Best United Kingdom Forex Brokers

BrokerNotes.co

Written by BrokerNotes.co
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Fact-checked by Joey Shadeck
Edited by John Bringans

March 14, 2024

The first step for every forex trader should be choosing a reliable, well-regulated forex broker. The team at BrokerNotes has conducted extensive research and data collection on international forex brokers and the local regulatory environment to create this guide for United Kingdom-based forex traders. Read more to learn which forex broker is best for your needs.

travel_explore A little bit of United Kingdom trivia

Check out some general United Kingdom facts as well as some info about some of the country's most important financial bodies in the paragraph below, generated by ChatGPT (to learn more about how we ethically incorporate AI into our content, read our generative AI policy).

The population of the United Kingdom is 66,176,015 (as of 2020). The national currency of the United Kingdom is the Pound Sterling (GBP). The name of the central bank of the United Kingdom is the Bank of England. The primary responsibility of the Bank of England is to maintain monetary stability in the United Kingdom. Besides the central bank, the other financial markets regulator in the United Kingdom is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The primary responsibility of the FCA is to safeguard the financial markets and protect consumers by ensuring financial services firms comply with laws and regulations.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Best Forex Brokers United Kingdom for 2024

  • IG
    - 9.9/10 Overall
  • FOREX.com
    - 9.4/10 Overall
  • City Index - 9.3/10 Overall
  • XTB - 9.1/10 Overall
  • eToro - 8.8/10 Overall
  • Swissquote - 8.8/10 Overall
  • Plus500 - 8.6/10 Overall
  • FXCM - 8.5/10 Overall
  • Admirals - 8.5/10 Overall
IG
9.9/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit£250.00
Tier-1 Licenses8
Tradeable Symbols (Total)19537

Year after year, IG has shown itself to be the best broker in the forex industry and a fantastic choice for forex traders. Highly trusted and regulated across the globe, IG delivers a wide variety of rich features, market research, and powerful trading tools. Fans of copy trading will appreciate IG’s seamless integration of trading signals into its web platform. Read full review

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Visit Site

Join 239,000+ traders worldwide.

(Trading forex carries a high level of risk.)

FOREX.com
9.4/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$100
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)5500

FOREX.com is a highly trusted brand with a long history of offering forex in the U.S. and across the globe. FOREX.com offers its own flagship trading platforms for web and desktop, as well as the full MetaTrader suite. Though its pricing is higher than average, FOREX.com is a balanced choice for traders of all experience levels.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)Yes
Visit Site

A Global Market Leader!

(Trading forex carries a high level of risk.)

City Index
9.3/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit£100.00
Tier-1 Licenses7
Tradeable Symbols (Total)13500

City Index, part of StoneX Group, is an award-winning, highly trusted broker with a long history of offering forex and CFDs across its global offices. City Index delivers a well-designed mobile trading app and a powerful web platform, as well as a large range of tradeable markets (though pricing is just average).

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
XTB
9.1/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$0
Tier-1 Licenses2
Tradeable Symbols (Total)6010

XTB is a highly trusted brand with a proprietary platform (xStation 5) that delivers a rich selection of trading tools. XTB also offers CFDs for a wide range of asset classes, including multiple cryptocurrencies. Beginners will appreciate XTB's excellent educational content and the hundreds of lessons that are available via its Trading Academy.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
eToro
8.8/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$10-$10,000
Tier-1 Licenses3
Tradeable Symbols (Total)3479

Best known for its copy trading platform suite, eToro is a highly trusted broker offering a large selection of cryptocurrency products, CFDs, shares, forex pairs, and a wide range of powerful trading tools. It’s worth noting that eToro is not a discount broker (though it offers zero-dollar commissions for U.S. stocks).

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)No
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Swissquote
8.8/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$1000
Tier-1 Licenses5
Tradeable Symbols (Total)472

Swissquote delivers a balanced offering of easy-to-use proprietary trading platforms and popular third-party platforms like MetaTrader and TradingView. Swissquote also offers a staggering 3 million financial products. It’s worth noting that Swissquote's pricing is more expensive than what you'd find with low-cost forex brokers.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)Yes
Plus500
8.6/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit€100
Tier-1 Licenses6
Tradeable Symbols (Total)5500 info

Plus500 is a highly-trusted broker that delivers share trading via the Plus500 Invest platform and a good selection of CFDs via the broker’s separate Plus500 CFD platform. Though Plus500 doesn’t offer MetaTrader, we found its proprietary trading platform to be intuitive and easy to use. Plus500 is still a great choice for less demanding traders.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)No
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
FXCM
8.5/10 Overall
Minimum DepositStarts from $50
Tier-1 Licenses4
Tradeable Symbols (Total)440

FXCM is a highly trusted brand that offers multiple trading platforms for algorithmic trading and social copy trading, along with a proprietary platform suite and access to MetaTrader 4. FXCM is great for beginners due to its wide range of educational content. It's worth noting that pricing at FXCM is just average.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)No
Admirals
8.5/10 Overall
Minimum Deposit$100
Tier-1 Licenses4
Tradeable Symbols (Total)8702

Admiral Markets is a highly trusted multi-asset broker regulated in multiple reputable jurisdictions. Admiral Markets delivers a powerful MetaTrader experience with advanced supplemental features. With numerous platform add-ons and tools, copy trading, premium market research, and excellent educational content, Admiral Markets is a good choice for forex traders. Read full review.

