Eightcap vs Interactive Brokers

Eightcap or Interactive Brokers – which is better for UK traders 2025? Compare Eightcap and Interactive Brokers in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.

Eightcap vs Interactive Brokers Comparison Table 2025
Eightcap Interactive Brokers
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4.6
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4.3
Eightcap is ranked #8 among CFD brokers. Interactive Brokers is ranked #35 among CFD brokers.
Eightcap is an award-winning, FCA-regulated broker offering industry-low trading fees. They are also the highest-rated brand by TradingView’s 50 million-strong users, who can trade directly on the platform. UK traders can sign up for a live account with an accessible £100 minimum deposit. Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is a premier brokerage, providing access to 150 markets in 33 countries, along with a suite of comprehensive investment services. With over 40 years of experience, this Nasdaq-listed firm adheres to stringent regulations by the SEC, FCA, CIRO, and SFC, amongst others, and is one of the most trusted brokers for trading around the globe.
Pros
  • Having excelled across all key areas for traders, Eightcap outperformed every competitor to win our 'Best Overall Broker' award for 2024, also securing our 'Best Crypto Broker' title.
  • With tight spreads from 0 pips, low commission fees, and high leverage up to 1:500 for certain clients, Eightcap provides cost-effective and flexible trading conditions that can accommodate an array of strategies, including trading and scalping.
  • After bolstering its roster in 2021, Eightcap offers one of the most extensive selections of cryptocurrency CFDs in the market, with crypto/fiat pairs, crypto/crypto pairs, plus crypto indices for broader exposure to the market.
  • Eightcap stands out with a selection of powerful trading tools and resources, including MT4 and MT5, the innovative algorithmic trading platform Capitalise.ai, and more recently the 50-million strong social trading network TradingView.
  • IBKR is one of the most respected and trusted brokerages and is regulated by top-tier authorities, so you can have confidence in the integrity and security of your trading account.
  • The TWS platform has clearly been built for intermediate and advanced traders and comes with over 100 order types and a reliable real-time market data feed that rarely goes offline.
  • The new IBKR Desktop platform takes the best of TWS while adding bespoke tools like Option Lattice and Screeners with MultiSort to create a genuinely impressive trading experience for traders at every level.
  • There's a vast library of free or paid third-party research subscriptions catering to all types of traders, plus you can enjoy commission reimbursements from IBKR if you subscribe to Toggle AI.
  • IBKR continues to deliver unmatched access to global stocks with tens of thousands of equities available from 100+ market centres in 24 countries, most recently the Saudi Stock Exchange.
  • While primarily geared towards experienced traders, IBKR has made moves to broaden its appeal in recent years, reducing its minimum deposit from $10,000 to $0.
  • With low commissions, tight spreads and a transparent fee structure, IBKR delivers a cost-effective environment for short-term traders.
Cons
  • In spite of an increasing variety of tools, Eightcap doesn't offer industry favorites like Autochartist or Trading Central, which offer cutting-edge charting analytics, live news, and market insights for short-term traders.
  • Eightcap needs to continue bolstering its suite of instruments to match category leaders like Blackbull Markets with its 26,000+ assets, featuring a particularly weak selection of commodities.
  • The demo account expires after 30 days and can only be extended upon request - a notable inconvenience compared to the likes of XM with its unlimited demo mode.
  • Despite a useful library of educational guides and e-books in Labs, Eightcap still trails IG’s comprehensive toolkit for aspiring traders with its dedicated IG Academy app and 18 course categories.
  • TWS’s learning curve is steep, and beginners may find it challenging to navigate the platform and understand all the features. Plus500's web platform is much better suited to new traders.
  • IBKR provides a wide range of research tools, but their distribution across trading platforms and the web-based 'Account Management' page lacks consistency, leading to a confusing user experience.
  • Support can be slow and frustrating based on tests, so you might find it challenging to reach customer service representatives promptly or encounter delays in resolving issues.
  • You can only have one active session per account, so you can’t have your desktop program and mobile app running simultaneously, making for a sometimes frustrating trading experience.
Awards
  • Best Overall Broker 2024 - DayTrading.com
  • Best Cryptocurrency Broker 2024 - DayTrading.com
  • Best Forex Broker 2023 - DayTrading.com
  • Best Cryptocurrency Broker 2023 - DayTrading.com
  • Best MT4/MT5 Broker 2022 - DayTrading.com
FCA Regulated
Yes Yes
Instruments
CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities Stocks, Options, Futures, Forex, Funds, Bonds, ETFs, Mutual Funds, CFDs, Cryptocurrencies
Demo Account
Yes Yes
Minimum Deposit
£100 $0
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
0.01 Lots $100
Regulator
ASIC, FCA, CySEC, SCB FCA, SEC, FINRA, CFTC, CBI, CIRO, SFC, MAS, MNB, FINMA, AFM
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android iOS & Android
Trading App

Eightcap supports the MT4, MT5 and TradingView apps (the only FCA regulated broker offering TradingView), catering to mobile traders looking for advanced charting tools. While we don’t love the increasingly outdated design of the MetaTrader suite, its dozens of technical indicators and drawing tools, multiple charting styles, and straightforward overlays in horizontal mode are excellent. The push notifications and active social network on the TradingView app are also valuable additions for aspiring traders and Eightcap has published helpful videos on connecting TradingView accounts to iOS and Android devices.

