Written by StockBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Interactive Brokers vs IG, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, investment options, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
Alongside the cost per trade, most UK online brokers also charge a monthly, quarterly, or annual management fee, which varies based on the account type and balance. Based on our thorough review, Interactive Brokers offers better pricing than IG for share dealing.
Assuming a £30,000 portfolio size, here are the total annual costs for share dealing with both brokers, given different monthly activity scenarios.
5 trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £15 per year, while IG would cost £136 per year.
12 trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £36 per year, while IG would cost £96 per year.
36 trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £108 per year, while IG would cost £108 per year.
120 trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £360 per year, while IG would cost £360 per year.
3 fund trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £0 per year, while IG would cost £0 per year.
What type of trader are you?
New to the world of investing? See our picks for the Best UK Trading Platforms for Beginners. More experienced traders should read our guide to the Best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders.
For UK investors exploring their online broker options, both Interactive Brokers and IG present a variety of trading opportunities. Offering share and ETF trading, both platforms stand out as versatile choices. They further expand their appeal with CFD trading and the ability to invest in investment trusts. However, Interactive Brokers takes a clear lead by extending investment opportunities into funds, corporate bonds, and government bonds, adding layers to potential portfolio diversifications not available with IG. Notably, neither broker offers crypto trading, spread betting, or advisor services.
In terms of expert assessments, Interactive Brokers is highly regarded with a perfect 5-star rating for investment choices by UK.StockBrokers.com, securing second place among 18 brokers. On the other hand, IG, while a strong contender, garners a 4.5-star rating and ranks eleventh, highlighting Interactive Brokers' broader range of investment options for those seeking comprehensive investment tools in the UK market.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
IG
|
|---|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes | Yes |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Funds | Yes | No |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes | No |
| Investment Trusts | Yes | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No | Yes |
| Crypto Trading | No | No |
| Advisor Services | No | No |
| Investment Choices |
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Professional’s Gateway to the World’s Markets.
Low-cost US and UK shares.
When comparing the trading tools of Interactive Brokers and IG, both platforms provide the option to display corporate events like earnings, splits, and dividends on charts, ensuring traders are well-informed of key market events. Interactive Brokers stands out with a much more comprehensive suite of 80 drawing tools compared to IG's 19, and it also offers a wider range of technical indicators, featuring 96 compared to IG's 33. Additionally, both platforms allow traders to add notes directly to charts, which can be useful for personal analysis and tracking.
However, Interactive Brokers provides more advanced customization options by allowing users to add both index and stock overlays to charts, a feature not available with IG. While both brokers offer a browser-based trading experience and the capability to set alerts for stock price updates, a significant difference arises with real-time market data availability—Interactive Brokers does not offer this feature, whereas IG does. This could be a crucial factor for traders prioritizing instant market information. Overall, those seeking extensive charting tools and customizability may lean towards Interactive Brokers, while real-time data seekers may prefer IG.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
IG
|
|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 96 | 33 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 80 | 19 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | No |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | No |
For UK investors considering online brokers for retirement accounts, both Interactive Brokers and IG provide Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs). Whether you're looking to invest tax efficiently with an ISA or want flexibility in managing your retirement savings through a SIPP, both platforms have you covered. Choosing between Interactive Brokers and IG can depend on personal preferences, investment needs, and additional offerings each platform might have, but rest assured that they both support these popular retirement account options for UK residents.
Dive deeper: Best SIPP Providers, Best Stocks and Shares ISA Providers.
Both Interactive Brokers and IG provide comprehensive mobile trading solutions, offering dedicated apps for both iPhone and Android users. According to UK.StockBrokers.com, both platforms have achieved an impressive 5-star rating for their mobile apps, reflecting their reliability and user satisfaction. However, in terms of overall rankings among 18 brokers, Interactive Brokers secures the fourth spot, while IG edges ahead in second place. This suggests that while both apps are highly rated, IG's app has a slightly better standing in comparison to its peers, offering UK traders a high-quality mobile experience.
Dive deeper: Best Stock Trading Apps UK.
Interactive Brokers and IG both offer a variety of educational resources tailored to beginner investors, including live webinars, which are also archived for convenient on-demand viewing. Both platforms provide guidance on share trading, but Interactive Brokers has an advantage offering educational content on funds—an area where IG falls short. However, IG excels in overall beginner education, receiving a top rating of 5 stars from UK.StockBrokers.com and ranking first among 18 brokers. Interactive Brokers, while slightly behind, still boasts a commendable 4.5-star rating and is ranked eighth. For UK investors stepping into the world of trading, both brokers provide strong educational support, with IG leading the pack.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
IG
|
|---|---|---|
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | Yes | No |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes | Yes |
| Education |
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Dive deeper: Best UK Trading Platforms for Beginners.
For UK investors looking for a comprehensive analysis tool in market research features, both Interactive Brokers and IG provide extensive resources, but with some differences. Interactive Brokers stands out by offering research reports on funds alongside a detailed view of portfolio allocation by asset class, which IG lacks. Both brokers offer research on shares, ETFs, and CFDs, but Interactive Brokers goes a step further by including funds and bonds research, while IG does not provide these two options. These distinctions make Interactive Brokers a more diverse choice for those requiring detailed insight across various investment areas.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
IG
|
|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | Yes |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Research - Bonds | Yes | No |
| Research - Funds | Yes | No |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | No |
Which broker is better overall, Interactive Brokers or IG? After collecting more than 900 data points over a 10-week period, we found Interactive Brokers to be a better trading platform overall.
Interactive Brokers is a sophisticated trading platform aimed at confident and institutional-grade investors. For newer investors, Interactive Brokers is more intimidating, though it's worth exploring the platform to see if you could save money or access more investments compared to other brokers.
| Feature |
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IG
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| Mobile App |
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While both Interactive Brokers and IG do not offer crypto trading, they each stand as formidable online brokerage platforms for other asset classes.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
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| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | IG Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
| Investments | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISA | Yes | Yes | |
| SIPP | Yes | Yes | |
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| CFD Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Funds | Yes | No | |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Bonds - Corporate | Yes | No | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes | No | |
| Investment Trusts | Yes | Yes | |
| Spread Betting | No | Yes | |
| Crypto Trading | Yes | No | |
| Advisor Services | No | No |
| Trading Fees | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £0 | £0 | |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £3 | £0-£10 | |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £3 | £3 | |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £3 | £3 | |
| 5 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £15 | £136 | |
| 12 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £36 | £96 | |
| 36 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £108 | £108 | |
| 120 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £360 | £360 | |
| 3 fund trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 / £14.85 | N/A | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | £0 | £0 / £96 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £0 | £0 / £96 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | £0 | £0 / £96 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £0 | £0 / £96 | |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) | N/A | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) | N/A | |
| ETFs - Fee | £3 | £0 - £8 | |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A | £0 - £8 | |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | £25 | £50 |
| Broker Screenshots | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
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| Platforms & Tools | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| iPhone App | Yes | Yes | |
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 96 | 33 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 80 | 19 | |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | No | |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | No |
| Research | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - Funds | Yes | No | |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - Bonds | Yes | No | |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | No |
| Education | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes | |
| Education (Funds) | Yes | No | |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Overall Summary | Interactive Brokers | IG | |
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| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | IG Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
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