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Pepperstone vs IC Markets

Pepperstone or IC Markets – which is better for UK traders 2025? Compare Pepperstone and IC Markets in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.

Pepperstone vs IC Markets Comparison Table 2025
Pepperstone	IC Markets

4.8	4.8
Pepperstone is ranked #1 among CFD brokers.	IC Markets is ranked #4 among CFD brokers.
Review	Review
Founded in Australia in 2010, Pepperstone is a highly regarded broker specialising in forex and CFDs. Serving more than 400,000 clients globally, it provides access to over 1,300 financial instruments through popular platforms like MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView. Its fee structure is both low and transparent. With regulation by reputable bodies such as the FCA, ASIC, and CySEC, Pepperstone guarantees a safe trading environment for traders at every level.	IC Markets is an internationally acclaimed forex and CFD broker, admired for its competitive pricing, diverse trading instruments, and superior technology. Established in 2007 and based in Australia, the firm is under the regulation of ASIC, CySEC, and FSA. It has successfully drawn over 180,000 clients from more than 200 nations.
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75.1% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
Pros
Pepperstone offers rapid execution speeds of approximately 30ms, enabling swift order processing and execution, making it ideal for traders. Support for top-tier charting platforms such as MT4, MT5, TradingView, and cTrader. These tools accommodate different short-term trading methods, including algorithmic trading. In recent years, Pepperstone has significantly enhanced the deposit and withdrawal process. By 2025, clients can use Apple Pay and Google Pay, while 2024 saw the introduction of PIX and SPEI for customers in Brazil and Mexico. Pepperstone presents itself as an economical choice for traders, offering spreads as low as 0.0 in its Razor account. The Active Trader programme provides rebates up to 30% on indices and commodities, plus $3 per lot on forex. Over the years, Pepperstone has consistently garnered recognition from DayTrading.com’s annual awards. Recently, it was honoured as the 'Best Overall Broker' in 2025 and was the 'Best Forex Broker' runner-up the same year. The award-winning customer support can be accessed through phone, email, or live chat. During tests, response times have consistently been under 5 minutes. Pepperstone now offers spread betting via TradingView, delivering a streamlined and tax-efficient trading experience with sophisticated analytical tools.	IC Markets provides some of the industry's narrowest spreads, offering 0.0-pip spreads on major currency pairs. This makes it an extremely cost-effective choice for traders. As a well-regulated and reputable broker, IC Markets focuses on client safety and transparency to provide a dependable global trading experience. In 2025, IC Markets earned DayTrading.com's accolade for 'Best MT4/MT5 Broker' due to its top-tier MetaTrader integration. This achievement highlights the broker's continuous refinement over the years to enhance the platform experience. IC Markets provides reliable 24/5 support, especially for account and funding queries, drawing from direct experience. Access over 2,250 CFDs across diverse markets like forex, commodities, indices, shares, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. This variety enables traders to employ diversified strategies.
Cons
Pepperstone's demo accounts expire after 30 days, which may not provide sufficient time to explore various platforms and evaluate trading strategies. Pepperstone doesn't offer cTrader Copy, a favoured feature for copying trades found in the cTrader platform, which is available on other platforms such as IC Markets. However, Pepperstone has launched its own user-friendly copy trading app. Although its market range has improved, its crypto offerings remain limited compared to brokers specialising in this sector, lacking real coin investment options.	IC Markets provides metals and cryptocurrencies for trading through CFDs, though the selection is narrower compared to brokers such as eToro. This limits opportunities for traders focused on these asset classes. The tutorials, webinars, and educational resources require enhancement, lagging behind competitors such as CMC Markets, which diminishes their appeal to novice traders. Certain withdrawal methods incur fees, including a $20 charge for wire transfers. These costs can reduce profits, particularly with frequent withdrawals. Although there are four top-tier third-party platforms available, the absence of in-house software or a trading app tailored for novice traders is notable. Interest is not paid on idle cash, a feature gaining popularity with alternatives such as Interactive Brokers.
Awards
Best Overall Broker - DayTrading.com 2025 Best Forex Broker Runner Up - DayTrading.com 2025 Best Trading App Runner Up - DayTrading.com 2025 Best MT4/MT5 Broker Runner Up - DayTrading.com 2025 Best TradingView Broker Runner Up - DayTrading.com 2025 Best Forex Broker - DayTrading.com 2024 Best Overall Broker - DayTrading.com 2023 Best Trading App - DayTrading.com 2022 Best Forex Broker - DayTrading.com 2021	Best MT4/MT5 Broker 2025 - DayTrading.com Best MT4/MT5 Broker 2023 - DayTrading.com Best Forex Broker 2022 - DayTrading.com Best Overall Broker 2020 - DayTrading.com Best Trading App 2020 - DayTrading.com
FCA Regulated
Yes	No List of FCA Regulated Brokers
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Currency Indices, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Crypto (only Pro clients), Spread Betting	CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Bonds, Futures, Crypto
Demo Account
Yes	Yes
Minimum Deposit
$0	$200
Payment Methods
Apple Pay Credit Cards Debit Card Google Pay Mastercard Neteller PayPal Skrill Visa Wire Transfer	Credit Cards Klarna Mastercard Neteller PayPal Rapid Transfer SafeCharge Skrill Swift Visa Wire Transfer
