Interactive Brokers Review

Interactive Brokers at a Glance

About Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers has been trading for around 48 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

It is publicly listed, which brings audited accounts and disclosure duties a private broker does not carry. That is real transparency about the company - though it says nothing about the trading conditions.

The contracting entity is Interactive Brokers LLC. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.

Regulation and Safety

Interactive Brokers holds tier-one authorisations from ASIC, FCA, MAS, CFTC/NFA and CIRO. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

ASIC caps retail leverage at 1:30, requires negative balance protection, and obliges the broker to hold client money in a separate trust account.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore applies some of the tightest conduct requirements in the region, and fewer firms hold its licence.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Multiple qualifying banks/custodians. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Covered by SIPC up to $500,000 including $250,000 cash limit for eligible US securities accounts; jurisdiction-specific schemes elsewhere, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), United Kingdom: tier 1

Trading Costs

A quoted spread from 0.1 pip is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

Interactive Brokers lists a minimum deposit of $0. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Spreads and Commissions

Compare the round-trip cost at your size with the profit and loss calculator. The lesson on spreads, commissions and financing explains how to add them up.

Account Types

Interactive Brokers runs 9 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: 20+ supported currencies. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is No conventional 0.01-lot restriction; currency orders can use units. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit at Interactive Brokers is $0. The sensible starting deposit is the one that lets you size positions at one percent risk with a realistic stop, which the position size calculator works out.

Trading Platforms

Interactive Brokers offers Trader Workstation, IBKR Desktop, IBKR GlobalTrader, IBKR Mobile, Client Portal. A proprietary platform can be excellent, but it means your setup does not transfer if you later change broker.

Markets

Leverage is capped at Up to 1:50 US retail spot FX; varies substantially by jurisdiction/product, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation. It is a protection rather than a restriction: it caps how quickly a position can move against your balance.

Interactive Brokers covers forex, stocks, etfs, options, futures, bonds, funds, spot gold, warrants, structured products, cfds and more. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: bank wire, ach, direct bank transfer, check and country-specific banking methods. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Forex Pairs

Interactive Brokers offers 100+ currency pairs. Other markets on offer: forex, stocks, etfs, options, futures, bonds, funds, spot gold, warrants, structured products, cfds and more.

Leverage

Maximum leverage is Up to 1:50 US retail spot FX; varies substantially by jurisdiction/product. Retail leverage is capped at 1:30 on major pairs under FCA, ESMA and ASIC rules and higher leverage is available only from entities outside those regulators. The lesson on leverage explains why the number you can use is rarely the number you should.

Execution

Deposits and Withdrawals

Withdrawals are stated at Typically 1-3 business days, against Instant to several business days depending on method for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: bank wire, ach and supported local banking rails. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is No general minimum - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Customer Support

Support runs 24 hours on business days. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by live chat, secure message, phone, help centre. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: Multilingual. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: ibkr campus, traders' academy, webinars, courses and tutorials. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Education and Research

Interactive Brokers offers Extensive: IBKR Campus, Traders' Academy, webinars, courses and tutorials. Research: Extensive institutional and third-party research, news, fundamentals, technical analysis and market scanners. Whatever a broker provides, the courses on this site cover the fundamentals independently of any broker.

Demo Account

Interactive Brokers offers a free demo account (Paper Trading). Use it to test the platform, the spreads at your trading hours and the order types you rely on before depositing; the lesson on demo and live accounts explains what a demo can and cannot tell you.

Key Strengths

• Extensive range of tradable instruments, advanced trading platforms, strong regulatory oversight, competitive pricing

Important Considerations

• Complex platform may be challenging for beginners, no MetaTrader support, inactivity fees may apply

Who Is Interactive Brokers Suitable For?

Interactive Brokers suits traders who want tier-one regulatory protection, active traders who want raw spreads, and beginners with small starting deposits. The considerations section below lists what to check first.

Similar Brokers

FxPro 9.1/10

Tier-one regulated FCA, CySEC, FSCA, SCB Bahamas, Seychelles FSA

ReviewVisit FxPro (opens in a new tab)

Admirals 8.9/10

Tier-one regulated FCA, CySEC, ASIC, FSCA, Seychelles FSA, JSC Jordan, CMA Kenya, EFSA

ReviewVisit Admirals (opens in a new tab)

Plus500 8.9/10

Tier-one regulated FCA, ASIC, CySEC, FMA, FSCA, MAS, Seychelles FSA, DFSA, EFSA, SCB Bahamas, CIRO, ISA, JFSA, SCA, CFTC/NFA

ReviewVisit Plus500 (opens in a new tab)

eToro 8.8/10

Tier-one regulated FCA, CySEC, ASIC, Seychelles FSA, ADGM FSRA, MAS, SEC/FINRA

ReviewVisit eToro (opens in a new tab)

Frequently Asked Questions

Trading forex and CFDs carries a high risk of losing money. Figures are the broker's published terms at the last check and can change. We may earn a commission when you open an account through a link. Affiliate disclosure.