Apple iOS AppYes
Android AppNo
Proprietary PlatformYes
Desktop Platform (Windows)Yes
Web PlatformYes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)Yes

What are the best United Kingdom forex brokers?

We’ve tested over 60 international forex brokers and created unbiased, data-driven broker ratings to show you the best forex brokers in the industry. To help you navigate the world of forex regulations and choose a broker that you can trust, our expert research team has built a proprietary database containing over 100 global regulatory licenses and jurisdictions; that research determines each broker's individual Trust Score. Check out our top picks for the best United Kingdom forex brokers:

Winner: IG

Year after year, IG has shown itself to be the best broker in the forex industry. Highly trusted and regulated in a staggering eight Tier-1 jurisdictions, IG holds a Trust Score rating of 99. Though IG does offer MetaTrader 4, IG’s proprietary web-based trading platform steals the show with its wide variety of rich features, market research, and powerful trading tools. Fans of social copy trading will appreciate IG’s seamless integration of trading signals into its web platform. IG has won countless Annual Awards from our sister site, ForexBrokers.com, and is a fantastic choice for forex traders of all experience levels.

IG Trading Platform Screenshots

IG Features

  • Overall rating - 9.9/10
  • Trust Score - 99
  • Tradeable symbols - 19537
  • Minimum deposit - £250.00

Runner Up: FOREX.com

FOREX.com, part of the StoneX Group, is a highly trusted brand with a long history of offering forex in the U.S. and across the globe. We love FOREX.com's flagship trading platforms for web and desktop (TradingView's powerful charting is fully integrated within the broker's web platform), and MetaTrader loyalists will appreciate that FOREX.com offers both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. An impressive number of CFDs are available within the broker's proprietary platform (though fewer are available on MetaTrader). FOREX.com's pricing is great for active traders, but our research found that FOREX.com is slightly expensive compared to the industry average. Overall, FOREX.com is a well-balanced choice for traders of all experience levels.

FOREX.com Trading Platform Screenshots

FOREX.com Features

  • Overall rating - 9.4/10
  • Trust Score - 99
  • Tradeable symbols - 5500
  • Minimum deposit - $100

Podium Finisher: City Index

City Index, part of StoneX Group, is an award-winning, highly trusted broker with a long history of offering forex and CFDs across its global offices. Featuring a well-designed mobile trading app and a powerful web platform, City Index delivers a winning variety of tools for forex traders. Founded in 1983, City Index is regulated in multiple Tier-1 jurisdictions and carries a Trust Score rating of 99. The broker's flagship platform suite provides a large range of markets, but pricing is just average. Only a handful of markets are available on City Index's MetaTrader platform (and MT5 is not yet available).

City Index Trading Platform Screenshots

City Index Features

  • Overall rating - 9.3/10
  • Trust Score - 99
  • Tradeable symbols - 13500
  • Minimum deposit - £100.00

Compare trading costs for the best United Kingdom forex brokers

Based on our own data (our independent database contains over 4,000 data points), this table compares trading costs for the top United Kingdom forex brokers.

Company Accepts GB Residents Minimum Deposit Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard Average Spread EUR/USD - Mini All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active Active Trader or VIP Discounts
IG logoIG check £250.00 0.98 info 0.98 info 0.82 info Yes
FOREX.com logoFOREX.com check $100 1.4 info 1.4 info 1.0 info Yes
City Index logoCity Index check £100.00 1.4 info 0.74 info 0.74 info Yes
XTB logoXTB check $0 1.07 info 1.07 info 1.04 info No
eToro logoeToro check $10-$10,000 1 info 1 info N/A Yes

Comparing trading platforms between United Kingdom forex brokers

Trading platforms grant access to the foreign exchange market and allow you to analyze market conditions, manage positions, and execute trades. Check out a side-by-side comparison of the trading platforms available at the best United Kingdom forex brokers, based on our independent product testing.

Company Accepts GB Residents Desktop Platform (Windows) Web Platform Proprietary Platform MetaTrader 4 (MT4) MetaTrader 5 (MT5) ZuluTrade cTrader
IG logoIG check Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
FOREX.com logoFOREX.com check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
City Index logoCity Index check Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
XTB logoXTB check Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
eToro logoeToro check No Yes Yes No No No No

Comparing investment options between United Kingdom forex brokers

We closely monitor the availability of investment products such as forex trading (CFD and spot), stocks (CFD and non-CFD), spread betting, ETFs, and social copy trading – among many others. These investment types are tracked as variables within our extensive independent database. Check out the offering of investments at the top United Kingdom forex brokers.

Company Accepts GB Residents Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) Spread Betting Social Trading / Copy Trading U.S. Stocks (CFD)
IG logoIG check Yes Yes No Yes
FOREX.com logoFOREX.com check Yes No No Yes
City Index logoCity Index check Yes Yes Yes Yes
XTB logoXTB check Yes No Yes Yes
eToro logoeToro check Yes No Yes Yes

FAQs

Please note:

A member of our editorial team used a proprietary blend of Generative AI technologies to assist in the creation of the content on this page. All information contained herein has been fact-checked by our lead writer in conjunction with our research team, and thoroughly edited by our editorial staff. Learn more about our generative AI policies, our editorial principles, and our testing methodologies.

What is the best forex broker in United Kingdom?

IG is our pick for the best forex broker in United Kingdom. Founded in 1974, IG holds licenses across a number of notable global regulatory jurisdictions, and has earned an overall Trust Score rating of 99. IG's impressive offering of 19537 tradeable symbols opens up a wide variety of trading opportunities for its clients. If you are interested in opening an account, the minimum deposit to get started as a trader at IG is £250.00. We've tested and reviewed dozens of forex brokers and created unbiased, data-driven broker ratings to highlight the best forex brokers in the industry. Our overall rating for IG is 9.9/10. Read our data-driven broker reviews to learn more.

Check out a gallery of screenshots from IG's trading platforms, taken by our research team during our product testing.

Best United Kingdom Forex Brokers

Here are our picks for the best forex brokers that accept United Kingdom-based clients in 2024. The below table is sorted by the brokers' Overall Ratings.

Company Accepts GB Residents Overall Rating Minimum Deposit Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard Read Review Visit Site
IG logoIG check 9.9 £250.00 0.98 info IG Review Visit Site
FOREX.com logoFOREX.com check 9.4 $100 1.4 info FOREX.com Review Visit Site
City Index logoCity Index check 9.3 £100.00 1.4 info City Index Review
XTB logoXTB check 9.1 $0 1.07 info XTB Group Review
eToro logoeToro check 8.8 $10-$10,000 1 info eToro Review
Swissquote logoSwissquote check 8.8 $1000 N/A info Swissquote Review
Plus500 logoPlus500 check 8.6 €100 0.8 (August 2021) info Plus500 Review
FXCM logoFXCM check 8.5 Starts from $50 0.74 info FXCM Review
Admirals logoAdmirals check 8.5 $100 0.8 info Admiral Markets Review

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Methodology

At BrokerNotes.co, our data-driven online broker reviews are based on our own extensive testing of each broker's products and services as well as the qualified observations of our expert editorial team. In conjunction with our sister site, ForexBrokers.com, we’ve published well over 100,000 words of research and collected thousands of data points across hundreds of variables. Our online trading guides are created with the same rigorous, data-driven approach.

The online brokers on our site provide the ability to trade forex in one or more ways, such as non-deliverable spot forex (i.e., rolling spot contracts), contracts for difference (CFD), or other derivatives such as futures. The availability of specific markets or features will depend on your country of residence and the broker's applicable brand or entity that services your account(s). Our proprietary Trust Score rating system tracks data from over 100 regulatory jurisdictions to help forex traders understand the regulatory status of their forex broker and choose a broker that they can trust.

Our editorial team is led by Steven Hatzakis, an industry veteran with decades of experience and a deep understanding of the forex market. Our team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of brokers, platforms, products, technologies, third-party trading tools, and mobile apps. We also test for the availability of high-quality educational content, actionable market research resources, and the accessibility and capabilities of mobile platforms. All of our ratings and rankings are based on the collection and validation of thousands of data points and our in-depth product testing.

Part of our testing process involves in-depth research into commissions and fees. We dive into each broker’s trading costs, such as VIP rebates, inactivity fees, custody fees, bid/ask spreads (we always strive to determine the average spreads for each broker to better serve our readers), and a variety of other fee-based data points.

All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser. Our Desktop PCs run Windows 11, and we use MacBook Pro laptops running the latest version of macOS to test trading on the go.

When testing mobile apps or mobile products, we test on both Apple and Android devices. For Apple, we test with the iPhone XS running iOS 16, and for Android we use the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra devices running Android OS 13.

All of the content on BrokerNotes.co is researched, fact-checked, and edited by members of our editorial team. Our ratings and rankings are driven by our independent data collection. We may use generative AI tools to assist in some of the rote aspects of our content production processes, but the substance of our content, as well as our opinions and evaluations are based on our extensive research and product testing. Read our Generative AI policy to learn more.

Our rigorous data validation process provides our readers with quality data they can trust. Click here to learn more about how we test.

Forex Risk Disclaimer

There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses. Learn more about foreign exchange risk.

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