The IBKR Mobile app, available on both iOS and Android devices, makes your phone a powerful gateway to your IBKR accounts, offering you the freedom to keep an eye on portfolios, initiate trades, and dive into real-time quotes and charts, all while managing your account activities on the fly. This app stands out for its intuitive design, making it especially welcoming for those just starting their trading journey, providing a smoother and more accessible experience than the more complex TWS platform.

iOS App Rating
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4.8
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4.3
Android App Rating
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4.4
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4.5
Margin Trading
Yes Yes
Margin Rate
1.55 - 2.59%
MetaTrader 4
No No
MetaTrader 5
Yes No
cTrader
No No
AlgoTrader
No Yes
OmniTrader
No Yes
TradingView
Yes Yes
Autochartist
No No
eSignal
No Yes
Trading Central
No Yes
STP Account
No Yes
ECN Account
Yes No
DMA Account
No Yes
MAM Account
Yes Yes
PAMM Account
No No
LAMM Account
No No
Demat Account
No No
AI / Machine Learning
No Yes
Robo Advisor
No Yes
Negative Balance Protection
Yes Yes
Market Maker
No No
P2P Trading
No No
Spot Trading
Yes Yes
Auto Trading
TradingView Bots Capitalise.ai & TWS API
Copy Trading
No No
Social Trading
Yes No
Trade Signals
Yes
VPS Hosting
Yes No
Tournaments
No No
Demo Competitions
No No
Ethical Investing
No Yes
Custodial Account
No No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No No
Inactivity Fee
$0 $0
Islamic Account
Yes No
Account Currencies
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • NZD
  • SGD
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • INR
  • JPY
  • SEK
  • NOK
  • DKK
  • CHF
  • AED
  • HUF
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Oil
  • Palladium
  • Zinc
  • Nickel
  • Platinum
  • Gold
  • Zinc
  • Aluminium
  • Natural Gas
  • Soybeans
  • Lead
  • Precious Metals
  • Lean Hogs
CFD
Eightcap offers a wide range of trading options with 800+ CFDs across stocks, indices, bonds, commodities, and cryptocurrencies (depending on location), with leverage up to 1:30/1:500. It excels in its tools, notably the AI-enabled economic calendar covering 25+ countries with impact filters (high, medium, low). However, its commodities offering, particularly in softs like cotton and wheat, as well as the limited precious metal and energy assets, is its weakest area. Over 8,000 CFDs are offered on a vast array of instruments, encompassing stocks, indices, forex, and commodities. Moreover, the TWS platform lends itself to seasoned traders, offering a comprehensive selection of over 100 order types and algorithms, alongside premium market data sourced from reputable sources such as Reuters and Dow Jones.
Leverage
1:30 1:50
FTSE Spread
1.2 0.005% (£1 Min)
GBPUSD Spread<
0.1 0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
Oil Spread
0.03 0.25-0.85
Stocks Spread
0.03 (Apple Inc) 0.003
Forex
Eightcap offers 50+ currency pairs in line with the industry average but trailing category leaders like CMC Markets with its 300+ currency pairs. However, Eightcap stands out with institutional-level spreads from 0.0 pips on major pairs like the EUR/USD, alongside low $3.50/side commissions. The broker also offers rich forex data to inform trading decisions, including key fundamentals, bullish/bearish indicators and a calendar that tracks key events in the foreign exchange market. IBKR presents an extensive range of over 100 major, minor, and exotic forex pairs, surpassing the offerings of nearly all leading alternatives, though not CMC Markets. Forex trading occurs over multiple platforms and boasts institutional-grade spreads starting from 0.1 pips and 20 complex order types, including brackets, scale, and one-cancels-all (OCA) orders.
Assets
50+ 100+
GBPUSD Spread
0.1 0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
EURUSD Spread
0.0 0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
EURGBP Spread
0.1 0.08-0.20 bps x trade value
Currency Indices
  • USD
Cryptocurrency
Eightcap’s crypto offering is best-in-class with 120+ crypto derivatives, surpassing that of almost every alternative. Testing also reveals Bitcoin spreads of 12 pips, coming in lower than most competitors. Add in convenient deposits and withdrawals in digital currencies, and Eightcap offers the complete package for serious crypto traders. IBKR lets you purchase and hold Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin at competitive commission rates and without needing a crypto wallet. Additionally, there is a range of other diverse assets to explore, such as crypto indices like the NYSE Bitcoin Index, as well as futures contracts like the BAKKT Bitcoin Futures.
Spread
$12 (BTC) 0.12%-0.18%
Coins
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • BCH
  • XRP
  • XMR
  • DSH
  • EOS
  • XLM
  • ADA
  • TRX
  • DOGE
  • BNB
  • DOT
  • MATIC
  • VET
  • AXS
  • NEO
  • SOL
  • UNI
  • AAVE
  • KSM
  • THETA
  • CAKE
  • SUSHI
  • ATOM
  • XTZ
  • SNX
  • COMP
  • FLOW
  • EGLD
  • PUNDIX
  • RAY
  • ZIL
  • QTUM
  • BAND
  • OMG
  • FIDA
  • BADGER
  • NEAR
  • ONT
  • KNC
  • SHIB
  • MTL
  • CLV
  • BAT
  • XEM
  • STMX
  • CHR
  • WAVES
  • FTM
  • AUDIO
  • TOMO
  • MRK
  • GRT
  • ENJ
  • CRV
  • RUNE
  • DAWN
  • DODO
  • HOT
  • ZEC
  • 1INCH
  • HBAR
  • AVAX
  • PROM
  • ALPHA
  • LINA
  • CEL
  • SXP
  • SAND
  • CREAM
  • ICP
  • FIL
  • PAXG
  • DENT
  • REN
  • REEF
  • LRC
  • PERP
  • STORJ
  • IOTA
  • ALCX
  • ALGO
  • LINK
  • MANA
  • BTC
  • LTC
  • ETH
  • XRP
Crypto Lending
No No
Crypto Mining
No No
Crypto Staking
No No
Auto Market Maker
No No
Eightcap Interactive Brokers
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