose from
Simulated trading accounts to trial the platform
Education to help you every step of the way

Cons

No forex or crypto trading
Minimum $250 deposit
Limited account funding options
Limited accepted countries
May be too complex for some users

Visit Tradovate

Optimus Futures

Optimus Futures is a leading online futures broker that caters to traders seeking low latency execution and stable data feeds combined with aggressive margins and deep discount commissions.

Pros

Fantastic choice of robust trading platforms
Free professional grade trading tools
Deep discount trading commissions
Low day trading margins
Vast selection of educational resources
Access to extensive research and quotes
Access to real time updated account information
Automated trading systems
Low latency trading infrastructure that delivers fast execution
Excellent personalised customer support
24/7 telephone dealing while you’re away

Cons

Minimum $100 deposit not the lowest
Limited financial instruments compared to some brokers
Do not support many account funding methods
Perhaps slightly overwhelming for beginners
Cannot accept clients from some countries due to regulators

Visit Optimus Futures

Conclusion

Here you will find our best futures brokers, based on thousands of hours of extensive research, testing and analysis across hundreds of brokers. Upon conclusion of each of our broker reviews, we have assigned each broker with a rating.

Some of the most important factors that contribute towards a good broker for trading futures online have been considered including things such as the available futures, other financial instruments, platforms, apps, tools, spreads, execution, liquidity, fees, education, funding options, regulation, customer service and more.

Each of our best brokers for futures trading have undergone and passed our stringent broker reviews with flying colours, based on what we consider to be amongst the most important considerations when choosing a future broker. These brokers are well-established within the online trading industry, providing top future trading conditions to traders and investors of all experience levels.