Interactive Brokers review

Spread from

0.1 pip

EUR/USD spread

Approx. 0.1-0.2 pips before commission

GBP/USD spread

Approx. 0.2-0.3 pips before commission

Commission

Approx. $2 per side per $100,000 at minimum tier

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.4-0.6 pips for a 1-lot trade

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Financing/interest applies rather than conventional retail-broker swaps

Deposit fee

Generally none from IBKR

Withdrawal fee

One free withdrawal per calendar month, then fees apply

Currency conversion

Approx. 0.002% of trade value, subject to minimum commission

Cost is where brokers in the same regulatory bracket actually differ.

A quoted spread from 0.1 pip 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.

Interactive Brokers lists a minimum deposit of $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.

Markets

Forex, Stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, Bonds, Funds, Spot Gold, Warrants, Structured Products, CFDs and more

Currency pairs

100+

Total instruments

2,000,000+ tradable securities/contracts globally

Crypto CFDs

No; direct/partner crypto access available in selected jurisdictions

Maximum leverage

1:50

Execution model

Agency / SmartRouting / direct market access

Execution speed

Market/venue-dependent

Order types

100+ order types and algorithms

Servers

Global low-latency infrastructure connected to major exchanges and liquidity venues

Leverage is capped at 1:50, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation. It is a protection rather than a restriction: it caps how quickly a position can move against your balance.

Interactive Brokers covers forex, stocks, etfs, options, futures, bonds, funds, spot gold, warrants, structured products, cfds and more. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: bank wire, ach, direct bank transfer, check and country-specific banking methods. 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.

Platforms

Trader Workstation, IBKR Desktop, IBKR GlobalTrader, IBKR Mobile, Client Portal

Own platform

Yes

Mobile app

Proprietary

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes, via APIs/algorithmic infrastructure rather than MT4/MT5 EAs

Copy trading

No conventional retail copy trading

Indicators

Extensive

Third-party tools

TradingView integration and extensive third-party ecosystem

API access

Yes: Web API, TWS API, FIX and institutional connectivity

Interactive Brokers offers Trader Workstation, IBKR Desktop, IBKR GlobalTrader, IBKR Mobile, Client Portal. A proprietary platform can be excellent, but it means your setup does not transfer if you later change broker.

Regulated by

SEC, FINRA, CFTC/NFA, FCA, ASIC, Central Bank of Ireland, CIRO, MAS, SFC and others

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

FINRA BrokerCheck / NFA BASIC / applicable national registers

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Multiple qualifying banks/custodians

Negative balance protection

Entity/product-dependent

Compensation scheme

SIPC up to $500,000 including $250,000 cash limit for eligible US securities accounts; jurisdiction-specific schemes elsewhere

Audited by

Deloitte & Touche LLP

Not available to

Sanctioned/prohibited jurisdictions and countries where IBKR cannot legally provide accounts

Across a hundred brokers, the licence is what separates the field fastest.

Interactive Brokers holds tier-one authorisations from ASIC, FCA, MAS, CFTC/NFA and CIRO. 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.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore applies some of the tightest conduct requirements in the region, and fewer firms hold its licence.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Multiple qualifying banks/custodians. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Covered by SIPC up to $500,000 including $250,000 cash limit for eligible US securities accounts; jurisdiction-specific schemes elsewhere, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: the SFC public register.

Minimum deposit

$0

Account types

Individual, Joint, Trust, IRA, Family, Advisor, Broker, Proprietary Trading Group, Institutional

Account currencies

20+ supported currencies

Islamic account

No

Demo account

Yes, Paper Trading

Professional account

Yes

Minimum trade size

No conventional 0.01-lot restriction; currency orders can use units

Time to open

Typically 1-3 business days subject to verification

Interactive Brokers runs 9 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: 20+ supported currencies. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is No conventional 0.01-lot restriction; currency orders can use units. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Deposit methods

Bank wire, ACH, direct bank transfer, check and country-specific banking methods

Withdrawal methods

Bank wire, ACH and supported local banking rails

Deposit time

Instant to several business days depending on method

Withdrawal time

Typically 1-3 business days

Minimum withdrawal

No general minimum

Local payment methods

Extensive country-specific bank-transfer methods

Withdrawals are stated at Typically 1-3 business days, against Instant to several business days depending on method for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: bank wire, ach and supported local banking rails. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is No general minimum - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Support hours

24 hours on business days

Contact channels

Live chat, secure message, phone, Help Centre

Languages

Multilingual

Telephone

N/A

Email

N/A

Live chat response

Available

Education

Extensive: IBKR Campus, Traders' Academy, webinars, courses and tutorials

Research

Extensive institutional and third-party research, news, fundamentals, technical analysis and market scanners

Support runs 24 hours on business days. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by live chat, secure message, phone, help centre. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: Multilingual. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: ibkr campus, traders' academy, webinars, courses and tutorials. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Legal entity

Interactive Brokers LLC

Company number

SEC CRD No. 36418

Headquarters

Greenwich, Connecticut, United States

Founded

1978

Publicly listed

Yes, NASDAQ: IBKR

Parent company

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.

Employees

3,000+

Also trades as

Interactive Brokers; IBKR

Interactive Brokers has been trading for around 48 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

It is publicly listed, which brings audited accounts and disclosure duties a private broker does not carry. That is real transparency about the company - though it says nothing about the trading conditions.

The contracting entity is Interactive Brokers LLC. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.