Best Online Brokers
Here you will find our guide of the best online brokers for trading online. We have awarded these as the best online brokers based on our rigorous analysis, testing and comparison across hundreds of online brokers and the brokerage services that they offer to traders.
The trading brokers team have conducted thousands of hours of detailed broker research to produce unbiased broker reviews and ratings that can save you time when choosing the best online brokers according to your individual requirements. We believe that it is vital to trade with regulated and established online brokers that offer a wide range of investment products and some of the best online trading conditions, platforms and tools for both retail and institutional traders.
The online brokerages that we have reviewed and chosen as the best brokers for trading online have strict regulation, tight spreads, competitive fees, good execution speeds, a wide range of trading instruments, powerful online trading platforms, various account types, flexible leverage, multiple funding options and top-class customer service.
#1 Best Trading Broker Award 2021
AvaTrade is an award-winning trading broker that is regulated in 6 jurisdictions offering 250+ instruments across multiple markets & trading platforms for web, desktop & mobile devices. They have low fees, tight spreads & rapid trade execution speeds.
Top 5 Online Brokers
ASIC, BVI, CBI, FFAJ, FSA, FSCA
Min $100 Deposit
2006
1:400
FCA, CFTC, NFA, BaFin, FINMA, ASIC, FMA, MAS, FSA, FSCA, DFSA, JFSA, METI, MAFF
Min $250 Deposit
1974
1:200
ASIC, FCA, DFSA, SCB, CySEC, BaFin, CMA
Min $200 Deposit
2010
1:500
ASIC, CySEC, IFSC
Min $5 Deposit
2009
1:880
Each of our chosen best online brokers have successfully passed our rigorous broker testing criteria and have strict regulation from respected financial regulatory authorities. Our detailed analysis and thorough online broker reviews show that they offer industry leading brokerage services and investment products for trading online.
AvaTrade
AvaTrade earns a spot in our best online brokers list. This brokerage provides online trading services to over 200,000+ clients across the globe. They process a monthly trading volume of around £60 billion making them one of the largest online brokers.
AvaTrade is an award-winning online brokerage that has offices located in multiple countries and offer 24/5 support in 14 languages. They have some of the best available online trading conditions, with reliable execution speeds, tight spreads and no commission fees.
Best Online Brokers: AvaTrade Review
They have one of the largest selections of trading instruments available from any online broker, providing traders with over 250+ instruments across different markets to trade online, including forex, CFDs and cryptocurrencies. There are a range of free trading platforms to choose from, suitable for all different experience levels and style of trader.
In addition to a vast range of investment products, AvaTrade also provides traders with a wide range of sophisticated trading tools to assist with trading and educational materials to help improve trading knowledge and skills.
AvaTrade is authorised and regulated across 5 continents by 6 regulatory authorities. This is an impressive number of regulators that helps to show they are a secure and reliable online broker that must abide to the rules and regulations set out to protect investors.
Their huge sponsorship deals over the years help to emphasise the global strength of the AvaTrade brokerage brand within the online trading industry. You can read our full AvaTrade Review to find out more about why we consider them as one of the best online brokers.
| Pros | Cons |
| 250+ trading instruments | No US clients |
| No commissions | Min $100 deposit |
| Good trade execution speeds | |
| Broad selection of trading tools | |
| Educational materials | |
| Strict regulation across 5 continents |
#1 Best Trading Broker Award 2021
AvaTrade is an award-winning trading broker that is regulated in 6 jurisdictions offering 250+ instruments across multiple markets & trading platforms for web, desktop & mobile devices. They have low fees, tight spreads & rapid trade execution speeds.
IG
IG earn a well-deserved spot in our best online brokers list. Founded way back in 1974, IG are regulated in multiple jurisdictions and one of the largest trading brokers in the world. They offer clients online trading on a huge selection of more than 16,000 trading instrument across multiple asset classes including Forex, Stocks and CFDs.
The broker has a choice of powerful yet user-friendly platforms for desktop, web and mobile devices. These platforms include an abundance of trading tools to assist with in-depth market analysis and trade management. In addition to the tools built-in the platforms, IG provide some useful standalone trading tools and educational materials such as trading guides and tutorial videos.
