ThinkMarkets is a spread betting broker that has gained the trust of 4 million traders (bettors) over the past 15 years thanks to its trading conditions. In this review, I’ve tested the broker’s spreads, trading conditions, and platform availability to see how they perform during the London trading session.
ThinkMarkets Summary
ThinkMarkets pairs low spreads (starting from 1 pip) with popular platforms like MT4 and TradingView, making it a solid all-round pick for spread betting. I found that the broker also bolsters its platforms with top trading tools, such as Trader’s Gym and Signal Centre, for daily trade ideas.
One area where I felt ThinkMarkets could improve is its range of markets, with fewer than 50 in total. You have access to the major markets, which will suit 90% of spread bettors. However, you’ll find ThinkMarkets lacks volatile and less liquid markets like soft commodities, which may impact more experienced bettors.
While ThinkMarkets utilises Straight-Through Processing (STP) technology for spread betting, it becomes a market maker, which is the industry standard. This is because you are betting against the broker, which will then internally hedge the bet against the real markets, reducing conflicts of interest.
Being a market maker means your trades are near-instant, virtually eliminating slippage while also providing the best available pricing. Below, I have tested their spread betting markets on the ThinkTrader account to see how they perform during the London session.
ThinkMarkets offers attractive spreads for its ThinkTrader account compared to other spread betting brokers tested. Compared to the industry average, ThinkMarkets’ spreads beat the benchmark by 30% on its forex products. With GBP/USD being a solid performer, averaging 1.1 pips, matching their EUR/USD spreads, which is uncommon.
| Broker | EUR/USD | AUD/USD | EUR/GBP | GBP/USD | USD/JPY | AUD/JPY | EUR/JPY | USD/CAD | USD/SGD | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ThinkMarkets | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 1.2 |
| Average | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 1.8 |
For index spread betting, the FTSE 100 is offered with a 0.90 point spread, while the S&P 500 comes in at 0.40 points. Commodities such as gold and crude oil also performed well, with gold averaging $0.21 and WTI oil at $0.03 per barrel.
Demo accounts with ThinkMarkets are free, and allows you to experience the broker’s trading conditions in a risk-free environment. You have the options to test the ThinkTrader platform, along with TradingView, MT4, and MT5.
The broker’s flagship ThinkTrader platform provides £200,000 in virtual funds, which is the most generous out of the options. MT4 and MetaTrader 5 provide £50,000 which is still more than enough to test.
As for expiration, if you are not a ThinkMarkets client you are limited to 14-days before the demo account closes. Live account holders can have demo accounts that do not expire, so you can test new strategies without losing your data.
The ThinkTrader platform’s spread betting demo account is the best value, delivering all of the broker’s features and analytical tools. If you run out of virtual funds, you can request more from customer service to thoroughly test your strategies.
A quick note that you can “demo” trade on TradingView, but the platform uses a “Paper Trading” tool. The demo account is independent of ThinkMarkets, so you don’t get the same trading conditions or spreads, making it useless to test the broker.
My Verdict on ThinkMarkets’ Trading Fees
Trading fees for spread betting are competitive, with several standout performers in my tests, such as EUR/GBP and GBP/USD. Although EUR/USD wasn’t the lowest, it is still relatively low compared to our benchmark.
While forex spreads are low, ThinkMarkets delivers similar costs across its spread betting product range, making its ThinkTrader account a contender for low trading fees.
With its proprietary ThinkTrader platform and TradingView, ThinkMarkets offers excellent options for trading platforms. Both are web-based, so you can access them on all devices.
If you prefer desktop-based platforms, MT4 and MT5 are available, which give you access to automated trading.
I’ve tested all four platforms to assess their charting capabilities and to sample the extra trading tools available. Here are my findings:
ThinkTrader is the broker’s proprietary trading platform and is entirely web-based. The interface is split between the watchlist and its charting, providing a clean interface that is focused on trading with few distractions like news bulletins.
I found some of its core features include:
Despite being a proprietary platform, one of the ThinkTrader platform’s core features is its TradingView charting tools. You get access to over 100 indicators like the Ichimoku Cloud, which can help you find market reversals.
While testing, I found you can include multiple indicators on the ThinkTrader platform, unlike TradingView’s free plan, which limits you to two. This makes the ThinkTrader platform the better option as you get the charting features without the added cost.
