CMC Markets vs FXCM 2025

Trust Score is a data-driven rating system that provides an at-a-glance rating of a broker’s overall trust by tracking 60+ brokers and over 100 regulatory jurisdictions across the globe. To make things clearer for everyday traders, we’ve created a five-tier system for regulators and Trust Score rating labels. Learn more about Trust Score, and check out our country guides to see the most trusted brokers in your country of residence.

CMC Markets has a Trust Score of 99, giving it a "Highly Trusted" Trust Score Label.

FXCM has a Trust Score of 95, giving it a "Highly Trusted" Trust Score Label.

CMC Markets is a highly trusted multi-asset broker regulated in multiple Tier-1 jurisdictions, with an overall Trust Score rating of 99. CMC's powerful Next Generation proprietary trading platform (available for web and mobile) delivers a huge selection of tradeable markets wrapped in a fantastic user experience. Traders at CMC Markets also gain access to MetaTrader 4, and forex traders in Australia can use the CMC Markets Invest app for exchange-traded equities. CMC Markets is a great choice for traders looking for high-quality research, good educational content, powerful trading tools, and low-cost forex trading.

Founded in 1999, FXCM (a Jefferies Group company) is a long-standing brand that caters to global forex and CFD traders. FXCM offers multiple trading platforms for algorithmic trading and social copy trading, along with a proprietary platform suite (and access to MetaTrader 4). FXCM is also a great option for beginners due to its wide range of educational materials and easy-to-use platforms (including integration with the popular TradingView platform). Though the range of markets available at FXCM has increased following the addition of its share trading feature, it's worth noting that pricing at FXCM is just average.

Tier-1 is reserved for the strictest, most stringent regulatory jurisdictions in the world. Tier-1 regulators impose additional capital requirements and require a tougher initial screening process. CMC Markets holds regulatory licenses in the following Tier-1 jurisdictions: Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (CIRO Authorised), Singapore (MAS Authorised), New Zealand (FMA Authorised) and United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised). FXCM, on the other hand, is licensed in these Tier-1 regulatory jurisdictions: Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (CIRO Authorised) and United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised). Neither have Hong Kong (SFC Authorised), CBI Authorised (Ireland), Japan (SFC Authorised), Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) and USA (CFTC Authorized)

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, CMC Markets is UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised), while FXCM is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised), Israel (ISA Authorised) and South Africa (FSCA Authorised).. Neither have China (CBRC Authorised), India (SEBI Authorised), Russia (CBR Authorised) and Thailand (SEC Authorised). When comparing tier-3 licenses unfortunately, neither CMC Markets nor FXCM are Bahamas (SCB Authorised), Belize (FSC Authorised), Bermuda (BMA Authorised), British Virgin Islands (FSC Authorised), Cayman Islands (CIMA Authorised), Mauritius (FSC Authorised) and Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).. Neither have Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).

Whether your broker develops its own proprietary platforms or provides access to popular third-party platforms, you should make sure you can use your preferred type of trading platform. In our testing, we found that CMC Markets offers a Proprietary Platform and Desktop Platform (Windows), whereas FXCM supports a Proprietary Platform, Desktop Platform (Windows) and ZuluTrade. Neither have cTrader and DupliTrade

For MetaTrader CMC Markets provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), while FXCM provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4). If MetaTrader is a must for you, read our guides on the best MT4 brokers or best MT5 brokers.

CMC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $0, while FXCM requires a minimum deposit of Starts from $50. It's also important to ensure your broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. In our research, we've found that CMC Markets supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) and PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) for funding and deposit methods, whereas FXCM supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw)

When choosing a forex broker, it’s important to consider each broker’s available investment products and tradeable asset classes. We’ve researched each broker’s individual offering of investments to help you pick the right broker for what you want to trade. During our testing, we found that CMC Markets delivers a more diverse selection of investment options than FXCM, offering tradeable asset classes and investment types such as Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Spread Betting, Social Trading / Copy Trading, Metals, Energies, Agriculturals, ETF and U.S. Stocks (CFD).

We also keep track of each broker’s total number of tradeable symbols; CMC Markets offers 11925, and FXCM offers a total of 440 tradeable symbols.

Crypto trading has become popular among forex traders across a range of international jurisdictions. As a result, many forex brokers now offer crypto products to their clients; most crypto assets are offered either as an underlying physical asset (such as when you own actual bitcoin assets, for example) or as a derivative product like a CFD. If you are looking to trade physical cryptocurrencies, you’ll find that neither CMC Markets nor FXCM allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

Market research plays a huge role in any forex trader’s ability to conduct analysis within the global forex market. We test each broker’s research offering to help you decide which broker is right for your technical or fundamental analysis needs. CMC Markets delivers the following research tools: Autochartist, Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) and Social Trading / Copy Trading. FXCM, on the other hand, provides the tools listed here: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources), Trading Central (Recognia) and Social Trading / Copy Trading

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