City Index vs XTB

City Index or XTB – which is better for UK traders 2024? Compare City Index and XTB in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.

City Index vs XTB Comparison Table 2024
City Index XTB
rating empty
rating full
4.4
rating empty
rating full
4.8
City Index is ranked #11 among CFD brokers. XTB is ranked #2 among CFD brokers.
Review
Review
City Index is an established and award-winning forex, CFD and spread betting broker with top-tier global regulation, including in the UK (FCA) and Australia (ASIC). With 30+ years in the industry, 13,500+ instruments and 24/5 customer support, City Index is a solid pick for aspiring traders. Founded in 2002 in Poland, XTB now serves more than 935,000 clients. The forex and CFD broker combines a heavily regulated trading environment with an extensive selection of 5,600+ assets and a commitment to trader satisfaction, featuring an intuitive in-house platform with superb tools to support aspiring traders.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% 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. 77% of retail accounts lose money.
Pros
  • Thousands of instruments including thematic indices and interest rates that are not available at many alternatives
  • Industry-leading platforms including MT4, plus access to cutting-edge third-party tools like TradingView
  • Excellent reputation with over 1 million account holders and tier-one regulatory oversight
  • Tight spreads from 0.5 pips on EUR/USD and competitive commissions on CFD shares
  • A free demo account with unrestricted access to all markets and trading tools
  • Extended hours trading on 70+ popular shares including Amazon and Tesla
  • No minimum deposit to get started
  • With over 5,600 instruments across forex, stocks, indices, ETFs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, including CFDs, share dealing and more recently Investment Plans, XTB caters to both short-term traders and longer-term investors.
  • The xStation platform continues to impress with its user-friendly interface and intuitive features, including customizable news feeds, sentiment heatmaps, and trader calculator, reducing the learning curve for newer traders.
  • With an excellent range of educational materials, including training videos and articles integrated into the platform, XTB supports traders at all levels.
  • XTB has boosted its interest rate on all uninvested balances (up to 5.2%) while competitors like eToro only offer up to 5% on balances of $50K+.
  • Opening an XTB account is a hassle-free, entirely online process that takes just a few minutes, making the entry into trading smooth for new traders.
  • First-class 24/5 customer support is available, including a friendly live chat with response times of under two minutes during testing.
  • XTB offers fast withdrawals with same-day payments if requested before 1 pm, ensuring traders have quick access to their funds.
Cons
  • Cryptocurrency trading not available in all locations
  • No Islamic account for Muslim traders
  • $15 monthly inactivity fee
  • US traders not accepted
  • XTB does not offer a raw spread account, which is becoming increasingly common among competitors like Pepperstone, and may disappoint traders looking for the tightest spreads.
  • The demo account expires after just four weeks, a serious limitation for traders who wish to thoroughly test the xStation platform and practice short-term strategies before committing real funds.
  • XTB discontinued support for MT4, limiting traders to its proprietary platform, xStation, potentially deterring advanced traders familiar with the MetaTrader suite.
  • Trading fees are competitive with average spreads of around 1 pip on the EUR/USD but still trail the cheapest brokers like IC Markets, plus there's an inactivity fee after 12 months.
  • The research tools at XTB are good but could be great if they went beyond in-house features with access to leading third-party tools such as Autochartist, Trading Central and TipRanks.
  • Not being able to adjust the default leverage level of XTB products is frustrating, as manual adjustment can significantly mitigate trade risk, especially in forex and CFD trading.
Awards
  • Best Forex Broker for Beginners 2022
  • Best Customer Service 2021
  • Best Forex Broker for Low Costs 2021
  • Best Mobile App for Investing 2020
  • #1 EMEA Bloomberg spot for FX accuracy in Q2 of 2020 and Q3 of 2018
  • Best Polish Forex Broker 2019
  • Best Execution Broker 2019
FCA Regulated
Yes Yes
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Options, Commodities, Bonds CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Crypto, ETFs
Demo Account
Yes Yes
Minimum Deposit
$0 $0
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots 0.01 Lots
Regulator
ASIC, FCA, MAS FCA, CySEC, KNF, CNMV, DFSA, FSC
Mobile Apps
Yes iOS & Android
Trading App

