Australian-founded ECN broker known for tight raw spreads and a broad platform choice, including cTrader.
IC Markets' homepage.
IC Markets (International Capital Markets Pty Ltd) has been operating since 2007 out of Sydney, Australia, and has built its reputation specifically around ECN-style raw pricing rather than a wide instrument catalogue or proprietary platform gimmicks. It ranks first in our comparison on the strength of tight spreads on its Raw account, dual Tier-1 regulation, and a platform lineup that includes cTrader alongside the usual MetaTrader options.
The broker operates through multiple entities: International Capital Markets Pty Ltd under ASIC (licence 335692), IC Markets (EU) Ltd under CySEC, and Raw Trading Ltd under the Seychelles FSA (licence SD018) for clients outside Tier-1 jurisdictions. CySEC fined the EU entity €200,000 after finding it had offered leverage up to 1000:1 in violation of EU retail rules, a real mark against its compliance record and one worth weighing alongside its regulatory breadth.
The Standard account carries a headline EUR/USD spread from 0.6 pips with no commission. The Raw Spread account (available on MT4 and MT5, not cTrader) is the more competitive option for active traders: recent testing puts its EUR/USD average around 0.10 pips, plus a $3.50 per lot, per side commission. On cTrader specifically, the equivalent raw pricing carries a $3 per lot per side commission.
IC Markets supports MT4, MT5, and cTrader. The Standard account works across all three, but the Raw Spread account is limited to MT4/MT5 only. This is one of the broader platform selections among the brokers we cover, useful if you specifically want cTrader’s charting and order-management tools rather than being limited to MetaTrader.
IC Markets is a strong fit for traders who place enough volume that the spread-plus-commission math on the Raw account beats a wider all-in spread elsewhere, and who want the option of cTrader rather than being MetaTrader-only. The CySEC fine is worth factoring into your own risk assessment rather than ignoring. Confirm which specific entity you’d be onboarded to, and open a demo account first to check live conditions match what’s advertised before committing real capital.
| Regulated by | ASIC (AFSL 335692); CySEC (362/18); Seychelles FSA (SD018); Bahamas SCB (SIA-F214); Kenya CMA (Licence 123) |
|---|---|
| Regulator tier | Tier 1 |
| Client money segregated | Yes |
| Held at | Top-tier international banks |
| Negative balance protection | Retail only |
| Compensation scheme | ICF up to €20,000 for eligible EU clients; Raw Trading Ltd insolvency insurance up to US$1,000,000 |
| Audited by | External independent auditors |
| Not available to | United States, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Iran, North Korea, Belgium, Brazil and other restricted/sanctioned jurisdictions |
| Spread from | 0.0 pips |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD spread | 0.1 pips (Raw Spread) |
| GBP/USD spread | 0.4 pips (Raw Spread) |
| Commission | $3.50 per side / $7 round turn (Raw Spread MetaTrader) |
| All-in cost, EUR/USD | Approx. 0.8 pips |
| Spread type | Variable |
| Overnight swap | Both: swaps charged; swap-free accounts available |
| Inactivity fee | None on Global; EU: 10 account-currency units/month after 6 months inactivity |
| Withdrawal fee | None; third-party/bank charges may apply |
| Currency conversion | Conversion at applicable exchange rate/charges; no fixed percentage published |
| Minimum deposit | $200 |
|---|---|
| Account types | Standard, Raw Spread, cTrader Raw Spread, Islamic/Swap-Free |
| Account currencies | USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, SGD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD, CAD |
| Islamic account | Yes |
| Demo account | Yes, expires after 30 days of inactivity |
| Professional account | Yes, subject to professional/wholesale-client qualification under applicable entity |
| Minimum trade size | 0.01 lots |
| Time to open | Usually minutes to a few hours |
| Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView |
|---|---|
| Own platform | IC Markets Global mobile app / IC app |
| Mobile app | Both |
| Browser trading | Yes |
| Automated trading | Yes; EAs/cBots supported; low-latency VPS available |
| Copy trading | IC Social; cTrader Copy; ZuluTrade; Myfxbook AutoTrade; Signal Start |
| Indicators | 30+ built-in on MT4; 38+ on MT5; extensive additional via cTrader/TradingView |
| Third-party tools | Trading Central, Autochartist, IC Insights, TipRanks |
| API access | Yes, cTrader FIX API |
| Markets | Forex, Commodities, Shares, Indices, Bonds, Cryptocurrencies, Futures |
|---|---|
| Currency pairs | 61 |
| Total instruments | 2,250+ |
| Crypto CFDs | Yes |
| Maximum leverage | 1:30 |
| Execution model | Market execution |
| Execution speed | Approx. 35ms on forex |
| Order types | Market, limit, stop, stop-limit, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop |
| Servers | Equinix NY4, New York; Equinix LD5, London |
| Deposit methods | Credit/debit card, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, UnionPay, bank wire, Bpay, broker-to-broker, POLi, Rapidpay, Klarna, cryptocurrency, local internet banking |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal methods | Credit/debit card, bank wire, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, plus applicable original/local payment methods |
| Deposit time | Instant for cards, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, UnionPay and several local methods; bank wire 2-5 business days |
| Withdrawal time | Same-day processing before cutoff; cards typically 3-5 business days; international wire up to 14 days |
| Minimum withdrawal | No minimum |
| Local payment methods | Bpay; POLi; Thai Internet Banking; Vietnamese Internet Banking; UnionPay; Rapidpay; Klarna |
| Support hours | 24/7 |
|---|---|
| Contact channels | Live chat, email, phone |
| Languages | English, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese and others |
| Telephone | +248 467 19 76 |
| support@icmarkets.com | |
| Live chat response | Typically under 2 minutes |
| Education | Extensive: webinars, educational articles, video/Web TV, trading guides, tutorials |
| Research | Extensive: Trading Central, Autochartist, IC Insights/TipRanks, market analysis and daily forecasts |