In this comparison, we look at XTB vs Pepperstone. Which is better for beginners? Which is better for professionals? We’ll look at CFD trading spreads, fees and platforms.
Which is the Better Broker for UK Traders: XTB vs Pepperstone?
Let’s look at what, on the surface, seem like two completely different brokers and compare them side by side. XTB, the ‘neo-platform’ challenger and solid Trading 212 alternative, compared to Pepperstone, a dedicated trading broker positioned for volume, professionals, and active trading.
Quick Answer
Choose Pepperstone if you are looking to trade actively. XTB doesn’t offer spread betting or professional trading, and XTB fees are also higher.
Choose XTB if you are looking for a Trading 212 alternative that blends ISAs, investing, and ‘light’ trading.
1. Key Features Comparison
| Pepperstone VS XTB | 
First | 
Second | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulation | FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia) | FCA (UK) | |
| Trading Platforms | Proprietary Platform, TradingView, MT4, MT5, cTrader | Proprietary Platform | |
| Minimum Deposit | £0 | £0 | |
| Spreads | Starting from 0.0 pips on Razor Account | Starting from 0.3 pips on Forex | |
| Spread Betting | Yes | No | |
| Range of Assets | 2,700+ | 2,600+ CFD options | |
| Education Resources | Articles, Market Analysis & videos | Articles, Market Analysis, videos & eBooks | |
| Customer Support | 24/5 via live chat, phone, and email | 24/5 via phone, chat, and email | |
| Funding Options | Credit/Debit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer | Credit/Debit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer | |
| Inactivity Fee | None | £10/month after 1 year of no activity | |
| Visit Pepperstone | Visit XTB |
Video Summary
2. Fees and Spreads
XTB Spreads
XTB’s forex CFD spreads start from 0.3 pips on major pairs like EUR/USD. These are in line with, and often cheaper than, most major brokers – IG starts from 0.6 pips & CMC starts from 0.5 pips, for example. They also charge 0.3% on stock CFD trading, while most brokers charge around 0.1%-0.2 %.
XTB overall is not the cheapest broker for either stocks or forex trading; they also charge a pretty hefty 0.5% currency conversion fee – this is even higher than Trading 212’s 0.15% fee.
So how does this compare to Pepperstone?
Pepperstone Fees
Pepperstone has three main accounts: spread betting, CFD trading and Razor. Their forex CFD spreads start at 1 pip on a Standard account (their lowest spread), higher than XTB‘s 0.3 pips. However, spread betting forex on Pepperstone starts at 0.6 pips (so more in line with XTB’s CFD spreads), and even better, their Razor account starts from 0.0 pips + a small round-turn commission of £2.25.
For shares, Pepperstone is actually one of the cheapest stock CFD brokers available to UK traders.
Their fees start at 0.07% for Australian CFDs, and for UK CFDS they start at 0.1% – so significantly cheaper than most brokers, XTB included.
Verdict:
Pepperstone is significantly cheaper for stock CFD trading (starting at 0.07% vs 0.3% from XTB). They are also cheaper for forex trading if you compare their Razor account against XTB’s CFD account: 0.0 pip spread vs 0.3 pip spread, respectively. XTB’s forex CFD spreads are cheaper than Pepperstone’s (0.3 pips vs 1 pip) if purely comparing CFD trading accounts.
3. Trading Platforms
XTB’s Platform
I say platform because XTB only has one… xStation5. Now, they, of course, have an accompanying mobile app. But for serious traders who need EAs, advanced charting tools, integrations like TradingView, MT4, and MT5, none of this is available.
We tested their platform extensively and their mobile app – you can check out the full XTB review here – and ultimately we were, and continue to be, blown away by it even now. It’s simple, easy-to-navigate, and they have plenty of news, an economic calendar, and frankly anything a trader would need, but in a really compact interface.
