Best Futures Brokers

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

Broker
Rating
Regulated
Min. Deposit
Founded
Max. Leverage
1.
IG Review

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

$250

1974

1:200

68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
2.
Interactive Brokers Review

ASIC, CFTC, FCA, IIROC, NFA, SFC

$1

1978

1:200

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
3.
TD Ameritrade Review

FINRA, SEC, SFC

$0

1975

N/A

All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
4.
TradeStation Review

FINRA

$0

1982

N/A

All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
5.
IC Markets Review

ASIC, CySEC, FSA, SCB

$200

2007

1:500

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
6.
EXANTE Review

CySEC

€10,000

2011

1:50

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
7.
Tickmill Review

CySEC, FCA, FSCA, FSC, LOFSA

$100

2015

1:500

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
8.
Tradovate Review

CFTC, NFA

$250

2015

1:20

Futures and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.
9.
Optimus Futures Review

CFTC, NFA

$100

2005

N/A

Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.


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