IC Markets vs Tickmill

Which Broker Has The Best Spreads?

Commission Spreads

For this broker review, we compared the average spreads on common forex pairs across a range of brokers. The spreads for the ECN style accounts are shown in the table below. Both IC Markets and Tickmill offer an average spread of 0.10 pips on the commonly traded EUR/USD currency pair. Across the board, IC Markets have slightly more competitive average spreads than Tickmill.

Both IC Markets and Tickmill can achieve spreads as low as 0.0 pips and pricing similar to ECN-style brokers because of the no dealing desk execution with multiple liquidity providers.

Commission-free Spreads

The table below summarises the average spreads on standard pricing accounts from various brokers. Average spreads for IC Markets are around 1.0 pips while Tickmill offers 1.6 pips.

Winner – Spreads

IC Markets is the lowest spread forex broker with an average of 0.10 pips on the most commonly traded currency pair (EUR/USD). IC Markets achieve this level of competitive pricing due to direct access to over 50 liquidity providers, no dealing desk execution, leading ECN technology, and high-volume trading. Although Tickmill also offers competitive spreads with some forex pairs, IC Markets outperforms Tickmill across the board of currency pairs.

What Leverage Is Offered?

How Does Leverage Work?

Leverage is essentially a way to borrow more money to trade with. As price movements in the forex market can be small, leverage allows you to access more funds and magnify your trading position. For example, if you have an account with $1,000 and trade with 1:100 leverage, you are essentially trading with $100,000 worth of capital. Leverage imposes a high risk as price movements are accentuated, meaning you could win or lose more than expected. Amplifying trades is a risky process and should be done with absolute understanding and caution.

Maximum Allowable Leverage

The leverage a broker may offer depends on the country you are trading from and the relevant regulatory entity of the broker.

IC Markets offers the highest leverage level of 1:500 under Australian and Seychelles regulatory divisions. The leverage under European entities is 1:30 for forex, 1:20 for indices, 1:10 for commodities, and 1:2 for cryptocurrencies.

Tickmill offers leverage of 1:30 on forex, 1:20 on stocks and metals, and 1:5 on bonds for the UK and European retail clients. For professional clients within the UK and Europe, as well as retail clients outside the UK and Europe, Tickmill offers 1:500 on forex and metals, and 1:100 on stock indices, oil, and bonds.

Winner – Leverage

Leverage depends on the country you are trading from and you should consider this when deciding between IC Markets and Tickmill. Both brokers offer the maximum allowable leverage in the country they operate in, however as IC Markets is more globally regulated, it provides a wider scope of options for leverage. It is important to remember that higher leverage imposes a high risk, meaning that a limitation on leverage can be considered a useful tool for risk management.

How Are The Brokers Regulated? Are They Safe?

IC Markets Global Regulation

IC Markets has a license with three main regulators.

• International Capital Markets Pty Ltd: Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) AFSL 335692
• IC Markets (EU) Ltd: Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) Licence No. 362/18
• Raw Trading Ltd: Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA) Licence No. SD018

With two Tier 1 and one Tier 2 regulation bodies, IC Markets is considered a safe and trustworthy forex broker.

Tickmill Global Regulation

Tickmill has a license with five main regulators.

• Tickmill UK Ltd: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Licence No. 717270
• Tickmill Ltd: Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA) Licence No. SD008
• Tickmill Europe Ltd: Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) Licence No. 278/15
• Tickmill Asia Ltd: Financial Services Authority of Labuan (LFSA) Licence No. MB/18/0028
• Tickmill South Africa (Pty) Ltd: Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) Licence No. FSP 49464

Under extensive regulation, Tickmill is also considered a safe and reliable forex broker. Traders outside FCA, CySEC, LFSA, and FSCA will trade under FSA regulation, and as such, this should be taken into consideration as an offshore regulator. Furthermore, if you are trading from Australia or Dubai, Tickmill does not have ASIC or DFSA regulation.

Winner – Regulation

The choice of broker will depend on the country you are trading from. Trading with an offshore regulator can sometimes impose challenges regarding communication, protection, or policy adherence. Although Tickmill has several more regulatory entities, IC Markets have higher tier regulation in more popular countries.

What Trading Platforms Are Available?

IC Markets allows you to trade on the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader trading platforms. Tickmill only offers the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. All these trading platforms are available on desktop (PC or Mac) and mobile trading devices (iOS or Android). The trading apps come with a range of features for easy-to-use functionality.

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 is the first and most popular trading platform developed by MetaQuotes Software. MetaTrader 4 is ideal for traders of any level of experience, from beginner to intermediate to experience scalping traders. Fit with a customizable interface and sophisticated order management functionality, MetaTrader 4 offers over 50 fundamental and technical indicators with fast order execution on a range of CFDs. This trading platform provides access to a range of Expert Advisors, allowing you to use algorithmic and automatic trading functionality.