Pepperstone Trading Platforms
Pepperstone is the OG of platform variety and integrations, and now even has its own proprietary platform. They offer cTrader, TradingView, MT4, MT5, and Pepperstone Platform (their own platform). Of course, these platforms also come with their own mobile versions too.
Pepperstone offers more variety than XTB, and their Pepperstone Platform works really well (see below), especially for beginners – so it’s a great entry-level competitor platform to xStation 5.
Ultimately, if I were purely comparing proprietary platforms, then XTB’s platform is better, but the problem is… they only offer this platform. For intermediate and advanced-level traders, this simply isn’t enough, but for beginners, it works well.
Verdict:
Pepperstone has better integration options; XTB has a better proprietary platform. XTB’s proprietary platform is great, but it’s the only platform they offer and is designed for beginners. Pepperstone offers advanced traders more integrations, and the Pepperstone Platform is more than enough for beginners.
4. Range of Tradable Instruments
XTB’s Asset Range
XTB claims to offer quite a lot of instruments; parts of their site claim 11,700+, but in reality there are only 2,600+ CFDs for leveraged trading.
During testing, we found the instrument range to be primarily comprised of stocks, as you’d expect. But here’s the full list of what you can trade as a UK trader on XTB as of September 2026:
- 7874 stocks
- 2393 ETFs
- 32 commodities
- 54 cryptocurrencies
- 28 indices
- 71 forex pairs
This is actually a fairly healthy range of CFDs instruments and roughly in line with Pepperstone’s 2,700+ instruments.
Pepperstone Asset Range
Pepperstone offers 2,700+ instruments across spread betting and CFDs. It’s made up of major, minor, and exotic forex pairs, commodity CFDs, share CFDs, and indices.
Pepperstone offers 1,000+ share CFDs, which again is actually roughly in line with the number of share CFDs on XTB.
Verdict:
Ultimately, both brokers offer a similar number of stock and forex CFD instruments (2,600+ with XTB and 2,700+ with Pepperstone).
5. Regulation and Security
XTB Regulation
XTB is a fully regulated FCA broker here in the UK and is even a publicly traded company in Poland. Good overall regulation for UK traders. Their FCA reference number (FRIN) is 522157.
Pepperstone Regulation
Pepperstone is also regulated by the FCA. Their FCA reference number (FRIN) is 684312. They are a well-established broker founded in 2010 in Australia.
Verdict:
Both brokers are solid in terms of security & FCA-regulated.
6. Spread Betting & Pro Accounts
XTB Pro & Spread Betting Accounts
XTB unfortunately does not offer spread betting or a pro account type. They are more focused on investing and CFD trading. They also do not offer pro accounts for UK traders. This separates them from most dedicated UK brokers – all major FCA-regulated brokers we review on Trading Brokers offer spread betting. XTB is the only exception.
Given they have no spread betting options and no professional-tier account type, we have to rate XTB extremely low on suitability for UK traders.
Pepperstone Spread Betting & Pro Accounts
Pepperstone, by contrast, offers both spread betting and professional account types for UK traders. They are one of the most competitive brokers for both.
Pepperstone also offers spread betting with upfront pricing, which we’ve reviewed in depth and found to be one of the best spread betting brokers. Forex spreads on spread betting accounts start at 0.6 pips so it’s cheaper than XTB’s forex CFD trading spreads.
Verdict:
Pepperstone offers a Pro account and a spread betting account. XTB offers neither.
7. Educational Resources
XTB Education
XTB is one of the best educational providers for UK beginner traders. They have educational guides and articles, as well as daily market analysis that is actually in-depth. However, they have e-books that havent been updated since 2024 – with a book focused on ‘Market Outlook 2025’ (see below). It seems like XTB used to invest in their content/beginner guides, but unfortunately have since abandoned that effort and focus more on Market Analysis.
XTB is also active on Youtube with their XTB UK channel which has over 10k subscribers – a seriously impressive number for a broker. Their content is updated regularly, and they have live streams and academy content.
