The best CFD brokers are as follows: CMC Markets is the best overall CFD broker. Pepperstone is the best low-cost broker. IG is the best multi-asset CFD broker (beyond forex) and SpreadEx is the best mobile / beginner platform. Let’s dive in to see how these brokers perform across a variety of criteria.
Choosing a CFD Broker
The best CFD brokers combine several factors: low spreads, a wide range of assets, low overnight fees/holding costs, strong platform options, and both spread betting and CFD trading options.
If you are really lucky, you might even find some that offer multiple account types (including commission-based), no hidden inactivity fees, and no huge minimum deposits.
We’ve analysed 50+ CFD brokers available to UK traders and tested them hands-on against our rigorous criteria to determine the best UK CFD brokers.
Here’s how they performed.
The Best CFD Brokers for UK Traders (2026)
| Best for | Best broker | Why it stands out |
|---|---|---|
| Best overall CFD broker | Our overall pick, combining competitive Standard account spreads, FXActive account options, a broad instrument range and TradingView and MT4 integration. | |
| Best low-cost CFD broker | The Razor account combines forex spreads from 0.0 pips plus commission with low overnight funding mark-ups and a wide choice of trading platforms. | |
| Best CFD broker for beginners | Integrated Trading Signals, straightforward navigation and a beginner-friendly platform make SpreadEx our pick for traders getting started. | |
| Best multi-asset CFD broker | A broad mix of forex, indices, shares, ETFs and commodities, supported by an easy-to-use WebTrader platform and a wide range of platform integrations. | |
| Best CFD broker for professional traders | 
Interactive Brokers
| Raw forex spreads plus commission, competitive holding costs, Python trading and professional tools suit experienced traders comfortable with its more complex platforms. |
| Best mobile CFD trading app | Our favourite mobile experience in testing, with Trading Signals built into the app, quick order placement and easy access to a broad instrument range. | |
| Best Standard CFD account | EUR/USD spreads from 0.5 pips are lower than the Standard account starting spreads quoted for Pepperstone and IG in this guide. | |
| Best broker for index CFD trading | Our index CFD pick, with competitive S&P 500 and FTSE 100 spreads and a WebTrader platform we found easy to navigate and use. | |
| Best CFD broker for overnight holding costs | Our retail pick for low overnight funding mark-ups. Interactive Brokers is also competitive, but Pepperstone adds a swap calculator and more platform options. | |
| Best broker for longer-term CFD futures and forwards | A wide range of forward contracts makes CMC our pick for multi-week positions. Financing is reflected in the contract price rather than a separate nightly holding charge. | |
| Best broker for spread betting and CFD trading | Competitive pricing across both account types, with low Standard CFD spreads and the option to use FXActive for commission-based forex trading. | |
| Best broker for MT4 CFD trading | MT4 support with Razor account pricing and low overnight funding mark-ups makes Pepperstone our pick for cost-conscious MT4 CFD traders. | |
| Best broker for gold CFD trading | Razor account XAU/USD spreads from 0.08 pips, plus gold crosses such as XAU/EUR and XAU/GBP, make Pepperstone our gold CFD pick. |
Top 5 CFD Brokers Overall
If you want a combination of low Standard CFD Account Fees (non-commission-based), low holding fees, and great retail-trader-friendly platforms, then CMC Markets and Pepperstone are the two standout brokers.
Best Overall CFD Broker: CMC Markets
Best Low-Cost CFD Broker: Pepperstone (Razor Account)
Best Beginner CFD Broker: SpreadEx
Best Multi-Asset CFD Broker: IG
Best Professional CFD Broker: Interactive Brokers
Video Summary
Verdict
CMC Markets is the best overall CFD broker for UK traders. They offer a combination of low CFD holding costs, multiple account types (including FXActive) with low spreads on major instruments across forex and indices, and a range of professional and beginner platforms. Pepperstone is the best low-cost CFD broker, with its Razor Account offering the lowest CFD overnight/swap fees alongside Interactive Brokers and the lowest Gold CFD spreads of any broker. IG excels at offering a wide range of CFD trading options and is the cheapest index CFD trading broker. SpreadEx offers the best mobile platform for beginners, plus a range of great futures trading options, while Interactive Brokers offers the best professional CFD account option.
1. CMC Markets: Best Overall CFD Broker
CMC: Best CFD Broker
CMC Markets offers a wide range of instruments, low CFD holding costs, low spreads, and professional-grade tools. They also integrate with TradingView, making them beginner-friendly. While their platform has some shortcomings, it offers the best overall combination of fees, platforms, and instruments.
70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Why CMC Markets is the Best CFD Broker
CMC Markets is a frankly exceptional broker on a standard CFD trading account. They offer low fixed fees through FxActive, low costs on a standard account, and low holding costs, even better than IG in our testing.
Beyond costs though, CMC Markets provides a variety of platforms for CFD traders, including TradingView, MT4, and their Next Generation platform. Whilst Next Generation is frankly pretty bloated and not the best platform for beginners (see our video review below). It still provides a huge range of instruments, including futures, and the most forex variety of any major broker (see our best brokers on TradingView for the full range).
CMC Markets Video Review
CMC Markets CFD Trading Fees
CMC offers competitive spreads starting at 0.5 pips for EUR/USD (see below), but this isn’t the whole story. When trading CFDs, you have to be aware of swap fees for multi-day trades. This is where CMC also overperforms.
They offer some of the lowest holding costs for CFDs, and since most CFD traders hold positions overnight and don’t close them the same day, these calculations really make a difference.
CFD Spreads
Forex CFD Spreads
CMC’s forex spreads start at 0.5 pip spreads (see below). They also offer 0.0 pip spreads on their FxActive account, similar to Pepperstone’s Razor account, and they also provide low spreads across most major FX pairs.
