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Written by: Adam N. Updated: Dec 2022
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Is CMC Markets free?

Disclaimer: 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

CMC Markets does not provide access to real stock trading on US markets. If you are looking for a zero-commission broker to trade on US stock exchanges, you can check our article detailing the best apps offered in this category of brokers. If you wish to stick with CMC Markets though, then you will find the fees they charge below.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

CMC Markets fees
Overview of CMC Markets fees and charges

It's safe to say that CMC Markets's fees are low in general. They either don't charge a brokerage fee for things that other brokers do, or they only charge a small amount.

Here's a high-level overview of CMC Markets's fees

CMC Markets Fees snapshot
Assets Fee level Fee terms
US stock fee - Available to AU clients: $0, but minimum order size of AUD 1,000 is required
EURUSD fee Low The fees are built into the spread, 0.7 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
US mutual fund fees - Not available
Inactivity fee Low £10 monthly fee after 12 months of inactivity

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

CMC Markets fees
CMC Markets fees explained

Online brokerages in general charge much lower brokerage fees than traditional brokerages do - this is largely because online brokerages' businesses can be much better scaled: from a purely technical standpoint, it doesn't make that much of a difference for them if they have 100 or 5,000 clients.

This is not to say, however, that they don't charge any fees at all. They make money by charging you various rates for various actions or events. Usually you need to keep an eye on the following three types of fees:

  • Trading fees - these are brokerage fees that you pay when you actually carry out a trade, like buying an Apple share or an ETF. What you pay is either a commission, a spread or a financing rate. Some brokers apply all of these.
    • A commission is either fixed or based on the traded volume.
    • A spread is the difference between the buy price and the sell price.
    • A financing rate or overnight rate is charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than one day.
  • Non-trading fees. These are usually related to some operations you carry out in your account, such as depositing money, withdrawing money, or not trading for an extended period.

We compare CMC Markets fees with its closest competitors, IG and XTB.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

CMC Markets fees
CMC Markets trading fees

CMC Markets's trading fees are mixed, which means that some asset classes come with high trading fees - be sure to check these carefully.

Let's break down trading fees according to the different asset classes available at CMC Markets.

Trading fees

CMC Markets's trading fees are low.

Forex fees

CMC Markets's forex fees are low.

Forex fees of a $20,000 30:1 position (open, 1-week-hold and close)
CMC Markets IG XTB
EURUSD benchmark fee $15.3 $16.4 $15.2
EURGBP benchmark fee $14.1 $15.3 $11.4

CFD fees

CMC Markets has average CFD trading fees.

CFD fees and commissions on a $2,000 trade
CMC Markets IG XTB
Apple CFD $10.1 $15.1 $3.6
Vodafone CFD $11.6 $12.8 $4.0
Germany - $11.9 $9.1

Currency conversion fee

CMC Markets will charge a Currency Conversion Fee for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different to the currency of your account. The fee is charged as the following: 0.5% mark-up.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

CMC Markets fees
CMC Markets non-trading fees

When it comes to non-trading fees, CMC Markets is a rather cheap broker.

Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at CMC Markets that are not related to buying or selling assets. This can be a withdrawal fee, deposit fee, inactivity fee or account fee.

A high-level overview of how CMC Markets stacks up in terms of non-trading fees
CMC Markets IG XTB
Withdrawal fee $0 $0 $0
Deposit fee $0 $0 $0
Inactivity fee Yes Yes Yes
Account fee No No No

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

CMC Markets fees
CMC Markets deposit fee

Usually, brokers don't charge anything for deposits, and CMC Markets is no different.

CMC Markets deposit methods
CMC Markets IG XTB
Bank transfer Yes Yes Yes
Credit/debit card Yes Yes Yes
Electronic wallets Yes Yes Yes
Deposit fee $0 $0 $0

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

CMC Markets fees
CMC Markets withdrawal fee

CMC Markets generally doesn't charge a withdrawal fee.

CMC Markets withdrawal fees and options compared
CMC Markets IG XTB
Bank transfer Yes Yes Yes
Credit/debit card Yes Yes Yes
Electronic wallets Yes Yes Yes
Withdrawal fee for bank transfer $0 $0 $0

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

CMC Markets fees
CMC Markets inactivity fee

CMC Markets does apply an inactivity fee and it is £10 monthly fee after 12 months of inactivity. Keep this in mind to avoid getting charged after a longer idle period. The fact that CMC Markets charges an inactivity fee makes it less ideal for you if you are a buy-and-hold investor.

The inactivity fee charged by CMC Markets is low.

CMC Markets IG XTB
Inactivity fee Yes Yes Yes
Inactivity fee £10 monthly fee after 12 months of inactivity $/£12/€14 per month after 2 years of inactivity €10 per month after 1 year of trading inactivity and if no deposit was made in the last 90 days

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Author of this article

Adam Nasli

Author of this article

Adam is a motivated finance expert. He is one of the first hires at BrokerChooser and has since tested almost all 100+ brokers covered by BrokerChooser. Adam holds a professional degree from CEU and he helps teach finance and programming courses at his alma mater. Previously he worked in the banking sector, including at Citi Bank. He loves researching the financial industry, managing his long-term investments, and trading with algorithms.

Adam Nasli

Analyst Head

Adam is a motivated finance expert. He is one of the first hires at BrokerChooser and has since tested almost all 100+ brokers covered by BrokerChooser. Adam holds a professional degree from CEU and he helps teach finance and programming courses at his alma mater. Previously he worked in the banking sector, including at Citi Bank. He loves researching the financial industry, managing his long-term investments, and trading with algorithms.

Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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