Page Summary
Interactive Brokers and XM Group are leading brokerage firms with excellent services. Interactive Brokers is a safe broker with licenses from the IIROC, FINMA, FSA, FCA, MAS, SFC, and CFTC. It has a proprietary platform and a premium app. We recommend it for professionals, as it has premium platforms and services.
XM Group is a MetaTrader-only broker with beginner-friendly services. It has licenses from the ASIC, FCA, CySEC, and IFSC. XM offers access to leading educational content and market research. It is an excellent choice for new traders who want to improve their trading knowledge.
This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of Interactive Brokers and XM Group.
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Interactive Brokers
All trading involves risk. More than 80% of investors lose in spread bet and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
XM
BROKER COMPARISON
Trading Platform & Tools
| Automated Trading | ||
| Charting Tools | ||
| Conditional Orders | ||
| cTrader | ||
| Demo Account | ||
| Desktop Platform | ||
| Max Leverage | 1:20 | 1:888 |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | ||
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | ||
| Mobile Version | ||
| Mutual Fund Management | ||
| Proprietary Platform | ||
| Social/Copy Trading | ||
| Trading Alerts | ||
| Trading signals | ||
| Watchlist | ||
| Web Version |
Fees
| Withdrawal Fee | 0 | 0 |
| Deposit Fee | 1% | 0 |
| Inactivity Fee | 0 | 0 |
| Cost Per Trade | 0 | 0 |
| Cost Per Month | 0 | 0 |
| Forex (EUR/USD) | 0.2 pips + 0.08 to 0.20 bps times trade size comission | 1.6 pips |
| Stocks & ETF | $ 0.005 per share | 0,1% – (min $5) |
| CFD (Gold) | 0.02% | 3 pips |
| Crypto | 0.12% to 0.18% of trade value | |
| Options | 0 | |
| Conversion Fees | 0 | 0 |
| Misc. Fees | 0 | 0 |
| Overnight Fees | Yes on CFD’s |
Deposit & Withdrawal
| Minimum deposit (in UAE) | $0 | $5 |
| Bank Wire | ||
| Credit/Debit Card | ||
| Cash | ||
| Check | YES from US bank account | |
| Islamic Account Transfer | ||
| E-payments | ||
| Paypal | ||
| Skrill | ||
| Neteller |
Assets
| Shares | 16.500 | 100 |
| ETF & Funds | 35.000 | 0 |
| Crypto | 4 | 0 |
| Commodities | 1 | 0 |
| Indices | 3052 | 0 |
| Options | 50.000 | 0 |
| Futures | 245 | 0 |
| Bonds | 1.000.000 | 0 |
| Forex Instruments | 115 | 55 |
| CFD Indices & Funds | 13 | 14 |
| CFD Stocks | 8.000 | 1286 |
| CFD Commodities | 2 | 14 |
| CFD Crypto | 0 | 5 |
| CFD Bonds | 0 | 0 |
| Binary Options | 0 | 0 |
| SWAPS | 0 | 0 |
| Saving Plans | 0 | 0 |
Research & Education
| Webinars | ||
| Educational Resources | ||
| Daily News Updates | ||
| Market Indepth Analysis | ||
| Pers. Training & Room | ||
| Market Research |
Customer Support
| Phone | ||
| Live Chat | ||
| 24/7 support | ||
| Multilingual | ||
| Personal Account Manager |
Winner
Top findings from the Interactive Brokers vs. XM Group review:
- Interactive Brokers is a leading online broker with professional tools and platforms.
- XM is a beginner-friendly broker with a reliable learning center.
- Both brokers offer a virtual trading account to test their offering.
Professionals choose Interactive Brokers because of its industry-leading trading tools. We recommend XM Group to new investors as it offers many learning and research materials.
Level of experience
Professional traders choose Interactive Brokers over XM. This broker offers an impressive trading experience with its premium platforms and tools. It has some research tools, including forex news and Trading Central.
XM Group offers the complete MetaTrader suite. It has investor trading support and a demo account for testing its services. This broker is a good choice for new traders as it has many learning tools and materials.
Fees
The minimum initial deposit at XM Group ranges from $5 to $100, while Interactive Brokers doesn’t charge a fee. Both brokers display transparent fee structures on their websites.
Assets
Interactive Brokers has 105 forex currency pairs, while XM Group offers 57 pairs. Interactive Brokers provides access to 7400 CFDs, while XM has 1273 available CFDs.
Trading platform
Interactive Brokers offers industry-leading desktop and web platforms. It has valuable research and educational tools, including advanced trading videos. We recommend it for experienced traders, as its platforms are challenging to learn by beginners.
XM offers the MT4 and MT5 suites, but it doesn’t have a proprietary platform. These suites are highly customizable and user-friendly. XM has a comprehensive research center with articles, charting, and trading signals. This broker has diverse educational content, which is why it is a good choice for new investors.
Banking services
Banking services represent an asset when trading online. Interactive Brokers allows traders to fund their accounts with bank transfers. XM Group offers bank transfers, credit/debit cards, and Skrill.
Final verdict
Interactive Brokers and XM Group are leading brokerage firms. Both have strengths and weaknesses depending on your trading skills and experience. Interactive Brokers is a good fit for professionals and active traders. We recommend XM to new investors as it has many educational and research tools.
Interactive Brokers compared to other brokers:
Interactive Brokers Review