• Fast execution of trades (reduced lag time and slippage)
• Expert Advisors and trading robots (EAs are programs that allow for automated monitoring and trading, according to a set of chosen parameters)
• Autochartist compatibility (saving you on screen-time by identifying and notifying you of chart patterns and key price levels)
• MyFxBook Copy Trading (providing tools to find and follow profitable traders on a social trading network)

The MetaTrader 4 trading platform remains the most popular trading platform because of the customizable charting, trading automation facilities, and easy-to-use interface. Both IC Markets and Tickmill provide the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

MetaTrader WebTrader

MetaTrader WebTrader is an extension to the trading app that allows you to access and trade online directly through your modern web browser. WebTrader is equipped with the same functionality and features as the MetaTrader trading platform but requires no downloads or installations. WebTrader has enhanced security using trade history and encrypted data transmission.

MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 is the new multi-asset platform from MetaQuotes Software. The MetaTrader 5 version comes with a built-in market for trading robots for automated forex trading and provides access to the MQL5 community. MetaTrader 5 maximizes trade execution speeds using forex VPS. This upgraded trading platform is equipped with more indicators, timeframes, and order types, as well as enhanced charting features and backtesting for EAs than the previous MetaTrader 4. MetaTrader 5 also allows you to trade share CFDs along with forex currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Only IC Markets offers MetaTrader 5. Currently, you cannot access this trading platform with Tickmill.

cTrader

cTrader is a widely used trading platform and a close competitor to MetaTrader. With a personalized interface and charting options, cTrader is an easy-to-use trading platform. If you prefer to trade with cTrader, you can access algorithmic trading systems with the system liquidity pools, as well as back-testing facilities based on past market data. cTrader is a popular trading platform because of the enhanced modification options, advanced order placement features, and compatibility with the desktop and mobile trading devices or apps. You can trade with cTrader through IC Markets but not with Tickmill.

Winner – Trading Platforms

IC Markets is the clear winner over Tickmill due to the diversity of trading platforms available. Although Tickmill offers the most widely used trading platform MetaTrader 4, the broker does not offer MetaTrader 5 or cTrader as IC Markets does.

IC Markets also offers a range of advanced tools that you can integrate with your chosen trading platform. These include:

• Alarm Manager
• Correlation Matrix
• Correlation Trader
• Trade Terminal
• Market Manager
• Sentiment Trader
• Session Map
• Smart Lines
• Stealth Orders
• Tick Chart Trader

What Financial Products Can I Trade?

Forex

The forex market is the largest and most popular financial market in the world because of the price action volatility and 24/5 availability for trading. As the most liquid market with over $5 trillion traded daily, the forex market allows you to simultaneously buy and sell currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, JPY, and NZD for profit.

• IC Markets offers over 65 currency pairs
• Tickmill offers over 60 currency pairs

Indices

Indices allow you to trade a group of stocks as an amassed average. An index will track the average value of a group of stocks, allowing you to speculate on the changing average price across sectors, industries, or even countries. Similarly, trading oil can allow you to speculate on the average pricing of oil across several exchanges.

• IC Markets allows access to 17 of the largest global indices
• Tickmill allows access to 14 stock indices and variations of oil

Commodities

Commodities include agriculture, precious metals, and energy. These assets are often considered safe-haven assets, as they are relatively uniform across the globe during market volatility.

• IC Markets provides 19 mainstream commodities you can trade against the USD as both spot and futures CFDs
• Tickmill allows you to trade precious metals like gold and silver against the USD, but does not offer soft commodities such as copper, palladium, and platinum

Stocks

Trading stocks is only available on the MetaTrader 5 trading platform, meaning you can only access stocks with IC Markets but not with Tickmill. Trading stocks as CFDs means you are not owning the underlying assets but merely speculating on the price movements.

• IC Markets has over 120 stocks to be traded as CFDs across the NYSE, NASDAQ, and ASX
• Tickmill does not allow stock trading

Bonds

Bonds are agreements for over-the-counter exchanges between borrowers and lenders. These bonds are futures (cash) contracts and have no central exchange.

• IC Markets offers 6 core bonds including the UK, Japan, USA, and Europe
• Tickmill offers 4 main types of government bonds (otherwise known as treasury CFDs), all of which are German bonds

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are a form of digital currency that is becoming more popular as regularly traded financial assets. The cryptocurrency market is popular because of the high volatility nature of the market and large price movements. It is important to note that trading cryptocurrency CFDs is high risk and therefore the allowable leverage is usually less than other financial products.

• IC Markets allows you to trade major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple (because of the high risk of these assets, you can integrate social trading features such as ZuluTrade and MyFxBook to leverage off more experienced traders)
• Tickmill does not currently offer cryptocurrencies for trading as CFDs

Futures

Futures are contracts that allow you to speculate on the direction of financial assets, providing you with the opportunity to buy or sell at a predetermined price and time.

• IC Markets offers 4 global futures to trade, including the ICE Dollar Index and CBOE VIX Index
• Tickmill does not offer future CFDs

Winner – Financial Products

IC Markets offers a far greater variety of financial products to trade as CFDs than Tickmill. If you are only looking to trade the common forex pairs, either broker would suit. However, diversification is an important factor to consider and if you want to expand your investing scope with more complex instruments, IC Markets has a wider range of tradeable instruments than Tickmill.

