Pepperstone vs IG

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

Pepperstone vs IG Index Comparison Table 2024
Pepperstone IG Index
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4.8
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4.4
Pepperstone is ranked #7 among CFD brokers. IG Index is ranked #23 among CFD brokers.
Established in Australia in 2010, Pepperstone is a top-rated forex and CFD broker with over 400,000 clients worldwide. It offers access to 1,300+ instruments on leading platforms MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView, maintaining low, transparent fees. Pepperstone is also regulated by trusted authorities like the FCA, ASIC, and CySEC, ensuring a secure environment for traders at all levels. Founded in 1974, IG is part of IG Group Holdings Plc, a publicly traded (LSE: IGG) brokerage. The brand offers spread betting, CFD and forex trading across an almost unrivalled selection of 17,000+ markets, with a range of user-friendly platforms and investing apps. For 50 years, IG has maintained its position as an industry leader, excelling in all key areas for traders.
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Pros
  • Pepperstone boasts impressive execution speeds, averaging around 30ms, facilitating fast order processing and execution that’s ideal for trading.
  • There’s support for a range of industry-leading charting platforms including MT4, MT5, TradingView, and cTrader, catering to various short-term trading styles, including algo trading.
  • Pepperstone emerges as a low-cost broker, especially for serious traders with spreads from 0.0 in the Razor account and rebates of 25%+ through the Active Trader program.
  • Award-winning customer support is available via telephone, email or live chat with response times of <5 minutes during testing.
  • Now offering spread betting through TradingView, Pepperstone provides a seamless, tax-efficient trading experience with advanced analysis tools.
  • IG is amongst the best in terms of its range of instruments, which includes stocks, forex, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, providing ample diversification opportunities
  • The proprietary web-based platform continues to caters to traders of all levels, with advanced charting tools and real-time market data useful for trading
  • The IG app offers a superb mobile trading experience with a clean design that helped it secure Runner Up at our Best Trading App award
  • As a well-established broker, IG operates under strict regulatory guidelines in multiple jurisdictions, maintaining a high level of trust
  • IG offers an extensive collection of professional and engaging educational resources, including webinars, articles, and analysis
  • The ProRealTime advanced charting platform is free as long as certain modest monthly trading activity requirements are met
Cons
  • There’s no simplified proprietary trading platform, nor are there any social trading features, which could be a disadvantage if you are new to trading.
  • Pepperstone’s demo accounts are active for only 30 days, which may not be not long enough to familiarize yourself with the different platforms and test trading strategies.
  • Pepperstone does not support cTrader Copy, a popular copy trading feature built into the excellent cTrader platform and available at alternatives like IC Markets.
  • Despite enhancements to its range of markets, crypto offerings are relatively limited compared to other brokers such as eToro, with no option to invest in real coins.
  • Beginners might find IG’s fee structure complex, with various fees for different types of trades or services, potentially leading to confusion or unexpected charges
  • While there is negative balance protection in the UK and EU, there is no account protection or guaranteed stop losses for US clients
  • IG has discontinued its swap-free account, reducing its appeal to Islamic traders
  • Stock and CFD spreads still trail the cheapest brokers like CMC Markets based on tests
  • IG applies an inactivity fee of $12 per month after 2 years, deterring casual investors
Awards
  • 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 Broker - Good Money Guide 2023
  • #1 Overall Client Satisfaction - UK Investment Trends 2022
  • #1 Value for Money - UK Investment Trends 2022
  • #1 Quality of Trade Execution - UK Investment Trends 2022
  • #1 Ease of Platform Navigation - UK Investment Trends 2022
  • #1 Charting - UK Investment Trends 2022
  • Best Forex Broker Overall - Compareforexbrokers.com 2022
  • Best MT4 Broker - Good Money Guide Best MT4 Broker 2022
  • Top 5 MetaTrader brokers - Broker Chooser Top 5 MetaTrader Brokers 2022
  • Best Customer Service 2022 - Online Money Awards
  • Best Spread Betting Provider 2022 - Online Money Awards
  • Best Platform for the Active Trader 2022 - ADVFN International Financial Awards
  • Best Multi Platform Provider 2022 - ADVFN International Financial Awards
  • Best Finance App 2022 - ADVFN International Financial Awards
FCA Regulated
Yes Yes
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Currency Indices, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Crypto(only Pro clients), Spread Betting CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Futures, Options, Crypto, Spread Betting
Demo Account
Yes Yes
Minimum Deposit
$0 $0
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots 0.01 Lots
Regulator
FCA, ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, CMA, BaFin, SCB FCA, ASIC, NFA, CFTC, DFSA, BaFin, MAS, FSCA
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android iOS & Android
Trading App

Pepperstone excels for its excellent integration with the MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView apps, making it a standout option for traders familiar with these leading third-party trading solutions. Despite the absence of a proprietary app, these platforms deliver a stable and reliable mobile trading experience, enhanced by Pepperstone’s almost unrivalled execution speeds and wide range of asset classes.

