Exness vs IC Markets

IC Markets is the better overall choice for active traders, scalpers and algorithmic traders, while Exness is stronger for traders who prioritise simple mobile trading, flexible payments and fast automated withdrawals.

The biggest reason to choose IC Markets is its trading stack. IC Markets offers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView access, publishes detailed Raw Spread pricing, and provides a materially larger range of tradable instruments. Exness counters with competitive account pricing, its proprietary Exness Terminal and Exness Trade app, plus a payments system built around rapid withdrawals.

If cTrader, TradingView, automated trading or a wide CFD range matters to you, choose IC Markets. If your priority is an easy proprietary trading experience and fast access to deposited funds, Exness has the advantage.

There is one important qualification: the legal entity serving you matters more than the broker's total number of licences. Account conditions, leverage and investor protections vary substantially by country.

CFDs and leveraged derivatives are high-risk products. This comparison concerns broker features and trading conditions, not whether leveraged trading is suitable for you.

Exness vs IC Markets at a glance

Exness currently lists Standard spreads from 0.2 pips, Pro from 0.1 pips and Raw Spread from 0.0 pips with commissions of up to $3.50 per lot per side. IC Markets lists Standard spreads from 0.8 pips and its MetaTrader Raw Spread account from 0.0 pips with a $3.50 per-lot-per-side commission.

Which has lower trading costs, Exness or IC Markets?

Exness Standard is commission-free with spreads from 0.2 pips. Its Pro account is also commission-free with spreads from 0.1 pips. Exness Raw Spread starts at 0.0 pips and charges between $0 and $3.50 per lot per side depending on the instrument.

IC Markets Standard is commission-free with spreads from 0.8 pips. Its conventional MetaTrader Raw Spread account starts at 0.0 pips and charges $3.50 per lot per side. IC Markets also publishes an average EUR/USD Raw Spread of 0.1 pips.

That distinction matters.

For one standard lot of EUR/USD, one pip is approximately $10. Using IC Markets' published 0.1-pip average and $7 round-turn MetaTrader commission gives a theoretical all-in cost of roughly $8 per standard lot, before slippage, swaps or other applicable charges.

The equivalent calculation cannot be made fairly from Exness' headline Raw Spread figures because Exness publishes a minimum spread of 0.0 pips rather than a directly comparable average on the cited account page.

That is why comparing brokers by “0.0 pip spreads” is mostly useless. The useful equation is:

All-in trading cost = spread + round-turn commission + overnight financing + realised slippage

For a high-frequency trader, average rather than minimum spreads are the number that matters.

IC Markets has added cheaper high-volume Raw accounts

IC Markets' current global account table also lists newer Raw Pro and Raw Pro+ accounts. Raw Pro lists a $1.50-per-lot-per-side commission and a $5,000 minimum deposit, while Raw Pro+ lists $1.00 per lot per side and a $100,000 minimum. Both were marked as early-access products when checked.

For sufficiently high-volume traders who qualify, that changes the cost comparison materially and is worth checking before defaulting to the conventional Raw Spread account.

Is Exness or IC Markets better for scalping and algorithmic trading?

IC Markets offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 alongside cTrader, TradingView and cTrader Algo. Its global Raw Spread infrastructure uses servers in the Equinix NY4 data centre, and IC Markets explicitly permits scalping and automated trading without a minimum order-distance restriction on the relevant MetaTrader environment.

IC Markets also supports C# through cTrader, while MetaTrader users can work with MQL4 and MQL5. That gives systematic traders more choice over their execution environment.

Exness supports Expert Advisors through MetaTrader and offers Raw Spread and Zero account structures suited to active trading. Exness does not, however, offer an ECN account according to its own Help Centre.

The practical distinction is simple:

• Choose IC Markets for cTrader, TradingView, C# algorithms, scalping and infrastructure flexibility.
• Choose Exness if you already run an MT4 or MT5 workflow and value Exness-specific account conditions more than platform choice.

I would not rank either broker on claimed execution speed without equivalent independent testing under the same instrument, server location, account type and market conditions.

Which has better trading platforms?

IC Markets' global platform ecosystem includes MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView. Its TradingView integration routes trading through the associated cTrader environment.

Exness offers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, the browser-based Exness Terminal and the proprietary Exness Trade mobile app. Exness Trade combines trading, account management, deposits and withdrawals, although in-app trading is tied to compatible MT5 accounts.

This creates two different strengths.

IC Markets has the better trading toolkit. Exness has the more integrated proprietary user experience.

A trader who spends all day in TradingView or cTrader should pick IC Markets. A trader who wants to open the broker's own app, manage the account, trade and withdraw from the same environment may prefer Exness.

Does Exness or IC Markets offer more markets?

IC Markets' current global offering includes 61 forex pairs, 25 indices, more than 20 commodity CFDs, thousands of stock CFDs, government bond CFDs, cryptocurrency CFDs and futures CFDs. Its account comparison currently lists 2,250 tradable instruments on its MetaTrader Raw Spread and Standard accounts.

Exness supports forex, metals, energies, stocks, indices and cryptocurrencies. Exness documentation describes more than 200 instruments as available through MetaTrader 5.

For someone primarily trading EUR/USD, GBP/USD or gold, the difference may be irrelevant.

For someone who wants to move between forex, equities, commodities, bonds and other CFD markets without changing broker, IC Markets is clearly stronger.

Which broker offers higher leverage?

Exness lists leverage up to 1:Unlimited across several Standard and Professional account types. There are jurisdiction-specific exceptions. For example, Exness states that clients registered through its Kenyan entity are limited to maximum leverage of 1:400.

IC Markets' current global account table lists leverage up to 1:5000 for eligible MetaTrader Standard and Raw Spread accounts, while the cTrader Raw Spread account is listed at up to 1:1000. IC Markets also states that leverage is dynamic and may change.

Those figures should not be confused with European retail leverage.

IC Markets EU states that retail clients are limited to leverage of up to 1:30, while qualifying professional clients can receive up to 1:500.

Higher leverage is not inherently better. It reduces the margin required to control a position while increasing the speed at which adverse price movements can damage an account.

Is Exness safer than IC Markets?

Exness operates through multiple regulated entities, including entities authorised by regulators such as the Seychelles FSA, South African FSCA, Kenyan CMA, CySEC and the UK FCA.

However, there is an important detail that many broker comparisons miss: Exness (Cy) Ltd and Exness (UK) Ltd do not offer trading services to retail clients. A retail trader should therefore not assume that seeing FCA or CySEC on Exness' regulation page means their own trading account receives FCA or CySEC retail protection.

IC Markets also operates through separate entities.

The global IC Markets offering, now presented as IC, is operated by Raw Trading Ltd and regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority under Securities Dealer licence SD018. The official site states that client funds are held in segregated accounts.

IC Markets EU is a separate Cyprus entity regulated by CySEC under licence 362/18. IC Markets EU states that eligible client investments are covered by the Investor Compensation Fund up to €20,000 where the applicable conditions are met.

For an EEA retail client who can use IC Markets EU, IC Markets has the clearer retail-regulated proposition in this head-to-head because Exness' CySEC entity does not serve retail traders.

For clients elsewhere, compare the actual Exness or IC Markets legal entity presented during registration.

Which has the lower minimum deposit?

Exness does not have one universal minimum deposit. Standard account minimums depend on region and payment method. Professional accounts such as Pro, Raw Spread and Zero generally start from at least $200, with substantially higher first-deposit requirements applying in certain countries.

IC Markets' current global account comparison lists a $0 account minimum for its conventional Raw Spread, cTrader Raw Spread and Standard accounts. Its newer Raw Pro and Raw Pro+ tiers carry substantially higher requirements.

That does not mean somebody can necessarily fund an IC Markets account with literally zero dollars. Payment providers and the practical margin needed to open a position create their own funding requirements.

It does mean the old blanket statement that “IC Markets requires a $200 minimum deposit” should not be treated as current global account information in 2026.

Which broker is better for withdrawals?

Exness states that more than 98% of withdrawals are processed automatically, with many processed in under one minute. The broker also makes withdrawals available at weekends. Actual arrival time can still depend on the payment provider after the money has left Exness.

That is one of Exness' clearest differentiators.

IC Markets supports multiple funding and withdrawal methods, but its proposition is more heavily differentiated around pricing, liquidity and trading infrastructure than withdrawal automation.

If frequently moving money in and out of the brokerage account is central to your workflow, Exness gets the edge.

Exness vs IC Markets: which should you choose?

IC Markets makes the most sense for:

1. Scalpers and high-frequency discretionary traders.
2. Traders using Expert Advisors or systematic strategies.
3. cTrader users.
4. TradingView users who want integrated execution.
5. Traders who want exposure to a larger range of CFDs.
6. Traders who value published Raw Spread infrastructure and average-spread data.
7. Eligible EEA retail traders who specifically want the IC Markets EU CySEC entity.

Exness makes more sense for traders who prioritise:

• Exness Terminal or the Exness Trade app.
• Rapid automated withdrawal processing.
• Commission-free Standard or Pro account structures.
• Exness' Zero account model.
• Very high or unlimited leverage where legally and contractually available.
• A streamlined broker-specific mobile and web experience.

Overall winner: IC Markets.

The wider platform stack, stronger fit for algorithmic and active trading, larger market range and more transparent Raw Spread infrastructure give IC Markets the better overall proposition.

Exness is not a weaker broker across the board. It simply wins on a different set of priorities, particularly payments, proprietary usability and some account-pricing configurations.

How to compare Exness and IC Markets before depositing

Do not choose either broker from this comparison table alone.

First, identify the exact legal entity that would hold your account. Then compare the specific account type you intend to use on the instruments you actually trade.

For example, a useful live test would compare EUR/USD and XAU/USD spreads at both brokers during the same London and New York trading windows, including commission rather than recording the headline spread alone.

Then test the platform you intend to use with a demo account. If execution sensitivity matters, measure fills on the server location and VPS setup you will actually use.

Finally, verify the current deposit and withdrawal methods available in your country.

That gives you a decision based on your entity, your instruments and your execution workflow, rather than a broker rating assembled from conditions you may never receive.

Frequently asked questions

Is IC Markets better than Exness?

IC Markets is better overall for active trading, scalping, algorithms and platform choice. IC Markets supports MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView and offers a wider range of CFDs. Exness is stronger for proprietary mobile/web trading and rapid automated withdrawals.

Which has lower spreads, Exness or IC Markets?

Exness advertises lower minimum spreads on its commission-free Standard account, while both brokers offer Raw accounts from 0.0 pips. IC Markets publishes an average Raw EUR/USD spread of 0.1 pips plus a $3.50-per-side MetaTrader commission. Exness Raw Spread charges up to $3.50 per lot per side but does not provide an equivalent average EUR/USD figure on the cited account page.

Is Exness or IC Markets better for scalping?

IC Markets is the better choice for scalping. It explicitly permits scalping, provides Raw Spread pricing, offers cTrader as well as MetaTrader, and publishes details of its Equinix NY4 MetaTrader infrastructure.

Does IC Markets have TradingView?

Yes. IC Markets supports TradingView integration through its cTrader trading environment. IC Markets also supports MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader directly.

Does Exness have cTrader?

No. Exness' main trading environments are MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Exness Terminal and Exness Trade. Traders specifically wanting cTrader should choose IC Markets.

Is IC Markets an ECN broker?

IC Markets describes its Raw Pricing environment as providing institutional-grade pricing through multiple pricing providers and no dealing-desk intervention. Exness explicitly states that it does not offer ECN account types. Traders should compare the actual execution model and contractual terms rather than relying on the loosely used marketing label “ECN”.

Can US traders use Exness or IC Markets?

Neither broker's international retail offering is intended for US residents. Both brokers list the United States among restricted jurisdictions for the relevant global services.

Final verdict

IC Markets beats Exness overall in 2026 for traders choosing primarily on platforms, market range and active-trading infrastructure. Exness is the better specialist choice for traders who prioritise fast withdrawals, proprietary software and particular Exness account conditions.

The deciding factor should still be the entity and account actually available where you live. A Seychelles Raw Spread account, a CySEC retail account and another regional entity can have radically different leverage, protections and product conditions even when the logo at the top of the page is identical.

For most serious scalpers, algo traders and multi-market CFD traders, I would pick IC Markets.

For someone whose priority is frictionless account management, mobile/web trading and rapid withdrawals, I would pick Exness.