Stock & Indices CFD Spreads
Even beyond Forex, they offer extremely tight CFD trading spreads with stocks & indices. Their indices spreads start at 0.5 pips on the S&P 500 and 1 pip spread on the FTSE 100 (see below).
Commodity CFD Spreads
For commodities, CMC Markets is quite competitive; they offer Gold CFD spreads of 0.2 points. Whilst this is higher than Pepperstone’s 0.08 points on their Razor account and higher than Pepperstone’s CFD spreads on the Standard account (0.19 pips), CMC Markets is competitive for commodities.
CFD Holding Costs
When it comes to CFD holding fees, CMC Markets is pretty much in line with IG’s holding costs (see below); both work out to pretty much exactly 3%… whilst CMC Markets breaks this down into daily holding costs, we’ve done the maths, and they are pretty much the same, although CMC Markets has a 0.1% cheaper FX conversion fee.
For full details, see our best CFD brokers for overnight/swap fees.
IG vs CMC Holding Costs
| Long-term cost | IG | CMC | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shares/indices overnight markup | ~3% p.a. + benchmark | ~3% p.a. + benchmark | Tie |
| FX overnight markup | ~1% p.a. + tom-next | ~1% p.a. + tom-next | Tie |
| Short share borrow fees | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| No-funding longer-term contracts | Futures/forwards | Forwards | Tie |
| FX conversion | 0.8% | 0.7% | CMC |
| Long-term product structure | Very good | Very good | Tie |
Platforms & Accounts
CMC Markets CFD Trading Platforms
CMC Markets offers a variety of platform options for beginners and professionals. Their Next Generation platform is proprietary but hasn’t really been updated since I started trading, more than 10 years ago… it doesn’t look or feel dated, but its UI certainly isn’t as clean as other brokers’ (see below).
However, they also offer TradingView integration and MT4. No MT5 or cTrader options, so traders may feel limited if algorithmic or automated trading is your thing, but they generally cover a range of needs.
CMC Markets Accounts
CMC’s other advantage really lies in their account options. While this guide is about CFD trading, CMC Markets also offers spread betting accounts and, most crucially for this article, a CFD commission-based account called FxActive, alongside their standard CFD account, which lets traders access seriously low spreads (0.0 pip spreads on 6 forex majors and a 25% reduction on spreads for the rest).
This means that CMC Markets actually offers some of the most competitive forex CFD spreads for UK traders (see below).
While this comes with a £2.5 commission each way, higher than Pepperstone’s Razor account fee of £2.25, CMC providing a 25% discount on all other forex spreads means that you get a discount on a wider variety of instruments overall – CMC Markets offers 21,000+ CFD instruments, and Pepperstone offers 1,400+ CFD (2,700+ total) instruments, and in our testing CMC had the widest variety of forex pairs out of any UK broker.
Key CFD Trading FAQ’s for CMC Markets
Is CMC Markets a cheaper CFD broker than IG?
For CFD holding costs, CMC comes out cheaper thanks to its lower FX conversion fee. They are also cheaper on headline spreads: IG’s forex spreads start at 0.6 pips, while CMC Markets’ start at 0.5 pips. CMC Markets also offers FxActive, a commission-based account with spreads from 0.0 pips. IG has no commission-based account option.
Is CMC Markets cheaper than Pepperstone for CFD trading?
On headline rates, CMC comes out as cheaper on a standard CFD account. Pepperstone’s spreads start at 1 pip, whereas CMC’s start at 0.5 pips. However, Pepperstone offers lower commissions on its commission-based account (Razor) than CMC’s FxActive account. Pepperstone also offers lower CFD holding fees than both CMC and IG at 2.5% annualised vs their 3% annualised fee.
My Experience
We traded 1 lot of EUR/USD forex CFDs on 6th October 2026, and our spread was a tight 0.5 pip spread fairly consistently, so far from being a minimum; it really felt like CMC was keeping their EUR/USD at the 0.5 spread pricing even at 5pm.
After holding the price overnight i was charged a fee of £5.74 on my position which works out as effectively exactly their quoted overnight fees for EUR/USD on 1 standard lot (see below).
Verdict
CMC Markets is one of the best overall brokers for CFD trading in the UK thanks to low holding fees and spread costs, a wide variety of instruments to trade, multiple platform options and a friendly commission-based account option that provides traders with optionality for high-volume trading. They are also well-regulated and are a solid foundation to start CFD trading. Whilst their proprietary Next Generation platform is not beginner-friendly or easy to use, they offer TradingView integration and MT4, both of which are our preferred platforms for traders on CMC.
No Minimum Deposit
Best for Forex Variety
CMC is a leading CFD & Spread Betting platform in the UK, founded in 1989, it is truly one of the oldest and greatest platforms for trading forex CFDs with the widest range of forex pairs of any major broker.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
2. Pepperstone: Best Low-Cost CFD Broker
Pepperstone: Low-Cost CFD Broker
Pepperstone offers a winning combination of low CFD holding and spread costs, as long as you avoid their standard account.
73.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Why Pepperstone is a Great CFD Broker
Pepperstone has always been known as a low-cost broker, and when it comes to CFD trading, they perform well across both spreads and CFD overnight fees. However, traders new to Pepperstone should be aware of the high Standard account spread cost of 1 pip, higher than IG and CMC. Traders should instead opt for the Razor CFD account, which offers 0.0 pips and the industry-lowest commission at $2.25 each way.
Pepperstone Video Review
Pepperstone CFD Trading Fees
CFD Spreads
Forex CFD Spreads
Pepperstone’s Standard (CFD) account spreads start at 1 pip for forex. This is higher than CMC’s 0.5 pips and IG’s 0.6 pips. However, Pepperstone offers a Razor account where forex spreads start at 0.0 pips with a £2.25 round-trip commission (£4.5 overall).
