Markets.com Review 2021

Markets.com has high trading fees and there is also an inactivity fee. As a plus, it charges no account, deposit, or withdrawal fees.

How we ranked fees

We ranked Markets.com's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Markets.com for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading the most important fees are spreads, commissions and financing rates.

We also compared Markets.com's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Plus500 and eToro. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Markets.com alternatives.

To have a clear overview of Markets.com, let's start with the trading fees.

Markets.com trading fees

Markets.com's trading fees are high.

We know it's hard to compare trading fees for CFD brokers. So how did we approach the problem of making their fees clear and comparable? We compare brokers by calculating all the fees of a typical trade for selected products.

We selected popular instruments within each asset class:

• Stock index CFDs: SPX and EUSTX50
• Stock CFDs: Apple and Vodafone
• Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF and EURGBP

A typical trade means buying a leveraged position, holding it for one week and then selling. For the volume, we chose a $2,000 position for the stock index and stock CFDs and $20,000 for the forex transactions. The leverage we used was:

• 20:1 for stock index CFDs
• 5:1 for stock CFDs
• 30:1 for forex

These catch-all benchmark fees include spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers. Let's see the verdict for Markets.com fees.

CFD fees

Markets.com has generally high CFD trading fees.

Forex fees

Markets.com's forex fees are average.

Real stock fees

Markets.com provides a real share trading service through its Marketsi platform for European clients. It is available for anyone with a Real CFD account, but you have to register for it separately. 

The fees are competitive for the first 3 months when trading is commission-free. After that, the fee structure below applies. At eToro, for example, there is no such time limit on commission-free trading.

Stock fees are charged either as a volume-based or a per-share fee. However, there is always a minimum fee.

In addition to the commissions above, when trading with stocks, an annual custody fee of 0.12% (maximum £10), stamp duty, and extra taxes may also be charged. Be sure to check the Marketsi platform for more details. 

Non-trading fees

Markets.com does a good job in general with non-trading fees as there are no account, deposit or withdrawal fees.

On the other hand, they do charge an inactivity fee of $10 per month, already after 3 months of inactivity.

Account opening at Markets.com is seamless, fast and fully digital. You can open your trading account within a day.

Can you open an account?

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Markets.com accepts customers from almost every county. There are some exceptions, however, such as citizens of the US, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Russia, Brazil, Turkey and Belgium.

What is the minimum deposit at Markets.com?

The required minimum deposit at Markets.com is €/£/$250.

Account types

Markets.com does not offer separate account types. With a single registration, you'll have the option to try out a real and a demo account. After you've opened an account, both Marketsx and Marketsi will be available. The first one is for trading on the financial markets, while the second platform focuses on portfolio investments. In our review, we focus on Marketsx.

How to open your account

Account opening is very easy and fully digital. It took one day for our account to be approved.

Here are the steps of Markets.com's account opening process:

1. Give your personal and financial information.
2. Indicate your trading experience and fill out a test about your knowledge.
3. Verify your ID and residency. You can upload a national ID, passport or driver's license for verifying your ID. Utility bill or bank statements are accepted for residency verification.

Markets.com provides multiple deposit and withdrawal options free of charge on a user-friendly interface.

Account base currencies

At Markets.com, you can choose from 9 base currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, PLN, SEK, DKK, NOK, ZAR and AUD.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Compare digital banks

Deposit fees and options

Markets.com charges no deposit fees. 

Similarly to other CFD brokers, there are several ways to fund your account:

• Bank transfer
• Credit/Debit card
• PayPal
• Skrill
• Neteller

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Markets.com withdrawal fees and options

Markets.com charges no withdrawal fees. You can use the same methods for withdrawal as for deposits.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Markets.com? We tested the credit card withdrawal and it took 1 business day.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from Markets.com?

• Click on the menu in the top right corner of your screen.
• Select 'Withdrawal'.
• Choose the method (bank transfer, credit/debit card or electronic wallets).
• Enter the withdrawal amount and initiate the transaction.

Compare to other brokers

Markets.com's web trading platform is easy to use, has great search function, and you can set price alerts. On the other hand, there is no two-step login and it lacks some important features, like a clear fee report.

Markets.com provides many different trading platforms:

In this review, we reviewed Marketsx web platform. The platform is available in many languages, listed in the table below.

