The 8 Best Brokers and Platforms For CFD Trading in 2024

Last Updated: Sep 25, 2024

Investor

We mention products and services that we think can be helpful for our users. Some or all of them may be from partners who compensate us. This can influence which topics we choose and how products are presented on the page, but it does not affect our opinions or conclusions.

Here's a shocking stat: 75–80% of CFD traders lose money over the course of a year.

CFDs, or Contracts for Difference, are financial derivatives that allow traders to speculate on the price movement of assets without actually owning the underlying asset itself. They use leverage, are speculative in nature, and are highly volatile.

Not only is it difficult to make money on the contracts themselves — the high spreads and trading fees charged by many CFD brokers cut into traders' profits even further.

While the odds won't ever be in your favor, choosing the right platform for trading CFDs — one that is well-regulated and charges low fees — is a great first step.

How to choose the right platform

There are a number of factors to consider before deciding on the best CFD broker for you, such as:

Fees charged
Range of tradable assets
Broker reputation
UX and UI
Other features available

Before diving into this list, you should have an idea of your trading goals and what's important to you in a brokerage.

I've ranked them based on what I think is most important for most traders, but there may be certain things that are larger priorities for you (for example, having a mobile app or certain charting tools, the minimum deposits required, etc.).

Keep those things in mind as you go through this list.

Note: CFD trading is not legal in the U.S.

The 8 Best Brokers for CFD Trading in 2024

1. eToro: The best platform overall

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Fairly low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

eToro is a global trading platform known for its user-friendly interface and features. You can invest in stocks, indexes, ETFs, currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, all in one place.

For these reasons, there are over 35 million investors and traders on eToro.

eToro's CFD trading experience is similarly straightforward, both from its website and mobile app, and it allows CFD trading on every asset it offers (more than 6,000).

This includes 5,557 stocks, 680 ETFs, 35 commodities, 55 currencies, 18 indices, and 98 cryptocurrencies.

In addition to its spreads, eToro also charges small overnight fees on CFD positions (as does every other broker on this list) which vary by the asset held.

One of my favorite features on eToro is its Demo Account, which is a virtual portfolio where you can test strategies and practice executing orders.

This makes eToro a particularly good option for beginners or anybody else who wants to try trading CFDs but doesn't want to risk their own money.

A downside to eToro is that all account balances are held in USD, so if you're depositing money from another currency, you'll have to pay a small fee on the exchange of each transfer (and the same for withdrawals).

Pros	Cons
User-friendly platform	All accounts are held in USD
Over 6,000 tradable assets	$5 withdrawal fee
Fairly low CFD fees and transparent fee structure
Practice trading with Demo Accounts
Well-regulated

Try eToro

51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford the high risk of losing your money before investing with these products.

2. Plus500: Second-best overall

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Fairly low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

Plus500 is another extremely popular platform for CFDs. It's used by over 26 million traders from around the world.

On Plus500, traders can access more than 2,800 of the most popular CFD instruments. Its CFD products span stocks, ETFs, indices, currencies, options, crypto, and commodities.

Its trading dashboard has tools for charting and setting entry/exit points. Additionally, its +Insights feature shows you millions of traders' activity in real-time, so you can see which side of each trade the majority of traders have taken at any time.

The entire site — including the user interface, trading platforms, and fees — is transparent and straightforward.

Plus500 does not charge fees on deposits, real-time quotes, or rolling positions, and it doesn't charge commissions on opening or closing trades. Its only fees are on spreads, overnight financing, currency conversions, and inactivity.

The platform holds 13 brokerage licenses, which are accepted in 65 countries including the U.K., Australia, Singapore, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, UAE, Italy, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and more.

Pros	Cons
Good all-around broker	Not the best at any one thing
Over 2,800 tradable CFDs	$100 minimum deposit
Competitive pricing

Try Plus500

82% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Plus500CY Ltd authorized & regulated by CySEC (#250/14).

3. Interactive Brokers: The best brokerage for advanced traders

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is one of the most popular brokerages for advanced traders of all types. Its speed, trading platform, and low commissions across multiple assets make it popular among stock, option, commodity, forex, and CFD traders alike.

The platform boasts over 8,500 tradable CFDs, the vast majority of which (8,000) are on stocks. CFD traders can also open contracts on ETFs, indexes, currencies, and some commodities (only gold and silver).

