IFC Markets vs CMC Markets - 2024 Comparison | FxScouts
AuthorAuthor: Björn MichelsUpdated: October 12, 2023

Last Updated On October 12, 2023

Björn Michels

Trading with a reputable online broker is a crucial factor for success in the international markets. At FxScouts, we help you find the broker that suits your trading needs.

Each year we spend thousands of hours testing brokers by opening accounts, testing their platforms, and rating them according to a set of over 200 metrics. We deposit real money with the brokers to ensure that the products and user experience they advertise are consistent with reality.

We have found that the best way for traders to choose a broker is to compare brokers side-by-side. The comparison tool below allows you to compare two brokers based on their ratings and features.

Select brokers to compare

Select brokers to compare

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Broker Score
Risk Statement
Min. Deposit
Regulation
Trading Desk Type
Trading Instruments
Forex Pairs
Crypto Pairs
Pros
Cons
Regulation
Trading Conditions
Trading Platforms
Deposit & Withdrawal
Education & Research
Assets Available
Customer Service
% Lose with this broker
Leverage
Spread
Hedging
Scalping
Account Types
Islamic Account
Trading Platforms
Funding Methods
Trading Commission
1110.503.60/ 5 of retail CFD accounts lose moneyUSD 5CySEC Regulated BrokersBritish Virgin Islands Financial Services CommissionLabuan Financial Services AuthorityECN/DMA, STPCommodities, Cryptocurrencies, Stock CFDs, ETFs, Forex, Indices, Metals4915
  • Great platform choice
  • Wide range of assets
  • Low minimum deposit
  • Slow withdrawals
  • Poorly regulated
Read Review 111003/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 100001/ 5 1110.503.5/ 5 1110.503.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 0400:10.40 pips MetaTrader4 Micro-Fixed, MetaTrader4 Standard-Fixed, MetaTrader5 Micro-Floating, MetaTrader5 Standard-Floating, NetTraderX Beginner-Fixed, NetTraderX Beginner-Floating, NetTraderX Standard-Fixed, NetTraderX Standard-Floating MT4, MT5Bank Transfer, Visa, Mastercard, PerfectMoney, WebMoney, Boleto, Bitcoin, CashUNone
11110.54.53/ 5 76% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyAUD 5ASIC Regulated Forex BrokersFCA Regulated BrokersBest Forex Brokers in SingaporeThe Best FMA-Regulated Forex BrokersBundesanstalt für FinanzdienstleistungsaufsichtMarket MakerCommodities, Cryptocurrencies, Stock CFDs, ETFs, Forex, Indices35012
  • Offers a selection of over 12
  • 000 trading instruments
  • Features competitive spreads from 0.7 pips on major pairs on its commission-free accounts
  • No minimum deposit requirement
  • Supports MT4 and the proprietary Next Generation platform which delivers a superior mobile trading experience
  • Regulation by leading authorities such as ASIC
  • FCA
  • FMA
  • and BaFin
  • Commission-based accounts are subject to high fees potentially affecting profitability
  • The absence of live chat support may hinder prompt assistance
  • Some withdrawal methods have fees adding to the total trading costs
Read Review 111115/ 5 111115/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111104/ 5 111115/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111003/ 5 76%30:10.70 pips CFD Account, FX Active MT4, CMCmarketsBank Transfer, POLi, Visa, Maestro, Mastercard, Paypal0.005%

How do CMC Markets and IFC Markets stack up against each other?

The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.

CMC Markets

IFC Markets

At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.

To compare CMC Markets and IFC Markets, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.

Does CMC Markets or IFC Markets have a better trust and regulation rating?

Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.

In our comparison, we found that CMC Markets holds three Tier 1 and two Tier 2 licences, and IFC Markets holds one Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.

 

Is CMC Markets financially regulated?

Yes CMC Markets was founded in 1989 and is regulated by ASIC, MAS, BaFin, FCA and FMA.

 

Is IFC Markets financially regulated?

Yes IFC Markets was founded in 2006 and is regulated by B.V.I FSC, CySEC and LFSA.

 

Based on these findings, CMC Markets earned a higher trust rating than IFC Markets.

