Admiral Markets vs IC Markets

Which Broker Has The Best Spreads?

No Commission Accounts

Admiral Markets offers competitive spreads against other brokers on its Trade Account starting from 0.5 pips, including the best EUR/USD spread of 0.6 pips.

IC Markets add 1 pip to its spreads for all currency pairs over the raw price. This means their spreads are slightly higher than what Admiral Markets offers.

It is interesting to note that while Admiral Markets do appear to offer better spreads for the main currency pairs, IC Markets does match and have lower spreads for some currency pairs such as AUD/JPY, EUR/JPY. Regardless of which broker you choose, you will note there are other brokers that offer better spreads for this type of account.

No Commission Spreads	EUR/USDAUD/USDAUD/JPYUSD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/CADUSD/SGD	EUR/USDAUD/USDAUD/JPYUSD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/CADUSD/SGD	EUR/USDAUD/USDAUD/JPYUSD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/CADUSD/SGD	EUR/USDAUD/USDAUD/JPYUSD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/CADUSD/SGD	EUR/USDAUD/USDAUD/JPYUSD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDUSD/CADUSD/SGD
	0.80	1.00	2.20	1.00	1.00
	0.62	0.77	1.50	0.74	1.27
	0.86	0.74	1.62	0.83	1.19
	0.70	1.30	0.30	1.40	1.30
	0.80	0.90	2.80	0.80	1.70
	0.80	1.10	1.90	0.80	1.10
	1.20	1.40	2.20	1.20	1.60
	1.20	1.30	1.70	1.20	1.60
	1.90	2.00	3.10	2.20	2.40

Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 01/01/2022

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Commission Accounts

If you are after the lowest possible spreads, IC Markets is among the best of all brokers across many currency pairs. Spreads from IC Markets range from 0.2 to 0.8 pips superior to Admiral Markets. This is because IC Markets uses an ECN pricing model. What this means is IC Markets connect you with over 50 banks and a dark pool of liquidity providers and aggregates these prices to bring you the best possible spreads. This is known as “True ECN” as there is no dealing desk or human intervention even though IC Market makes their own market.

Commission Account Spreads	AUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDEUR/USDUSD/SGDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	AUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDEUR/USDUSD/SGDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	AUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDEUR/USDUSD/SGDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	AUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDEUR/USDUSD/SGDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	AUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/GBPEUR/JPYGBP/USDEUR/USDUSD/SGDUSD/JPYUSD/CAD
	0.17	0.50	0.27	0.30	0.23
	0.50	1.10	0.60	0.80	0.60
	0.17	0.67	0.40	0.43	0.59
	0.50	0.36	0.19	0.23	0.09
	0.20	0.60	0.40	0.30	0.20
	0.20	0.50	0.40	n/a	0.50
	0.50	0.60	0.50	0.50	0.60
	0.50	0.70	0.60	0.40	0.20

Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 01/01/2022

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Overall – IC Markets have more competitive spreads

For non-commission accounts, both brokers offer competitive spreads, with Admiral Markets only slightly outperforming IC Markets. For commission accounts, IC Markets offers some of the best spreads among brokers that use an STP or ECN pricing model. The comparison tables show the level of distinction between the broker spreads and indicate that IC Markets are superior in this area.

What Leverage Is Offered?

The leverage each broker makes available depends on the relevant regulatory body that you are trading with. Regulators set maximum leverage guidelines for trading financial instruments, and the entities for each broker must abide by these requirements.

Leverage is a useful tool to increase exposure on trades without a large amount of capital, meaning small movements in the market can result in large profits or losses however they are high-risk instruments, which means you should use them with caution. This is why some regulators have different leverage for retail traders and professional traders.

Admiral Markets Leverage and Margin Requirements

Retail traders in Australia, the UK and Europe can trade with 1:30 for major currency pairs and 1:20 for minor currency pairs. Professional traders can access leverage up to 1:500.

IC Markets Leverage and Margin Requirements

If you are trading from the UK or Europe, you can access leverage of up to 1:30 on forex, 1:20 on major indices, 1:10 on commodities, and 1:2 on cryptocurrencies. Leverage for Australians is similar:

• Major forex pairs = 30:1
• Minor forex pairs, gold and major indices = 20:1
• Minor indices and commodities = 10:1
• Shares = 5:1
• Cryptocurrencies = 2:1

Overall

The leverage offered will depend on the relevant entity through which the broker operates. Depending on the country you are trading from, different margin requirements will apply. Both brokers offer the maximum allowable leverage under each jurisdiction.

How Are The Brokers Regulated? Are They Safe?

Both Admiral Markets and IC Markets are regulated across a range of entities. The following lists show the countries and relevant entities where regulation is present.