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots	0.01 Lots
Regulator
FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, CMA, BaFin, SCB	ASIC, CySEC, FSA, CMA
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android	iOS & Android
Trading App
Pepperstone shines with top-tier integration with MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView, ideal for traders using these major platforms. They offer stable mobile trading, boosted by Pepperstone's rapid execution speeds and extensive asset variety. It recently achieved second place in DayTrading.com's 2025 'Best Trading App' award.	IC Markets provide mobile apps for their cTrader, MT4, MT5, and TradingView platforms. Developed separately for Android and iOS, these apps leverage each system's unique capabilities. Featuring raw pricing and spreads from 0.0, they offer superb tools for every trader level. What truly distinguishes them is maintaining IC Markets’ renowned rapid execution speed within the apps. This ensures a professional and highly responsive trading experience.
iOS App Rating
4.4	3.1
Android App Rating
4.1	4.2
Margin Trading
Yes	Yes
MetaTrader 4
Yes	Yes
MetaTrader 5
Yes	Yes
cTrader
Yes	Yes
AlgoTrader
No	No
OmniTrader
No	No
TradingView
Yes	Yes
Autochartist
Yes	No
eSignal
No	No
Trading Central
No	Yes
STP Account
Yes	No
ECN Account
Yes	Yes
DMA Account
Yes	Yes
MAM Account
Yes	Yes
PAMM Account
No	Yes
LAMM Account
No	No
Demat Account
No	No
AI / Machine Learning
Yes	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	Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader, cBots on cTrader, Myfxbook AutoTrade
Copy Trading
Yes	Yes
Copy Trading Platform
Pepperstone offers the replication of skilled traders' strategies via MetaTrader Signals, DupliTrade, and its new proprietary copy trading app, in collaboration with Pelican Trading. This service, available in select regions, grants access to numerous experienced traders and customized risk settings. However, it does not support cTrader Copy, which might discourage traders who prefer Spotware's platform.	Introduced in February 2023, the IC Social app provides an easy platform for learning, sharing, and replicating the trades of other traders with minimal effort. The app also includes risk management features and supports specialised trading groups. Alternatively, IC Markets offers access to Signal Start and popular third-party copy trading platforms like ZuluTrade and cTrader Copy.
Social Trading
No	Yes
Trade Signals
Yes (Via Chartist Software)	Signal Start
VPS Hosting
Yes	Yes
Tournaments
No	No
Demo Competitions
No	No
Ethical Investing
No	No
Custodial Account
No	No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No	No
Inactivity Fee
$0	$0
Islamic Account
Yes	Yes
Account Currencies
USD EUR GBP CAD AUD NZD JPY CHF HKD SGD	USD EUR GBP CAD AUD NZD JPY CHF HKD SGD
Commodities
Gold Silver Oil Corn Palladium Precious Metals Platinum Copper Gasoline Cocoa Coffee Cotton Livestock Sugar Wheat Natural Gas Soybeans Orange Juice Aluminium Nickel Zinc	Gold Oil Silver Orange Juice Cocoa Coffee Corn Soybeans Sugar Wheat Natural Gas
CFD
In our recent assessment, Pepperstone remains a top-tier CFD broker, renowned for its speed and reliability. With execution times averaging 30ms and a remarkable 99.90% fill rate, traders benefit from a smooth experience free from requotes and dealing desk disruptions. Additionally, it offers extensive opportunities with access to more than 1,300 assets.	Trade over 2,250 CFDs anytime from Monday to Friday across key markets, including forex, commodities, indices, stocks, and bonds. IC Markets leverages deep liquidity and cutting-edge bridge technology to offer ideal trading conditions for scalpers, hedgers, and algorithmic traders.
Leverage
1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)	1:30 (ASIC & CySEC), 1:500 (FSA), 1:1000 (Global)
FTSE Spread
1.0	1.0
GBPUSD Spread<
0.4	0.23
Oil Spread
2.5	0.03
Stocks Spread
0.02	0.02
Forex
Pepperstone provides forex spreads on the EUR/USD averaging just 0.12 pips with their Razor account. This is highly competitive. Their extensive portfolio includes over 100 currency pairs, which exceeds what most rivals offer. Furthermore, Pepperstone stands out by offering three unique currency indices: USDX, EURX, and JPYX, which are rare on other platforms. They have been recognised with our 'Best Forex Broker' award twice.	IC Markets remains dedicated to offering tight 0.0-pip spreads on major currency pairs like EUR/USD, ensuring outstanding execution with an average speed of 35 milliseconds. Ideal for traders seeking high performance, those dealing in large volumes can also enjoy rebates of up to $2.50 per forex lot.
Assets
100+	75
GBPUSD Spread
0.4	0.23
EURUSD Spread
0.1	0.02
EURGBP Spread
0.4	0.27
Currency Indices
USD EUR JPY
Cryptocurrency
Pepperstone remains a highly reputable crypto broker. Despite an average range of digital currencies, traders can access popular options like Bitcoin and altcoins such as Ripple with leverage up to 1:10. Its crypto indices offer comprehensive insights into digital currency markets, a feature unmatched by many other platforms.	IC Markets provides a range of over 20 cryptocurrencies for trading through CFDs, featuring less common tokens like Avalanche, Kusama, and Uniswap. Traders can enjoy commission-free transactions and experienced individuals can utilise high leverage up to 1:200 via the MetaTrader platforms.
Spread
BTC 30, ETH 0	BTC 42.036
Coins
BCH BTC ETH LTC DASH ADA LINK DOGE EOS DOT XRP XLM XTZ UNI BNB	BTC BCH DOT DSH EMC EOS ETH LNK LTC NMC PPC XLM XRP ADA BNB DOG UNI XTZ
Crypto Lending
No	No
Crypto Mining
No	No
Crypto Staking
No	No
Auto Market Maker
No	No

Pepperstone	IC Markets
Review	Review
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75.1% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
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