What Are The Best Spread Betting Demo Accounts?

Pepperstone has become one of the top spread betting brokers since starting in 2021. It offers the best overall experience for spread betting demo accounts due to its aggressive pricing for popular currency pairings and emphasis on the MetaTrader platform. We concluded that Pepperstone provides the finest spread betting demo account overall due to its competitive pricing, quick execution times, wide choice of trading platforms, and solid selection of spread betting markets.

Since introducing spread betting in 2021, Pepperstone has risen to become one of the top spread betting brokers. Overall, it is our top pick for having the best spread betting demo account overall. This is largely because of the broker’s competitive pricing, particularly for major currency pairs and focus on its MetaTrader platform experience. Some of Pepperstone’s key advantages we’ve observed include:

• 1200 spread betting markets available
• Low minimum deposit
• Competitive pricing
• Great range of trading platforms
• Easy account opening

Fastest Execution Speed

The faster a broker can execute your trade, the lower the risk of slippage. For this reason, fast execution or low latency can help ensure you get the spread quoted. To find out which brokers have the fastest execution speed, Ross Collins tested 20 brokers using the Expert Advisors (EAs) on the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. Pepperstone finished top for ‘limit order speed’ with an average speed of 77ms and was among the 5 fastest for market orders.

Pepperstone Spread Betting Account

Pepperstone’s spread betting account is similar in pricing structure to its CFD Standard account offering, with a minimum spread of 0.7 pips and no commissions. This account uses a no-dealing desk model with STP (straight-through processing) pricing, much like Pepperstone’s Razor and Standard accounts.

You can spread bet on a good range of markets, including 62 forex pairs, shares, indices, commodities such as gold and ETFs. All markets must be bet on in GBP at a leverage of up to 30:1 for major forex pairs unless you are a pro client.

Opening a demo account requires no funds of your own, while for a live account, we recommend a minimum deposit of £200.

One of the reasons we recommend Pepperstone is for the competitive spreads across each asset. Pepperstone has spreads starting from 0.7 pips on the EURUSD (one of the lowest minimum spreads available), but this doesn’t mean you’ll always get the same spread every time. Below, we’ve used the average spread data from the top brokers that offer spread betting to give you an idea of the industry average spreads.

Although Pepperstone isn’t the lowest on average in the table above, it is still competitive compared to the rest of the brokers. However, we did notice on our own tests using MetaTrader 4 that the spreads were better than the average spread Pepperstone advertised, with EURUSD having a spread of 0.7 to 0.9 pips and GBPUSD being 1 to 1.2 pips during the London session.

Great Range of Spread Betting Platforms

Pepperstone customers have the choice between MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader to spread bet with, all great platforms in their own right. Overall, we scored Pepperstone a high 85/100 for its trading platforms.

What’s more, as a result of our execution speed test results, Pepperstone stacks up well as our third-fastest MetaTrader 4 broker overall.

Breaking each platform down, both MT4 and MT5 are fast and reliable platforms, with MT5 being a slight upgrade of MT4. MT5 allows you to trade the full range of Pepperstone’s products, particularly shares, and has more charting tools for technical analysis. MT4 is still a powerful platform for forex spread betting, while cTrader is known for depth of market and automated trading features.

MT4/MT5 platform features include:

• Multiple chart types, technical indicators, and timeframes
• Up to 6 order types
• Algorithmic trading with Expert Advisors (EAs)
• Smart Trader Tools
• Autochartist
• Capitalise.ai can be integrated with MT4

cTrader platform features include:

• Depth of Market visible
• Advanced risk management and order functionality
• cTrader Automate (algorithmic trading)
• Optimised EAs and charting indicators

MT4, MT5 and cTrader are available on all devices including desktop, web trader platforms or mobile spread betting apps on iOS and Android devices. Should you use MT4, you can automate your trading with Capitalise.ai.

Easy Account Opening

Opening a trading account should be a straightforward trading experience. To find out what the onboarding experience with Pepperstone was like, CompareForexBrokers had a go at opening a trading account. We did not find any fault with the process. We were able to easily open the account without the need to deposit any funds. We did, however, make a small deposit. The funding options included Visa/MasterCard using debit or credit, bank transfer, and PayPal.  We later withdrew the deposit with no issue since we didn’t make a trade. A nice bonus was being contacted via email by a dedicated account manager whose direct number we can call for any assistance.

When signing up, you will need to choose ‘Spread Betting’, not ‘Standard Account’ nor ‘Razor Account’.

Our Final Pepperstone Verdict

Overall, we determined Pepperstone offers the best spread betting demo account. This is due to a combination of competitive pricing, fast execution speeds, a great range of trading platforms, and a good selection of spread betting markets.

View Pepperstone ReviewVisit Pepperstone

*Your capital is at risk ‘75.6% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

CMC Markets has been offering financial spread betting since 2001 in addition to CFD and forex trading. With the greatest number of demo account users in the market, CMC Markets receives our vote. The Next Generation platform, which CMC Markets built internally, is a trading platform for spread betting.

Pioneering electronic trading during the early 1990’s, CMC Markets has provided financial spread betting since 2001, in addition to CFD and forex trading. As such, CMC Markets wins our vote with the most demo account traders in the market. A large reason behind this is its key features:

• 12,000+ markets available
• 330 currency pairs
• Top Next Generation (NGEN) trading platform
• Instant account approval
• Advanced trading technology

Spread Betting Account

CMC Markets offers a top demo account for spread betting, offering tight spreads and two excellent trading platforms to trade its extensive range of over 12,000 markets.

You’ll obtain competitive spreads with CMC Markets, including minimum spreads of 0.1 pts for shares and 0.59 pips for GBP/USD. These spreads are comparable to the best brokers on this list.

Once you open the account, you’ll have access to £10,000 in virtual funds, less than Pepperstone’s, but enough to practice trading with, in our view. While there is no expiry date with NextGen, your MT4 account will close after 30 days of inactivity, so be mindful of that.

An added bonus of CMC Markets’ demo account is that you’ll get instant approval with no credit card info required.

Powerful Spread Betting Platforms

CMC Markets offers its own in-house developed trading platform for spread betting, the Next Generation platform. Offering advanced technology for mobile and online trading, CMC Markets has 70% of spread bets going through mobile trading, per our research.

CMC Markets’ Next Generation platform is a top platform for spread betting due to its superior functionality and trading tools. Of these trading tools, we particularly like the client sentiment and pattern recognition market scanner, which helps the Next Generation platform stand out. Other key features are listed below:

• One-click trading
• Price alerts
• Advanced charting and chart forums
• Real-time news and economic calendar
• Risk Management tools (Including Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders)

These trading tools will help you develop spread betting strategies and manage the high risk of forex trading.

CMC’s Next Generation platform is available on all major devices.

CMC Markets Has Good Spreads, We Know Because We Tested

Ross Collins, our resident Forex expert at CompareForexBrokers, tested the spreads for no-commission trading for 20 brokers over a 1 day period. By testing 6 currency pairs (AUD/USD, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CAD, USD/CHF, and USD/JPY) over 24 hours and then averaging out the results, we hoped to get a fair reflection of the broker’s true cost.

Over this time CMC Market’s average spread was 1.11 pips which is akin to USD $10.10 per lot. The only broker to do better was IC Markets but they don’t offer spread betting.

Our Final CMC Markets Verdict

Overall, we like CMC Markets for its excellent spread betting platform, the NGEN, a wide range of over 12,000 markets, and advanced trading tools. This is why we think it is the most popular amongst demo account users, globally.

City Index offers spread betting on 12,000 markets, including roughly 84 currency pairs. The broker also offers great resources for post-bet analysis. City Index’s primary advantages include 8,500 trading marketplaces, affordable trading expenses, and a proprietary platform. The spread betting platform experience at City Index is generally favorable.

City Index allows spread betting from 12,000 markets including nearly 84 forex pairs. In addition to this, City Index has excellent tools for post-bet analysis. The key benefits of City Index include:

• 8,500 markets to trade
• Competitive trading costs
• Proprietary platform available

City Index’s Spread Betting Account

City Index’s spread betting account allows traders to bet on a wide range of 12,000 financial instruments at competitive prices. We rated City Index a 90/100 for range of markets, having one of the biggest product ranges in the industry. Other products available for trading include 4500+ shares, 25 cryptocurrencies, 30 commodities, 20 indices, and 11 bonds or treasuries.

Minimum spreads start as low as 0.08 pts for shares and 0.2 pips for forex, with leverage of up to 1:30 for major forex pairs. This is very competitive from our broker research, particularly for shares.

Should you decide on a live account, City Index doesn’t charge commissions when spread betting, but there are additional fees, including overnight financing and inactivity fees. We have listed these below:

• Overnight financing: LIBOR +/-2.5%
• Inactivity fee: £12 per month after 1 year of inactivity
• Guaranteed Orders

When using a guaranteed stop-loss order, you pay a small premium on top of your spread. Doing this allows you to protect yourself from losing more than you are prepared to.

One feature worth noting is that at certain periods of the day, City Index spreads are fixed. This is only available with selected instruments but could make City Index appealing to scalpers.

City Index Trading Platforms

City Index offers its own in-house trading platform for spread betting. The more popular MT4 is not available.

City Index’s proprietary online trading platform is offered via web trader and mobile app. Although the web trader platform lacks MT4’s Expert Advisor range and some advanced technical analysis tools, the platform offers its own trading tools, including:

• One-click trading
• Advanced charting features
• Risk management tools (including GSLOs)
• Real-time Reuters news and market analysis
• An Economic calendar

City Index’s mobile app doesn’t have all of the web trader features listed above, but it is a fully functional and customisable app. The top features of the mobile app include 60 built-in technical indicators, multiple timeframes, and advanced order types such as GSLOs. We also like the live chat function in the City Index mobile app, which is a helpful customer support feature.