Risk Management: Keeping Your Investment Safe

IC Markets Risk Management

Guaranteed Stops

A guaranteed stop is a tool that allows you to set a predetermined level to act as a maximum loss amount. In any individual trade, a guaranteed stop will enact to exit the trade at a certain level if the market moves against your favour. IC Markets offers a stop-loss order facility, which allows you to set the maximum loss amount as per usual. However, it is not a guarantee as high volatility trading environments may cause losses to exceed the predetermined point.

Negative Balance Protection

Negative balance protection will prevent you from excessive debt if your trading account falls below zero. IC Markets has a margin call facility that detects an account balance approaching zero and exists trades automatically. During extreme market volatility or high-risk trading conditions, this policy may not enact quickly enough and the broker may request for the outstanding debt to be paid.

Tickmill Risk Management

Negative Balance Protection and Risk Monitoring

Tickmill also offers negative balance protection, whereby the broker will cover any debts if your account falls below zero because of trading losses or excessive slippage. Also, Tickmill uses a risk department to monitor trading accounts to ensure clients are not taking excessive risks. The broker may notify clients with a risk warning and may even reduce the trading leverage on the account.

Research and Educational Resources

Tickmill has a range of useful resources that allow you to learn and improve your understanding of forex trading before getting started. You can use these resources and practice with a demo account before moving to a live account. The level of research and educational resources such as webinars, seminars, eBooks, and video tutorials can act as a risk management tool by providing you with more knowledge before funding your account.

Leverage

Given the regulation appropriate for Tickmill, novice traders can only access reduced leverage for trading. This can prevent inexperienced traders from taking on too much risk by borrowing excessive funds.

Winner – Risk Management

Both IC Markets and Tickmill ensure a range of risk management features to help keep your investment safe. The provision of a negative balance protection policy is a vital feature to protect your capital, especially for retail investor accounts. Both brokers offer this policy. However, Tickmill goes an extra step to monitor the risk-appetite of trading accounts and will take action before negative balance protection is needed.

Funding: What Deposit and Withdrawal Methods Can I Use?

Options for Funding Methods

IC Markets Funding

IC Markets has a range of options for account deposits and withdrawals, including:

• Debit or credit card
• PayPal
• Neteller and Neteller VIP
• Wire Transfer
• Bpay
• FasaPay
• Skrill
• UnionPay
• Broker to Broker
• POLi
• Thai Internet Banking
• RapidPay
• Klarna
• Vietnamese Internet Banking

There are no deposit or withdrawal fees charged by IC Markets. Most transfer methods will complete transactions either instantly or within days. It is important to note that the withdrawal method must be the same as the deposit method.

Tickmill Funding

There are no costs associated with deposits or withdrawals with a Tickmill account because of the Zero Fees policy. If you use wire transfer and deposit more than $5,000, Tickmill will refund any fees up to $100. The range of funding methods includes:

• Bank Transfer
• Visa and MasterCard
• Skrill
• Neteller
• DotPay
• PaySafeCard
• Sofort
• Rapid Transfer
• PayPal

Tickmill does not explicitly charge inactivity fees, but reserves the right to charge such fees if the broker believes an account is not being actively used.

Minimum Requirements

The minimum deposit requirement for IC Markets is $200 and there is no minimum withdrawal amount.

For Tickmill, the minimum deposit requirement is only $100 and a minimum of $25 is required for withdrawal from your account. To access the VIP Account with Tickmill, you need to have a minimum of $50,000 in your account to qualify.

Winner – Funding

The funding method you choose will depend on what is available and what suits you best. IC Markets and Tickmill both offer a competitive range of options when looking to fund your trading account. By covering all the popular methods, either broker would be a suitable choice. It is slightly cheaper to start with a Tickmill account than it is for IC Markets. However, the difference is negligible and IC Markets offers a far greater range of funding methods than Tickmill. Regarding fees, the brokers are quite similar.

Which Broker Has Better Customer Service and Support?

Contact Hours and Support Channels

IC Markets has a local support office based in Sydney, Australia. The customer service area can be contacted 24/5 and usually respond within 15 minutes. Complex issues may be resolved in a day through email, Skype, and phone. IC Markets also provides a live chat feature and a dedicated education centre for more information on general trading issues.

Tickmill has a head office in London, UK. The client support number is available Monday to Friday during the hours of 7:00 and 16:00 GMT. The response time is typically within 24 hours of the inquiry through the client support number or email. The broker also provides an inquiry submission section on the website and a live chat tool.

Resources and FAQ

Both brokers provide a range of useful tools and resources for clients, some of which are available to download and others require account registration.

IC Markets features:

• Blogs for fundamental and technical analysis
• Trading Central and other 3rd party content providers
• Economic calendar and MyFxBook news headlines
• ZuluTrade social copy trading compatibility
• FX Blue LLP advanced trading tools

Tickmill features:

• eBooks with a range of trading topics
• Videos and video tutorials for trading, analysis, and strategies
• Webinars and seminars with forex experts
• Infographics to visualize trading data, charts, and statistics

Winner – Customer Service and Support

IC Markets has more availability for contact than Tickmill and given the nature of forex trading, communication with the broker is vital. There are also more resources offered by IC Markets.