How do IC Markets and FXTM stack up against each other?

The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.

At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.

To compare IC Markets and FXTM, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.

Does IC Markets or FXTM have a better trust and regulation rating?

Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.

In our comparison, we found that IC Markets holds two Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences, and FXTM holds one Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.

 

Is IC Markets financially regulated?

Yes IC Markets was founded in 2007 and is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, SCB and FSA-Seychelles.

 

Is FXTM financially regulated?

Yes FXTM was founded in 2011 and is regulated by CMA, FCA, FSC and FSCA.

 

Based on these findings, 0 earned a higher trust rating than 0.

Does IC Markets or FXTM have lower costs?

Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged. 

Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that IC Markets has overall lower trading costs than FXTM. 

 

Does IC Markets or FXTM offer a better choice of trading platforms?

Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms. 

In this case, IC Markets offers support for and FXTM offers support for . 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

In this case both FXTM and IC Markets offer copy trading.

 

Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?

A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that IC Markets offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than FXTM. IC Markets offers 64 Forex pairs to trade and FXTM offers 62 Forex pairs to trade.

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, IC Markets offers 18 cryptocurrencies while FXTM offers 0 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with IC Markets.

Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?

Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals. 

We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that both FXTM and IC Markets charges a withdrawal fee. Overall, IC Markets has better deposit and withdrawal processes than FXTM. 

Which broker offers better educational support?

We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas. 

FXTM and IC Markets both have very good educational support. Both FXTM and IC Markets offer educational support for more experienced traders.

 

Which broker offers better market analysis materials?

To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field. 

We found that 0 offers better research analysis than 0 and that both FXTM and IC Markets offer frequent webinars.

 

Our overall Verdict on IC Markets

An excellent all-round broker with a very high trust rating, IC Markets was founded in 2007 in Australia and holds licences from some of the strictest regulators in the world. IC Markets is well-known for its low trading costs, choice of trading platforms, and wide range of trading tools.

IC Markets offers a lower-cost trading environment than almost any other broker, with average spreads of 0.10 pips (EUR/USD) on its Raw Spread Account in exchange for a low commission of 6 USD (round turn) per lot.IC Markets is one of the few Forex brokers to support all three major trading platforms, including MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, and cTrader; and offers numerous trading tools for each, including VPS services, Trading Central, and various copy trading services.

Beginner traders will benefit from IC Markets’ exceptional customer support, available 24/7 to help with any account or technical queries. While its education section is more comprehensive than most other brokers, it offers a fairly limited selection of market analysis materials.

Our overall Verdict on FXTM

FXTM is an established and award-winning market maker/ECN broker offering trading on Forex, commodities, metals, stocks, and indices. FXTM’s trading costs are higher than average on its two commission-free accounts, with spreads starting at 1.5 pips on the EUR/USD. However, trading conditions improve significantly on its Advantage Account, with spreads starting at 0 pips on the EUR/USD in exchange for a reasonable commission, but a high minimum deposit of 500 USD.

FXTM offers support for both the MT4 and MT5 platforms in addition to its proprietary FXTM Trading App, and a wide range of trading tools, including a VPS hosting service.  

FXTM excels in its education and market analysis sections, with a good overview of Forex trading in its guides and tutorials. In addition, its daily market analysis will help beginners understand the real-world implications of news events on the Forex market and where trading opportunities lie. Beginner traders will also benefit from FXTM’s unique copy trading platform, which allows traders to copy the trades of strategy providers.

 

 

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

IC Markets has an overall rating of 4.56 and FXTM has an overall rating of 4.37. For more detail please read our reviews of IC Markets and FXTM.