Our Final City Index Verdict

To summarise, City Index offers a good overall spread betting platform experience. The broker also offers competitive spreads, a huge range of markets to trade, and some decent trading tools to help improve your spread betting trading strategy.

*Your capital is at risk ‘70% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

OANDA’s Demo Account Never Expires

If you are looking for a demo trading account that won’t reset after 30 days, OANDA offers an unlimited demo account with three trading platforms. This is ideal for traders who like to track their performance and test different strategies in a risk-free environment.

Unlimited Demo Accounts on Three Trading Platforms

OANDA’s demo accounts have no expiration, which gives you unlimited use of a demo account (even if you don’t have a live trading account with them), which is generous. Most brokers allow you to use the demo account for 30 days before the account gets closed automatically.

All demo accounts include £100,000 in virtual trading funds, which should be enough to get you started. What we liked is that OANDA has an option to deposit more virtual funds into your account, so you don’t have to open up a new demo trading account should your funds reach zero. This also has the added benefit of giving you a risk-free tutorial on how to deposit real funds to your live account when you open a live trading account with OANDA.

With OANDA, you can access three different trading platforms with unique features depending on your trade preference. You can use the demo account with the OANDA Trade platform, which is OANDA’s standard platform with a simple interface powered by TradingView charts. Then you also have the choice of MetaTrader 4, a popular platform for scalpers, thanks to its one-click trading features. Finally, you can demo the TradingView platform, which is ideal for price action traders who can utilise its pattern recognition screening tools.

We recommend beginner traders choose the OANDA account, which is the easiest to use. We discuss trading platforms more on our best spread betting brokers for beginners page.

Our Verdict on OANDA

The demo account provided is an excellent option for you, mainly because the account never expires and allows you to trade with a good selection of trading platforms. As a broker, OANDA provides a decent range of forex pairs and has competitive rates should you open a live account with them.

IG Group has a Choice of Automated Trading Platforms

IG is ideal if you want access to automated trading tools with your demo account. IG’s trading platforms boast trading tools to help automate your trade ideas (IG Platform and ProRealTime) and automate your trades with Expert Advisors (MT4).

IG has a Versatile Range of Trading Platforms

IG provides a demo account that remains active if you place one trade once a month. Unfortunately, IG will deactivate the demo account if the account is inactive for 30 days. This means you could lose all of the trading data you’ve accumulated on the demo account if you forget to trade on it.

The demo account comes with £10,000 in virtual funds, which is relatively low for a demo account. Fortunately, you can add new virtual funds up to £10,000,000 – more than enough to test out the demo account and different strategies.

You can use the demo account for all of the platforms offered by IG, including the IG platform that provides a clean interface, access to all of the 17,000+ trading products available, and their signal centre that provides trading analysis of the markets throughout the day. Or you could use the MetaTrader 4 platform, which is ideal if you want to automate your trades with Expert Advisors.

Then there is ProRealTime, which is a platform not offered by many brokers, but you can test it out for free with IG. ProRealTime focuses heavily on technical analysis through its built-in automated trading tools, such as the automated support and resistance levels and channels/trend lines, which draw support and resistances on major and minor price levels, making it an ideal choice for price action traders.

Our Verdict on IG

IG is a top broker for spread betting thanks to its range of markets and trading platforms, IG offers something for every trader. A particular highlight for us is that IG offers two platforms that provide decent automated trading solutions, so if automated trading is important to you, then you should open a demo account with IG.

Admirals has Premium MT4 Plugins to enhance the platform

Admirals is a specialist MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 broker, meaning it only provides demo accounts through these platforms. Being a specialist has allowed Admirals to offer a Supreme Edition of MetaTrader 4 and 5, which includes a range of new and improved features that will benefit price action traders, particularly with its improved indicators and drawing tools.

Demo Accounts with MetaTrader 4

You can use the MetaTrader Supreme Edition trading platforms on the demo account if you want access to Admirals’ enhanced version of MetaTrader. The Supreme Edition includes 10+ new technical indicators and 15+ new EAs to help manage the trading terminal. These EAs are helpful if you want more control over your trading. For example, an improved and more user-friendly trading simulator is available through the Supreme Edition, making it easier to test your trading strategies.

With the demo accounts, you can deposit virtual funds from £500 to £50,000, which we think is a good feature because it allows you to deposit virtual funds that are realistic to what you may use to trade with on your live account.

Admirals have put a limit on the demo accounts to expire after 30 days of trading, which should give you plenty of time to get used to the broker and the platform. If you want the demo account to remain active, Admirals told us you would need a live trading account with them to get a non-expiring demo account.

Our Verdict on Admirals

We chose Admirals as the best demo trading account with MetaTrader 4 (and MetaTrader 5) as we like the extra tools offered to enhance the MetaTrader 4 experience. Making it more intuitive and helping you take more control over the platform.