IG vs Pepperstone

IG is the better broker overall for most UK traders, while Pepperstone is the better choice for active forex traders who specifically want raw-spread pricing, cTrader or a MetaTrader-focused setup.

Choose IG if you want the broader package: more markets, spread betting, CFDs, direct share investing, ISAs, specialist trading platforms and guaranteed stops.

Choose Pepperstone if your priority is forex and CFD execution, particularly if you want a Razor account with raw FX spreads plus commission, or you prefer cTrader, MT4 or MT5.

Both brokers are authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. IG Markets Limited has FCA reference number 195355, while Pepperstone Limited has FCA reference number 684312.

IG vs Pepperstone at a glance

IG currently advertises access to more than 15,000 markets through its trading platforms, while Pepperstone advertises more than 2,700 spread bets and CFDs across forex, indices, shares, commodities and ETFs. Exact instrument counts can vary by account, platform and jurisdiction.

Is IG better than Pepperstone?

IG combines leveraged trading with conventional investing. UK customers can use spread betting and CFDs, but they can also buy shares outright and access investment wrappers including Stocks and Shares ISAs and SIPPs. Pepperstone's UK proposition is much more focused on leveraged derivatives.

That distinction matters more than another tenth of a pip on a marketing table.

A trader who wants to speculate on GBP/USD today, buy an ETF next month and build a longer-term ISA portfolio can potentially keep those activities within the IG ecosystem. A Pepperstone customer would need another investment platform for direct asset ownership.

IG also has a material advantage in specialist risk management. IG offers guaranteed stops that close an eligible position at the selected level even if the market gaps. The premium is charged only when the guaranteed stop is triggered. Pepperstone explicitly states that its stop-loss and take-profit orders do not guarantee an execution price and can experience slippage.

For that reason, IG wins this comparison overall.

Pepperstone still wins a narrower and commercially important category: active FX trading.

Is Pepperstone or IG cheaper?

Pepperstone offers three main UK pricing structures. Its Standard CFD account incorporates most FX trading costs into the spread. Its Razor account uses raw spreads plus commission. Pepperstone currently advertises Razor forex spreads from 0.0 points with commission from £2.25 per lot per side. That means the advertised commission alone starts from £4.50 for a round trip on one lot before adding whatever raw spread was available at execution.

IG mainly uses spread-based pricing for retail forex trading. Its current UK pricing page lists minimum spreads including:

Pepperstone's published Razor commission starts from £2.25 per lot per side. Spreads are variable at both brokers and minimum spreads are not the same thing as average realised trading costs.

This creates a useful distinction.

Pepperstone Razor is more attractive when you trade enough volume for raw pricing and execution quality to materially affect your strategy. IG is simpler if you prefer spread-only FX pricing and do not want to calculate spread plus commission on every comparison.

Do not choose between these brokers from the "0.0 pips" claim alone. Compare the all-in cost on the instruments, position sizes and trading sessions you actually use.

IG vs Pepperstone for forex trading

Forex is where Pepperstone's narrower product strategy becomes an advantage rather than a limitation. Pepperstone offers Standard and Razor pricing, MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView and its own trading platform. Its current UK platform information lists more than 90 FX pairs on several of those platforms.

Pepperstone also publishes execution metrics. The company currently states execution from 50 milliseconds and a 99.32% fill rate, with its published fill-rate figure based on trading data from the first quarter of 2026. These are Pepperstone's own figures rather than an independent side-by-side test against IG, so they should not be treated as proof that Pepperstone executes every trade faster.

IG remains a perfectly credible forex broker and currently lists minimum EUR/USD spreads from 0.6 points. It also offers MT4, MT5 and TradingView.

But if the question is specifically Pepperstone vs IG for forex, scalping or an execution-sensitive automated strategy, Pepperstone gets the nod.

Which broker has better trading platforms?

There is no universal winner here because IG and Pepperstone have deliberately built different platform stacks.

Pepperstone platforms

Pepperstone supports:

• Pepperstone's own platform
• MetaTrader 4
• MetaTrader 5
• cTrader
• TradingView

Its strongest differentiator is cTrader, particularly for traders who prefer its interface, depth-of-market features or automation ecosystem. Pepperstone also supports expert advisers and backtesting on several third-party platforms.

IG platforms

IG supports:

• IG's web platform and mobile app
• MetaTrader 4
• MetaTrader 5
• TradingView
• ProRealTime
• L2 Dealer

IG's advantage is breadth.

ProRealTime gives technical traders another advanced charting environment, while L2 Dealer provides direct market access and order-book visibility for eligible share and forex trading. IG states that Forex Direct through L2 Dealer is limited to professional clients.

Choose Pepperstone for cTrader and a forex-first MetaTrader setup. Choose IG for the widest overall platform toolkit, particularly if ProRealTime, DMA or Level 2 equity data matter to you.

Which broker offers more markets?

IG wins market coverage comfortably.

IG advertises more than 15,000 markets across its current trading platform range, including forex, indices, shares, commodities, ETFs and specialist markets. IG also supports direct share investing separately from its leveraged products.

Pepperstone advertises more than 2,700 spread bets and CFDs. Its UK markets include 90+ currency pairs, more than 20 major indices, 1,100+ underlying shares, around 40 commodity markets and 90+ ETFs.

Pepperstone's range is easily sufficient for someone trading major FX pairs, gold, oil, stock indices and mainstream share CFDs.

The difference becomes important when you trade less common equities, specialist markets or want conventional investing alongside derivatives.

For market breadth, IG is the clear winner.

IG vs Pepperstone for spread betting

Both brokers offer spread betting to eligible UK customers.

Spread betting allows UK traders to speculate on market price movements without owning the underlying asset. Under current UK tax treatment, spread betting profits are generally exempt from Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty, although tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change.

Pepperstone provides spread betting through platforms including MT4, MT5, TradingView and its own platform. IG combines spread betting with substantially broader market coverage and additional specialist tools.

IG also gets the edge for traders who value guaranteed stop-loss protection.

IG vs Pepperstone for investing in shares

IG allows UK customers to buy and own shares and ETFs through investment accounts rather than merely speculate on their price through CFDs.

IG currently offers General Investment Accounts, Stocks and Shares ISAs and SIPPs. Its UK share-dealing service advertises more than 20,000 stocks and commission-free trading on shares and ETFs in eligible GBP investment accounts, although other charges such as foreign-exchange fees and government taxes can still apply.

Pepperstone's share offering is based on share CFDs and spread bets. Those products provide exposure to price movements but do not give the trader ownership of the underlying shares.

If "IG vs Pepperstone" really means which platform should I use for long-term investing, the answer is IG without much debate.

Which is safer, IG or Pepperstone?

IG Markets Limited is FCA authorised under reference number 195355. Pepperstone Limited is FCA authorised under reference number 684312.

Both brokers state that UK retail client money is segregated from company funds. Both also state that eligible clients may receive Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection of up to £85,000 where the relevant conditions are met.

IG Group Holdings is also publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and, as of September 2026, is a constituent of the FTSE 100.

That gives IG an additional layer of public-market disclosure and corporate visibility, but it does not make trading through IG risk-free.

Both brokers also provide negative balance protection to UK retail clients. Professional account protections differ.

Which broker is better for beginners?

The reason is not that IG makes leveraged trading safe. It does not.

IG simply provides a broader ecosystem around the account, including its proprietary platform, educational resources, conventional investing products and guaranteed stop functionality.

Pepperstone's Standard account is straightforward enough for a new trader, but much of Pepperstone's differentiation becomes more valuable once the trader cares about things such as Razor pricing, cTrader, Expert Advisors and execution-sensitive strategies.

A beginner who later decides leveraged trading is not appropriate can also use IG for direct share or ETF investing rather than having to move to an entirely different provider.

Which is better for scalping and algorithmic trading?

The combination of Razor pricing, MT4, MT5 and cTrader is particularly well suited to traders running Expert Advisors, automated strategies or systems where small differences in execution cost matter repeatedly.

That does not mean every strategy will achieve a lower realised cost at Pepperstone. Spread, commission, slippage, swap costs and execution all contribute to the actual result.

The sensible test is to run the same strategy on demo or small live accounts at both brokers and compare:

1. All-in spread and commission.
2. Positive and negative slippage.
3. Order rejection or fill behaviour.
4. Overnight financing where relevant.
5. Execution during the sessions and news events you actually trade.

For an active system placing hundreds of trades, a small cost difference compounds. For someone placing five trades per month, platform preference and market access may matter more.

What is the minimum deposit at IG and Pepperstone?

Pepperstone currently advertises a minimum deposit of £10 for UK accounts.

IG's current UK funding documentation says there is no minimum deposit for bank transfers, while GBP card deposits have a £1 minimum per transaction.

The practical distinction is small. Neither broker requires the sort of large initial balance that should decide this comparison.

The amount you need to trade sensibly is determined by position size, margin requirements and risk management, not simply the broker's minimum funding amount.

Does IG or Pepperstone charge an inactivity fee?

IG's current UK charges page lists account opening, closing, maintenance and inactivity fees as free. Pepperstone states that it does not charge account-keeping or inactivity fees.

This is worth checking again if an account is likely to remain unused for a long period because broker fee schedules can change.

IG vs Pepperstone: which should you choose?

Choose IG if:

• You want the best all-round broker of the two.
• You trade more than just forex.
• You want substantially broader market coverage.
• You want to combine trading and long-term investing.
• You need a Stocks and Shares ISA or SIPP.
• You value guaranteed stops.
• You want ProRealTime or L2 Dealer.
• You want direct ownership of shares and ETFs.

Choose Pepperstone if:

• Forex is your main market.
• You actively scalp or day trade.
• You want raw-spread Razor pricing.
• You specifically want cTrader.
• You run Expert Advisors or automated MetaTrader strategies.
• Trading costs and execution characteristics matter more than having thousands of additional markets.

Final verdict

If I had to choose one account without knowing anything else about the trader, I would choose IG. Its combination of market coverage, investing products, platform choice and guaranteed stops makes it useful to more types of trader.

If I knew the trader mainly traded EUR/USD, GBP/USD, gold and indices using MT5 or cTrader and cared heavily about raw pricing, I would choose Pepperstone.

That is the real distinction between IG and Pepperstone. IG is the broader financial trading and investing platform. Pepperstone is the more focused active-trading proposition.

Spread betting and CFDs are high-risk leveraged products. IG currently reports that 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with the provider. Pepperstone currently reports 72.9%. Those percentages describe each broker's own client population and should not be interpreted as evidence that one broker is inherently safer or easier to profit with than the other.

Broker products, spreads, commissions, tax treatment and regulatory protections can change and may differ outside the United Kingdom.