This is lower than CMC’s FxActive account type – a similar commission-based account – and provides the cheapest way to start trading if you want to avoid raw spreads and trade high volumes.
Stock & Indices CFD Spreads
For shares and indices, Pepperstone’s standard account CFD spreads start at 0.6 pips for the S&P 500 and 1.2 pips for the FTSE 100. This is higher than CMC Markets’ 0.5 and 1 pip, respectively, so Pepperstone is not the cheapest for index CFD trading on its Standard account. However, on their Razor account, these spreads drop to 0.4 pips and 1 pip, respectively. This is cheaper than CMC Markets, and CMC also has no equivalent drop in indices pricing on their FXActive account.
Commodities CFD Spreads
Pepperstone outperforms most brokers on Gold pricing, especially on their Razor account where prices start at 0.08 pip spreads, which is again, the industry-lowest spreads for UK CFD traders. Their Standard Account spread pricing for Gold CFDs starts at 0.19 pips – cheaper than all major brokers, IG, CMC and Interactive Brokers. We have a full breakdown on the best gold brokers here.
CFD Holding Costs
Pepperstone has the lowest CFD overnight holding costs; it charges a 2.5% annualised funding cost for most instruments, much lower than CMC Markets and IG’s 3%, which can be hundreds or thousands of pounds a year on large, long-duration trades. They even have a swap calculator to calculate your overnight holding costs (see below).
Platforms & Accounts
Pepperstone CFD Trading Platforms
Pepperstone offers its own Pepperstone Platform, TradingView, MT4, MT5 and cTrader to CFD traders. This is a huge range of platform options and allows you to algorithmically trade CFDs through C#, MQL, and Pine Script. Ultimately, Pepperstone offers such a wide variety of platforms that it suits beginners, intermediate, and advanced traders.
Pepperstone Accounts
Pepperstone offers two main CFD trading accounts to UK traders: Standard & Razor. The Standard account has wider spreads but no commissions on trades. I wouldn’t recommend this option if you are looking for low-cost CFD trading, as CMC and IG offer more competitive spreads on their standard CFD accounts.
However, the Razor account reduces spreads on forex, indices, and commodities, and offers a frankly unparalleled Gold (XAUUSD) CFD spread of just 0.08 pips. Hence why Pepperstone is our favourite Gold CFD broker, provided you choose the Razor account.
Key CFD Trading FAQ’s for Pepperstone
Is Pepperstone the cheapest CFD broker overall?
Yes, Pepperstone offers the lowest CFD costs for holding trades over multiple days (swap fees, or overnight fees), and the lowest CFD spread costs with the Razor account. This combination makes Pepperstone the lowest-cost UK broker for CFD trading.
Is Pepperstone the best CFD broker?
If you are looking for high-volume or professional trading – holding CFDs over multiple days and trading at large sizes – then Pepperstone offers the lowest CFD holding costs combined with low spread costs, so yes, Pepperstone is the best low-cost CFD broker. Whilst other factors might influence the best CFD broker, like instrument diversity (where CMC & IG are stronger) or mobile-friendly platform options (like SpreadEx), Pepperstone remains a top choice for dedicated traders.
My Experience
We traded EUR/USD CFDs on Pepperstone’s own Pepperstone Platform (see below) on 6th October 2026, same as CMC Markets, to test CFD spread pricing and holding costs. We held the position for over 1 day to assess entry pricing, cost profile, and overall platform experience.
On their Standard CFD account, we were quoted a 1-pip spread fairly consistently. On the overnight fee, we were charged £5.50 on our 1 lot ($100,000 USD) trade on EUR/USD, basically 20p cheaper than CMC – but compounded, this slight difference would add up significantly.
We found Pepperstone’s Pepperstone Platform to be extremely well suited to beginner traders as it was quick and easy to find instruments and start trading. A highlight was actually visualising the bid/ask price, which is a great way to make traders more aware of their spread costs visually.
Verdict
Pepperstone leads the pack for low holding costs and low spread costs on their Razor account. Newer traders should check the account type and avoid the Standard account to get these benefits. Pepperstone’s Razor account is also the cheapest CFD commission-based account, based on its forex and indices spread pricing, low commission, and holding costs of 2.5% vs 3% from IG and CMC Markets. The instrument variety (1,400+ CFDs) is the only potential drawback compared to CMC.
£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.
73.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading on margin with this provider.
3. IG: Best Multi-Asset CFD Broker
IG: Incredible Range & Tooling Options
IG offers tools, education, a wide range of instruments, and strong benefits for high-volume trading. But unfortunately, spreads and the lack of a commission-based account for retail traders are drawbacks.
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Why IG is a Great CFD Broker
IG offers unparalleled CFD variety in the UK – only second to CMC Markets. They provide 16,000+ instruments across indices, forex, stocks, ETFs and commodities. In our testing, CMC offers a better range of forex minor pairs and a wider range of futures (see the CMC section), but IG offers more platform options, pro-level tools, and a solid variety.
IG Video Review
IG CFD Trading Fees
CFD Spreads
Forex CFD Spreads
IG’s CFD trading fees aren’t the most competitive; they’re higher than both CMC and Pepperstone. Forex CFD spreads start at 0.6 pips, while CMC & Pepperstone’s commission-based accounts start at 0.0 pip spreads. It’s even higher than CMC’s Standard CFD trading account, which starts at 0.5 pips.
Unfortunately, IG also doesn’t have a commission-based account option of its own, so accessing 0.0 pip spreads and paying a small commission isn’t even an option. This means you are stuck with 0.6 pips for forex CFD trading.
