Spreadex vs CMC Markets

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

Spreadex vs CMC Markets Comparison Table 2025
Spreadex CMC Markets
rating empty
rating full
3.5
rating empty
rating full
4.7
Spreadex is ranked #28 among CFD brokers. CMC Markets is ranked #3 among CFD brokers.
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. Established in 1989, CMC Markets is a respected broker listed on the London Stock Exchange and authorized by several tier-one regulators, including the FCA, ASIC and CIRO. More than 1 million traders from around the world have signed up with the multi-award winning brokerage.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Pros
  • 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
  • The CMC web platform delivers a fantastic user experience with advanced charting tools for trading and customizable features, catering to both beginners and experienced traders. MT4 (but not MT5) and TradingView (added in 2025) are also supported.
  • We've bumped up its 'Assets & Markets' rating after almost monthly product additions in early 2025, from extended hours trading on US stocks to new share CFDs.
  • CMC offers excellent pricing, including tight spreads and low trading fees for all but stock CFDs. The Alpha and Price+ schemes also offer perks for active traders with up to 40% discounts on spreads.
  • CMC Markets is heavily regulated by reputable financial authorities and maintains its stellar reputation, helping to ensure a secure and trustworthy trading environment.
  • The brokerage continues to stand out with its wide range of value-add resources, including pattern recognition scanners, webinars, tutorials, news feeds, and research from respected sources like Morningstar.
Cons
  • 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
  • Despite improvements, the web platform still requires enhancements to make it as intuitive to trade on as software from rivals like IG.
  • While CMC offers an above-average suite of assets, there is no support for trading real stocks and UK clients can’t trade cryptocurrencies.
  • Trading stock CFDs incurs a relatively high commission, especially compared to the cheapest brokers like IC Markets.
  • An inactivity fee of $10 per month is applied after 12 months of inactivity, which may deter casual investors.
  • The CMC Markets app offers the complete trading package but the design and user experience trails category leaders like eToro.
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
  • Best Trading App 2023 - DayTrading.com
  • No.1 Platform Technology 2022
  • No.1 New Tool 2022
  • No.1 Most Currency Pairs 2022
  • Best Trade Execution 2021
  • Best Forex Broker For Beginners 2021
  • Most Transparent Forex Broker Europe 2020
  • Best Trading Platform 2020
  • Best Trading App 2019
  • Best Customer Service 2018
FCA Regulated
Yes Yes
Instruments
Forex, CFDs, Indices, Commodities, Stocks, Crypto, Bonds, Interest Rates, ETFs, Options, Spread Betting CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Treasuries, Custom Indices, Spread Betting
Demo Account
No Yes
Minimum Deposit
£0 $0
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
£0.01 0.01 Lots
Regulator
FCA FCA, ASIC, MAS, CIRO, BaFin, FMA, DFSA
Mobile Apps
iOS & Android iOS & Android
Trading App

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.

The award-winning app from CMC Markets has transformed mobile trading. The app’s modern and customizable interface offers a unique user experience, distinct from competitors. Moreover, with its comprehensive charting capabilities featuring 25 technical indicators and 15 drawing tools, as well as its fast and stable trading environment, it’s an exceptional choice for traders.

iOS App Rating
rating empty
rating full
4.5
rating empty
rating full
4.1
Android App Rating
rating empty
rating full
4.5
rating empty
rating full
3.7
Margin Trading
Yes Yes
Margin Rate
1%
MetaTrader 4
No Yes
MetaTrader 5
No No
cTrader
No No
AlgoTrader
No No
OmniTrader
No No
TradingView
Yes Yes
Autochartist
No No
eSignal
No No
Trading Central
No 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
No No
Robo Advisor
No No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes Yes
Market Maker
No Yes
P2P Trading
No No
Spot Trading
Yes Yes
Auto Trading
No Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
Copy Trading
No No
Social Trading
No Yes
Trade Signals
Yes
VPS Hosting
No Yes
Tournaments
No No
Demo Competitions
No Yes
Ethical Investing
Yes No
Custodial Account
No No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No Yes
Inactivity Fee
£0 $10
Islamic Account
No Yes
Account Currencies
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • CHF
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • NZD
  • SEK
  • NOK
  • SGD
  • PLN
Commodities
  • Oil
  • Gold
  • Cocoa
  • Silver
  • Coffee
  • Copper
  • Cotton
  • Platinum
  • Natural Gas
  • Gold
  • Oil
  • Silver
  • Copper
  • Coffee
  • Wheat
  • Precious Metals
  • Natural Gas
  • Soybeans
  • Orange Juice
  • Nickel
  • Palladium
  • Steel
  • Cannabis
  • Platinum
  • Livestock
  • Sugar
  • Gasoline
CFD
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. CMC lets you trade CFDs on 12,000+ assets across currencies, indices, commodities, shares, ETFs and treasuries with new equities spanning quantum computing, AI learning, and digital car sales in 2025. Spreads are tight, there are no hidden fees and the industry-leading MetaTrader 4 platform is also supported for leveraged trading. Year after year, CMC shines as one of the best CFD brokers in the market.
Leverage
1:30 1:30 (Retail), 1:500 (Pro)
FTSE Spread
1.0 1 pt
GBPUSD Spread<
0.9 0.9
Oil Spread
2.8 3.5
Stocks Spread
0.15% 0.02
Forex
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. CMC presents an extensive array of 300+ forex pairs characterized by tight spreads and rapid executions, surpassing the offerings of many competitors in terms of currency diversity. Forex indices also present a fairly unique and holistic way to speculate on the value of key currencies like the USD, EUR and GBP.
Assets
60+ 300+
GBPUSD Spread
0.9 0.9
EURUSD Spread
0.6 0.7
EURGBP Spread
0.9 1.1
Currency Indices
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • JPY
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • NZD
  • CHF
Cryptocurrency
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. CMC Markets offers trading on popular digital tokens like Bitcoin but really stands out for its crypto indices that provide broader exposure to the cryptocurrency market. There is also minimal slippage and an excellent 99.9% fill rate, making CMC a great option for active crypto traders.
Spread
1 - 140 pips From 1.3
Coins
  • BCH
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • XRP
  • BTC
  • BCH
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • EOS
  • TRON
  • NEO
  • ADA
  • XLM
Crypto Lending
No No
Crypto Mining
No No
Crypto Staking
No No
Auto Market Maker
No No
Spreadex CMC Markets
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
More Comparisons
Spreadex
vs

CMC Markets
vs