UK Spread Betting Broker Reviews

A spread betting broker is an FCA-authorised firm that quotes a two-way price on a market and takes the other side of your bet. The spread between its two prices is what you pay. Our spread betting broker reviews cover 20 brands a UK reader is likely to meet. Fourteen of them still offer UK spread betting and are ranked, and six do not. We score each ranked broker out of 100 on published spreads from nine major pairs read each month, most recently on 1 Aug 2026, the spread betting platform and its charting tools, and whether the account offers a guaranteed stop-loss. We also consider costs and regulation, timed execution of 210 orders on live accounts between 18 Aug 2026 and 27 Aug 2026, and the range of forex, indices, commodities and shares markets each account lists. The method page states the protocol. Each brand is marked as open, withdrawn, no product or no UK entity. Every ranked broker is FCA-authorised and holds a Firm Reference Number.

Written by Justin Grossbard. Updated 06/09/2026.

What changed

Updated on 6 Sep 2026: The sentence that stated the spread range used to say the accounts publish a nine-pair average spread. No broker publishes that figure; we compute it from each account’s harvest row, and the sentence now reflects that. No spread figure, score or rank changed. Earlier: Updated on 5 Sep 2026: the directory now defines a broker and states the spread and deposit ranges across the ranked accounts with the spread read date. It shows each criterion’s minimum, maximum and median mark, how many accounts hold a 10, and links the leverage and tax pages from the risk section. No score, spread or deposit figure changed. Earlier: Updated on 5 Sep 2026: a broker matcher now sits above the section on what a review covers. Four questions (platform, maximum opening deposit, guaranteed stop-loss, demo account) narrow the fourteen ranked brokers to the accounts that fit; the order is our published ranking and never changes, every value comes from the same data as the cards above, and a value we have not verified is left blank rather than guessed. No figure changed. Earlier: Updated 5 Sep 2026. Two brands moved group. ETX Capital and OvalX were listed as withdrawn and are now listed as having no UK entity, because they are two names for one firm, Monecor (London) Limited, whose FCA authorisation was cancelled on 25 April 2025. Nothing about either brand changed; our own register field had said so since August and the status beside it had not caught up. The 2023 closure is unchanged and both review pages still tell it. No count and no figure moved. Earlier: Rebuilt on 2 Sep 2026 as the directory of all 20 brands. The ranked brokers lead, in score order, and each card now carries the FCA entity and reference number, the nine-pair spread average with its date, the loss disclosure, the guaranteed-stop position, the minimum deposit, and the overnight rate and inactivity fee where the broker publishes one or states that it charges none. The six brands with no UK spread betting account to open follow, grouped by status under the definition of each status, with the date the status changed where a source states one. Four status buttons filter the list when scripting is on; every brand stays in the page either way. The section on what a review covers now lists the six criteria we score. No figure changed. Earlier: listed A to Z on 30 Aug 2026; card header row and chip row on 28 Aug 2026; rebuilt as a directory on 26 Aug 2026.

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The 20 Brands We Review

Every broker below appears in our UK spread betting brokers ranked by score, with the same spreads and dates.

The list below carries all 20 brands in one order: ranked brokers by score, then the six that do not currently offer UK spread betting.

Thirteen of the 14 ranked accounts hold a row in our monthly nine-pair spread harvest, and we compute each account’s nine-pair average from its row. Those averages run from 1.29 points to 2.26 points as read on 1 Aug 2026. Opening deposits run from £0 to £100; no date is attached to those figures.

Open

Open means the broker publishes a UK spread betting product and takes new UK retail clients.

Pepperstone Spread Betting Review

#1 · 98/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: Pepperstone Limited (FRN 684312)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.34 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: not offered
Minimum deposit: £10
Inactivity fee: no inactivity fee

72.9% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

Spreadex Spread Betting Review

#2 · 96/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: Spreadex Limited (FRN 190941)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.52 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £0
Inactivity fee: no inactivity fee

61% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

OANDA Spread Betting Review

#3 · 91/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: OANDA Europe Limited (FRN 542574)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.74 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £0
Inactivity fee: monthly charge after 12 months without a trade; not charged while a position is open (amount not published)

76.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

Capital.com Spread Betting Review

#4 · 88/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: Capital Com (UK) Limited (FRN 793714)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.63 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £20

65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

IG Markets Spread Betting Review

#5 · 86/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: IG Markets Ltd (FRN 195355) and IG Index Ltd (FRN 114059)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.74 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £0
Overnight rate: the relevant interbank rate plus an IG admin fee of 1.5% on FX and 3.4% on other asset classes
Inactivity fee: None

69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

ThinkMarkets Spread Betting Review

#6 · 84/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: TF Global Markets (UK) Limited (FRN 629628)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.29 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £0

75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

City Index Spread Betting Review

#7 · 82/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: StoneX Financial Ltd, trading as City Index (FRN 446717)

Nine-pair average spread: 2.16 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £0
Overnight rate: SONIA plus 3% on long positions, SONIA minus 3% on short positions
Inactivity fee: £12 a month once an account has been inactive for 12 months

68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

Trade Nation Spread Betting Review

#8 · 76/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: Trade Nation Financial UK Ltd (FRN 525164)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.63 points (1 Aug 2026)
Minimum deposit: £0
Overnight rate: the 1-month interbank rate plus 2.5% on long positions

73.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

FXCM Spread Betting Review

#9 · 74/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: Stratos Markets Limited (FRN 217689)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.59 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: not offered
Minimum deposit: £50

65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

CMC Markets Spread Betting Review

#10 · 62/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: CMC Markets UK plc (FRN 173730)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.56 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £0
Inactivity fee: £10 a month once an account has been dormant for one year