Ultimately, XTB is a bit of a powerhouse for market analysis and YouTube, but they need to work on their e-book content.
Pepperstone Education
Pepperstone is also a heavyweight in education, offering detailed guides, webinars, market analysis, and a YouTube channel (1k subscribers).
Verdict:
They are both equal in terms of their educational content – they both have great YouTube channels and market analysis updated daily.
FAQ’s
1. Which is better for forex trading?
For forex CFD trading, XTB offers lower fees (from 0.3 pips) vs Pepperstone (from 1 pip) on a Standard account. XTB also offers a fantastic proprietary platform for beginners. However, Pepperstone offers cheaper spreads than XTB overall, with forex spread betting spreads from 0.6 pips and Razor account spreads starting from 0.0 pips. Pepperstone is generally a better broker for more active traders and advanced traders than XTB.
2. Which is better for professional traders?
Pepperstone. XTB does not offer a professional account. It also doesn’t offer a commission-based account for high volume. XTB is more akin to a Trading 212 alternative than a professional trading broker.
3. Which is better for stock trading?
Pepperstone’s stock CFD fees are some of the lowest in the industry, from 0.07% for Australian CFDs and 0.1% for UK CFDs. XTB charges 0.3% across all share CFDs for UK traders. XTB has well over 11,000+ stocks to invest in, but their stock CFD offering is c. 1000 stocks – the same as Pepperstone.
3. Which is better for beginners?
XTB offers both an easier proprietary platform for beginners and great beginner education. Pepperstone equally offers a proprietary platform and beginner education, but XTB’s offering feels more catered to beginners.
4. Which is cheaper overall?
In terms of overall cost, Pepperstone is cheaper than XTB across several fronts, including lower overall forex spreads (starting at 0.0 pips vs 0.3 pips at XTB). Pepperstone also has lower stock CFD trading costs (from 0.1% vs 0.3% for XTB). XTB also charges a high currency conversion fee of 0.5%.
5. Which is better for UK traders?
Pepperstone is better for UK traders. XTB has a higher overall cost profile and does not offer spread betting, a professional account, TradingView or MetaTrader integration. If you are an investor, then XTB might be more suited to you, but for active traders, Pepperstone is the better option.
Final Verdict
| Criteria | Winner |
|---|---|
| Fees and Spreads | Pepperstone |
| Platforms | Pepperstone |
| Asset Range | Tie |
| Regulation and Security | Tie |
| Spread Betting & Pro Accounts | Pepperstone |
| Educational Resources | Tie |
Pepperstone & XTB tie on a lot of core elements, including their asset range, educational resources and regulation. If I were being really strict, I might even say they also tie on platforms. Although Pepperstone offers more platforms, XTB’s xStation Platform is one of the best proprietary platforms.
However, crucially, XTB does not offer spread betting, professional accounts, or any integrations for intermediate or advanced traders, which really makes XTB a novelty in the trading world and only really suited to beginner traders due to the limitations of not being able to create algorithmic bots, access a library of scripts or even just trade on what most traders do.
£10 Minimum Deposit
Best for Forex
Pepperstone is a Melbourne-based broker that offers an excellent range of assets in the financial trading markets, including CFD's for commodities, shares, ETFs and more.
73-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading on margin with this provider.
Who Should You Choose?
Choose XTB if you want the following:
- Investing optionality
- Beginner education
- Easy-to-use platform experience
Choose Pepperstone if you want:
- More platform options
- Lower spread costs
- Professional & spread betting accounts
For UK traders, Pepperstone offers the best combination – tax-free spread betting (or CFD trading) with low costs that you can trade on any platform. XTB offers CFD trading on a fixed, beginner-friendly platform. They are fundamentally suited to different types of trading. For beginners, XTB might be a good option, but as soon as you start trading at volume or more regularly, you will need to find a broker with lower costs and more platform options – that’s where Pepperstone comes in.
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