One of the features I liked is that the ThinkTrader platform provides the daily risers, fallers, and most volatile instruments on its watchlist. These are excellent settings to use if you day trade, as you can find potential opportunities in this pre-defined list.
As mentioned earlier, the ThinkTrader platform is a top choice if you want to demo trade with ThinkMarkets. With over £200,000 in virtual funds and TradingView’s 120+ indicators, you’ll be able to test your spread betting strategies in a generous risk-free environment with real-time pricing.
TradingView is one of the best all-round trading platforms, offering not only excellent charting but also solid automated trading tools. .
Like ThinkTrader, TradingView is also web-based, making it accessible on all devices. A key benefit is that your technical analysis syncs across your devices, so you always have your research at hand.
Some of its key features include:
Compared to ThinkTrader’s integration, TradingView has the latest updates, regularly adding new and improved indicators.
For example, while ThinkTrader has access to most indicators by default, I found it misses the automated indicators. These automated tools, such as trend lines, can make it easier to analyse the markets, especially if you are just starting.
If you require advanced indicators like volume market profiles, these are also available with TradingView’s subscription. You don’t get this option with ThinkTrader, which is why I think TradingView is the better option for experienced bettors rather than ThinkTrader.
That said, it has some excellent features for beginners, such as its Replay Trading tool, allowing you to trade as if in real-time. The Replay tool will run candlestick-by-candlestick, allowing you to anticipate the upcoming market movements, making it a valuable training tool.
MetaTrader 4 is a popular trading platform thanks to its customisation and automated trading features. One thing I’ve noticed with spread betting is the lack of automated features, which MT4 solves through its Expert Advisors (EAs).
Using EAs allows you to program robots to follow your trading instructions, enabling them to find signals, execute trades, and manage risk. You won’t find this feature on TradingView or ThinkTrader, so if your strategy can be automated, MT4 is your best choice.
If trade automation (or using MT4 in general) is important to you, ThinkMarkets is one of only a handful of spread betting brokers to support it.
Other features of MT4 include:
In my experience, MetaTrader 5 improves on areas where MT4 falls short when it comes to advanced trading tools. New features include a native economic calendar, a depth of market tool, and improved platform performance for faster execution times.
You still have the features that made MT4 popular, with Expert Advisors also upgraded for improved logic-based programming. What this means is that you can develop more sophisticated strategies, and EAs are more equipped to follow them compared to their predecessor.
If you scalp, the depth of market tool provides great insights into the order book so you can see clusters of pending orders. This information is great for finding hidden support/resistance, helping you take advantage of better timing for your breakout trades.
Additionally, the native economic calendar gives you a heads-up for high-impact news that can influence your potential entries. With notifications on the chart, you can prepare trades around news announcements to avoid volatility, again helping with timing.
Other features of MT5 include:
Along with its four platforms, ThinkMarkets offers additional trading tools to help refine your trading skills and discover new opportunities.
The trading tools are free to use, but require you to have £500+ in your spread betting account to access them.
Trader’s Gym
A solid addition to the ThinkTrader platform is the Traders’ Gym tool that lets you backtest your strategies, risk-free, using historical data. The tool lets you test up to 50 strategies, making it easy to test variables like timeframes and markets. This can speed up the fine-tuning of your strategy.
Trader’s Gym is exclusive to the ThinkTrader platform. If you prefer to use TradingView as your platform of choice, you can still access this feature by logging into the ThinkTrader platform.
Alternatively, if you pay for TradingView’s subscriptions, you get Replay mode included, which is essentially the same feature.
Signal Centre from Trading Central
Built into ThinkTrader is the Signal Centre, powered by Trading Central, who are one of the most popular professional signal providers. You get daily trading ideas and market analysis from certified analysts that provide clear instructions to follow.
The analysis used is mainly chart patterns like wedges, or the use of support and resistance levels, that focus on potential breakouts.
Signal Centre can provide a valuable tool for beginners to see how professionals approach trade setups. Meanwhile, day spread bettors can use Signal Centre to find new markets to trade during slower days.
My Verdict on ThinkMarkets’ Trading Platforms
ThinkMarkets offers one of the best ranges of spread betting platforms in the UK, especially considering that it also offers the MetaTrader family. With this range, ThinkMarkets allows every trading style to spread bet, from beginners to algo bettors.