68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

FxPro Spread Betting Review

#11 · 57/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: FxPro UK Limited (FRN 509956)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.99 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: not offered
Minimum deposit: £100

75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

ActivTrades Spread Betting Review

#12 · 56/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: ActivTrades Plc (FRN 434413)

Nine-pair average spread: none published, quoted live only
Minimum deposit: £0

69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

Spread Co Spread Betting

#13 · 46/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: Spread Co Limited (FRN 446677)

Nine-pair average spread: 2.26 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: available
Minimum deposit: £50

63.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

Vantage Spread Betting

#14 · 40/100

🗺️ FCA regulated: Vantage Global Prime LLP (FRN 590299)

Nine-pair average spread: 1.68 points (1 Aug 2026)
Guaranteed stop-loss orders: not offered
Minimum deposit: £50

70.98% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

Withdrawn

Withdrawn means the brand has withdrawn from UK retail service.

Markets.com Spread Betting Review

Withdrawn

Status: withdrawn, checked 25 Aug 2026
FCA register: Finalto Financial Services Limited (FRN 481853)

No product

No product means the FCA entity is live but publishes no spread betting product.

Admirals Spread Betting Review

No product

Status: no product, checked 26 Aug 2026
FCA register: Admiral Markets UK Ltd (FRN 595450)

Trading 212 Spread Betting Review

No product

Status: no product, checked 25 Aug 2026
FCA register: Trading 212 UK Ltd (FRN 609146)

No UK entity

No UK entity means no FCA-authorised entity can take UK retail clients.

AvaTrade Spread Betting Review

No UK entity

Status: no uk entity, checked 26 Aug 2026

ETX Capital Spread Betting Review

No UK entity

Status: no uk entity, checked 5 Sep 2026
Status changed: 8 February 2023

OvalX Spread Betting Review

No UK entity

Status: no uk entity, checked 5 Sep 2026
Status changed: 8 February 2023

Match A Broker To How You Trade

Four questions, answered from the same data as our ranking. The order never changes; the questions only narrow the list.

With no preferences set, all 14 accounts in our ranking qualify, in our published order.

Every ranked broker with the four fields the matcher filters on: platforms, minimum opening deposit, guaranteed stop-loss orders and demo account, in our published order. An empty cell is a value the broker does not publish and we have not verified.
Rank	Broker	Score	Platforms	Min deposit	Guaranteed stop	Demo
1	Pepperstone	98/100	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView	£10	Not offered	Available
2	Spreadex	96/100	TradingView, SpreadEX Platform	£0	Available
3	OANDA	91/100	MetaTrader 4, TradingView, OANDA Trade	£0	Available
4	Capital.com	88/100	MetaTrader 4, TradingView	£20	Available	Available
5	IG	86/100	MetaTrader 4, IG Platform, L2 Dealer	£0	Available	Available
6	ThinkMarkets	84/100	TradingView, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5	£0	Available	Available
7	City Index	82/100	MetaTrader 4, TradingView, Web Trader	£0	Available	Available
8	Trade Nation	76/100	TradingView, TN Trader	£0
9	FXCM	74/100	MetaTrader 4, TradingView, Trading Station	£50	Not offered	Available
10	CMC Markets	62/100	MetaTrader 4, CMC NGEN	£0	Available	Available
11	FxPro	57/100	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, FxPro Trading Platform	£100	Not offered
12	ActivTrades	56/100	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, ActivTrader	£0		Available
13	Spread Co	46/100	Saturn Trader	£50	Available	Available
14	Vantage	40/100	MetaTrader 4	£50	Not offered	Available

The matcher filters, it does not score. The order is the score already published on each broker's review, and a broker leaves the list only because an answer you gave rules it out. An empty cell is a value the broker does not publish and we have not verified, and a filter on that question leaves that broker out.

Every account here is scored on the same criteria in our UK platform comparison, and each name links to its review.

Capital at risk when spread betting.

What A Review Covers

Every ranked broker is marked on the same six criteria, each out of 10, and our page on how we score spread betting accounts states what each one covers. No criterion is influenced by commission. The Trading Platform criterion covers the charting tools each account gives you, which is why the broker matcher above asks for MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader or TradingView. The list below shows, for each criterion, the lowest and highest mark across the 14 ranked accounts, the median, and how many accounts hold a 10.

Trading Cost. 1 to 10 across the 14 ranked accounts, median 5.5, one at 10.
Trading Experience. 2 to 10 across the 14 ranked accounts, median 7.5, one at 10.
Trading Platform. 2 to 10 across the 14 ranked accounts, median 7.5, two at 10.
Trust. 4 to 10 across the 14 ranked accounts, median 8.5, five at 10.
Range Of Markets. 1 to 10 across the 14 ranked accounts, median 8, two at 10.
Customer Service. 2 to 10 across the 14 ranked accounts, median 7.5, one at 10.

Using These Reviews

Losses can exceed what you set out to risk on a bet, because spread betting leverage means the margin you post is smaller than the position it opens. Across the brokers reviewed here, between 61% and 76.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs. The risks section of our guide explains what that figure measures. Whether a profit is tax-free depends on your circumstances, and our spread betting tax page states the conditions. This page is not financial or tax advice.

About The Author

Justin Grossbard

Justin Grossbard co-founded Spread-Bet.co.uk with Noam Korbl in 2024, and co-founded the broker comparison network CompareForexBrokers with him in 2014. He has been investing since 1998 and actively trading since 2014, and has written on forex and CFD trading for Kiplinger, Entrepreneur, Finance Magnates and MoneyShow since 2019.