Admiral Markets Regulating Entities:

• Admiral Markets Pty Ltd: Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for Australia (AFSL no. 41068)
• Admiral Markets Cyprus Ltd: Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) for Cyprus (license no. 201/13)
• Admiral Markets UK Ltd: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the United Kingdom (reg. number 595450)
• Admiral Markets AS: Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) for Estonia (license no. 4.1-1/46)

IC Markets Regulating Entities:

• International Capital Markets Pty Ltd: Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for Australia (AFSL no. 335692)
• IC Markets EU Ltd: Cyprus Securities and Exchange (CySEC) for mainland Europe (license no. 362/18)
• Raw Trading Ltd: Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA) for Africa (license no. SD018)

Overall

Both brokers are heavily regulated and are considered extremely safe, which is good for traders. The relevant entity will depend on the country you are trading from.

View Admiral Markets Review >>Visit Admiral Markets >>

What Trading Platforms Are Available?

Both IC Markets and Admiral Markets are MetaTrader 4 and 5 specialists however IC Markets also have cTrader and a greater choice of social trading tools.

MetaTrader Trading Platforms

MetaTrader 4 and 5 are a sophisticated trading platform developed by MetaQuotes. The MetaTrader platforms are available for download on PC or Mac as a WebTrader as well as mobile iOS and Android. MetaTrader 4 is widely considered the best forex trading platform around the world and has a wider community and marketplace, however, it lacks the variety of features and products that its successor MetaTrader 5 offers.

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 is the most commonly used trading platform across the globe and is suitable for traders of all levels reasons to choose MT4 include

• You only wish to trade forex
• Your PC has low memory capacity (MT4 is 32 bit, MT5 is 64 bit)
• You want to access one of the largest trading platform communities and marketplaces
• You prefer MQL4 programming language
• You want more flexibility with brokers to switch to. More brokers offer MT4 than MT5

MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 is the updated version and is equipped with some additional extras, including:

• You want more trading tools and features such as charts and backtesting
• You want to access more CFDs. MT5 is built for decentralised and decentralised assets. MT4 is built for centralised
• You want more processing power, which means faster speeds
• MT4 has ceased new development. MT5 will be around a lot longer than as MT4 is phased out

cTrader Trading Platform

cTrader is an alternative forex trading platform that is also extremely popular for trading the forex market. Along with superior technical charting options and faster trade execution, cTrader offers:

• Customisable interface
• Direct access to liquidity pools designed to algorithmic trading
• Back-testing facilities on the platform
• 26-time frames, one-click trading, and market depth
• Compatibility on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android

Social Trading Platforms

IC Markets offer a choice of social trading or copy trading platforms, some of which can be integrated with MetaTrader platforms. Admiral Markets do not offer any social trading tools however may allow you to integrate 3rd party platforms via API.

IC Markets offer the following social trading tools – MyFxBook AutoTrade and ZuluTrade, cTrader Copy, MT4 signals and MQL5 signals.

Overall – IC Markets offer a choice of trading platforms and social trading tools.

Admiral Markets offers the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms for trading, however, it does not offer cTrader. IC Markets connects to MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader. Therefore, if you are trading on the MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 platform, either broker will do. However, if you are set on trading with cTrader, IC Markets is the more suitable choice.

What Financial Products Can I Trade?

A large variety of financial products is an important consideration when choosing a broker. It will allow you to diversify your trading and investment exposure to various global markets. Both Admiral Markets and IC Markets offer a good range of financial products.

Forex Currency Pairs

Admiral Markets offer less than 50 forex currency pairs. Although this is relatively low, most of the commonly traded major, minor, and exotic currency pairs are available, such as USD, EUR, AUD, CAD, GBP, CHF, JPY, and NZD. IC Markets offers 64 forex currency pairs so if you are looking for a large choice of forex pairs to choose from, then IC Markets is the way to go.

Other CFDs

Admiral Markets CFDs

The following table lists the available CFDs and complex instruments through Admiral Markets on both the Trade Account and Zero Account, including:

• Commodities: 6 metals, 4 energies, 7 agricultures, 11 commodity futures
• Indices: 19 cash indices, 25 index futures
• Stocks: 3441 stocks including 152 ASX, 273 LSE, 1358 NYSE, 869 NASDAQ, 18 AMEX, 111 EuropeNext
• ETFs: 380 including 54 NASDAQ, 23 LSE, 16 EuroNext
• Bonds: 2 bonds futures including 10-year German Bund, 10 US Treasury Note

When choosing an account with Admiral Markets, it is important to consider if you prefer standard or ECN style trading and what types of platforms as the available CFDs will differ between accounts.

IC Markets CFDs

IC Markets have an advantage over Admiral Markets in that they allow all CFDs to be traded for both accounts and all trading platforms. CFDs available include:

• Indices: 17 of the largest indices around the world
• Commodities: 19 agricultures, metals, energies
• Stocks: 120 stocks across the NYSE, NASDAQ, ASX
• Bonds: 6 core bonds for the UK, Japan, USA, Europe
• Cryptocurrency: Selection of the most popular cryptocurrency CFDs including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple
• Futures: 4 global futures including ICE Dollar Index, CBOE VIX Index

Overall – IC Markets offer a wider range of financial instruments

Both Admiral Markets and IC Markets have an attractive range of financial products and would both be a suitable choice if you are looking for diversification with a CFD broker. With far more forex currency pairs and a slightly broader range of other CFDs, including crypto, IC Markets is more appropriate if you are looking to taking your trading to the next level.

