Here is our list of best 7 spread betting brokers: Having launched in 2010, Pepperstone is a relatively new broker compared to the others we have listed so far. However, it has grown exponentially over the past 10 years to become a reputable, popular broker. With over 89,000 clients globally, Pepperstone has firms all over the world and has won several different awards and accolades for its training and educational resources, including Best Client Relationship Manager at the Professional Trader Awards in 2019. Pepperstone is known for its low trading fees and is regulated by the FCA, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and other regulatory bodies – all listed on its website. It uses some of the best trading platforms available, such as TradingView, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader, available on mobile, tablet and desktop. Pepperstone also provides access to raw spreads, offers a super-execution, trades over 1,200+ instruments and is financially transparent. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 78.8% of retail investor accounts 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. It offers a 20% welcome bonus up to $10,000, according to regulation and a free 21-day demo account with $100,000. Instruments include:

Metals Commodities Stocks FX Options Oil ETFs Options Crypto currencies CFDs Indexes Shares Spread betting Indices Forex Bonds

AVATrade EU Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. (No.C53877) Ava Trade Markets Ltd. is regulated by the B.V.I Financial Services Commission. It is also highly regulated in Australia, South Africa, Japan, Middle East, Cyprus and Israel You can not trade with AvaTrade in the US, North Korea, New Zealand, Iran or Belgium. Mínimum deposit of $100, no withdraw limit and no fees.

Its strong points include:

No minimum first-time deposit No commissions Several payment methods for deposits and withdrawals Tight spreads from 0.5 pips

It offers one of the best execution speeds in the industry with low latency below 0.004s. It utilizes the most advanced technology to improve users’ trading efficiency – users can automate trades, build integrations and create trading apps using ActivTrades’ market-leading CFD and spread betting technology. Exceptional trading infrastructure is available on ActivTrader and MetaTrader 4 and 5. ActivTrades invests deeply in specially developed educational materials for its clients – including webinars, regular outlooks, manuals, etc. Type of offers: ActivTrades focuses on well-developed products in its trading portfolio. Customers can choose from over 1,000 CFD or spread betting instruments across forex, indices, shares, commodities, financials and ETFs. It also offers investing solutions for its institutional partners. Spread betting allows UK residents ONLY to trade the prices of financial instruments, including forex, indices, commodities and LSE shares. Spread betting and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread betting and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money There are three trading accounts available, depending on whether you want to pay a commission and get tighter spreads or have the trading costs built into the spread. This means that True ECN accounts have a commission cost of $6 per lot, but spreads that start at 0 pips on Forex, while STP and Prime accounts have the fees built into the spread. With Moneta Markets, traders can choose to use MetaTrader 4 and 5, as well as the proprietary WebTrader and AppTrader platforms (available for web and mobile use respectively). MT4/5 are well known great platforms for traders with outstanding research, tools and algorithmic trading available. The proprietary platform has a simple user interface. While that is great for beginners, there is not as much depth in the platform for those who are more advanced. Trading tools are not integrated, and both the mobile and web app could do with some updating to be as reliable and usable as other proprietary platforms offered by similar brokers. There is a demo account available, which allows traders to practice their strategies and work out how best to use all the functions of the platform. The research on the platform is almost entirely third-party – other than the Moneta TV YouTube channel which has daily market briefings. However, if you are using the MetaTrader suite there is a lot of research and analytics available through Trader Central, so the lack of in-house research on the Moneta Markets platform might not be too much of a problem. There is an extensive Masters Course, which is a series of more than 100 videos that are suitable for beginners through to advanced traders, covering many topics and in different categories and they can be viewed and used completely independently. The customer service on Moneta Markets is available 24/5, through email, phone and live chat.

Vantage Markets offers access to the markets through the popular MT4 and MT5 platforms, and a feature-stuffed mobile app. There are three account types:

Standard STP: Perfect for novices, this is a no-commission account that works across all trading instruments, with a minimum spread of 1.4 pips. The minimum deposit is $200. Raw ECN: Designed for more experienced traders, this account charges commission at $3 per lot per side but the spreads start at 0.0 pips. The minimum deposit is $500. Pro ECN: This is for professional, high-volume traders, and offers commission at $2 per lot per side, with spreads from 0.0 pips. The minimum deposit is $20,000.

Vantage Markets is seen as a good, reliable broker that offers social and copy trading – without being prohibitively expensive in terms of non-trading costs or commission. At Vantage Markets, the RAW ECN account offers the lowest spreads available in the industry – with feeds coming from as many as 70 institutions when trading through MT4, the spreads can be as low as 0.0 pips. It is worth remembering that with this low spread, there is a commission to be paid. The PRO ECN account has lower spreads too, with less commission, but needs high volume trades to make the most of the benefits here. Trading Forex and CFDs involves significant risk of losing of your invested capital and is not suitable for all investors. 64.86% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should not invest more than you can afford to lose and should ensure that you fully understand the risks involved. Before trading, please take into consideration your level of experience, investment objectives and seek independent financial advice if necessary. With over 20 years of trading experience, FXCM is fully regulated by some of the most high-profile bodies in the world. FXCM has received several awards and accolades over the years and is recognized as one of the top international brokers around the world, with offices in the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere. It has excellent customer service appraisals, and its loyal traders highly rate its user-friendly platforms. It even allows spread betting beginners the opportunity to open a practice account. This is to familiarize the trader with spread betting in an easy, informative way. FXCM also allows you to place smaller bets and has several excellent mobile platforms. Its site clearly states the spread costs, which is always a bonus. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 67% 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. City Index is well known across the industry as being the leading expert in spread betting. It has competitive fees and a whole host of markets. The company has been around for over 35 years and has won several awards for its exceptional trading platforms and mobile applications. City Index also specializes in forex trading, spread betting and contract-for-difference (CFD) trading, and offers spreads from as low as 0.5 points. Helping traders grow with its thorough educational tools, City Index has access to over 12,000 markets across indices, shares and commodities, and forex. It is also highly regarded within the industry and is regulated by the FCA. City Index offers free withdrawals and deposits.