Best Online Brokers: IG Trading Platforms
IG have favourable online trading conditions which includes low commission fees and deep liquidity pools to help ensure tight spreads with fast trade execution speeds and minimal slippage. There is a variety of different trading account types to suit the needs of individual clients along with convenient account funding options. Customer support is on hand 24 hours a day via email, online chat and telephone. You can read our full IG Review to find out more.
| Pros | Cons |
| Regulated broker | No fixed spread accounts |
| Range of trading platforms for desktop, web & mobile | $250 minimum deposit |
| Competitive spreads, fees & execution speeds | |
| Vast selection of over 16,000+ trading instruments | |
| Accepts USA traders & most other countries | |
| Additional trading tools to assist clients | |
| Good selection of educational resources |
IG offer traders around the globe over 16,000+ markets including Forex & CFDs. They have a good selection of trading platforms, tools & educational resources. Spreads are tight, commission is low & execution speeds are fast. IG are also regulated in many countries including FCA, ASIC & NFA regulation.
Pepperstone
Pepperstone are easily one of our best online brokers. They are one of the most popular online brokers for many reasons. The Pepperstone Razor account offers some of the best trading conditions available to retail traders with superior trade execution speeds, tight spreads and competitively low commission fees.
Pepperstone offer over 80+ trading instruments across global markets including forex, CFDs and cryptocurrencies. These assets are available to trade via flexible, powerful and user-friendly online trading platforms for desktop and mobile devices.
Best Online Brokers: Pepperstone Review
Pepperstone are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). This strict regulation can give traders protection and peace of mind that they are using a safe and secure online broker.
Pepperstone have also won multiple online broker awards over the years, including awards for customer service, client satisfaction, value for money and more. You can read our full Pepperstone Review to find out more as to why we have chosen them amongst our best online brokers.
| Pros | Cons |
| Fast trade execution speeds | No US clients |
| Tight spreads | No fixed spread accounts |
| Low trading fees | $200 minimum deposit |
| Multiple trading instruments | |
| Strict regulation | |
| Award winning broker |
Pepperstone is one of the largest trading brokers providing traders worldwide access to trade across all markets with cutting edge technology, low cost spreads, low-latency high speed execution and award-winning customer service.
XM Group
XM Group deserve a place in our list of best online brokers. We consider them to be a trusted and reputable online broker. They provide online trading to more than 196 countries worldwide with prompt and efficient customer service that is available in 30 different languages.
Based in the United Kingdom, XM Group is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). They are also regulated in other jurisdictions. These regulations help to give traders peace of mind that they are using a trusted and secure online broker who will keep client funds safe.
Best Online Brokers: XM Group Review
XM Group serves millions of online traders across the globe, providing them with industry leading online trading conditions and some of the best trading platforms. They have a vast amount of trading instruments across multiple markets to trade online, including forex, CFDs and cryptocurrencies.
This brokerage has fast execution speeds and low spreads due to their best execution policy and relationships with multiple liquidity providers. They also implement a no-requotes and no extra commissions policy. This help to ensure you get the best prices available and save on overall trading costs. The XM Zero account has the lowest spreads and charges a very competitive commission for each trade.
You can read our full XM Group Review to find out more of the reasons why we consider them as one of our best online brokers.
| Pros | Cons |
| No-requotes policy | No US clients |
| No extra commissions | No fixed spread accounts |
| Low spreads & fast execution | |
| Min $5 deposit | |
| Strict regulation |
XM Group is a multi-award winning globally established and regulated trading broker with over 2.5m clients from 196 countries offering no-requotes, low spreads, fast execution and negative balance protection.
IC Markets
We have included IC Markets in our best online brokers list as they are an established and regulated brokerage with top class trading conditions. They operate using the electronic communication network (ECN) brokerage model with over 50 liquidity providers (LPs). This means that they are able to provide traders with tight spreads and quick trade execution speeds at the best available prices.
The broker offers a choice of the popular MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader platforms. Trading on the go is possible via the mobile trading apps. Traders can choose from over 230+ instruments across multiple asset classes including Forex, Commodities, Cryptocurrency, Stocks, Shares, Indices, Metals, Energies, Bonds and CFDs.