If you don’t require advanced (or custom) indicators, the ThinkTrader platform provides better value as you can use multiple indicators on your charts for free. MT4/MT5 are your options for automated trading, while TradingView is the best for custom strategies.
Yes, ThinkMarkets is safe after I gave them a score of 79 based on their 15 years of industry experience and being regulated by the FCA.
For any broker to offer financial services in the UK, they must be authorised and licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). ThinkMarkets has this license (Reg. No.: 629628), meaning the broker follows the FCA’s strict framework for client safety.
Client funds are segregated from the broker’s, protecting your money from being used to resolve company debts.
As a UK trader, your account is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), providing coverage up to £85,000. I found that ThinkMarkets goes a step further by providing supplementary insurance up to $1 million per client, further reinforcing their dedication to protecting your funds.
ThinkMarkets has been running for 15 years, making it an established spread betting broker with over 4 million traders.
I found that the broker has secured several awards, like its recent “Leading Spread Betting Provider” by the Financial Times Investors’ Chronicle in 2024. For me, this helps cement the broker’s reputation as a top option for spread betting.
I like to use Trustpilot as a gauge of the broker’s services, as it collects real-world feedback from customers about the broker. On the website, ThinkMarkets scores an excellent rating (4.3/5), with clients praising the broker’s solid customer support and ThinkTrader platform.
With over 600 reviews and a high Trustpilot score, this shows that clients are happy with the broker’s services.
My Verdict on ThinkMarkets’ Trustworthiness
With a license from the FCA and an established track record of 15 years,ThinkMarkets has a proven framework to support its 4 million clients. This is backed by the broker’s many awards for its services, and a high Trustpilot score based on over 600 of its clients’ reviews.
Combined, all of these are strong signals of ThinkMarkets’ trustworthiness.
The ThinkTrader account has a £50 minimum deposit requirement, giving you access to the ThinkTrader and TradingView platforms. If you wish to spread bet using MT4/MT5, then you need the Standard account, requiring a £250 minimum deposit.
GBP is your default account base currency, but you do have the option to use USD, AUD, EUR, NZD, SGD, and CHF.
ThinkMarkets offers a decent range of deposit methods, making it convenient for you to fund your spread betting account. Importantly, I found that the broker didn’t charge deposit fees on their side, helping keep your spread betting costs low.
Withdrawal options with ThinkMarkets are the same as the deposit methods, including bank transfers, debit cards, and e-wallets.
In the UK, the FCA requires all deposited funds to be returned via the same deposit method. So if you use a debit card, withdrawals must be returned through this method.
That said, profits can be withdrawn through various options, such as bank transfers, which are the most popular choice.
Regardless of the withdrawal option, ThinkMarkets does not charge a withdrawal fee.
Withdrawal Process Times
When it comes to withdrawing, you can expect your funds to be approved within one business day. It can take up to 48 hours for your withdrawal to be processed and reach your bank account or other chosen withdrawal method.
In my tests, the money was returned to me within 24 hours using my Visa debit card as both the deposit and withdrawal method. As you can reliably withdraw your funds, this is a good sign of a broker with solid operations to support your spread betting activities.
ThinkMarkets’ application process is 100% online and can be completed in fewer than 10 minutes, in my experience. The application has the regulatory-required questions like your income and trading experience to ensure spread betting is suitable for you.
Once submitted, you can expect your account to be opened within the same day if you complete it during the working week.
For spread betting, ThinkMarkets’ market range isn’t the widest at 49 instruments, covering only three markets including currencies, indices, and commodities.
The largest selection from ThinkMarkets is its currency pairs, with 33 pairs, which include majors and minors, offering decent options for day trading. You also have a small choice of exotic pairs like USD/TRY and USD/ZAR, if you seek more volatile products.
Availability of forex markets from ThinkMarkets isn’t the best, especially when other spread betting brokers offer more than 70 products.
ThinkMarkets’ selection of indices is competitive when it comes to choice, with 12 major global indices to spread bet on. Indices include the US’ S&P 500 and NASDAQ, which are popular markets for day trading. The FTSE 100 is also available for betting on domestic growth, with other majors like the Nikkei 225 if you want exposure to the Asian markets.
Commodities spread betting through ThinkMarkets is limited, with only four options on their watchlist. You have gold and silver for precious metals markets, and WTI/Brent crude oil markets.
While these markets may appear lacking, ThinkMarkets has opted to provide the most liquid markets for commodities. Realistically, these are the main markets most bettors use anyway.
At the time of testing, ThinkMarkets doesn’t offer any spread betting markets for share trading.
As per the restrictions from the FCA, retail traders (bettors) cannot spread bet on crypto markets. However, ThinkMarkets does offer a few cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for bettors who have been categorised as elective professionals by the FCA.
My Verdict on ThinkMarkets’ Trading Products
I expected the broker to offer a similar range to their CFD markets (4,000+); however, ThinkMarkets’ spread betting products are more restricted. You still have access to major markets like EUR/USD, so you won’t be left short of day trading opportunities.
ThinkMarkets has multiple support channels available 24/7 through its live chat, phone, and email options.
Live chat is the most convenient, where you can deal with an AI chatbot initially if your questions are simple. I used the AI chatbot and liked that it gave you a comprehensive response and linked to resources for further help.
Equally, it’s just as quick to connect to a human agent. These agents are knowledgeable about their products, following my discussion about their spread betting setup for execution. This gives me confidence in the level of support you’d get, especially when the responses were not copy-and-pasted.
Support through their phone is of the highest quality, as you can escalate issues to different departments, helping you resolve your problems faster. Email is the slowest form of support, and should be used for non-emergency questions.
One of ThinkMarkets’ top features is its extensive educational resources and research tools such as its market commentary and trading signals.
An area where ThinkMarkets stood out was in its learning resources, offering 60 beginner-friendly trading lessons and 11 tutorials for experienced traders (bettors). Admittedly, the resources are quite basic if you have already covered the basics.
The 11 lessons for the experienced traders (bettors) do a deeper dive into different strategies, such as using the Relative Vigor Index to spot divergences. All the lessons are comprehensive, with plenty of visual examples to help you learn better.
I found ThinkMarkets invests more in its market research compared to its educational material, offering multiple tools to find new trading ideas.
The key research tool is the Signal Centre available on the ThinkTrader platform, offering daily automated trading signals. Signal Centre is powered by Trading Central, who focus on using price action like wedge patterns to find markets ready to break out.
Every signal generated comes with commentary and technical drawings so you can review all signals before committing to the trade. This is also decent for beginners, who can use these alerts as a resource for learning how to spot chart patterns in real-time.
Alternatively, you have real-time news feeds from FX Wire Pro that keep you on top of all the data releases.
If you want to read about current market moves, ThinkMarkets’ analysts provide daily commentary on market trends across all products. The commentary from the analysts is good, providing fresh insights at a macro level, helping you understand why markets are moving the way they are.
My Verdict on ThinkMarkets’ Research and Educational Resources
ThinkMarkets has certainly made an effort to produce lessons to suit most bettors. However, I think it lacks variety, as there are too few lessons on strategies, so you’ll need to use another resource.
Market research is decent – providing almost 50 trading signals daily through its Signal Centre means you’ll never run out of trading ideas. The commentary from the analysts is a bonus if you like to learn the fundamentals of the current market movements.
After testing the broker’s spread betting conditions, I found that the broker offers excellent value for its trading conditions and low spreads. ThinkMarkets also delivers the best range of spread betting platforms, letting you tailor your spread betting experience.
The broker’s ThinkTrader is a decent platform that will suit most betters with its trading tools like Signal Centre. Other options through TradingView, MT4, and MT5 provide automated trading and greater customisation tools, making the provider suitable for every trading style.
You don’t get the widest selection of markets, covering just the most liquid, like EUR/USD. So, if you want a wider choice with a similar trading experience, you can look at spread betting brokers like Pepperstone and City Index.
ThinkMarkets offers its Standard and ThinkTrader accounts for financial spread betting. These accounts are commission-free with variable spreads from 1 pip on EUR/USD, keeping your costs simple.
ThinkMarkets offers four spread betting platforms, these are ThinkTrader, TradingView, MT4, and MetaTrader 5. Having a variety of platforms allows you to pair the broker’s trading conditions with the platform of your choice.
No, ThinkMarkets does not currently offer rebates for high-volume spread bettors.
Yes, ThinkMarkets is regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Outside of the UK, the broker is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, and the FSCA.
Being regulated, ThinkMarkets offers negative balance protection so you won’t owe the forex broker money if your balance falls below £0. These protections are needed as retail investor accounts lose money when solid risk management isn’t followed.
