Looking at Pepperstone vs CMC, you might think they’re two completely different brokers for two completely different audiences, and, you’d be right. CMC offers a breadth and depth that Pepperstone simply can’t match, and Pepperstone offers ease-of-use and down-to-earth customer service that makes getting started a breeze.
Which is better for UK traders: Pepperstone or CMC Markets?
Overall CMC proves itself to be the better trader for UK traders but let’s explore why.
Compared to CMC, Pepperstone is a relatively new broker, but boy – it packs a punch. If you are looking for a wide range of markets, comprehensive support and a platform that is designed for professional traders, then CMC is better for you. If you are looking to trade forex primarily, with low fees, and want the option to trade on a variety of platforms – then choose Pepperstone.
1. Key Features Comparison
| CMC VS Pepperstone | 
First | 
Second | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulation | FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), NFA (US), and more | FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), NFA (US), and more | |
| Trading Platforms | Proprietary Platforms, MT4, TradingView | Proprietary Web Trader, MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView | |
| Minimum Deposit | £0 | £10 | |
| Spreads | Starting from 0.0 pips on FxActive and 0.6 on standard accounts | Starting from 0.1 on Razor account to 1 pips on standard account | |
| Commissions | No commission on EU & UK ($10 on US) | £2.25 each way on Razor account & $6-$7 USD on cTrader & TradingView | |
| Range of Assets | 12,000+ | 1,444+ on CFD accounts | |
| Education Resources | Weak | Weak | |
| 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 | £10 inactivity fee after 1 year | No inactivity fee | |
| Join CMC | Join Pepperstone |
In Summary: CMC beats Pepperstone with:
- Wider range of instruments 12,000+ vs Pepperstone’s 1,444+ .
- No minimum deposit vs Pepperstone’s £10 minimum
- Cheaper commission-only account – FxActive is cheaper than Pepperstone’s Razor acount
2. Fees and Spreads: Who Wins on Costs?
CMC Fees
CMC has average spreads that are low, in fact they are so low they beat Pepperstone comprehensively. The image above shows the forex fees – you can see they are roughly 0.5-0.7 pips for major forex pairs. Combine this with great execution and over 12,000+ instruments to trade and you begin to see the advantage.
Their FXActive account has 5 core major currencies with 0.0 spreads and a 25% discount on other pairs which is very cheap given how low their fees are already… CMC does charge a £10 inactivity fee though so this is something to watch if you plan to leave money in there and not trade.
Pepperstone Fees
Pepperstone has fees that are much higher – especially on their standard account – see below for the screenshot. Their fees roughly hover around the 1 pip mark, which may not sound a lot but compared to other major brokers this is really steep.
They do however, make up for it with their Razor account option where spreads start from 0.1, but CMC’s FxActive spreads start from 0.0 across 6 pairs whereas it seems Pepperstone has fees on USDCAD at 0.1, so five pairs in total, which is one less than CMC’s FxActive and fees overall are generally higher. They do not charge an inactivity fee though, so this is a bonus.
Verdict
CMC’s FxActive platform is cheaper than Pepperstone’s Razor account for more pairs. It’s also has lower fees on the Standard account – with CMC’s spreads roughly at 0.6-0.7 pips whereas Pepperstone’s standard account fees hover around 1 pip which is surprisingly high.
3. Trading Platforms
CMC Trading Platforms
CMC has an award-winning platform, so why change what’s working right? Well… actually, CMC’s platform is complicated, difficult for beginners and thematic-trading based. It clusters similar themed stocks together a bit like a Trading 212, but less intuitive. However, good news for beginner traders – you can also use CMC on MetaTrader and TradingView – so that might be your go-to option.
Pepperstone Trading Platforms
If CMC’s native trader was confusing, then by contrast anything looks better right? You are half-right. Pepperstone’s native webtrader is pretty decent. It had a rough start last year (2025) but in 2026 they have made significant improvements to their webtrader experience. Is it there yet… no. It still has some stretched out elements, and confusing elements, but by contract Pepperstone has a better webtrader for beginner traders. You can also use Pepperstone on Tradingview, cTrader, and MetaTrader.
Verdict
Pepperstone’s variety of platforms wins this. They feature cTrader & MT5, which is more than CMC offers, means that Pepperstone ultimately wins this by volume of platforms offered. However, there are improvements to be made on both sides, CMC’s platform, whilst award-winning, is cluttered and difficult to use for beginners, Pepperstone’s by contrast too simplistic.
4. Range of Tradable Assets
CMC Asset Range
CMC offers 12,000+ tradable assets. This is huge, and apart from IG, this is the largest number of instruments reviewed on our site.
Pepperstone Asset Range
Pepperstone, by contrast only offers 1,444+ as of March 2025.
Verdict
CMC has a much larger range of tradable assets – 12,000+ vs Pepperstone’s 1,444+ (counted in March 2025 so it may have improved). So CMC is by far the best choice here.
5. Regulation and Security
CMC Regulation
CMC Markets is regulated by all the heavy hitters, but most importantly for UK traders it is FCA-regulated so is under the same strict conditions as other brokers on this site.
Pepperstone Regulation
Likewise, Pepperstone is regulated by the FCA for UK traders.
Verdict
Both brokers are rock-solid in terms of security for traders. It’s a tie for regulation.
