IC Markets vs XM

For EU/EEA clients, both brokers operate under the same regulator. IC Markets routes EU clients through IC Markets (EU) Ltd, regulated by CySEC in Cyprus (licence 362/18). XM serves EU clients through Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd, also regulated by CySEC (licence 120/10). Both entities passport across the EEA under MiFID II, so the mandatory protections — negative balance protection, fund segregation, and ICF coverage up to EUR 20,000 — are identical.

Both brokers also hold ASIC (Australia) authorisation for their respective non-EU entities. Beyond that, IC Markets adds an FSA Seychelles licence (SD018) for offshore clients, while XM adds an IFSC Belize licence (000261/4). Both of those additional licences are lower-tier offshore authorisations that apply only to non-EU clients and do not change the protections an EU retail account receives. XM's CySEC licence 120/10 is one of the earlier Cyprus forex authorisations, reflecting a long, clean track record; IC Markets holds a marginally lower regulation sub-score in our ratings (8.8 vs 9.0) but a stronger overall profile driven by execution and pricing.

Both brokers hold client funds in segregated accounts at tier-1 banks, are fully ESMA-compliant, and have no material regulatory sanctions on record. IC Markets navigated the January 2015 Swiss franc shock and March 2020 volatility without significant client incidents; XM has operated continuously since 2009 through multiple market-stress events without disruption to client fund safety.

Verdict: Effectively a draw for EU clients. Both EU entities are CySEC-regulated with identical ICF protection and a clean compliance history.

This is where the two brokers diverge most sharply. IC Markets runs a true-ECN model: its Raw Spread account starts at 0.0 pips on EUR/USD with a $3.50-per-side commission ($7.00 round-turn per standard lot), and the broker publishes an average EUR/USD spread of 0.02 pips — among the tightest published averages in the industry. During the London-New York overlap, all-in Raw Spread cost sits at roughly $7–8 per standard lot round-turn.

XM operates a market-maker model with costs built into the spread and no separate commission (except on the Shares account). Its Ultra Low account starts at 0.6 pips on EUR/USD, averaging around 0.8–1.0 pips, which works out to roughly $6–10 per standard lot — surprisingly competitive at low volume. The Standard account is much wider at 1.6 pips (about $17–18 per lot), making it a poor choice for anyone trading with consistent volume.

For active traders, IC Markets is meaningfully cheaper as volume rises: a trader running 20 standard lots a month on Raw Spread pays about $145 in commission and residual spread, whereas the same volume on XM's Standard account could cost several times more. XM only stays close to ECN pricing on its Ultra Low account at modest volumes. Where XM wins decisively is the entry point — a $5 minimum deposit against IC Markets' $200.

Both offer free deposits across cards, bank transfer, Skrill, and Neteller, and both process withdrawals free of charge (IC Markets absorbs international wire fees up to certain thresholds; XM adds a wide range of local European payment methods).

Verdict: IC Markets wins on raw trading cost for active traders. XM wins on accessibility with its $5 minimum deposit and competitive Ultra Low pricing at low volume.

IC Markets offers a four-platform suite: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView. This is the broadest platform selection available at any retail broker and covers virtually every trader workflow. The cTrader integration in particular is one of the deepest in the industry, with native Level II depth-of-book visualisation, advanced iceberg and time-weighted average price orders, and the cTrader Automate environment for C# algorithmic strategy development. TradingView integration, added in 2023, enables one-click trading from TradingView charts.

XM is limited to MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and its proprietary XM App. MetaTrader remains a capable, familiar environment for the bulk of retail traders, and the XM App provides a clean mobile experience for beginners. But the absence of cTrader and TradingView is a real limitation for experienced traders who have built workflows around either platform — and it is the single clearest platform gap between the two brokers.

On execution infrastructure, IC Markets has the documented edge: servers co-located at Equinix NY4 (New York), LD5 (London), and TY3 (Tokyo), with sub-40ms average execution latency and over $1 trillion in monthly broker-wide volume reflecting deep liquidity. XM's market-maker model routes fills internally and does not publish latency benchmarks; it is reliable for its target audience but not built for latency-sensitive algorithmic strategies.

Both offer free VPS hosting for qualifying clients. IC Markets additionally provides FIX API access for institutional-grade connectivity.

Verdict: IC Markets wins clearly. Broader platform suite, deeper cTrader integration, and documented co-located execution infrastructure.

XM's educational programme is genuinely best-in-class among retail forex brokers. It features daily live webinars delivered in multiple languages by market analysts, comprehensive video tutorials, structured learning paths, and regular in-person seminars held in European cities. No other broker in this comparison invests as heavily in client education, and for someone starting out that infrastructure has tangible value. XM scores 9.5/10 on education and 9.2/10 on support in our ratings.

IC Markets' education is functional rather than rich — there is no structured curriculum comparable to XM's webinar volume. The broker's strength is execution, not teaching, and its 8.0/10 education score reflects that. Support is competent and responsive (8.8/10) but does not match XM's multilingual reach.

XM's support operates in over 30 languages, ensuring European clients can communicate in their native language whether they speak German, French, or a smaller EU language like Czech, Bulgarian, or Latvian. This is a meaningful advantage for less-experienced traders who want guidance in their own language.

Verdict: XM wins comprehensively on education and multilingual support — its core strength and the main reason to choose it over an ECN specialist.

Under ESMA rules, both brokers cap retail leverage at 30:1 on major forex pairs, 20:1 on minors, 10:1 on commodities, 5:1 on equities, and 2:1 on crypto — these are regulatory mandates, not broker choices, and apply identically to both.

Professional clients at both brokers can access leverage up to 500:1 after qualifying under MiFID II professional-client criteria (portfolio value exceeding EUR 500,000, relevant professional experience, and/or sufficient trading frequency). The application process is broadly similar at both.

Verdict: No difference. Both are capped at 30:1 retail / 500:1 professional.