IG vs Saxo Markets 2023

IG stands out as a top U.K. broker, thanks largely to its excellent online trading platform. Strong functionality comes with industry-standard commission rates and fees, a huge variety of trading tools, and user-friendly mobile apps.

Saxo Markets offers a well-functioning platform with an array of investment opportunities featuring over 30,000 international products to trade across 40 global exchanges. The one downside is pricing, which is high.

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, IG offers better pricing than Saxo Markets 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 - IG would cost £30-£40 per year, while Saxo Markets would cost £142 per year.

12 trades per year - IG would cost £96 per year, while Saxo Markets would cost £198 per year.

36 trades per year - IG would cost £108 per year, while Saxo Markets would cost £390 per year.

120 trades per year - IG would cost £360 per year, while Saxo Markets would cost £1062 per year.

3 fund trades per year - IG would cost 0 per year, while Saxo Markets would cost 500 per year.

IG requires a minimum deposit of £0, while Saxo Markets requires a minimum deposit of £500. From our testing we found for accounts between £0 - £250,000 IG charges annual custody fees of £96 (can reduce by trading), while Saxo Markets charges annual custody fees of 0.12% (min. €120 or £ equivalent).

IG offers investors access to ISA, SIPP, Share Trading, CFD Trading, ETFs, Investment Trusts and Spread Betting, while Saxo Markets offers investors access to ISA, SIPP, Share Trading, CFD Trading, Funds, ETFs, Bonds - Corporate, Bonds - Government (Gilts) and Investment Trusts. Neither have Crypto Trading and Advisor Services. Investing encompasses a wide variety of asset classes, so finding a broker that offers every investment type you are interested in is important.

Self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) and individual savings accounts (ISAs) are tax-advantaged savings accounts that are an important tool for many individual investors. You can read more about how these accounts operate at Gov.UK: Click here for SIPP information and here for ISA information. Our analysis finds that Both IG and Saxo Markets offer SIPP and ISA accounts.

In our analysis of top brokers for share dealing in the U.K., we research whether each broker offers the ability to trade cash cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ethereum, which is still a somewhat rare offering amongst major U.K. brokers. Our review finds that neither IG and Saxo Markets offer crypto investing.

Our testing concluded that Saxo Markets is better for research than IG. Saxo Markets offers more research options, including research reports, articles, and analyst ratings.

To compare the trading platforms of both IG and Saxo Markets, we tested each broker's website, trading platform, trading tools and stock trading app. All features compared, our analysis finds that Saxo Markets offers a better share dealing platform and Saxo Markets offers a better stock app for mobile trading.

Educational offerings are of particular importance to those who are newer to investing, and we examine the availability of several different types of educational materials in our analysis. Our research finds that IG offers traders access to Client Webinars, Client Webinars (Archived), Has Education - Share Trading, Has Education - Funds and Has Education - Retirement, while Saxo Markets offers access to Client Webinars, Client Webinars (Archived) and Has Education - Share Trading.