Best Online Brokers: IC Markets Platforms
In addition to an innovative trading environment, IC Markets has a selection of account types for various client needs, a generous choice of account deposit and withdrawal methods, trading tools, educational materials and multilingual support 24/5 via phone, chat and email. You can read our full IC Markets Review to find out more about why they have been included in our list of the best online brokers.
| Pros | Cons |
| 230+ trading instruments including Forex, Stocks & CFDs | No US clients |
| Tight spreads, low commission fees & rapid ECN execution speeds | No fixed spread accounts |
| Choice of popular & easy to use trading platforms | Min $200 deposit |
| Regulated brokerage | |
| Educational materials & trading tools to help traders |
IC Markets is the world’s largest true ECN trading broker offering over 230 trading instruments across multiple markets on the most popular trading platforms, delivering low spreads and high liquidity for fast trade execution.
How did Trading Brokers choose our best online brokers?
Now that you know our best online brokers, we will look at why we chose these online brokers and what factors are worth considering when looking for an online broker.
What makes a good online broker?
A good online broker will be regulated by the most respected regulatory authorities such as the FCA, ASIC & CySEC. They should have been operating for a number of years with a proven track record of delivering online trading services to clients across the globe.
They should offer the best trading platforms, ideally a platform that you are already familiar with. The MetaTrader 4/5 trading platform should be sufficient enough for most online traders. MetaTrader has a quick and easy learning curve so is deemed suitable for all experience levels of trader.
You should make sure that the broker offers the markets and trading instruments that you wish to trade. If you plan to trade currency pairs (forex) now but could branch into CFDs in the future, then you should consider choosing an online broker who offers access to both markets. This will make the transition into other markets more convenient.
Trading costs at the broker should be low, the lower the spreads and commission the lower your overall trading fees will be. The online trading conditions should provide fast trade execution with minimal slippage. This helps to ensure that your trades get placed at the prices that you want them to.
The customer support provided by the broker should answer all client questions in a polite, prompt and sufficient manner. You can connect to the live chat on a brokers website to test how their customer service is. All traders should be treated equally, whilst you should be able to contact support via online chat, email and phone. Make sure that they offer a contact method that is suitable to you and available at least 24/5.
Some of the key points to consider when choosing an online broker are:
- Broker regulation
- Trading platforms
- Markets offered
- Trading instruments
- Trading fees (spreads / trade commission)
- Customer service
What is online trading?
Online trading is the buying and selling of assets using an online brokers trading platform. Many markets can be traded online including forex, CFDs, indices, commodities, energies, precious metals, stocks, bonds, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and more.
What is an online broker?
An online broker provides a brokerage account and online trading platform for investors to buy and sell trading instruments across multiple markets. Traditionally, investors would have had to have telephoned a brokerage to place trades and manage transactions for them. Trading online has made it much quicker and easier for anyone to have access to trading through an online broker.
What types of online brokers are there?
The main types of trading brokers are market makers and ECN/STP brokers. Market makers usually do not charge a commission to trade with them but will add a mark-up to the spread to cover operational costs and take the opposite side of client trades. ECN/STP brokers will usually provide spreads direct from liquidity providers (LP’s) but charge a small commission for each trade to cover their costs. Overall, a non-market maker broker is usually preferable to most online traders as the costs can work out cheaper in the long run without a potential conflict of interest.
Best Online Brokers: Trading Markets
What markets can I trade with an online broker?
The most commonly traded markets by retail traders through an online broker are forex (currencies) and CFDs. This is partly due to the leverage offered on these products that can allow a trader to place trades greater than they would without leverage. It is highly recommended to understand trading, leverage and the risks involved before opening a real trading account. Whilst leverage can increase profits, it can also increase losses. It is considered good to practice trading on a demo brokerage account to begin with.
How much money do I need to start investing online?
You can start trading online with as little as $1 depending on the minimum deposit required by the broker. As trading is risky by nature, never trade with more than you can afford to lose.
Can you make money trading online?
It is possible to make profit from online trading although statistics provided by the many online brokers that we have researched does show that a percentage of traders lose money. Trading successfully requires patience, discipline, practice and a good trading broker.
How to open an online trading account?
Simply choose an online broker, complete the quick sign-up process and you will be able to start trading online.
Need help choosing from the best online brokers?
If you are still unsure which is the best online broker for you then you can use our free online broker comparison tool to quickly compare online brokers based on regulations, minimum deposit, leverage, spreads, commissions, funding options and more. You can also read our broker reviews and choose from our best brokers, best trading platforms, best copy trading platforms, best social trading platforms and best trading apps. If you would like to look for the best trading brokers in a particular country, we have pages dedicated to our best brokers USA, best brokers UK, best brokers Australia, best brokers South Africa and best brokers Canada.
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