IG

Founded in 1974 in London, IG is one of the most established and trusted brokers in the world—with over 50 years of industry experience, more than 300,000 active retail clients, and licences from prominent regulators including the FCA (UK), ASIC (Australia), BaFin (Germany), MAS (Singapore), DFSA (Dubai) and FINMA (Switzerland).

IG is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE 100, adding an additional layer of transparency and credibility that few brokers can match. Traders can access over 17,000 financial instruments—spanning forex, indices, commodities, shares, ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies—across IG's proprietary web platform, MT4, TradingView, ProRealTime and the L2 Dealer for direct market access. UK clients also benefit from FSCS protection of up to £85,000.

We’ve spent time inside the IG platform, and a few things stood out. First, the platform itself is clean, fast, and easy to navigate—especially their web-based terminal. It comes with great charting tools, solid order controls, and integrated news and analysis. We liked the overall execution and platform speed.

Spreads on key instruments like the EUR/USD and GBP/USD were competitive, and index trading—especially FTSE and SP500—offered fair pricing during core hours. While not the absolute cheapest on TraderGuide, IG holds its own against other established brokers and is transparent about its fee structure.

IG also offers an impressive range of educational content. From live webinars and platform walkthroughs to strategy explainers, the learning experience is far more developed than what most brokers offer. Their “Learn to Trade” section is especially useful if you’re starting out or want to build confidence in specific asset classes.

IG does many things right, but there are still a few watchouts. Some tools—like ProRealTime charts or DMA access—are only available under certain conditions or account types, which may confuse newer users expecting everything in one place.

Also, while spreads are generally fair, they’re not the lowest on TraderGuide—particularly for traders with smaller account balances who can’t access IG’s premium pricing tiers. For example, spreads may widen during off-market hours or for less-liquid instruments.

IG is a stable, well-rounded broker with decades of experience and strong regulatory footing. It’s a great match for traders who want access to a huge range of markets and value an intuitive platform backed by solid education and analysis.

That said, if rock-bottom spreads are your top priority, there are brokers on TraderGuide that rank higher in terms of raw pricing—especially for day traders or those with high-frequency strategies. But for overall trust, usability, and global market access, IG is a broker we’re happy to recommend—especially if you want a long-term trading partner.