IC Markets vs CMC Markets: Raw Spreads or Tax-Free Spread Bets?

For a UK resident, CMC Markets is the better fit in almost every case, because you do not have to choose between raw pricing and UK protection. CMC Markets UK plc is authorised by the FCA (FRN 173730). Its FX Active account prices six major pairs from 0.0 pips plus a commission of USD 2.50 per USD 100,000 traded, and it also runs a spread betting account whose profits are normally free of UK tax. IC Markets (now trading as IC) matches the raw pricing but sells CFDs only, and a UK resident is in practice onboarded by its Seychelles company, which the FCA warns has no UK authorisation. Our explainer on whether IC Markets is FCA regulated sets out which licences it does hold.

CMC has weaknesses of its own. It charges a £10 monthly inactivity fee after a year without trading, its raw account is limited to CFDs, and its MetaTrader offer is MT4 only with a separate login. IC is stronger for cTrader users and for anyone who wants MT5. Plenty of comparisons still quote IC's Australian USD 200 minimum and 30:1 leverage, yet neither applies to a UK resident today. Here is the version that does.

CMC FX Active against IC Raw

CMC's FX Active account quotes spreads from 0.0 pips on six majors: EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CAD and USD/JPY. On other currency pairs it gives a 25% discount to the spreads on its standard CFD account. The commission is USD 2.50 per USD 100,000 of notional value, charged when you open and again when you close, so USD 5 round trip on USD 100,000. FX Active is a CFD account and runs on CMC's own web platform and app, where you get around 300 FX pairs, and on MT4, where you get 175 or so.

IC's raw pricing is a flat charge per lot rather than per dollar of notional. On a GBP Raw account you pay £2.75 per lot per side, £5.50 round trip, whatever the pair. A USD MetaTrader account pays USD 3.50 per side, and on cTrader USD 3 per side per USD 100,000. Because CMC charges by notional value in dollars, the comparison shifts with the pair you trade and the exchange rate.

Those figures use a pound near USD 1.33 and ignore the raw spread, which neither firm publishes as a clean cable average. In short, on the six majors CMC's commission is equal to or a little under IC's, and on crosses the two models are hard to compare without watching live quotes. Price alone is no reason to go offshore.

Spread betting: the tax point

CMC runs a separate spread betting account in pounds per point. It covers forex, indices, commodities, shares and treasuries, with minimum FX spreads from 0.5 pips according to CMC's MT4 page. HMRC treats financial spread betting as outside capital gains tax, and winnings are not income for an individual, so most UK traders pay no tax on the profit. Losses give no relief in return.

IC has no spread betting. Every trade is a CFD, and net gains above the £3,000 annual exempt amount are charged at 18% or 24% through self assessment. For a profitable trader that is the biggest cost difference between the two, bigger than any commission gap. The catch at CMC is that FX Active, its raw account, is CFD only. So at CMC you choose between raw pricing with CGT, or all-in spreads with no tax. Many traders run both and put different strategies in each, and our spread betting vs CFDs guide helps you decide which trades belong where.

Fees beyond the spread

CMC's charges page lists a monthly inactivity fee of £10, or the equivalent in your account currency, once there has been no trading activity for a continuous year. It stops when you trade again or close the account. Some share markets carry data fees, and CMC notes that CFD data subscriptions may apply depending on your classification. Overnight funding applies to positions held past the daily cut-off on both firms. The FCA's 13 November 2025 review of CFD firms criticised how some firms set and explain these funding charges, so read each broker's funding page before holding for weeks.

IC does not charge deposit or withdrawal fees and did not list an inactivity fee when we checked. It offers swap-free accounts with a flat holding fee instead of interest, for example USD 7 per lot on GBP/USD. Your own bank may still charge for international transfers, and withdrawals by wire can take up to 14 days.

Platforms: Next Generation, MT4 and TradingView

CMC's own Next Generation web platform and app are the centre of its offer, and they support both spread betting and CFDs. MT4 is available through a separate account for spread betting, CFDs or FX Active, but on MT4 you only get forex, indices and commodities. TradingView links to CMC's CFD and FX Active accounts; CMC's own TradingView page says you cannot yet connect a spread betting account, though it says this will come. We found no MT5 or cTrader on CMC's UK platform pages. For research, CMC gives account holders Reuters news and Morningstar quantitative equity research reports free of charge, and its learning hub has articles, platform guides and webinars.

IC is the more flexible choice for third-party software. It offers MT4, MT5 and cTrader, TradingView through its cTrader Raw account, WebTrader, IC Social, ZuluTrade and Signal Start. Clients trading 15 lots or more a month of FX and metals also get a free VPS. On the learning side IC has tutorial videos, webinars and Trading Central research tools. If your trading depends on MT5 expert advisers or cTrader cBots, IC does more for you. The FCA broker that covers the same ground with UK protection is Pepperstone.

Protection and the verdict

CMC Markets UK plc is part of CMC Markets plc, listed on the London Stock Exchange. As an FCA firm it keeps retail money in segregated accounts, applies the 30:1 cap on major pairs, negative balance protection and the 50% close-out, and sits inside the FSCS (up to £85,000) and the Financial Ombudsman Service. IC's Seychelles company has none of those for a UK client. The FCA's Warning List entry says so directly. IC offers leverage up to 1:5000 on MetaTrader and does not guarantee that you cannot lose more than your balance.

• Choose CMC if you live in the UK and want raw FX pricing, spread betting, or both, with the FCA, FSCS and Ombudsman behind you.
• Pick CMC's spread betting account if you are profitable and trade discretionary positions: the tax saving outweighs the spread difference.
• IC may still suit an experienced trader who needs MT5 or cTrader, wants leverage above UK limits and accepts the offshore risk with a modest balance.
• Neither is ideal if you need cTrader or MT5 with UK protection: look at Pepperstone.

CMC is one of several FCA firms worth a look. Our best FCA-regulated forex brokers shortlist compares it with Pepperstone, IG, Spreadex, XTB and others on cost, platforms and spread betting.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• IC Markets vs IG
• Spread betting brokers by platform
• IC Markets vs Pepperstone
• Spread betting vs CFDs
• IC Markets alternatives in the UK
• Our IC Markets review