Year after year XTB’s app stands out for its slick design and uncluttered interface that we love. It’s quick, responsive and packed with useful features, notably integrated sentiment data, market news, economic calendars and education. The user-friendly order panel underneath the trading chart also makes placing trades, including adding take profit and stop loss levels, really straightforward.
iOS App Rating
rating empty
rating full
3.8
rating empty
rating full
4.7
Android App Rating
rating empty
rating full
2.8
rating empty
rating full
4.1
Margin Trading
No Yes
Margin Rate
2.5% 4.5%
MetaTrader 4
Yes No
MetaTrader 5
No No
cTrader
No No
AlgoTrader
No No
OmniTrader
No No
TradingView
Yes No
Autochartist
No No
eSignal
No No
Trading Central
Yes No
STP Account
Yes Yes
ECN Account
No No
DMA Account
Yes Yes
MAM Account
No No
PAMM Account
No No
LAMM Account
No No
Demat Account
No No
AI / Machine Learning
No No
Robo Advisor
No No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes Yes
Market Maker
No No
P2P Trading
No No
Spot Trading
Yes Yes
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader Open API
Copy Trading
No No
Social Trading
No No
Trade Signals
Smart Signals Yes
VPS Hosting
No No
Tournaments
No No
Demo Competitions
No No
Ethical Investing
No Yes
Custodial Account
No No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Yes Yes
Inactivity Fee
£12 $0
Islamic Account
No Yes
Account Currencies
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • AUD
  • CZK
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • HUF
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Oil
  • Silver
  • Copper
  • Livestock
  • Platinum
  • Natural Gas
  • Soybeans
  • Nickel
  • Iron
  • Orange Juice
  • Cannabis
  • Gold
  • Oil
  • Silver
  • Copper
  • Cotton
  • Sugar
  • Precious Metals
  • Gasoline
  • Cocoa
  • Coffee
  • Natural Gas
  • Nickel
  • Soybeans
  • Aluminium
  • Livestock
  • Corn
  • Palladium
  • Platinum
  • Wheat
  • Zinc
CFD
Trade 5,000+ CFDs from a single account with no hidden fees and free live market data. The suite of markets is impressive vs alternatives, including access to shares, indices, commodities and bonds. XTB offers a huge selection of more than 2,100 CFDs spanning forex, indices, commodities, stocks, ETFs, and cryptos (location-dependant). Leverage up to 1:30 is available in the EU and UK, while global clients and pro traders can access up to 1:500. XTB stands out for its CFD trading resources and tutorials to assist traders in developing short-term trading strategies.
Leverage
1:30 (Retail), 1:50 (Accredited Investor), 1:200 (Sophisticated Investor), 1:300 (Wholesale Investor), 1:400 (Professional Trader). Varies with jurisdiction. 1:30
FTSE Spread
1 pt 1.8
GBPUSD Spread<
0.8 pips 1.4
Oil Spread
0.4 0.03
Stocks Spread
Variable 0.2%
Forex
Trade a wide selection of 80+ currency pairs with spreads from 0.5 pips and industry-favorite platforms. City Index has 40+ years experience in forex trading with liquidity from tier-one banks. XTB provides access to 70+ currency pairs with low spreads averaging around 1 pip on majors. The xStation platform offers an intuitive environment for forex traders with an excellent charting package encompassing 30+ indicators, plus a range of order types, catering to various strategies and risk management techniques.
Assets
84 70+
GBPUSD Spread
0.8 1.4
EURUSD Spread
0.5 1.0
EURGBP Spread
0.8 1.4
Currency Indices
  • USD
Cryptocurrency
Go long or short on popular digital currencies with ultra-tight spreads and fast order executions. Leverage also allows traders to magnify their purchasing power. XTB offers an excellent selection of cryptos with more than 50 digital currencies. Spreads are tight starting from 0.22% on BTC and leverage reaches 1:5. The xStation platform also provides intra-crypto pairs like ETH/BTC and DSH/BTC. With the capability to trade cryptos 24/7, XTB ensures a secure environment with transparent accounts for cryptocurrency trading.
Spread
BTC 0.5%, ETH 1% 0.22%
Coins
  • BCH
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • XRP
  • ADA
  • BTC
  • BCH
  • DSH
  • EOS
  • ETH
  • IOTA
  • LTC
  • NEO
  • XRP
  • XLM
  • TRX
  • XEM
  • XLM
  • XMR
  • DOGE
  • BNB
  • LINK
  • UNI
  • DOT
  • XTZ
Crypto Lending
No No
Crypto Mining
No No
Crypto Staking
No No
Auto Market Maker
No No
City Index XTB
Review
Review
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% 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. 77% of retail accounts lose money.
More Comparisons
City Index
vs

 XTB
vs