City Index vs Spreadex

City Index or Spreadex – which is better for UK traders 2025? Compare City Index and Spreadex in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.

City Index vs Spreadex Comparison Table 2025
City Index Spreadex
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4.4
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3.5
City Index is ranked #18 among CFD brokers. Spreadex is ranked #25 among CFD brokers.
Review
Review
Established in 1983 and now a part of the Nasdaq-listed StoneX Group, City Index is a renowned and award-winning broker specializing in forex, CFDs, and spread betting. Offering over 13,500 instruments, an evolving Web Trader platform, top-tier educational resources, and 24/5 customer support, City Index delivers a comprehensive trading experience. Spreadex is an FCA-regulated broker that offers spread betting opportunities on an impressive 10,000+ CFD instruments including 60 forex pairs. Traders can also take short-term positions on sporting events. The brand has been around for over 20 years and has won multiple awards.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Pros
  • City Index is regulated by top-tier authorities like the FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), and MAS (Singapore), while its ownership by StoneX Group Inc., a listed company, further reinforces its credibility.
  • City Index has made strides to enhance the trading experience, notably through its Performance Analytics in 2024 for insights into trades and discipline, plus an upgraded mobile app featuring in-built market research and news at a swipe.
  • City Index boasts 13,500+ markets spanning forex, indices, shares, commodities, bonds, ETFs, and interest rates, with the platform's inclusion of niche markets like interest rates offering unique trading avenues not always found elsewhere.
  • City Index provides versatile trading platforms for all skill levels. The intuitive Web Trader platform is ideal for beginners, while support for MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and TradingView adds robust analysis and automation features, ensuring a flexible experience for traders of all levels.
  • There's an excellent range of instruments and trading vehicles for short-term traders
  • Spreadex gives UK traders the opportunity to make tax-free profits through spread betting
  • A rare broker that provides access to lower market cap stocks traded on the AIM
  • There are some attractive new account promotions, including double the odds and matched betting offers
  • Traders have the opportunity to bet on sports events from their brokerage account
  • There's a good selection of signals, analysis tools and risk management tools, including guaranteed stops
  • The broker offers an easy-to-use proprietary charting platform and mobile app
Cons
  • While many brokers like eToro have expanded their crypto offerings, City Index only provides crypto CFDs, and the limited range may not satisfy traders looking for a broader selection of altcoins.
  • Unlike brokers such as AvaTrade and BlackBull, City Index does not provide passive investment opportunities like social copy trading, or real stock or ETF ownership, making it less appealing for hands-off trading.
  • City Index lacks an Islamic account with swap-free trading conditions, making the broker less appealing to Muslim traders compared to providers like Eightcap and Pepperstone.
  • The lack of a demo account will frustrate prospective clients who want to test Spreadex's services
  • The limited customer service can make it time-consuming to troubleshoot problems
  • The proprietary terminal lacks comprehensive charting features of platforms like MT4 and MT5
  • There's no support for expert advisors or other trading bots
  • No third-party e-wallets are accepted
Awards
  • Best CFD Provider 2024 - ADVFN International Financial Awards
  • Best Trading Platform 2022 - Online Money Awards
  • Best Spread Betting Provider - 2020 COLWMA Awards
  • Best Mobile Trading Platform - 2020 ADVFN Awards
  • Best Trading Alerts System - 2020 ADVFN Awards
  • Best Spread Betting Provider - 2019 GMG Awards
FCA Regulated
Yes Yes
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Crypto, Futures, Options, Bonds, Interest Rates,ETFs,Spread Betting Forex, CFDs, Indices, Commodities, Stocks, Crypto, Bonds, Interest Rates, ETFs, Options, Spread Betting
Demo Account
Yes No
Minimum Deposit
$0 £0
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots £0.01
Regulator
FCA, ASIC, CySEC, MAS FCA
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android iOS & Android
Trading App

The City Index app offers a user-friendly mobile trading experience with bespoke features like one-swipe trading. What’s also neat is the full-screen TradingView charts with 60+ technical indicators to plan your next move, while you can stay ahead with real-time price alerts and notifications. Additionally, Performance Analytics tools, added in 2024, provide insights into your trading metrics, helping you refine your trading strategies.

