How do IG and eToro stack up against each other?

The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.

At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.

To compare IG and eToro, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.

Does IG or eToro have a better trust and regulation rating?

Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.

In our comparison, we found that IG holds six Tier 1 and three Tier 2 licences, and eToro holds three Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.

 

Is IG financially regulated?

Yes IG was founded in 1974 and is regulated by ASIC, BMA, BaFin, CFTC, DFSA, FCA, FMA, FSA-Japan, FSCA, MAS and FINMA.

 

Is eToro financially regulated?

Yes eToro was founded in 2006 and is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, FCA and FSA-Seychelles.

 

Based on these findings, IG earned a higher trust rating than eToro.

Does IG or eToro have lower costs?

Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged. 

Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that IG has overall lower trading costs than eToro. 

 

Does IG or eToro offer a better choice of trading platforms?

Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms. 

In this case, IG offers support for MT4, L2 Dealer and ProRealTime and eToro offers support for etoro. 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

Copy trading is a great option for beginner traders who can’t trade full-time or lack experience with Forex trading. In this case both eToro and IG offer copy trading.

 

Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?

A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that IG offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than eToro. IG offers 80 Forex pairs to trade and eToro offers 49 Forex pairs to trade.

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, eToro offers 76 cryptocurrencies while IG offers 10 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with eToro.

Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?

Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals. 

We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that eToro charges a withdrawal fee and IG does not. Overall, IG has better deposit and withdrawal processes than eToro. 

Which broker offers better educational support?

We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas. 

IG has better educational support than eToro. Both eToro and IG offer educational support for more experienced traders.

 

Which broker offers better market analysis materials?

To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field. 

We found that IG offers better research analysis than eToro and that both eToro and IG offer frequent webinars.

 

Our overall Verdict on IG

Founded in 1974 and FSCA-regulated since 2021, IG has a long history of satisfied clients, low trading fees, and a vast range of trading instruments.

Our research found that IG has over 320,000 clients worldwide and has been the largest CFD broker globally by revenue for the last few years. It has two low-cost trading accounts with no minimum deposit requirements and offers trading on over 17,000 instruments, all of which can be accessed on its award-winning app and web trader platform. 

For more traditional investors, IG also runs a fully licenced stock brokerage on the side. And in addition to a wide range of trading tools, IG has a world-class selection of educational and market analysis materials to get new traders started.

Our overall Verdict on eToro

After a short suspension, traders will be pleased to find that eToro has resumed services in South Africa. However, South African traders will be onboarded through eToro's FCA-regulated entity, which restricts Forex leverage to 30:1 and does not allow trading on cryptocurrencies.

eToro remains the most popular social trading broker in the world. eToro’s simple, well-designed trading platform places copy trading and its social network at the heart of its trading experience. However, these features are often more popular among beginners who haven’t yet developed advanced trading strategies.

eToro clients can only use eToro’s trading platform, so they will not have access to the automation tools available on common third-party platforms like MT4 and MT5. We were also disappointed by eToro’s high fees. These include currency conversion fees for deposits and withdrawals in currencies other than USD and a charge of 5 USD for each withdrawal. We also found eToro’s customer service to be generally non-responsive and we were let down by the lack of educational support.

Overall, eToro has many positive features for beginners and others who enjoy social trading, but more experienced traders may find eToro’s limitations and high non-trading fees difficult to overlook.

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

IG has an overall rating of 4.69 and eToro has an overall rating of 3.68. For more detail please read our reviews of IG and eToro.