IC Markets review
Brokeli may receive compensation from some brokers. Partnerships never change our ratings, comparisons, or toplist order.
Key Broker Facts
- Regulation
- ASIC · CySEC · FSA
- Minimum deposit
- $200
- EUR/USD spread
- 0 pips
- Max leverage
- 1:500
- Platforms
- MT4 · MT5 · cTrader
- Founded
- 2008
- Negative balance protection
- Yes
- Lot Commission
- $3.5
Brokeli Executive Verdict
IC Markets suits traders who prioritize Low spreads & algo trading.
Pros
- Tight spreads from 0.0 pips
- Multiple recognized regulators
- Strong fit for Low spreads & algo trading
Cons
- Availability varies by country
- Products depend on legal entity
IC Markets at a glance
IC Markets has been in the market since 2008, a track record of about 18 years. In this review we look at how the broker performs on the data we have verified: cost, safety, platforms, conditions and service.
On regulation, IC Markets holds licences from CySEC, ASIC, and FSA, and at least one of them belongs to the group of regulators we classify as tier 1. That is a meaningful positive for client protection, but the protections you actually receive depend on the entity that serves your country.
A typical EUR/USD spread for IC Markets is not part of the published snapshot yet, so we do not rank its trading costs and recommend reading the contract specifications for your account.
For trading tools, the verified platform list for IC Markets includes MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader.
In our country checks, the number of countries where IC Markets accepts new clients is 14, and 14 of them are among our 15 priority markets.
Overall, IC Markets earns 4.5 out of 5 from Brokeli. Its strongest scored area is Safety and its weakest is Trading conditions, which is a useful guide to where it leads and where you should look closer.
What our experts say about IC Markets
Three members of the Brokeli editorial panel comment on the published data for IC Markets. They interpret the numbers; they do not add new ones.
There is no published average spread for IC Markets yet, so I would not judge its costs until real quotes are checked.
Daniel compares spreads, commissions and financing across brokers and checks every cost claim against contract specifications.
Multiple licences from CySEC, ASIC, and FSA make IC Markets one of the better-supervised options, provided you are onboarded to the right entity.
Priya reads regulator registers and legal documents, and checks which entity actually serves clients in each country.
Professional-grade terminals in the platform list (MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader) make IC Markets workable for serious charting and automation.
Marcus tests trading terminals, mobile apps and charting tools for stability, order types and day-to-day usability.
Expert commentary is the Brokeli editorial team's interpretation of published research data. It is not investment advice and never changes a rating or toplist position.
Who is IC Markets best for?
A regulated broker with an accessible entry point; a good place to learn with small positions.
Reasonable for active trading, but compare costs or tools with the strongest alternatives.
Automation looks possible, but verify platform support and execution before running Expert Advisors live.
A moderate entry point; fine unless you are testing with very little capital.
Fees & Trading Costs
All spread and commission figures are verified against published contract specifications.
Benchmark Spreads on Major Pairs
| Instrument | Typical Spread | Lot Commission |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0 pips | $3.5 |
Cost analysis
The published snapshot does not yet include a typical EUR/USD spread or commission for IC Markets. We therefore do not score trading costs on assumptions; please check the broker's contract specifications.
Inactivity: the snapshot lists no inactivity fee for IC Markets, and we do not assume one either way. Confirm in the fee schedule if you plan to trade rarely.
Spread and commission are only part of what you pay. Before you commit, review these cost points at IC Markets:
Where trading costs usually hide
- Overnight swaps: positions held past the daily rollover pay or earn financing, and long holds can cost more than the spread.
- Currency conversion: funding or withdrawing in a currency other than your account currency often carries a markup.
- Withdrawal and payment fees: some methods are free, others carry a flat fee or intermediary bank charges.
- Inactivity fees: some brokers charge accounts that stay idle for a long period.
- Platform and data fees: market data, VPS hosting and premium tools can be billed separately.
Without a published spread I cannot place the cost level of IC Markets. Ask for the live spread on your pair, and if the broker is vague, treat that as information.