Spreadex delivers a first-rate mobile trading app on iOS and Android, featuring sophisticated charts with intervals from 1 tick to 1 month and 10+ years of historical data. Price alerts are also easy to set up using the bell icon next to each asset, ensuring you don’t miss opportunities. However, integration of features like the economic calendar and market updates could be improved, as they redirect you to an external browser, dampening the mobile trading experience.
iOS App Rating
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3.8
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4.5
Android App Rating
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3.1
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4.5
Margin Trading
No Yes
Margin Rate
2.5%
MetaTrader 4
Yes No
MetaTrader 5
No No
cTrader
No No
AlgoTrader
No No
OmniTrader
No No
TradingView
Yes Yes
Autochartist
No No
eSignal
No No
Trading Central
Yes No
STP Account
No No
ECN Account
No No
DMA Account
No No
MAM Account
No No
PAMM Account
No No
LAMM Account
No No
Demat Account
No No
AI / Machine Learning
Yes No
Robo Advisor
No No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes Yes
Market Maker
Yes No
P2P Trading
No No
Spot Trading
Yes Yes
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader No
Copy Trading
No No
Social Trading
No No
Trade Signals
SMART Signals
VPS Hosting
No No
Tournaments
No No
Demo Competitions
No No
Ethical Investing
Yes Yes
Custodial Account
No No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
Yes No
Inactivity Fee
£12 £0
Islamic Account
No No
Account Currencies
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • AUD
  • PLN
  • CZK
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • CHF
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Oil
  • Silver
  • Copper
  • Livestock
  • Platinum
  • Natural Gas
  • Soybeans
  • Nickel
  • Iron
  • Orange Juice
  • Cannabis
  • Palladium
  • Coffee
  • Cotton
  • Lean Hogs
  • Sugar
  • Wheat
  • Oil
  • Gold
  • Cocoa
  • Silver
  • Coffee
  • Copper
  • Cotton
  • Platinum
  • Natural Gas
CFD
City Index has one of the most extensive suite of CFDs we’ve seen, providing short-term trading opportunities on diverse assets, sectors and regions. Its ‘Trade Ideas’ also excel for active traders looking for information to inform decisions while the Web Trader boasts extensive charting capabilities with 90+ technical indicators. Trade CFDs on Spreadex's diverse list of instruments with leverage up to 1:30 and highly competitive spreads. While this broker's USP is spread betting, the excellent trading terms and range of markets makes it an equally good choice for CFD trading.
Leverage
1:30 1:30
FTSE Spread
1.0 1.0
GBPUSD Spread<
1.1 0.9
Oil Spread
1.5 2.8
Stocks Spread
Variable 0.15%
Forex
City Index is one of the most trusted forex brokers, providing an above-average selection of 80+ currency pairs alongside tight spreads from 0.7 pips, trading alerts, and terrific insights into FX markets, with 99.99% of trades successfully executed. Trade on 60+ forex pairs with no commission and competitively tight spreads from 0.6 on major pairs such as EUR/USD. This is a good selection of forex pairs and excellent pricing for commission-free trading, well below the industry average.
Assets
84 60+
GBPUSD Spread
1.1 0.9
EURUSD Spread
0.8 0.6
EURGBP Spread
1.0 0.9
Currency Indices
  • USD
Cryptocurrency
City Index offers a modest handful of crypto CFDs, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. But where it stands out is its in-house market insights and news coverage of major market moves, alongside its intuitive web platform. Spreadex offers spread betting on Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin and Ripple in pairs with USD, allowing traders to make leveraged bets on crypto price movements through a derivative contract without owning the digital assets.
Spread
0.5% (BTC) 1 - 140 pips
Coins
  • BTC
  • BCH
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • XRP
  • BCH
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • XRP
Crypto Lending
No No
Crypto Mining
No No
Crypto Staking
No No
Auto Market Maker
No No
City Index Spreadex
Review
Review
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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