Does CMC Markets or IFC Markets have lower costs?

Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged. 

Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that IFC Markets has overall lower trading costs than CMC Markets. 

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Broker
Trading Conditions
Base Currencies
EURUSD (Standard)
Commission
Trading Cost (Standard)
EURUSD (Best)
GBPUSD (Best)
USDJPY (Best)
IFC Markets
11110.54.5/ 5
USD, EUR, JPY
0.50 pips
USD 0
USD 5
0.40 pips
1.60 pips
0.50 pips
CMC Markets
111115/ 5
AUD, USD
0.70 pips
USD 0
USD 7
0.70 pips
0.90 pips
0.70 pips

 

Does CMC Markets or IFC Markets offer a better choice of trading platforms?

Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms. 

In this case, 0 offers support for and 0 offers support for . 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

Copy trading is a great option for beginner traders who can’t trade full-time or lack experience with Forex trading. In this case both CMC Markets and IFC Markets offer copy trading.

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Broker
Platform Choice
Copy Trading
Platforms
IFC Markets
11110.54.5/ 5
CMC Markets
11110.54.5/ 5
CMCmarkets

 

Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?

A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that CMC Markets offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than IFC Markets. CMC Markets offers 350 Forex pairs to trade and IFC Markets offers 49 Forex pairs to trade.

Toplist Forex Pairs

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, IFC Markets offers 15 cryptocurrencies while CMC Markets offers 12 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with IFC Markets.

Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?

Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals. 

We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that IFC Markets charges a withdrawal fee and CMC Markets does not. Overall, CMC Markets has better deposit and withdrawal processes than IFC Markets. 

Which broker offers better educational support?

We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas. 

CMC Markets has better educational support than IFC Markets. Both CMC Markets and IFC Markets offer educational support for more experienced traders.

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Broker
Beginner Course
Advanced Course
Well Structured Education
Education Quality
Webinars
IFC Markets
Medium
CMC Markets
High

 

Which broker offers better market analysis materials?

To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field. 

We found that 0 offers better research analysis than 0 and that both CMC Markets and IFC Markets offer frequent webinars.

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Broker
Economic Calendar
Autochartist
Trading Central
Trading View
Free VPS
IFC Markets
CMC Markets

 

Our overall Verdict on CMC Markets

Founded in 1989, CMC Markets is a well-known Forex and CFD broker with a high trust rating and a strong presence in Australia. It has local ASIC regulation, and a local Australian office and offers accounts denominated in AUD.

CMC Markets offers two live accounts with no minimum deposit requirements - a low-cost commission-free account with spreads starting at 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD and a commission-based account with spreads of 0.1 pip and commissions of 0.005% (which amounts to 50 USD per lot traded), which is extremely high.

Trading is offered on both MT4 and its powerful, innovative proprietary platform that features numerous technical and fundamental analysis tools.  CMC Markets also offers excellent education and market analysis materials to get new traders started, and although customer service is offered 24/5, it does not provide a live chat feature, which is a serious oversight by this broker.

Our overall Verdict on IFC Markets

IFC Markets caters well to beginner traders with four low-cost Micro accounts, a well-structured education section, and support for its proprietary platform, which is easier to use and set up than other third-party platforms. IFC Markets also stands out for its innovative Portfolio Quoting Method, which allows for the creation of personalized trading instruments.

IFC Markets offers a low-cost trading environment for traders willing to try its proprietary NetTradeX platform. Support is also provided for the Metatrader platforms, but trading costs remain uncompetitive. However, clients can choose to trade on over 600 financial assets, including synthetic CFDs, and even create their instruments.

It is clear that IFC Markets focuses on providing a welcoming environment for new traders, with minimum deposits of 5 USD on its beginner-friendly Micro accounts and a host of learning materials covering trading basics. 

Alongside the high trading fees on the Metatrader platforms, IFC Markets' non-trading fees are high, including charges for deposits and withdrawals. In addition, it has a limited number of base currencies, which means that Australian traders will have to pay currency conversion fees.

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

CMC Markets has an overall rating of 4.53 and IFC Markets has an overall rating of 3.60. For more detail please read our reviews of CMC Markets and IFC Markets.

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