Always compare on the same pair, the same size and the same hours. A cheap quote at a quiet hour tells you little about IC Markets in the London and New York overlap.
Safety, Trust & Regulation
Brokeli verifies regulatory status directly against government financial registry databases.
Top-tier (Tier-1) financial watchdog
Recognized regional regulatory authority
Recognized regional regulatory authority
Client Fund Safety Protections
- Negative Balance Protection: Ensures retail accounts cannot lose more capital than deposited during violent market gaps.
Regulation in detail
IC Markets is licensed by CySEC, ASIC, and FSA through its published legal entity. A single-entity structure keeps the regulatory picture easy to read.
Which entity opens your account depends on where you live, and that decides your regulator, leverage limits, compensation scheme and dispute process. Two clients of IC Markets in different countries can have quite different protection.
The licences include ASIC, which belong to the group of regulators we treat as tier 1: public registers, enforceable client-money rules and an active enforcement record.
Our regulation tier score for IC Markets is 9 on a 5-point scale, taken from the verified licence data.
Negative balance protection is published as available for IC Markets. This means a retail account should not lose more than the deposited funds when a gap move overshoots your margin.
Whether client funds are covered by a statutory compensation scheme depends on the entity and the regulator. Ask IC Markets which scheme, if any, applies to your account and read its limits.
How to verify the licence yourself
- Open the regulator's official public register, not a link from an ad or chat.
- Search by the legal entity name and licence number shown in the table above.
- Check that the entity serving your country is the one named on the account agreement.
- Compare the website domain on the register with the domain you are about to fund.
Licences from CySEC, ASIC, and FSA give IC Markets a wide supervisory footprint. The thing to confirm is the entity on your own contract: the protection follows that entity, not the logo on the site.
A simple test: can you find the exact legal entity name from the agreement on the regulator's own register? If not, stop and ask the broker.
Trading Platforms & Tools
Supported platforms and execution environments at IC Markets:
- MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
- ✓ Available
- MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
- ✓ Available
- cTrader
- ✓ Available
Platforms in detail
The verified platform list for IC Markets: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader. Platform availability can differ by entity and country, so treat the list as what the broker offers overall.
IC Markets offers both MetaTrader and cTrader, a rare combination that lets you choose between the largest Expert Advisor ecosystem and a more modern interface with deeper order tools.
Whatever the main terminal, test the mobile app and the web terminal with a demo or a small live account before relying on them: order entry, charts, alerts and risk tools vary a lot between apps.
Platform guide
MetaTrader 4 is the long-standing retail standard for forex: fast charting, one-click trading and the largest library of Expert Advisors and custom indicators.
MetaTrader 5 adds more timeframes, an economic calendar, market depth and support for more asset classes. Its scripts are not compatible with MT4.
cTrader is known for a clean interface, advanced order types, depth of market and algorithmic trading in C#.
Having MetaTrader and cTrader on one broker is rare. I would use MetaTrader if I depend on Expert Advisors and cTrader for manual trading, because the order tools in cTrader are cleaner.
Judge a platform by its worst moment: a fast market, a stop order and a mobile screen. Demo-test that scenario rather than the pretty chart.
Markets and Products
The product range for IC Markets is not listed in the published snapshot yet. Confirm the instruments you need before opening an account.
CFDs are complex, leveraged products. A large share of retail accounts lose money trading them, and you should only risk capital you can afford to lose.
If you want to own shares or ETFs outright for the long term, look for a broker that offers real asset ownership and compare custody and dealing costs, not only CFD spreads.
Without a published product list I would treat the range as unconfirmed. Ask which instruments are open to retail clients in your country.
Account Types & Conditions
Multiple account structures tailored to different trading strategies and volume levels.
| Account Type | Spread Model | Min Deposit | Islamic Option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Variable | 200.00 | — |
| Raw | Raw | 200.00 | — |
Choosing the right account
The research lists these account types for IC Markets: Standard and Raw. Conditions such as spread model, commission and swap-free options differ by account.
The published minimum deposit for IC Markets is $200, a moderate amount that is fine for most retail traders but not tiny.
The snapshot does not confirm swap-free accounts at IC Markets. If you need one for religious or other reasons, ask the broker and get the terms in writing.
Choose the account by how you trade: a spread-only account is simpler for occasional trades, while a raw-spread account with commission usually becomes cheaper as volume rises.
Raw-spread pricing rewards volume. If you place many trades, a low raw spread plus commission can undercut a spread-only account, but the snapshot has no average spread for IC Markets yet, so run the numbers on live quotes.
Account Opening
Opening an account with IC Markets follows the standard regulated-broker process: you choose an entity, verify your identity and complete a short assessment of your trading knowledge before trading is enabled.
Typical account opening steps
- Choose the legal entity or region that matches your country of residence.
- Create a profile with your email, phone number and tax residency.
- Complete the suitability or appropriateness questionnaire honestly.
- Upload a government ID and a recent proof of address.
- Accept the account agreement, risk disclosure and order execution policy after reading them.
- Fund the account and place a small test trade before sizing up.
For clients in the UK and EU, regulation requires an appropriateness assessment for complex products such as CFDs. Answer honestly: an inaccurate answer can limit your access or leave you with products that do not fit your experience.
For Australian clients, the process includes the issuer's disclosure documents. Read the product disclosure statement and the target market determination before trading.
Take your time with the risk questionnaire. It is not a hurdle to pass but a check that the account type fits you, and brokers can refuse an application that does not.
Deposit & Withdrawal Methods
Processing speed and payment gateways supported:
Payment methods, fees and processing times are not published in the research snapshot for this broker yet.
Funding and withdrawals in practice
Reminder: the published minimum deposit for IC Markets is $200. Payment methods may have their own minimums on top.
Deposit options, speeds and fees can vary by country and by legal entity at IC Markets. The table above shows the methods we have on record; the points below show how to avoid the usual surprises.
Funding checklist
- Fund with the method you can also withdraw to; most brokers send money back the way it came in.
- Check the cut-off times and the first-withdrawal verification rules before you deposit.
- Test a small withdrawal early so you know the real speed and cost.
- Use accounts in your own name only; third-party payments are routinely rejected.
The first withdrawal is the real test of a broker. Make a small one early, with the same method you used to deposit.
Leverage and Risk Controls
For UK and EU retail clients, leverage on major Forex pairs is generally limited to 1:30. Australian retail clients have their own caps, typically 30:1 on major currency pairs. Conditions for other jurisdictions and professional clients may differ.
The leverage figure recorded for IC Markets in our data is 1:500. This is the headline maximum; the limit that applies to you may be lower.
Leverage magnifies gains and losses equally. Position size, stop-loss placement and margin close-out rules matter more than the leverage ratio itself.
Regulated leverage limits can feel restrictive, but they are there because most retail losses come from oversized positions. Treat the cap as a seat belt, not a handicap.
Order Execution
Execution quality is how close your fill is to the price you saw, and how reliably an order goes through when markets are busy. The snapshot gives us pricing; the points below explain what to test in live use.
What to watch in order execution
- Spreads widen around news releases, at the daily rollover and in thin markets.
- Slippage can work for or against you; fast markets make it more likely.
- Read the order execution policy for how requotes, partial fills and stop orders are handled.
Because IC Markets pairs raw spreads with a commission, check that the commission is applied per side or per round trip and compare it on a like-for-like basis.
Place a few small market orders in a fast market and compare the fill with the quote. A pattern of one-way slippage deserves a question to support.
Customer Support and Education
Support quality is hard to capture in a single number, so we describe how to test it for IC Markets yourself. It matters most when something goes wrong, such as a rejected withdrawal or a platform error.
How we recommend testing support
- Ask a pre-sales question and note how long the first useful answer takes.
- Ask about the legal entity and licence you will be onboarded to.
- Ask for the written fee schedule, including withdrawal and inactivity charges.
- Check which languages and channels are available when markets are open.
Also look at what IC Markets gives new clients: demo access, tutorials, market analysis and webinars. Good education shows a broker that expects clients to stay and improve, not just click.
Keep chat transcripts and emails. If a dispute ever reaches the regulator or an ombudsman, written evidence settles the question quickly.
Country Availability
Countries where IC Markets accepts new clients in our checks (total 14) include: Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR China, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, and South Africa.
Where IC Markets accepts clients
Based on the country checks in the published snapshot. Always confirm eligibility in the broker's sign-up flow.
The checks also record countries where IC Markets is restricted (total 0) or not available (total 1). Do not rely on a VPN or a relative's address: opening an account outside your country of residence can breach the terms.
Availability can differ by product and entity inside one country, and brokers update their lists. Use the table as a guide, then confirm in the sign-up form.
Wide country coverage lowers the risk that you can't use IC Markets after moving. It does not mean identical terms everywhere, so read the entity details for your region.
Brokeli Score & Category Breakdown: IC Markets
Category scores calculated from verified research snapshot metrics:
Bottom line
IC Markets comes out as a strong option with a Brokeli score of 4.5 out of 5. It earns that through verified data, not marketing, though the best account for you still depends on your country and trading style.
The category that holds IC Markets back is Trading conditions. If that matters for the way you trade, weigh it first.
Its best category is Safety, so if that is your priority, IC Markets deserves a place on the shortlist.
Next steps: compare IC Markets with two similar brokers, confirm the legal entity for your country, and test with a small amount before scaling up.
How we reviewed IC Markets
This review draws on 19 verified data points from 1 sources. Latest data check: Sep 15, 2026.
- Every metric comes from an official source such as the broker's own legal pages, fee schedules or a regulator register, and keeps its source link.
- Draft or unverified research is never shown: this page only uses a published, fact-checked snapshot.
- Ratings come from fixed methodology weights; affiliate relationships never change a score or position.
- Where the snapshot does not contain a value, we say so instead of filling the gap with an estimate.
Reader reviews: IC Markets
First-hand experiences from Brokeli members. They are moderated and never change our research score.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first.
Frequently Asked Questions About IC Markets
Is IC Markets regulated, and by whom?
Yes. IC Markets holds licences from CySEC, ASIC, and FSA, including at least one regulator we classify as tier 1. The protection you get depends on the entity that serves your country, so confirm it on the regulator's register.
Which IC Markets entity will serve my account?
It depends on your country of residence. The legal entities in our data are listed in the Safety section above; your account agreement names the one that applies to you.
Does IC Markets offer negative balance protection?
Yes, the published data confirms negative balance protection for retail accounts at IC Markets, subject to the terms of the entity you join.
Which trading platforms does IC Markets offer?
IC Markets lists both MetaTrader and cTrader, along with MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader.
Is IC Markets available in my country?
Our checks show the number of countries where IC Markets accepts new clients is 14. See the country table in this review and confirm in the sign-up form.
Does IC Markets charge an inactivity fee?
The snapshot lists no inactivity fee for IC Markets, but we do not assume none exists. Confirm in the fee schedule.
Is IC Markets good for beginners?
It looks like a good fit: regulated, with an accessible entry point. Start small and use a demo account first.
Does IC Markets have swap-free (Islamic) accounts?
The snapshot does not confirm a swap-free account at IC Markets. Ask the broker directly and get the terms in writing.
How do I withdraw money from IC Markets?
Withdraw through your client area, usually back to the method you used to deposit. Check speed and fees for each method, and expect identity verification before the first withdrawal.
How long does it take to open an account with IC Markets?
It depends mostly on identity verification. Have a government ID and a recent proof of address ready; most delays come from unclear scans or mismatched names.
Does IC Markets pay Brokeli, and does that affect the review?
Brokeli may earn a commission if you open an account through a link, but affiliate relationships never change a score, a comparison or a toplist position.
Top Alternatives to IC Markets
See more brokers →If IC Markets does not meet your specific trading requirements, consider these top-rated alternatives: