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CityIndex vs ActivTrades

City Index or ActivTrades – which is better for UK traders 2025? Compare City Index and ActivTrades in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.

City Index vs ActivTrades Comparison Table 2025
City Index	ActivTrades

4.4	4
City Index is ranked #18 among CFD brokers.	ActivTrades is ranked #56 among CFD brokers.
Review	Review
Founded in 1983, City Index is a prestigious broker, now under the Nasdaq-listed StoneX Group. It excels in forex, CFDs, and spread betting. With access to over 13,500 instruments, City Index provides a dynamic Web Trader platform, exceptional educational materials, and round-the-clock support five days a week, ensuring a thorough trading experience.	ActivTrades, a UK-based CFD and forex broker since 2001, is renowned for its award-winning services. It holds licences from esteemed regulators, including the UK’s FCA. The firm offers trading on more than 1,000 instruments across seven asset classes, with an impressive 93.60% of trades executed at the desired price.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% 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.
Pros
City Index is under the regulation of leading authorities, such as the FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, and MAS in Singapore. Its parent company, StoneX Group Inc., is publicly listed, which enhances its credibility. City Index has significantly improved the trading experience. In 2024, they introduced Performance Analytics, providing insights into trades and discipline. The revamped mobile app now includes integrated market research and swipe-access news. City Index offers access to over 13,500 markets, including forex, indices, shares, commodities, bonds, ETFs, and interest rates. The platform's inclusion of niche markets such as interest rates provides traders with unique opportunities not commonly available on other platforms. City Index offers adaptable trading platforms suited to every expertise level. For newcomers, the Web Trader platform is straightforward and user-friendly. For more in-depth analysis and automated features, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and TradingView are supported, providing a comprehensive trading experience for all traders.	ActivTrades provides competitive spreads, especially for forex trading, starting at 0.5 pips on major currency pairs without extra commissions. Additionally, the €/£10 inactivity fee is only applied after 52 weeks, benefiting active traders. While cTrader isn't supported, MT4, MT5, TradingView, and the broker's ActivTrader platform accommodate various trading requirements. The firm's web-based platform has proven user-friendly and visually appealing for novices during testing. ActivTrades is a reputable firm with over 20 years in the financial sector. It holds authorizations from three top-tier regulatory bodies, according to DayTrading.com's Regulation & Trust Rating. For UK traders, it offers enhanced protection with £1 million in investor compensation, surpassing the £85,000 provided by the FSCS, should the firm face insolvency. Based on our tests, ActivTrades offers swift and reliable support via live chat, email, and phone in multiple languages. This makes it an excellent choice for both traders and newcomers seeking quality assistance. With execution speeds averaging 4ms and an order completion rate of 93.6%, ActivTrades provides an outstanding platform for traders. It supports rapid strategies without imposing limits on short-term approaches.
Cons
Although many brokers, such as eToro, have broadened their crypto offerings, City Index restricts its clients to crypto CFDs. This limited selection may not meet the needs of traders seeking a wider variety of altcoins. Unlike brokers like AvaTrade and BlackBull, City Index lacks options for passive trading, such as social copy trading or real ownership of stocks and ETFs. This limitation may reduce its appeal to traders seeking a more hands-off approach. City Index does not offer an Islamic account with swap-free conditions, making it less attractive to Muslim traders than brokers such as Eightcap and Pepperstone.	The platform lacks features for copy or social trading, which is a disadvantage for traders interested in passive investing or replicating the trades of seasoned traders. This is particularly evident when compared to eToro and Vantage. The selection of over 1,000 markets includes forex, commodities, indices, and ETFs. However, the overall choice of asset classes is limited, with no stocks available outside the US, UK, and Europe. In comparison, BlackBull provides access to more than 26,000 markets. Its research tools are decent, although somewhat lacking. The expanding 'Analysis' hub is useful, but the absence of Trading Central or Autochartist means advanced technical insights are missing. This limitation may hinder traders seeking to spot opportunities in volatile markets. ActivTrades needs improvement in educational resources to compete with firms like XTB and CMC Markets. While it offers well-presented and informative webinars, the selection of courses and quizzes remains limited, hindering a more comprehensive and engaging learning experience for traders.
Awards
Best CFD Provider 2024 - ADVFN International Financial Awards Best Trading Platform 2022 - Online Money Awards	Safest Global Broker 2023 - International Investor Magazine Best Online Trading Services 2023 - ADVFN International Financial Awards Best Forex Broker Europe 2022 - Forex-Awards.com Most Trusted Global FX Broker 2022 - International Investor Magazine Best CFD Broker 2021 - Rankia Safest Global Broker 2021 - International Investor Award Winners Best FX Broker 2021 - Le Fonti Award
FCA Regulated
Yes	Yes
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Crypto, Futures, Options, Bonds, Interest Rates,ETFs,Spread Betting	CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Bonds, ETFs, Futures, Cryptos (location dependent)
Demo Account
Yes	Yes
Minimum Deposit
$0	$0
Payment Methods
Credit Cards Debit Card Maestro Mastercard Visa Wire Transfer	AstroPay Credit Cards Debit Card Mastercard Neteller PayPal Skrill Sofort Visa Wire Transfer
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots	0.01 Lots
Regulator
FCA, ASIC, CySEC, MAS	FCA, CMVM, CSSF, SCB
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android	iOS & Android
Trading App
The City Index app delivers an accessible mobile trading experience with customised features such as one-swipe trading. Impressively, it includes full-screen TradingView charts with over 60 technical indicators for strategy planning, complemented by real-time price alerts. In 2024, Performance Analytics tools were launched, offering insights into trading metrics to enhance your strategies.	ActivTrades offers mobile apps for iOS and Android, including its own ActivTrader app, MT4, MT5, and TradingView. These provide real-time data, advanced charting, and customisable features. All apps enable intuitive trading and account management, but ActivTrader excels with its seamless experience, fast execution, and robust research tools.
iOS App Rating
3.8	4.9
Android App Rating
3.1	3.8
Margin Trading
No	Yes
Margin Rate
2.5%
MetaTrader 4
Yes	Yes
MetaTrader 5
No	Yes
cTrader
No	No
AlgoTrader
No	No
OmniTrader
No	No
TradingView
Yes	Yes
Autochartist
No	No
eSignal
No	No
Trading Central
Yes	No
STP Account
No	Yes
ECN Account
No	No
DMA Account
No	No
MAM Account
No	No
PAMM Account
No	No
LAMM Account
No	No
Demat Account
No	No
AI / Machine Learning
Yes	No
Robo Advisor
No	No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes	Yes
Market Maker
Yes	Yes
P2P Trading
No	No
Spot Trading
Yes	No
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader	Yes (APIs), Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
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
Yes	No
Custodial Account
No	No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Yes	No
Inactivity Fee
£12	€/£10
Islamic Account
No	Yes
Account Currencies
USD EUR GBP AUD PLN CZK	USD EUR GBP CHF
Commodities
Gold Oil Silver Copper Livestock Platinum Natural Gas Soybeans Nickel Iron Orange Juice Cannabis Palladium Coffee Cotton Lean Hogs Sugar Wheat	Gold Oil Natural Gas Wheat Copper Cocoa Coffee Corn Orange Juice Palladium Platinum Silver Soybeans Sugar
CFD
City Index offers a comprehensive range of CFDs, enabling traders to seize short-term opportunities across various assets, sectors, and regions. Its 'Trade Ideas' platform is particularly beneficial for active traders seeking data-driven insights. Additionally, the Web Trader platform features advanced charting tools with over 90 technical indicators.	ActivTrades specialises in CFD trading, providing access to over 1,000 instruments, including currencies, shares, indices, and commodities. Renowned for its award-winning trading environment, the broker ensures swift and dependable order execution, coupled with clear margin requirements for traders.
Leverage
1:30	1:30 (UK and EU), 1:400 (Global & Pro)
FTSE Spread
1.0	0.6
GBPUSD Spread<
1.1	0.8
Oil Spread
1.5	0.03
Stocks Spread
Variable	Variable
Forex
City Index is a highly respected forex broker, offering traders access to over 80 currency pairs. With tight spreads starting at 0.7 pips, it provides valuable trading alerts and excellent FX market insights. Moreover, 99.99% of trades are executed successfully.	ActivTrades provides competitive fees in forex, offering excellent spreads on major pairs like EUR/USD starting from 0.5 pips, with no commission charges. The enhanced ActivTrades platform, along with the renowned MetaTrader 4, equips traders with essential tools to navigate the FX market with confidence.
Assets
84	50+
GBPUSD Spread
1.1	0.8
EURUSD Spread
0.8	0.5
EURGBP Spread
1.0	0.8
Currency Indices
USD	USD
Cryptocurrency
City Index provides a select range of crypto CFDs, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple. However, it distinguishes itself with insightful market analysis and comprehensive news on significant market movements, all supported by a user-friendly web platform.	Trade over 15 popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Engage in trading these digital assets 24/7, with transparent fees. Access up to 1:10 leverage on leading tokens like BTC.
Spread
0.5% (BTC)	Variable
Coins
BTC BCH ETH LTC XRP	BTC ETH LTC BCH DOT EOS LINK XLM NEO ADA SOL XRP BNB XMR AVAX DOGE
Crypto Lending
No	No
Crypto Mining
No	No
Crypto Staking
No	No
Auto Market Maker
No	No

City Index	ActivTrades
Review	Review
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% 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.
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