The platform charges very low fees — among the lowest you'll find.

IBKR is a U.S.-based brokerage and, as such, is heavily regulated by the SEC and Finra. Like eToro, it has a well-built mobile app, though it's significantly more robust.

However, if you're a beginner trader, all of IBKR's capabilities can make for a cumbersome experience. Experienced traders will get the most out of the platform.

Pros	Cons
Over 8,500 tradable assets	Trading platform can be overwhelming
Powerful trading platform	Limited CFDs on commodities
Low CFD fees	No CFDs on cryptocurrencies
Paper trading
Well-regulated, U.S.-based brokerage

Try IBKR

4. FOREX.com: The best brokerage for forex traders

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

FOREX.com is a popular brokerage for a number of traders with, as its name suggests, a special emphasis on forex.

The platform's design is a blend of powerful features (such as charting and advanced order tickets) while still being a bit more intuitive than IBKR. If IBKR is slightly too overwhelming for you, FOREX.com may be the perfect fit.

Regarding CFD products, the platform offers stocks, ETFs, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies alongside its forex offering. In all, there are 5,500 tradable CFDs.

In addition to its web platform, FOREX.com also offers a well-made mobile app and an integration with TradingView, which allows users to trade directly from the charting platform.

It's a well-respected, U.S.-based brokerage that holds multiple hard-to-earn securities licenses from around the world, including top licenses from the FCA in the U.K. and the NFA in the U.S.

Pros	Cons
Over 80 FX pairs	Trading platform simpler than IBKR, but still not great for beginners
Over 5,500 tradable assets	$100 minimum deposit
Low, transparent fees
Great reputation, 20+ years in business

Try FOREX.com

5. IG: Solid, all-around CFD platform

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Fairly low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

IG is another good overall option for beginner-to-advanced CFD traders.

While I wouldn't call it the best at any one thing, the platform boasts a wide range of CFD products, a good user interface, and relatively low pricing.

There are 19,500 CFD products available on IG, good for the second most on this list.

Note: While it's nice to have this many tradable securities, the vast majority of traders only trade a select handful of the most common.

IG also encourages all new CFD traders to practice on their demo account and has several blanket disclaimers about the risks of trading these products.

This adds to the platform's brand quality and reputation, and is part of the reason it's used by over 313,000 CFD traders.

Pros	Cons
Over 19,500 tradable assets	Not the best at any one thing
Competitive pricing	$250 minimum deposit
Frequent sign-up bonuses

Try IG

6. Saxo: Best for accessing 70,000+ financial instruments

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

In addition to being a well-respected traditional brokerage, Saxo offers the most financial instruments of any brokerage on this list — more than 70,000 in total. 8,800 of these are CFDs.

It offers CFDs on stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities, and bonds. This range of products also comes with sophisticated charting and research tools.

Additionally, Saxo's simple user interface, transparent pricing, and comprehensive risk management tools make it a solid choice among beginner-to-intermediate investors.

Of note, Saxo's website mentions that 1,200,000 investors use the platform.

Saxo has more “exotic” CFDs than the other brokerages on this list. These assets have less volume and, therefore, come with higher spreads. You should be especially aware of the extra costs involved with trading these contracts.

Pros	Cons
Over 70,000 tradable assets	No currency or crypto CFDs
Tight spreads
Simple user interface

Try Saxo

7. XTB Brokers: The best for European forex traders

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Fairly low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

XTB Brokers is a Poland-based CFD brokerage that is best suited for European forex traders. If you fall into this category, you'll have a hard time finding a better brokerage.

On it, you can trade over 5,800 CFDs, including 5,700 stocks and ETFs, 32 indexes, 71 currency pairs, 27 commodities, and 40 cryptocurrencies.

XTB's forex spreads are not substantially lower than most other brokerages, but the platform does not charge commission fees — the spread is the only cost. This results in lower total fees than most other brokers.

While XTB does offer negative balance protection to protect you from an overleveraged position, it does not offer guaranteed stop losses. This is something to be aware of if you do choose XTB.