Stock & Indices CFD Spreads
IG offers the lowest indices CFD fees of any broker we analysed, with S&P 500 CFD spreads of 0.4 points, lower than both Pepperstone and CMC, and FTSE 100 spreads of 1 point – in line with CMC.
Commodities CFD Spreads
For commodities, their spot gold pricing (XAUUSD) starts at 0.3 points. This is higher than both Pepperstone and CMC, which start at 0.19 and 0.2 points on their standard CFD accounts, respectively.
CFD Holding Costs
IG’s CFD holding costs / overnight fees are similar to CMC’s (see table in CMC section), charging an annualised 3% charge across most major assets with 1% annualised for FX. For more details, you can visit their documentation or see below for our experience, where we calculated an average trade experience.
Platforms & Accounts
IG’s CFD Trading Platforms
IG offers some great platform options: TradingView, MT4, MT5, ProRealTime and their own WebTrader are all available for retail CFD traders. Professionals can access L2 Dealer, essentially order book trading, with an application form.
Our preferred platform was their native WebTrader platform, which offers the best combination of ease-of-use, quick discoverability, beginner-friendliness and great charting. Although we tested ProRealTime in-depth in our review of the best professional brokers, we found it far simpler and better for professional trading than Interactive Brokers’ TWS platform.
IG CFD Trading Accounts
IG’s account options start to feel a bit more limiting for CFD traders. IG doesn’t offer a commission-based trading account, unlike CMC or Pepperstone, so it’s not well-suited to high-volume or professional trading unless you apply for DMA access.
They do offer spread betting accounts, which are fantastic, but for CFD trading, they lack a crucial ingredient that most brokers, like CMC Markets, FxPro, Pepperstone, and Vantage Markets, offer: a commission-based account for UK CFD traders.
Key CFD Trading FAQ’s for IG
Is IG Good for CFD Trading?
IG is more expensive than both CMC and Pepperstone for CFD trading, but it comes with some advantages. They provide a wide range of platform options and the widest range of instruments overall, with 16,000+ instruments. They are the cheapest broker for index CFD trading on both FTSE 100 and S&P 500 CFDs but are more expensive for commodities and forex trading.
Who Should Use IG for CFD Trading?
IG is really designed for traders who are not that cost-conscious, may trade occasionally, but are certainly not active traders. Active traders would be better suited to the low spreads and low holding costs of Pepperstone and CMC, respectively. If you are a beginner to intermediate trader, IG will suit you well as it’s easy to set up, easy to use and offers a range of trading options. But once you’ve decided what you want to trade, then other platforms offer more competitive spreads for certain instruments.
My Experience
We traded IG on the 6th October 2026, with the same EUR/USD 1 lot testing. IG’s spreads were again very consistent at 0.6 pips; IG, CMC, and Pepperstone’s quoted minimum spreads held as close to those quotes as possible, with very minimal slippage during testing.
IG’s overnight fee was pretty much the same as CMC’s at £5.74 on my 1-lot EUR/USD trade.
Verdict
IG is perfect for traders who are new to CFD trading. They offer a huge range of assets, perfect for discovering which instruments you want to trade, along with a wide range of platforms, which is great if you don’t yet know where you want to trade or which software works for you. However, once you know which platform and instrument you prefer, IG becomes an expensive option unless you trade index CFDs, where IG is the cheapest broker.
No Minimum Deposit
Best for Stocks
IG offers 17,000+ trading instruments and combines robust regulation with cutting-edge platforms like ProRealTime, TradingView, and L2 Dealer.
70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
4. SpreadEx: Best CFD Trading App
SpreadEx: Best Mobile CFD Broker
SpreadEx’s mobile platform is one of the best around. Integrated Trading Signals, easy navigation and low prices make this a super compelling choice.
68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Why SpreadEx is a Great CFD Broker
SpreadEx is one of the best mobile brokers for CFD trading in the UK. Whilst other brokers offer mobile compatibility with MT4, MT5 and cTrader mobile integrations, SpreadEx has gone another route entirely, building a dedicated mobile app that works well out of the box.
In our testing, we reviewed FxPro’s app, IG’s mobile WebTrader, CMC’s Next Generation app and Capital.com’s Mobile App. We found that SpreadEx offered the best, most unique range of features, the fastest way to place trades, and a wider range of instruments than both FxPro and Capital.com.
SpreadEx combined this dedicated mobile app experience with a huge range of CFD trading options. SpreadEx offers 10,000+ instruments vs Capital.com’s 5,500 and FxPro’s 2,100+ instruments.
SpreadEx CFD Trading Fees
CFD Spreads
Forex CFD Spreads
SpreadEx’s Forex CFD spreads align with IG’s, starting at 0.6 pips as the lowest spread, across both EUR/USD & AUD/USD. This is competitive and puts them well ahead of most other brokers for CFD trading.
Stock & Indices CFD Spreads
SpreadEx’s index CFD spreads start at 0.4 points for the S&P 500 and 1 pip for the FTSE 100. This is again in line with IG’s costs and lower than both Pepperstone and CMC. This makes SpreadEx one of the most competitive UK brokers for index CFD trading.
Commodity CFD Spreads
SpreadEx is relatively competitive for commodity CFD trading, with Gold spreads starting at 0.3 points, in line with IG but higher than Pepperstone and CMC.
CFD Holding Costs
Holding Forex CFD contracts overnight incurs an annualised 1.5% fee (see below) + the interest rate differential, and indices & commodities cost 4%. Whilst this is higher than other brokers mentioned, 1.5% is not wildly higher than IG or other brokers for FX holding fees, but it’s something you will need to be aware of when holding CFDs – it is better to trade Futures contracts on SpreadEx than to hold CFD positions long-term.