6. Customer Support
CMC Support
CMC offers 24/5 support, they are fairly responsive in our tests responding within 3 days for a query i marked as urgent. Not bad. But could be quicker. Also, they are simply impossible to get help from their site, it’s a maze of stuff just confusing and hard to navigate – see screenshot above.
Pepperstone Support
Pepperstone also provides 24/5 support but their FAQ page is detailed, easy to understand and even has a WhatsApp and Live Chat popout feature. Much, much better for actually getting help.
Verdict:
Pepperstone clearly wins here. CMC’s an ’email-first’ approach to customer services, whereas Pepperstone goes out of its way to provide multiple options.
7. Educational Resources
CMC Education
CMC offers a wide range of articles, some good, some…less good. But honestly it’s at least clearly demarcated with Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced so you can filter properly. That’s the plus. The downside is no interactivity, no clear video or webinar content, just overall lacking in some of the educational offerings that a competitor like IG has.
Pepperstone Education
Pepperstone’s educational content is basically a list of articles. Great for discoverability in search engines I’m sure, but just not the kind of content i’d expect from a broker of this calibre. It’s also separated by Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced – but it’s not filterable this way, meaning you have to scour every single article to find what you are looking for.
Verdict:
Both are not great at education. CMC is more comprehensive and offers a way to easily discover content based on the level of trader. Pepperstone make it very difficult to do so.
FAQ’s
1. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for Forex trading?
CMC offer s wider range of tradable assets overall – 12,000+ vs 1,444+ for Pepperstone – and has tighter spreads than Pepperstone, both on commission-only accounts and Standard accounts. Pepperstone’s Razor account is one of the best-known in the industry for tight spreads but FxActive by CMC is cheaper overall and for more currency pairs.
2. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for beginner traders?
No, both are suitable for beginner traders through TradingView integrations, as well as MT4 integration. However, CMC’s native webtrader experience is more difficult for beginners. Pepperstone offers a simpler native webtrader experience but it lacks the depth and quality of CMCs platform. Pepperstone has a wider range of platform offerings with cTrader, Tradingview, MT4 and MT5 so it’s easier for beginners to plug-and-play. CMC leads with its own platform first then offers alternatives, so beginners may find Pepperstone easier to get started.
3. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for day trading?
They both offer the major and minor pairs to trade, although CMC’s depth of assets – over 12,000+ makes it a great option for day traders. Pepperstone has significantly fewer assets to trade with 1,444+ CFD’s to trade. CMC also offers tighter spreads overall. So yes, CMC is ultimately a better option for day traders than Pepperstone.
4. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for UK traders?
CMC ultimately beats Pepperstone for asset variety and fees, but Pepperstone is better than CMC when it comes to high-volume trading & gold trading. If you are an intermediate to advanced level trader then CMC might be your preferred option. If you are looking for a pure forex broker then Pepperstone provides a solid base to start trading.
5. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for stock trading?
Yes, CMC offers a wider range of assets to trade than Pepperstone, they also have a thematic trading platform meaning they bucket groups of stocks together making it easier for traders to quickly find themes to trade across equities. Pepperstone has a smaller range of assets and discoverability is slower based on their non-thematic – more list-based platform.
6. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for trading platforms?
CMC has an award-winning platform in its own right. So yes, CMC has a better native webtrader experience than Pepperstone. However, pepperstone wins by variety of platforms offered, wth Tradingview, Metatrader, cTrader and their own native webtrader, they are interoperable with multiple platforms making them a great choice for beginners. In our opinion, CMCs platform can be difficult to use, depending on what kind of trader you are, and it takes a while to learn properly.
7. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for educational resources?
To be honest, neither of them are particularly great, but yes, CMC has a better,. clearer navigation of their educational content, but they lack Pepperstone’s webinars as CMC has almost no video content or webinar content to speak of. CMC wins just because of the ease of navigation of the content they do have but they both pale in comparison to IG Academy for education.
8. Is CMC better than Pepperstone for spread betting?
Both offer great spread betting options, and with the release of CMC’s Spectre product CMC has definitively become a real player in the spread betting world. They compete with IG (the founder of spread betting in the UK) in this regard. Pepperstone also offers spread betting but it’s certainly not positioned or advocated as much as CMC.
Final Verdict
| Criteria | Winner |
|---|---|
| Fees and Spreads | CMC |
| Platforms | Pepperstone |
| Asset Range | CMC |
| Regulation and Security | Tie |
| Customer Support | Pepperstone |
| Educational Resources | CMC |
CMC wins on fees, spreads, asset range, and educational resource. Pepperstone wins on customer support and range of platforms offered. They tie for regulation and safety with both brokers being heavily regulated but CMC’s dominance in Educational Resources means CMC is ultimately the better broker.
No Minimum Deposit
Best for Spread Betting
CMC is a leading CFD & Spread Betting platforms in the UK, founded in 1989, it is truly one of the oldest and greatest platforms for trading CFDs and spread betting with both a professional and beginner-friendly fee.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75% 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.
Who Should You Choose?
CMC if you don’t mind a bit of a steeper learning curve for a platform, you care about fees, asset selection and want to trade on the same kind of tools that professional traders do.
Pepperstone if you are earlier in your trading journey, trade some major forex pairs, want to quickly and easily get started and want a trusted reliable broker.
- XTB vs Axi: Broker Comparison - June 12, 2026
- Best Spread Betting Brokers for UK Traders - June 3, 2026
- IG vs Vantage Markets - May 29, 2026
