Our annual spread betting awards helps guide spread bettors through the complex spread betting field by recognising providers who offer the most important requirements for betting like like low spreads, good platforms, top financial markets to bet on and trust.
Justin Grossbard, our CEO at Spreadbet-co.uk created a methodology that draws on his years of experience to determine which spread betting providers are truly worthy of such awards.
“For this year’s awards, we tested and reviewed all the spread betting providers in the UK, to identify those with the best overall features – this extends from niche areas like education and automation to essentials like low costs and top trading platforms” explains Justin Grossbard.
#1 Best Overall Spread Betting Provider for 2026
Winner: Pepperstone
After weighing up key criteria such as spreads, platform choice, provider trust, and customer service, Pepperstone is our Best Spread Betting Provider Overall.
Pepperstone allows you to choose from four trading platforms when spread betting, including MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView. This range of platforms means the provider can accommodate all kinds of betting styles, from automation to arbitrage to scalping.
To spread bet with Pepperstone, no minimum deposit is required and spreads for major forex pairs start from 0.60 pips on EUR/USD, which is the lowest we tested. You’ll find competitive spreads across all markets, with GBP/USD at 1.0 pip and gold from just 0.05.
The provider offers over 1,200 markets including 93 forex pairs, 40 commodities, 23 indices, over 100 ETFs, and more than 1,000 individual shares. Execution speeds averaged 77ms in our testing, which was the fastest among all spread betting providers reviewed.
Pepperstone enhances the MT4 and MT5 platforms with 28 Smart Trader Tools including the Mini Terminal EA for one-click trading with automatic stop-loss and take-profit orders. You’ll also get free access to Autochartist for automated technical analysis and Capitalise.ai for no-code strategy automation.
#1 Best Spread Betting Provider for Beginners
Winner: OANDA
After comparing ease of use, educational resources, and accessibility across all providers, OANDA is our pick for beginners new to spread betting.
OANDA allows you to choose from three platforms: the beginner-friendly OANDA Trade web platform, MetaTrader 4, or TradingView. The OANDA Trade platform is especially well-suited for new traders, with guaranteed stop loss orders that protect you from market volatility and a minimum stake size of just £0.01 per point, which is the lowest in the industry.
No minimum deposit is needed to open an account, and spreads start from 0.8 pips on EUR/USD, which is nearly 30% lower than the industry average. You’ll have access to 68 currency pairs, 16 stock indices, 22 metal markets, and bonds across over 100 markets.
The MT4 platform includes free Autochartist integration, which scans the markets for trading opportunities using chart patterns and support/resistance levels. Weekly webinars offer market insights and strategy guidance. There are also comprehensive educational lessons that cover everything from technical analysis to risk management.
Live chat support is available 24/5, and OANDA processes over $10.7 billion in daily trading volume.
#1 Best Spread Betting Provider App
Winner: SpreadEX
After testing mobile trading functionality, platform features, and execution quality, SpreadEX delivers the best spread betting app experience.
SpreadEX offers mobile apps for both its proprietary platform and TradingView, giving you access to over 10,000 financial markets including forex, indices, shares, ETFs, commodities, bonds, and options. The provider is unique in also offering sports spread betting, letting you bet on football, tennis, golf, and other sports using the same app.
The SpreadEX mobile app includes advanced features like automated Pro Trend Lines, pattern recognition tools, and customisable push notifications for price alerts. Your charts and analysis sync seamlessly across all devices, so you can start your research on desktop and execute trades from your phone.
Spreads average 0.9 pips on EUR/USD, which is the second-lowest we tested and 1.52 pips across major currency pairs. We found that deposits and withdrawals are processed quickly, often within two hours, and there’s no minimum deposit required.
The app provides near-instant execution through SpreadEX’s Market Maker model. SpreadEX has been established for over 20 years and holds a 4.3 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot.
#1 Best Spread Betting Provider Demo Account
Winner: ThinkMarkets
After evaluating demo account offerings across all providers, ThinkMarkets stands out with the most comprehensive practice environment for spread betting.
ThinkMarkets provides £200,000 in virtual funds on their ThinkTrader demo account, which is significantly more than other providers offer. Because of this generous allocation, you can properly test strategies without running out of demo money. This is particularly useful if you’re practicing position sizing or testing multiple approaches simultaneously.
The demo account offers full access to ThinkMarkets’ real trading conditions across 49 markets covering forex, indices, and commodities, with spreads averaging 1.2 pips on major pairs. You can practice on either the ThinkTrader platform featuring 125 technical indicators, 50 drawing tools, and TradingView charting integration.
The account includes access to exclusive tools like the Trader’s Gym for backtesting up to 50 strategies using historical data, and the Signal Centre powered by Trading Central providing daily trading ideas with professional analysis.
Demo accounts are available for 14 days initially, but if you’re a live account holder, you’ll enjoy unlimited demo access that never expires, giving you a permanent risk-free testing environment.