Risk Management: Keeping Your Investment Safe

Risk management tools are vital for trading. Without them, you may be at risk of losing your entire investment, and with the inclusion of leverage, this can happen very fast. Risk management tools are an effective method of ensuring you retain your capital should the market move against your favour.

Negative Balance Protection

As part of UK and European regulations, all Forex regulators such as CySEC (Europe) and the FCA (UK) require brokers to have negative balance protection for retail clients. Negative balance protection means your account will never be negative, which would leave you with large debts. Admiral Markets however also offer negative balance protection to all their clients, including professional and international clients.

Both brokers use a margin call system to help prevent the need to apply for negative balance protection. IC Markets have a higher stop-out level than Admiral Markets, presumedly because negative balance protection is not available for all clients.

Admiral Markets

• Margin call when equity = 130% of the margin required
• UK/Europe Retail traders Trade.MT4, Trade.MT5 stop out when equity = 50% when of require margin, Other Accounts (Non-Europe, Professional) = 30%
• Zero.MT4, Zero.MT5 stop out = 50%

IC Markets

• Margin call when equity = 100% of the margin required
• Stop out when equity = 50% or below  of the margin required

Volatility Protection

Admiral Markets also provides some unique volatility protection features that allow you to use a greater range of order types and settings. These additions help reduce your risk in volatile trading conditions. Features include:

• Ability to set maximum slippage levels
• Control losses on pending orders
• Partially fill large orders

Overall – Admiral Markets is safer with better risk management tools

Admiral Markets has a greater focus on risk management than IC Markets. Although both brokers offer the standard range of tools, only Admiral Markets has volatility protection features and offers negative balance protection to all clients.

View Admiral Markets Review >>Visit Admiral Markets >>

Funding: What Deposit and Withdrawal Methods Can I Use?

Funding Methods

Admiral Markets offers a wide range of free funding methods with bank transfer, Klarna, Visa and MasterCard, PayPal, Bitcoin, credit card, SafetyPay, Przelewy, iBank&BankLink, and iDEAL. For a small fee, funding can also be done through Skrill and Neteller. Admiral Markets charges no additional fee for opening a trading account but charges an inactivity fee of 10 AUD/USD/EUR per month.

IC Markets also accept a variety of funding methods such as Skrill, PayPal, Neteller, Bpay (for AUD), UnionPay (for RMB), and Rapidpay, and Klarna (for GBP). Withdrawals have no fees attached to IC Markets and there is no inactivity fee.

When choosing a funding method, you will need to check this service is available in your country.

Minimum Amounts

Admiral Markets requires a minimum deposit of USD 100 or equivalent for major currencies. If you have another base currency in mind, some of the minimum deposit amounts are listed below:

• 100 CHF
• 200 BGN
• 1 000 CZK
• 750 HRK
• 25 000 HUF
• 250 PLN
• 250 RON

The minimum deposit amount with IC Markets is USD 200, or the equivalent of this if your base account currency is not USD.

Overall – Admiral markets require a smaller deposit amount

Both brokers offer an exceptional range of funding methods including the most commonly used Visa and MasterCard, Skrill, PayPal, Neteller, credit card, and POLi. However, Admiral Markets only require a minimum deposit of USD 100 (or equivalent) whereas IC Markets accept a minimum amount of USD 200 (or equivalent).

Although it is not a significant difference, if you are looking to get started in trading, then a smaller deposit amount is always a nice option to have.

View Admiral Markets Review >>Visit Admiral Markets >>

Which Broker Has Better Customer Service and Support?

Customer Service and Support

Admiral Markets offers very useful customer support features such as contact messaging, FAQ, and a glossary. However, the customer service is Europe-centric, meaning if you are not within the Eurozone you may potentially have to wait a while for a chat reply and support hours are only 25/5. As a global broker, Admiral Markets is contactable through Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram using multiple languages, emails and website inquiry submissions are also available.

IC Markets also have a sophisticated 24/7 support system with local support coming from Sydney, Australia. Clients can contact IC Markets customer support through email, Skype, or phone. The live chat is considerably responsive and the help centre covers a wide variety of queries.

Educational Resources and Analytics

Admiral Markets offers an array of educational resources and analytical tools to help clients understand how CFDs work. These include:

• Online courses and lessons
• Webinars and instruction videos
• Articles and tutorials
• Live trading classes
• Economic calendar, blogs, and fundamental and technical analysis tools
• Market heat map and market sentiment data

IC Markets also offer a comprehensive selection of useful tools and resources:

• Economic calendar, blogs, and third-party content, including Trading Central
• Myfxbook news headlines
• ZuluTrade social trading feature
• FX Blue LLP advanced trading tools

Overall – IC Markets have more efficient resources

While Admiral Markets encourage learning and training, IC Markets are more renowned for their superior level of customer service and support. The additional features, trading tools, social trading, and analytical features also make IC Markets the better choice for an online broker.