IG offers a superb all-round trading app. One of the pioneers of mobile trading, the application has been developed and refined over many years, meaning it is now among the best trading apps. Quick response, user-friendly layout, access to full charting and a stable and reliable application. It also offers guaranteed stops – an important risk management tool not available on many apps we’ve tested.

iOS App Rating
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4.4
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4.6
Android App Rating
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4.1
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4
Margin Trading
Yes Yes
Margin Rate
2.5%
MetaTrader 4
Yes Yes
MetaTrader 5
Yes No
cTrader
Yes No
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 No
DMA Account
Yes Yes
MAM Account
Yes No
PAMM Account
Yes No
LAMM Account
No No
Demat Account
No No
AI / Machine Learning
Yes No
Robo Advisor
No Yes
Negative Balance Protection
Yes Yes
Market Maker
No Yes
P2P Trading
No No
Spot Trading
Yes Yes
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader, build your own on ProRealTime
Copy Trading
Yes No
Copy Trading Platform
Pepperstone facilitates the replication of experienced traders' strategies through MetaTrader Signals and DupliTrade. However, it lacks support for cTrader Copy and does not offer a proprietary social trading network similar to those found on platforms like eToro or Vantage, which foster lively social trading communities for aspiring traders.
Social Trading
No No
Trade Signals
Yes (Via Chartist Software) Yes
VPS Hosting
Yes Yes
Tournaments
No No
Demo Competitions
No No
Ethical Investing
No Yes
Custodial Account
No No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No Yes
Inactivity Fee
$0 $12
Islamic Account
Yes No
Account Currencies
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • NZD
  • JPY
  • CHF
  • HKD
  • SGD
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • JPY
  • ZAR
  • SEK
  • DKK
  • 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
  • Copper
  • Oil
  • Palladium
  • Silver
  • Sugar
  • Coffee
  • Wheat
  • Natural Gas
  • Soybeans
  • Orange Juice
  • Nickel
  • Steel
  • Iron
  • Precious Metals
  • Aluminium
  • Lithium
  • Cannabis
CFD
Pepperstone maintains its position as one of the fastest and most dependable CFD brokers during our latest round of testing. With execution speeds averaging around 30ms and an outstanding fill rate of 99.90%, the broker ensures a seamless trading experience without requotes or dealing desk interference. It also provides ample trading opportunities across over 1,300 assets. IG offers a huge selection of 17,000+ CFDs, providing more trading opportunities than most CFD brokers. Traders can go long or short on popular markets like stocks, currencies, commodities and cryptos, while custom price alerts and the IG Academy continue to enhance the trading experience.
Leverage
1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro) 1:30 (Retail), 1:222 (Pro)
FTSE Spread
1.0 1.0
GBPUSD Spread<
0.4 0.9
Oil Spread
2.5 2.8
Stocks Spread
0.02 0.02
Forex
Pepperstone offers ultra-competitive forex spreads averaging 0.12 pips on EUR/USD in the Razor account, accompanied by a diverse portfolio comprising 100+ currency pairs - an extensive selection surpassing most competitors. Additionally, Pepperstone distinguishes itself by offering three currency indices (USDX, EURX, JPYX), not commonly found among alternative platforms. Pepperstone has now won our annual 'Best Forex Broker' award twice. IG offers an above-average suite of 80+ currency pairs on its proprietary web platform, mobile app or MetaTrader 4, with more advanced charts and forex analysis tools available on the ProRealTime software. Forex spreads are competitive based on tests, starting from 0.1 pips on majors like the EUR/USD.
Assets
100+ 80+
GBPUSD Spread
0.4 0.9
EURUSD Spread
0.1 0.8
EURGBP Spread
0.4 0.9
Currency Indices
  • USD
  • EUR
  • JPY
  • USD
Cryptocurrency
Pepperstone continues to prove itself as one of the most trusted crypto brokers. Although its selection of digital tokens is average, you can trade popular cryptos like Bitcoin and altcoins like Ripple with up to 1:10 leverage, while its crypto indices provide a holistic view of the digital currency markets not found on most trading platforms. IG's modest selection of 11 crypto CFDs trails top crypto brokers like Vantage which offers 40+ tokens. That said, it stands out with its crypto index, which tracks the value of the top 10 digital currencies by market cap and provides a holistic way to speculate on the value of the crypto market.
Spread
BTC 30, ETH 0 Variable
Coins
  • BCH
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • DASH
  • ADA
  • LINK
  • DOGE
  • EOS
  • DOT
  • XRP
  • XLM
  • XTZ
  • UNI
  • BNB
  • BTC
  • BCH
  • LTC
  • ETH
  • ADA
  • DOT
  • DOGE
  • LINK
  • UNI
  • XLM
Crypto Lending
No No
Crypto Mining
No No
Crypto Staking
No No
Auto Market Maker
No No
Pepperstone IG Index
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
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