Pros	Cons
No commissions on CFDs; spreads are only fees	No guaranteed stop-loss protection
Large range of currencies (71) to trade	Not the best platform for anything other than forex
Among the lowest forex spreads
No account opening, maintenance, deposit, or withdrawal fees (for $100+ withdrawals)

Try XTB

8. Oanda: The best for algorithmic traders

Overall rating:
Spreads/fees: Low
Platforms: Web, iOS, Android

Oanda is a U.S.-based brokerage with a number of sophisticated features and research tools, including APIs. It's also well-known for its competitive pricing — which is great for high-volume traders — and no minimum deposit.

The platform offers trading on over 70 forex pairs, major global indices, commodities, and stocks. However, stock CFDs are only available to traders in the European Union.

Oanda is also popular for its prop trading, which are pay-to-play virtual trading challenges where traders are given the opportunity to trade with virtual cash but earn real money.

Prop trading challenges are incredibly hard to pass, but can be a valuable way to practice trading with real stakes and limited downside.

Pros	Cons
Ready-to-use APIs for algo traders	Stock CFDs are not available outside of the E.U.
Tight CFD spreads	Limited number of tradable assets
Fast and easy account opening
Prop trading

Try Oanda

Features comparison

Platform	Our rating	Tradable CFDs	Fees	Overnight fees	Highly regulated
eToro*		6,000+	Fairly low	Yes	Yes
Plus500**		2,800+	Fairly low	Yes	Yes
IBKR		8,500+	Low	Yes	Yes
FOREX.com		5,500+	Low	Yes	Yes
IG		19,500+	Fairly low	Yes	Yes
Saxo		70,000+	Low	Yes	Yes
XTB		5,800+	Fairly low	Yes	Yes
Oanda		1,500+	Low	Yes	Yes

*51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford the high risk of losing your money before investing with these products.

**82% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

What is a CFD?

A CFD, or Contract for Difference, is a derivative that allows a trader to speculate on the direction of an underlying asset without owning the asset itself.

A CFD is made between a trader and their broker to measure the difference between the value of an asset when a position is opened and when it is closed.

At its core, it's just a piece of paper (as is the case for all derivatives).

Here are a few key features of CFDs:

Leverage: CFDs are traded on margin, which allows traders to invest only a small percentage of the trade's total value. This amplifies both gains and losses.
Long and short: Traders can place trades and profit from the asset rising (going long) or falling (going short).
No asset ownership: CFD traders own a contract, not the underlying asset (the stock, ETF, or currency, for example) itself.
Wide range of markets: CFDs can be traded on stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities, currency pairs, and cryptocurrencies.
No expiry date: Unlike options, CFDs can be held indefinitely, though they're subject to overnight financing charges.
Fees: CFDs are expensive to trade, with most brokerages charging some combination of spreads, financing charges, commissions, and account fees.

For these reasons, CFDs are highly speculative in nature, exceptionally volatile, and expensive to trade. Be sure to understand all of the risks and costs involved before you start trading these derivatives.

Example of a CFD trade

Everything here has been theoretical so far. To make sure we're on the same page, let's put it all together to see how a CFD functions in an actual trade.

Let's say Apple (AAPL) stock is trading at $200 per share and you expect it to go higher.

You buy a CFD on Apple stock with a position size of 100 shares. Your broker offers 10:1 leverage, which means you only need the cash for 10% of the position (the other 90% will be lent to you via margin).

Position size: 100 shares x $200 per share = $20,000
Your investment: 10% x $20,000 = $2,000
Margin: 90% x $20,000 = $18,000

If Apple's stock goes up by $10, you will earn a profit of $1,000 (100 shares x $10 per share). If its price falls by $10, you will lose $1,000.

Now let's calculate the costs involved with this trade.

Spread: Your brokerage charges a spread of 0.15%, which on a $20,000 position size comes out to $30 ($20,000 x 0.15%).
Overnight financing: Your broker also charges a 0.1% overnight financing charge per day. If you held the position for one week, the cost would be $126 ($18,000 x 0.1% x 7 days).

Including the fees, if the stock went up $10, your net profit would be $1,000 - $156 = $844. If the stock fell by $10, your net loss would be -$1,000 - $126 = -$1,126.

While CFDs make it easy to speculate and have the potential to generate very large ROIs, this example shows how much fees cut into profits and exacerbate losses and why so few traders make money trading these instruments.

Final verdict

As mentioned in the introduction, there are a few key features that will help you decide between brokerages. In my opinion, here are the most important ones: