The rating, decomposed
InteractiveBrokers review
What produced InteractiveBrokers's rating - every factor, shown separately.
InteractiveBrokers sits below the standard we would recommend without reservation. Regulated by SEC, FCA, ASIC, and others, offering Trader Workstation (TWS), Client Portal, IBKR Mobile. What follows is drawn from the broker's own published material and covers the things that decide the account you end up with: who oversees them, what trading actually costs, and where the compromises sit.
Our rating
One rating, identical across our sites - only the way it is shown changes. It weighs regulation, trading costs, platform quality and how openly the broker publishes its terms.
What it costs to trade
- Spread from
- 0.1 pips
- Minimum deposit
- 0.0
A quoted spread from 0.1 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.
Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.
InteractiveBrokers lists a minimum deposit of 0.0. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.
Platforms
- Trading software
- Trader Workstation (TWS), Client Portal, IBKR Mobile
InteractiveBrokers offers Trader Workstation (TWS), Client Portal, IBKR Mobile. A proprietary platform can be excellent, but it means your setup does not transfer if you later change broker.
Leverage, markets and funding
- Maximum leverage
- 0.0763888888888889
- Markets
- Forex, stocks, options, futures, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies
- Funding
- Bank transfer
InteractiveBrokers covers forex, stocks, options, futures, bonds, etfs, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.
Funding options: bank transfer. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.
Regulation and safety
- Regulated by
- SEC, FCA, ASIC, and others
InteractiveBrokers holds tier-one authorisations from ASIC and FCA. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.
ASIC caps retail leverage at 1:30, requires negative balance protection, and obliges the broker to hold client money in a separate trust account.
The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Information is regularly updated. Last compiled from InteractiveBrokers's own website on 26 August 2026.