Pepperstone vs IC Trading

Pepperstone or IC Trading – which is better for UK traders 2026? Compare Pepperstone and IC Trading in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.

Pepperstone vs IC Trading Comparison Table 2026
Pepperstone IC Trading
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4.8
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4.2
Pepperstone is ranked #1 among CFD brokers. IC Trading is ranked #29 among CFD brokers.
Founded in Australia in 2010, Pepperstone is a highly esteemed forex and CFD broker with more than 830,000 clients globally. It provides access to 1,400+ instruments via platforms like MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView, with competitive and clear fees. Regulated by reputable bodies such as the FCA, ASIC, and CySEC, it guarantees a safe trading environment for all traders. IC Trading belongs to the reputable IC Markets group. Designed for dedicated traders, it offers highly competitive spreads, dependable order execution, and sophisticated trading tools. However, it operates from Mauritius, an offshore financial centre, allowing high leverage but within a less regulated environment.
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71.9% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
Pros
  • 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.
  • Recognised customer support is accessible through phone, email, or live chat, with response times under five minutes. Service agents are friendly and well-versed in products and trading tools.
  • By integrating spread betting via TradingView, Pepperstone offers a streamlined, tax-efficient trading platform with sophisticated analysis tools for financial spread bettors in eligible countries.
  • Provides a specialised CopyTrading app for traders preferring a passive investment strategy.
  • IC Trading offers top-tier spreads, with some major currency pairs like EUR/USD featuring spreads as low as 0.0 pips, making it an excellent choice for traders.
  • The streamlined digital account setup allows traders to commence trading swiftly, eliminating lengthy paperwork. Testing shows the process takes mere minutes.
  • IC Trading provides exceptional flexibility, allowing traders to open as many as 10 live accounts and 20 demo accounts. This enables the management of distinct profiles for various activities, including manual and algorithmic trading.
  • Trading Central and Autochartist provide valuable technical analysis and actionable ideas. These tools are readily available within the account area or on the cTrader platform.
Cons
  • Overnight holding fees exceed those of some Market Maker brokers (typically Benchmark + 2.5%). Pepperstone suits traders and forex scalpers well but is less ideal for swing traders who keep positions open overnight.
  • Execution might not appear as dependable in rapid markets as headline speeds imply. Our tests showed swift execution at targeted prices. However, community feedback highlights concerns over slippage, stop-loss fills, and order triggers sensitive to spreads amid volatility.
  • Although the market range has improved, crypto options remain limited compared to brokers specialising in this field, like Eightcap, and investors cannot purchase actual coins.
  • Provides limited internal market analysis and collaborates with third-party firms like Autochartist to address this. This issue is minor, given the abundance of other sources offering comprehensive market insights.
  • Although IC Trading operates under the reputable IC Markets group, it is licensed by the FSC in Mauritius, a regulator known for its limited financial transparency and lack of robust safeguards.
  • Customer support was inadequate during testing, with multiple live chat attempts going unanswered and emails ignored. This raises significant concerns regarding their capacity to manage urgent trading issues.
  • The educational materials require significant enhancement unless accessed via the IC Markets website. This limitation is particularly disadvantageous for beginners seeking a thorough learning experience, especially when compared to industry leaders such as eToro.
  • Unlike IC Markets, IC Trading lacks support for social trading via the IC Social app or the ZuluTrade platform.
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
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, Cryptos, Futures
Demo Account
Yes Yes
Minimum Deposit
$0 $200
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots 0.01 Lots
Regulator
FCA, ASIC, CySEC, BaFin, DFSA, SCA, CMA, SCB FSC
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 Trading offers robust apps for trading on multiple devices. Although there's no proprietary app, which could deter novice traders, mobile access is available through the trusted MetaTrader 4/5 and cTrader apps. These enable swift trade execution, advanced charting, and comprehensive market analysis on the go.
iOS App Rating
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4.4
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4.8
Android App Rating
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rating full
4.1
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4.6
Margin Trading
Yes Yes
MetaTrader 4
Yes Yes
MetaTrader 5
Yes Yes
cTrader
Yes Yes
AlgoTrader
No No
OmniTrader
No No
TradingView
Yes No
Autochartist
Yes Yes
eSignal
No No
Trading Central
No Yes
STP Account
Yes No
ECN Account
Yes Yes
DMA Account
Yes No
MAM Account
Yes No
PAMM Account
Yes No
LAMM Account
No No
Demat Account
No No
AI / Machine Learning
No No
Robo Advisor
No No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes No
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
Copy Trading
Yes No
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.
Social Trading
No No
Trade Signals
Yes (Via Chartist Software)
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
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
  • Oil
  • Cocoa
  • Coffee
  • Corn
  • Cotton
  • Orange Juice
  • Soybeans
  • Sugar
  • Wheat
  • Natural Gas
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Platinum
  • Palladium
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. IC Trading excels in CFD trading, offering more than 2,250 assets across popular markets such as forex, commodities, indices, stocks, and bonds. With advanced bridge technology and substantial liquidity, the broker ensures favourable conditions for traders seeking leveraged short-term opportunities.
Leverage
1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro) 1:500
FTSE Spread
1.0 2.133
GBPUSD Spread<
0.4 0.23
Oil Spread
2.5 0.028
Stocks Spread
0.02 Variable
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 Trading offers exceptionally tight forex spreads on over 60 currency pairs, notably on major assets like EUR/USD. This makes it an excellent option for traders seeking competitive pricing and superior execution speeds. High-volume traders can also benefit from rebates of up to $2.50 per forex lot.
Assets
100+ 60+
GBPUSD Spread
0.4 0.2
EURUSD Spread
0.1 0.1
EURGBP Spread
0.4 0.3
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. You have the opportunity to trade over 20 leading cryptocurrencies with leverage up to 1:200, available every day of the week. Direct transactions of assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are not supported. The range of tokens is narrower compared to Eightcap, which received our 'Best Crypto Broker' accolade for its offering of more than 100 crypto derivatives.
Spread
BTC 30, ETH 0 Floating
Coins
  • BCH
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • DASH
  • ADA
  • LINK
  • DOGE
  • EOS
  • DOT
  • XRP
  • XLM
  • XTZ
  • UNI
  • BNB
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • DSH
  • LTC
  • BCH
  • XRP
  • EOS
  • EMC
  • NMC
  • PPC
  • DOT
  • XLM
  • LINK
  • DOGE
  • XTZ
  • UNI
  • ADA
  • BNB
  • AVAX
  • LUNA
  • MATIC
  • GLMR
  • KSM
Crypto Lending
No No
Crypto Mining
No No
Crypto Staking
No No
Auto Market Maker
No No
Pepperstone IC Trading
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71.9% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
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