This regulated broker offers ideal trading conditions no matter what your style of trading. You have the choice of a zero commission account or a zero spreads account, and you can deposit as little as $50 to start trading. There’s even leverage up to 1:500 available if you want it. Unlike most brokers that offer a VPS, Switch Markets will give you a high-spec VPS completely free with your trading account – this is well worth it if you are an EA trader. Read its reviews and you will see that its customer support is exceptional and available around the clock – something often overlooked when choosing a broker. Withdrawals and deposits are fast too. This is an ideal broker for those looking to improve their trading skills. There are cashback promotions, free trader tools and EAs (such as Risk Manager) when you open a demo or live account. This is an ideal broker for those looking to improve their trading skills. It has partnered with some of the best trading education providers to give you free membership to a world-class education – fantastic for beginner traders. A broker to check out! Risk warning: Trading OTC derivatives is risky; please read our PDS and disclaimer before trading with us. We encourage you to seek your own independent advice and to consider your own financial situation, needs and objectives prior to making any decisions. For instance, you place a bet on a well-known financial market and predict that it will increase from its current price within the next week. You open a spread betting position on the asset, and if it rises you’ll make a profit, and if it falls you’ll make a loss. The same also applies to whether you believe the price will fall and place a bet on that particular outcome. For more on spread betting, see our comprehensive article: What Is Spread Betting and How Does It Work?

What Is the Difference Between Financial and Forex Spread Betting?

Financial spread betting is a by-product that is used to figure out the increasing or decreasing value on financial products, whereas forex spread betting is about the purchasing and selling of one currency in exchange for another currency. Some people prefer spread betting as they do not have to take ownership of the product and can just place a simple bet on their chosen product – which might seem more appealing to early traders. If you would prefer to partake in forex spread betting over a financial spread bet, you can take advantage of using leverage to complete the trade. Leverage lets you borrow money from investors, or brokers, to finance the exchange. The key differences between financial spread betting and forex spread betting are:

Forex trading only allows you to work with currency-based trades and foreign exchange, whereas financial spread betting offers you a wider range of markets to bet on. There are no direct trades with financial spread betting like there is with forex. For forex deals, you must work with currency exchanges directly. Financial spread betting can be tax-free in some areas – this will depend on where you are trading. For instance, you do not have to pay tax for bets in the UK. You can take advantage of leverage and receive finance from investors when you are doing a forex trade.

Key Points to Consider When Choosing a Spread Betting Broker

When you are choosing a spread betting broker, there are a few things you must consider before placing your bet.

Trust – It is important you do your homework and have faith in the broker you are going to use to place your bet. After all, you could be betting a large amount of capital on a certain market. Experience – How long has the brokerage been going for? Do they have experience in spread betting in the market you have been speculating? Cost – To make big on your return you want to keep your costs low, which means you need to think carefully about how much commission the broker wants in return. To begin with, you need to think about the spread, which is the difference between the bid price and the offer cost of the asset you are trading. A broker will charge for the opening and closing of a bet for you, so to make a profit you will need to look for the lowest spread. Customer service – As with most industries, you might have had good customer service from a spread betting provider in the past and wish to proceed with this provider due to positive interactions. Are they available all day long? For some bets, you might want to liaise with your broker throughout the day. The platform – The trading platform a broker uses is important as the customer journey will help new spread betting traders get started. This will also help with time and accessibility. Is the platform mobile friendly? Does it offer useful tools if a customer service agent is not available? Tradeable assets – How many markets does the broker trade in and do they offer financial spread betting and forex? It is good to know this before placing your bets, especially if you are looking for a broker to have a long relationship with. Regulation – Check whether the broker is regulated. The broker must be clear about their financial history. The location of the broker will determine which governing body they are regulated by. For example, if you are using an EU-based broker, they should be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

There are many top brokers around the world, some you may have heard of, and newer brokers who might focus on specialist markets. You must do your homework on each broker to know which one suits you and your bet. If you are a naturally cautious person then you may prefer forex trading.

Pepperstone Vantage Markets

The ability to access out-of-hours trading The ability to trade without paying commission The potential to profit from trades without paying tax or stamp duty on it

Some of the potential cons are:

The potential for sudden losses Losses can be significant Potentially riskier than other market strategies

However, this doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to make a profit. As long as you are careful to educate yourself about the market conditions and are aware of what your stop limits should be, you have the potential to make money. If you are new to the world of spread betting, most of the providers listed above provide the ability to create demo accounts or replicate existing bets so you can get a feel for it. You might also want to go with a broker who specializes in dealing with new traders and is more equipped with educational and training facilities. To summarize, consider the following factors when selecting a broker:

Are they regulated in all the countries where they are based? Do they offer good value and showcase their fees and financials clearly? Do they provide access to high-quality, optimized trading platforms that offer a user-friendly experience?

Many brokers offer a vast amount of training courses and educational assets. Do your homework if you are a spread betting beginner. WikiJob does not provide tax, investment or financial services and advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal.