Skip to main content

Spread Bet UK: Independent UK Spread Betting Site

Spread Bet UK is an independent UK spread betting site, founded 2024. We timed 210 live orders at 14 FCA-authorised providers between 18 and 27 August 2026. Price a spread bet in the calculator below, with no sign-up. Co-founders Justin Grossbard and Noam Korbl run the site, and David Levy, Head of Content, fact-checks every page before publication. We read each provider's published spreads from its UK site monthly, latest 18 September 2026, and captured every FCA register entry on 3 September 2026.

Price a spread bet

Spread betting calculator

Cost, profit or loss, and margin on one bet

Direction

On GBP/USD one point is a 0.0001 move, so £5 per point is £5 per pip. 1.3381 is 13,381 points.

GBP/USD is quoted in index points: one point is a 1.0 move of the level, and the bet is priced per index point.

Opening level from the Thu 17 Sept 2026 5pm New York close Opening level: your own figure, from your platform's deal ticket Spread: Pepperstone published, 18 Sept 2026 Spread: your own figure

A buy at £5 per point that closes 80 points higher makes £400.00 before the spread. Pepperstone's published 0.9-point spread costs £4.50 on this bet, leaving £395.50. The margin held to open it is £2,230.17.

Enter the level from your platform's deal ticket and your provider's spread in points; the ledger then prices the bet.

Profit or loss on the move80 points × £5.00 per point£400.00
Cost of the spread0.9 point × £5.00 per point, paid on entry− £4.50
Net result£395.50
Margin to open13,381 points × £5.00 = £66,905 notional, at the FCA 30:1 major-pair cap£2,230.17

Spread betting profits are free of Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty for most UK residents; see how spread betting profits are taxed. Overnight funding is not included; use the overnight funding calculator. Spreads are the brokers' own published figures, read on 18 Sept 2026, or your own figure where you type one; neither is a quote at the moment you deal. Margin uses the FCA COBS 22.5 retail leverage cap for the market class.

Our calculator prices a spread bet end to end: the profit or loss on the move, the spread’s cost in pounds, the margin a broker must hold at the FCA cap, and the level where the 50% close-out rule would trigger. It works from each broker’s own published spreads on nine forex pairs, read 18 Sep 2026, plus the UK 100, US 500 and Germany 40 indices with your own level. The full page adds a margin mode and a compare mode that prices the spread’s cost at every broker we rank.

Capital at risk when spread betting.

  • 210live orders timed at 14 FCA-authorised providers, 18 to 27 August 2026
  • 18 Sep 2026latest monthly read of each provider’s published spreads
  • 3 Sep 2026FCA register entries captured for all 14 providers
  • 61% to 76.6%published share of retail accounts losing money

Where The Full Provider Ranking Lives

A separate page on this site ranks all 14 FCA-regulated providers by an overall score out of 100. It also marks each provider out of 10 across six criteria, alongside the 210 orders we timed, the monthly spread read, and each provider’s FCA register entry and published loss percentage. Every figure behind each position appears on our best spread betting platforms in the UK page.

Between 61% and 76.6% of retail investor accounts lose money across the 14 brokers we compare.

Capital at risk when spread betting.

Guides And Tools Around The Site

The 14 Providers In Alphabetical Order

The 14 FCA-regulated providers that still offer UK spread betting are listed alphabetically, each name opening its full review, and the order says nothing about merit. The UK Spread Betting Broker Reviews directory also covers six brands that do not offer UK spread betting.

As seen on

In April 2026, Babypips quoted our co-founder Justin Grossbard on the tax treatment of spread betting and CFDs. Attitude and TheStreet quoted him on forex spread betting and risk management respectively in August 2025, while SavingTool cited our tax guide in June 2025 and London Post linked to us in August 2021.

What Rules Apply To UK Spread Betting?

The rules below apply only to FCA-authorised brokers and only to UK spread betting accounts. We read these conditions from each broker’s UK site.

  • FCA authorisation

    Only FCA-authorised brokers can offer UK spread betting. They must hold segregated client funds and offer negative balance protection.

  • Leverage capped by the FCA

    The FCA caps retail leverage at 30:1 on major currency pairs and 20:1 on non-major pairs and major indices. The margin held is 3.33% of the position on major pairs and 5% on the others.

  • Tax position

    Spread betting profits are free of Capital Gains Tax for most UK retail traders. No Stamp Duty applies. A professional-trader exception exists, depending on your individual circumstances.

  • What the brokers disclose

    Between 61% and 76.6% of retail investor accounts lose money across the brokers we compare. These are each broker’s own published figures. Our ranking uses each broker’s published spreads, read on 18 Sep 2026.

A desk in a London office with a laptop showing a price chart, a stamped statement, a calculator and a small stack of pound coins, no people

Who we are

Why Trust Spread Bet UK

Justin Grossbard and Noam Korbl founded Spread Bet UK in 2024 after watching traders try to work out a provider’s spread betting terms from a page written about its CFD account. Justin has over 20 years trading and investing. Noam has over 15 years building fintech and business-finance ventures.

Founded
2024
Brands reviewed
20
Open FCA-authorised accounts
14
Spread data re-read
Every month
Current spread data
18 Sep 2026
Ranking scale
Score out of 100

We apply the same criteria to every broker and score each out of 100. Published spreads are re-read every month; our current set is from 18 Sep 2026. Every other detail, from the FCA entity and reference number to the demo cost, is read from the provider’s own UK site and recorded with the date it was read. Where a provider publishes nothing quotable, the cell stays empty.

We are paid when a reader visits a partner site. The ranking is not for sale and scores are independent of what a broker pays. You can read the full arrangement on our about us page. Our head office is at 1/650 Inkerman Road, Caulfield North, Victoria, Australia, 3161.

Method

How we score brokers

We opened live funded accounts with all 14 providers between 10 and 14 August 2026, recording the hours from application to approval; spreads are each provider's published figures.

Scoring starts with cost per trade, from the published spreads we re-read monthly. We then assess platform quality: a wide range of platforms scores higher because automated, copy trading and chart trading each need something different. Funding and withdrawal terms and customer support are assessed next.

We add points for market analysis, rebate schemes and education. The result is a score out of 100 that reflects the value an account brings, not a feature list. The full criteria are in our methodology.

Diagram of the Spread-Bet.co.uk scoring pipeline: cost per trade, platforms, funding and support, and extras combine into one score out of 100
Cost, platforms, funding and support, and extras combine into a score out of 100.

Questions

FAQs

What is spread betting?

Spread betting is a derivative product for speculating on price movements without owning the underlying asset. Profit or loss depends on the accuracy of your prediction and the size of your bet.

It is the only derivative with tax-free status in the UK for most retail traders, carrying no Capital Gains Tax on profits and no Stamp Duty when placing a bet.

Are spread betting profits taxable?

Spread betting profits are not taxable for most UK individuals. HMRC treats spread betting as gambling, so no Capital Gains Tax and no Stamp Duty apply.

A professional-trader exception exists. Profits may be subject to Income Tax when spread betting is your main source of income, while remaining exempt from Stamp Duty. Individual circumstances differ, so speak to a tax professional about your own.

Is spread betting FCA regulated?

Spread betting is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. Only brokers licensed and authorised by the FCA can provide spread betting markets.

FCA-regulated brokers must hold segregated client funds, offer negative balance protection, and maintain transparent pricing.

Understand the risk

Spread bets are leveraged, and a leveraged position moves faster than the stake suggests. Across the 14 brokers we compare, the published share of retail investor accounts losing money runs from 61% to 76.6%.

Disclaimer: leveraged instruments are risky. Conduct your own research before trading on margin or with leverage. This page is not financial or tax advice. We are paid when you visit a partner site, and the ranking is not for sale.