Platforms & Accounts
SpreadEx CFD Trading Platforms
SpreadEx offers two main platforms: its own SpreadEx platform (also an app) and TradingView. While this looks relatively small compared to brokers like IG and Pepperstone, which offer 4-5 platforms, SpreadEx’s proprietary platform is one of the best mobile and web trading platforms. It’s great for both beginners and advanced traders, with quick navigation and easy discoverability (see SpreadEx Review).
SpreadEx Accounts
SpreadEx has two main accounts: a CFD trading account and a spread betting account. SpreadEx doesn’t offer a commission-based account option, unlike Pepperstone and CMC Markets.
Key CFD Trading FAQ’s for SpreadEx
Is SpreadEx Good for CFD Trading?
Yes, SpreadEx is especially good for index CFDs, with headline spreads that align with IG’s spreads. While its forex and commodities spreads are more expensive than CMC’s, they are more competitive than Pepperstone on a standard account. SpreadEx is less competitive when comparing spreads against Pepperstone’s Razor account and CMC’s FXActive accounts, which are commission-based.
Who Should Use SpreadEx for CFD Trading?
You should trade CFDs with SpreadEx if you are a beginner-to-intermediate trader looking for a great mobile experience. If you are a beginner, you can use TradingView or SpreadEx’s desktop platform and download their mobile app, which features Trading Signals to help with technical analysis.
My Experience
We traded SpreadEx on the 6th October 2026, and their spreads on EUR/USD were the same as IG: 0.6 pip spreads. It was seemless, very intuitive to see the price i was getting and again, matched headline published rates.
On overnight fees, we were charged £7.50. Higher than both IG and CMC markets. This is down primarily to how the overnight funding fees are calculated, with a 1.5% charge of the lot size $100,000 working out as an annual €1,500 fee (divided by 365 for their daily fee, so c. £3.65) + the interest rate differential (which in this case is negative (buying EUR for USD).
Verdict
SpreadEx has by far the best mobile CFD trading app for new traders. However, this comes with some drawbacks: CFD holding costs are higher, meaning you will need to trade futures contracts rather than hold CFDs over longer periods. They also offer fewer platform options than most major brokers, with only two choices. However, they make up for this with a huge range of instruments (10,000+) rivalling some of the largest brokers like IG and StoneX Trading, and great beginner support.
£5 Minimum Deposit
Best Mobile App
SpreadEx is a broker that just works. Easy to use, great professional feel and exceptional proprietary platforms.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 61% of retail investors lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
5. Interactive Brokers: Best Professional CFD Broker
Interactive Brokers: Best Professional CFD Broker
Interactive Brokers remains a leader for professional traders. They are a leading options broker, offer Python trading through TWS and might be one of the best brokers for professionals.
83% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Why Interactive Brokers is a Great CFD Broker
Interactive Brokers is a powerhouse in international trading, but less well known in the UK because IG and CMC Markets are everywhere. However, it offers several advantages for traders, especially professional traders. If you want a broker that combines extremely low pricing, Python trading, and professional-grade tools, IB might be a good bet.
Interactive Brokers CFD Trading Fees
CFD Spreads
Forex CFD Spreads
Interactive Brokers prices things slightly differently to most UK brokers. Normally you would have a spread baked into the quoted price, and this would be 0.6 or 0.5 pips. However, IB quotes based on pricing with no public guaranteed minimum spreads. For example, on a EUR/USD trade with a trade volume less than $1 million – which is most retail traders in the UK – this would be priced at 0.2 bps, meaning $2 per $100,000 (a standard lot) per side (open & closing a trade) + raw spreads starting from 0.1 points; if your volume is under $1 million, which applies to most traders.
Essentially, this makes IB one of the most competitive brokers on commission-based headline fees, given their raw spread (from 0.1 pips) + $2 per standard lot fee vs Pepperstone’s 0.0 pip spread + $2.25 each-way commission when comparing against Pepperstone’s Razor account. However, IB makes this extremely difficult for average retail traders to understand, so Interactive Brokers has positioned itself for institutional investors and professional traders, who need volume to make this commission-based model viable.
Stock & Indices CFD Spreads
For major indices, IB charges a 0.005% per trade fee (S&P 500 and FTSE 100) – essentially $5 per $100,000 + the spread (c. 0.3 pips in our testing). This is quite expensive overall, especially compared with raw spread pricing from most other UK brokers.
Commodity CFD Spreads
For Commodity CFDs, this basis point % comes in at 1.5 basis points (0.015%), or $15 per $100,000 round-trip ($30 overall), but again you get raw market spreads like with FX.
CFD Holding Costs
Interactive Brokers charges a 2.5% annualised CFD overnight fee for stocks, indices, and commodities in the UK. They charge 1% for forex overnight holding fees, in line with most other brokers. Their 2.5% overnight fee matches Pepperstone’s as one of the lowest CFD holding costs for UK traders.
Platforms & Accounts
Interactive Brokers CFD Trading Platforms
IB really offers only two platforms: its own ‘Client Portal’ and the TWS Platform. We tried both. Their Client Portal isn’t the easiest to use, since you have to search for instruments manually. Fine for those Bloomberg-adjacent, but hardly the easiest way to navigate for retail traders (see below).
When it came to TWS, we found it slow, hard to digest, and generally unfamiliar for most UK traders, unless you have already played around with ProReal Time, in which case it may make more sense. But overall it’s not beginner- or even intermediate-friendly, as it’s designed for institutions rather than retail traders.
Interactive Brokers Accounts
IB really only has CFD trading accounts. They do not offer spread betting accounts for UK traders. Because their accounts also charge commissions, they can be seen as an alternative to Pepperstone Razor or CMC FxActive: you access raw 0.0 pip spreads on FX and pay a commission on top.
Key CFD Trading FAQ’s for Interactive Brokers
Is Interactive Brokers a cheap CFD broker?
For high-volume trading. and professional trading, Interactive Brokers is one of the cheapest brokers. Especially for forex and commodities trading, you get raw spreads (from 0.1 pip spreads) plus an each-way commission of $2 per side for forex and $15 for Gold, using a standard $100,000 lot size. Their forex commission is comparable but slightly cheaper than Pepperstone’s $2.25 Razor account, but Pepperstone is cheaper on Gold pricing with 0.08 pip spreads on their Razor account.
Who is Interactive Brokers for?
IB is built for high-volume, professional traders who want to keep costs low through fixed commissions and interbank trading rates. If you are a standard UK retail trader, the Interactive Brokers Client Portal and TWS platform aren’t built for you; better alternatives include Pepperstone or CMC Markets, which integrate with platforms like MT4 or TradingView.
My Experience
We traded EUR/USD on Interactive Brokers on 6th October 2026, and the bid/ask was 0.3 pips, with IB’s price quoting bang in the middle of that bid/ask.
For overnight funding, we were charged a total of £8.17. The discrepancy in the potential quoted price of Interactive Brokers and SpreadEx vs the other brokers like CMC and Pepperstone is primarily that they expose the interest rate differential (in this case it’s around 1.5%) and then add their charge on top (for FX roughly 1%) vs Pepperstone & CMC, which bundle it into one cost.
Ultimately, when holding CFD positions long-term, you need to be aware that futures pricing often comes out cheaper than exposing yourself to the raw differential plus an administrative charge, and that bundled pricing can normally be cheaper, but not always.
Verdict
Interactive Brokers is a good CFD broker. They keep costs low through fixed commissions and interbank pricing. However, their tiered pricing makes it harder to understand the full cost profile of your trades than spread-based pricing. Their overnight funding fees are in line with major brokers like Pepperstone, and their commission-based pricing suits high-volume traders, but IB might not suit average retail traders.
How to Choose a CFD Broker
Methodology
To determine the best CFD brokers, we analysed a range of factors from spreads to swaps and everything in between; we comprehensively analysed 50+ brokers to determine the ‘best’. Here is what we went through in our hands-on testing:
- Spread Cost: This is the headline figure you see when you trade, and it is the active cost of trading. The more you trade, the more spread cost affects your profitability, so we focused on low-spread CFD brokers.
- Holding Fees: While some people might day trade, and we reviewed brokers for day trading (with more emphasis on spread costs), we also needed to be mindful of CFD overnight fees, as these often surprise newer UK traders.
- Instrument Range: There is no point trading on a broker that offers 450+ instruments like Axi. If you want to trade more than major forex pairs, you’ll need a broker that performs across a wide variety of assets like IG and keeps fees low.
- Account Variety: The option to spread bet or trade on commission-based accounts makes all the difference for UK traders looking for tax-free alternatives or high-volume trading. We added some points for optionality.
- Platform Options: If you are a beginner, you likely won’t be booting up MT5 to trade SONIA derivatives. Likewise, if you are a professional trader, then TradingView-only brokers like EightCap might feel a bit limiting. We analysed brokers with a wide range of platform options, like Pepperstone and IG.
Supporting Data
We also relied on our broker-matching quiz data to support our findings across beginner, intermediate and advanced trader preferences (see below). This helped guide our ranking criteria in addition to the above.
Trading Brokers · First-party research
What Traders Want in a Broker
Our broker-matching quiz captures trading experience, platform choices, market interests and broker priorities. We use these overall preferences to inform the criteria for our CFD broker comparison alongside hands-on testing.
About this data: The quiz did not ask whether respondents trade CFDs. These results describe all quiz sessions, rather than a confirmed CFD-trading audience.
Which broker features matter most?
Share rating each feature important or very important · answered: 119 sessions; mobile trading: 114.
Tight spreads: 103 of 119 (86.6%) rated this important or very important. Very important: 47 (39.5%); important: 56 (47.1%); not important: 16 (13.4%).
Select a bar to see its exact counts.
How experienced is our quiz audience?
Share of all 119 sessions · one self-identified experience level per session.
Beginner: selected in 66 of 119 quiz sessions (55.5%). Experience is self-identified.
Select a bar to see its exact counts.
Which platforms do traders prefer?
Share selecting each option · 119 quiz sessions · multiple selections allowed.
TradingView: selected in 51 of 119 quiz sessions (42.9%). More than one option could be selected.
Select a bar to see its exact counts.
Which markets interest traders?
Share selecting each asset class · 119 quiz sessions · multiple selections allowed.
Stocks: selected in 70 of 119 quiz sessions (58.8%). More than one option could be selected.
Select a bar to see its exact counts.
View the data tables Exact counts and percentages for all four views
| Feature | Very important | Important | Not important | Answered | Important or very important (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tight spreads | 47 | 56 | 16 | 119 | 86.6% |
| Customer support | 40 | 62 | 17 | 119 | 85.7% |
| Mobile trading | 44 | 50 | 20 | 114 | 82.5% |
| Deposit options | 21 | 50 | 48 | 119 | 59.7% |
| Educational resources | 31 | 36 | 52 | 119 | 56.3% |
| Automated trading | 24 | 40 | 55 | 119 | 53.8% |
Rating columns show counts. Combined percentage = (important + very important) ÷ answered × 100. Five missing mobile-trading answers are excluded; all other priority questions have 119 valid answers.
| Experience | Selected | Answered | Selected (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 66 | 119 | 55.5% |
| Intermediate | 33 | 119 | 27.7% |
| Advanced | 20 | 119 | 16.8% |
Experience is self-identified. Each session is counted once in one experience group.
| Option | Selected | Answered | Selected (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TradingView | 51 | 119 | 42.9% |
| Don’t mind | 45 | 119 | 37.8% |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | 36 | 119 | 30.3% |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | 17 | 119 | 14.3% |
| cTrader | 16 | 119 | 13.4% |
“Don’t mind” includes 38 sessions selecting only that option and 7 also naming a platform. Multiple selections mean percentages can exceed 100% in total. These preferences do not establish how respondents would use a particular platform for CFD trading.
| Option | Selected | Answered | Selected (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks | 70 | 119 | 58.8% |
| Forex | 69 | 119 | 58.0% |
| Indices | 50 | 119 | 42.0% |
| Commodities | 48 | 119 | 40.3% |
Seventy-three sessions (61.3%) selected multiple asset classes; 46 selected one. Choices describe interests, not verified trading activity, and do not distinguish CFDs from other ways of trading or investing.
Source & method: TradingBrokers.co.uk broker-matching quiz, 11 February 2025–10 October 2026. We retain the latest response per session from 212 submissions, giving 119 sessions with no further filtering. Percentages use valid answers and are rounded to one decimal place. Platform and market choices can overlap. This self-selected sample records preferences, not verified unique people or a representative UK survey; location was not recorded. CFD-trading participation was not measured.
Limitations & Rationale
This list is our definitive guide for CFD trading. This list differs from rankings of the best spread betting brokers and our best broker in the UK overall, due to the differences in spread pricing for CFD trading vs spread pricing as well as factors related to overall suitability. Whilst CMC Markets is a great broker for professional traders as well as intermediate and advanced level traders due to low spread, and integration options, Pepperstone remains the best overall broker in 2026 for forex due to the flexibility of multi-platform integration with TradingView suitable for beginner traders, as well as low-spread pricing on both Razor and Spread Betting accounts.
For CFD trading specifically, it’s important to note specific broker pricing for UK traders as CFD spreads and spread betting spreads may differ (see below). It’s also important to note that CFD trading is a broad category; stocks, forex, commodities and indices all have different CFD trading pricing that we have reflected in this article. We combined all of these factors, weighted them and combined them with our first-hand supporting data to create this definitive list.
CFD Trading vs Spread Betting
The core difference between spread betting & CFD trading is tax treatment. Essentially, spread betting is classified as gambling by HMRC, but profitable CFD Trading is seen as liable for capital gains tax.
So why trade CFDs? Well… although subjecting yourself to more capital gains tax seems like a bad thing. Often, professional traders (when trading is their primary income) will face capital gains on spread betting essentially negating the benefits.
CFD trading is also easier to code algorithmic bots and EAs for, given the prevalence of CFDs in international markets, whereas you would have to build custom scripts to handle spread betting’s per-point pricing.
So is one method better than another? Yes. Spread betting is best for traders for whom trading is not their primary source of income. CFD trading is better for traders who want to trade long-term to replace their primary income and access EAs and algorithmic strategies that use standard lot pricing.
Final Verdict
| Ranking | Broker | Rationale | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CMC Markets | Low-standard account CFD trading fees from 0.5 pips vs Pepperstone’s 1 pip and IG’s 0.6 pips on forex CFDs, combined with low indices and commodities trading spreads and 21,000+ CFD instruments, make CMC the overall best broker. They also offer the widest range of forex minors and exotics, plus MT4 and TradingView integrations. However, they don’t offer the lowest overall CFD overnight/swap fees, and their native Next Generation platform isn’t the easiest for beginners to use. | 9/10 |
| 2 | Pepperstone | Pepperstone is the lowest-cost CFD broker overall. With Razor Account spreads from 0.08 pips on Gold CFDs and 0.0 pip spreads on forex pairs, they offer an extremely cost-effective way to trade major instruments. Whilst their asset range is smaller (2,700+ pairs) their overnight fees of just 2.5% outperform both IG and CMC Markets. | 9/10 |
| 3 | IG | IG offers a great all-round alternative. Their fees are higher than both Pepperstone and CMC, in both headline CFD spread costs and overnight fees, but 16,000+ instruments and strong platform integration options make it a great place for beginners to start. | 9/10 |
| 4 | SpreadEx | SpreadEx’s CFD trading fees are broadly in line with IG on headline overnight and spread costs, and its mobile app is arguably better for beginners. Their Trading Signals feature offers beginners technical analysis support as an intro to CFD trading. | 8.7/10 |
| 5 | Interactive Brokers | Interactive Brokers charges the lowest commission-based account fees with only $2 and a raw 0.0 pip spread price on a per-lot basis. They also only charge 2.5% annualised overnight fees, in line with Pepperstone. This is exceptionally low, but their Client portal and TWS platform options, with no other integration options, really make this a professionals-only choice. | 8/10 |
Best Broker for Overnight Fee/Swap Fees
The best brokers for overnight fees are Pepperstone, then Interactive Brokers; both offer annualised 2.5% fees across major instruments + 1% on forex CFDs. These are the lowest CFD fees we found across all 50 brokers.
| Broker | Account | Spread cost | Round-trip commission | One-day funding | Total estimated cost | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 CMC Markets | Standard | £3.770.5 pips | £0.00No separate commission | £5.74Tested & Evidenced | £9.51 | Lowest total in this scenario |
| CMC Markets | FX Active | £0.000.0 pips | £4.24Opening + closing | £5.74Tested & Evidenced | £9.98 | Slightly dearer than Standard at these spreads |
 Pepperstone | Razor · GBP MT4 | £0.000.0 pips | £4.50Opening + closing | £5.50Tested & Evidenced | £10.00 | Lower daily funding; commission included |
 IG | Standard CFD | £4.520.6 pips | £0.00No separate commission | £5.74Tested & Evidenced | £10.26 | £0.75 above CMC Standard |
 SpreadEx | Standard CFD | £4.520.6 pips | £0.00No separate commission | £7.50Tested & Evidenced | £12.02 | Higher reported funding cost |
| Pepperstone | Standard | £7.531.0 pip | £0.00No separate commission | £5.50Tested & Evidenced | £13.03 | Wider spread outweighs one-day funding saving |
| Interactive Brokers | Retail CFD · first tier | £2.260.3 pips | £3.40Opening + closing | £8.17Tested & Evidenced | £13.83 | Includes both commissions and retail funding surcharge |
IG vs CMC for Overnight fees
Using data from our previous article on the best CFD brokers for swap fees and overnight holding costs, we found that CMC & IG had very similar cost profiles for swap fees, but CMC Markets ultimately had the edge on pricing, while IG outperformed on the number of tradable assets.
If you are looking for a broker to hold your CFD trading positions overnight or for multiple days, then CMC Markets & Pepperstone ultimately provide the best multi-day CFD holding strategy without using forward contracts. CMC Markets also offers a wide range of forward contract options, making it the best option for multi-week or long-term CFD trading.
Other Brokers We Considered
As part of our research, we considered major UK FCA-regulated brokers including Capital.com, Tradenation, FxPro, Plus500, Trading 212, eToro, Vantage Markets, Axi, EightCap, and more. To produce these results, we analysed these brokers using the ‘Methodology’ mentioned above and found on our homepage.
All fees and spreads are accurate as of the time of publishing and are subject to change. Please do your own research and verify claims on the providers’ own websites (see ‘Resources’ below).
FAQs
Best Broker for Low-Fee CFD Trading
The CFD broker with the lowest overall fees for UK retail traders is Pepperstone, with £2.5 per lot round-trip commission, raw 0.0 pip spreads for forex, and a 1% CFD holding cost. It was the lowest across our EUR/USD testing and for a 1-day holding cost. They also had the lowest pricing for Gold trading, given their 0.08 pip spread on their Razor account + a small £4.5 cost structure.
Best Broker for Fixed Fee CFDs
TradeNation is the only true UK broker to offer fixed-fee CFD trading with spreads starting at 0.4 pips (AUD/USD), but CMC Markets also starts at 0.4 pip spreads for forex, and when trading higher volumes, fixed-fee spreads become expensive, so commission-based accounts are best for these use cases. In those cases, CMC’s FxActive and Pepperstone’s Razor account are the most competitive.
Best Broker for Overnight Fees / Swap Fees
The brokers with the cheapest overnight fees are Pepperstone & Interactive Brokers. They offer the lowest CFD cash holding fees: 2.5% and 1% for most instruments and forex, respectively. However, CMC Markets and SpreadEx offer a wide range of cheap futures instruments that work out as cheaper than CFD holding costs and in our ‘Best Overnight Fees‘ article, we explain why Pepperstone, IG and CMC Markets are the best fit for most retail UK traders.
Best Broker for Asset Range
As of October 2026, CMC offers 21,000+ CFD instruments; IG offers 16,000+; and SpreadEx offers 10,000+. All three brokers offer a huge range of instruments to trade.
Best Broker for Beginners
The best beginner broker is SpreadEx. It offers a strong mobile app with integrated Trading Signals for beginners, plus simple navigation and 10,000+ instruments.
Best Broker for Professionals
The best professional brokers are Interactive Brokers and Pepperstone, both offering the most competitive CFD commission costs at $2 and $2.25 round trip, respectively, compared to CMC’s FxActive account, which offers $2.5 round trip. However, for rebates, CMC Markets offers a competitive professional rebate system called Alpha+. For professional tooling, we prefer ProRealTime over Interactive Brokers’ TWS platform because it offers a rich order book and news functionality.
Best Broker for Spread Betting & CFD Trading
If you want to combine spread betting and CFD trading, CMC Markets and Pepperstone are the best options. Pepperstone’s spread costs for spread betting are lower, making it more competitive than its high Standard Account CFD pricing (0.5 pips for FX vs 1 pip on its Standard Account & from 0.4 pips for S&P 500 vs 0.6 pips on its Standard Account). CMC Markets’ spread betting and CFD pricing is already extremely low, starting at 0.5 pips for forex & indices CFDs.
Best Broker for MT4 CFD Trading
If you are looking for an MT4-compatible CFD broker that works well for UK CFD trading, Pepperstone or CMC Markets are the best overall picks. They offer the lowest CFD spread pricing (on Pepperstone’s Razor and CMC’s FXActive accounts) for high-volume and professional trading. Pepperstone offers better overnight CFD holding fees, and CMC offers the best spread pricing on its Standard account.
Best Broker for Gold CFD Trading
The best Gold CFD Broker in the UK is Pepperstone. Their Razor Account offers XAU/USD CFD spread pricing from 0.08 pips, and their Standard Account offers pricing from 0.19 pips. This is cheaper than IG’s 0.3-pip spreads and CMC’s 0.2-pip spreads. They also offer the most XAU crosses of any major broker, including XAU/EUR, XAU/GBP, and more, whereas most major brokers offer only XAU/USD and gold futures. For more information, see our best gold CFD brokers article.
Resources / Broker Fee Data
Interactive Brokers Fee Breakdown
- Best CFD Brokers for UK Traders - October 28, 2026
- Capital.com vs Pepperstone: Broker Comparison - October 20, 2026
- XTB vs Pepperstone: Broker Comparison - September 22, 2026