Look and feel

Markets.com's web trading platform is user-friendly and has a clean design. On the negative side, you cannot customize it to your personal preferences. You can however choose between layouts, and you can resize the windows, which is always a plus.

Login and security

Markets.com only provides a one-step login. We missed a more secure, two-step authentication.

Search functions

The search function is good. You will easily find what you're looking for and you will get relevant results for your search.

Placing orders

While some more sophisticated ones are missing, you can use the following basic order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop

To get a better understanding of these terms, read this overview of order types.

Alerts and notifications

We also liked the alert and notification function. You can set up email and SMS notifications as well as price alerts. On the other hand, there is no way to set a notification for order confirmations.

Portfolio and fee reports

Markets.com has clear portfolio reports that are easy to find under the 'My accounts' menu, where you can also download them. However, we missed a clear fee report, where we could easily see the swap charges.

Marketsi web platform

For its share-dealing and ETF service Marketsi, Markets.com uses Saxo Bank's TraderGO, but with some differences; for example, the 'Research' section is much more limited to basic news. However, the charting and the overall feel of the platform provides a good user experience. 

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Markets.com offers a user-friendly and well-designed mobile platform with a great search function and price alerts. However, there is no two-step authentication or Touch/Face ID login.

Besides Markets.com's own-developed mobile trading platform, you can use MetaTrader 4 and 5 for trading on the go. In this review, we tested Markets.com's own mobile trading platform.

Markets.com has mobile platforms for both iOS and Android. For this review, we tested the iOS mobile platform.

The mobile trading platform is available in many languages.

Look and feel

The Markets.com mobile trading platform shares lots of similarities with the web platform. It looks nice, and you can easily get around.  There is a smooth onboarding process when you first log in, and after a few minutes, you will be good to go.

Login and security

Markets.com provides only a one-step login for its mobile platform.

You can't log in using biometric authentication. Providing this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

The search functions are good: when you start typing, you will immediately see all the available options.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types as on the web platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications on the Markets.com mobile platform. Either go to 'My account' and select 'Price alerts', or use the bell icon next to the traded instruments. You can be notified via email, or mobile or web push notifications.

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The desktop trading platform of Markets.com is provided by MetaTrader. It is highly customizable, has a clear fee report and you can set price alerts. On the other hand, it lacks a two-step login and the design is outdated.

Markets.com provides MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as desktop trading platforms. These platforms allow only forex and CFD trading, but not investing in real stocks.

Look and feel

Markets.com's desktop trading platform has great customizability. You can easily change the size and the position of the tabs.

However, the platform feels outdated and some features are hard to find. For example, it took some time until we found how to add an asset to the watchlist.

Login and security

Markets.com provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. You can find the assets in categories. However, categorization is a bit confusing as there are more forex categories. We also missed the usual search function when you can type the assets' name manually.

Placing orders

You will not find very sophisticated orders like the "one cancels the other" order. The following order types are available:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Trailing Stop

Trailing Stop is available only in the MT4 desktop platform

If you are not familiar with the order types, read this overview.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications in the form of e-mail / push notification on mobile / notification on the desktop platform. 

To set email or mobile notifications, you have to add your email address and your mobile MetaQuotes ID (it can be found in MT4 app's settings). You can add them if you go to the Tools and then the Options.

Portfolio and fee reports

Markets.com has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can easily see your profit-loss balance and the commissions you paid. These reports can be found under the 'Account History' tab: right click on one position, then choose 'Save as Detailed Report'.

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Markets.com's product portfolio covers CFDs, forex, and real stocks. On the other hand, other popular asset classes, like ETFs, options, or futures are not available.

Markets.com is a CFD and forex broker. To learn more about CFDs, read our CFD trading tips.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.9% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Markets.com provides a good range of CFDs mostly in line with similar competitors. You can also trade with the most popular cryptocurrencies (i.e. Bitcoin Futures, Ripple, Ethereum and some others), but the selection is not as wide as at some other brokers.

FCA bans the sale of crypto-derivatives to UK retail consumers from 6 January 2021.

Based on answers provided by customer support, you cannot change the default leverage of the products. This is a drawback, as we think it's best when you can set this for yourself. Changing the leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as the preset leverage levels are high.

Markets.com also offers CFD Blends, which are practically a combination of several CFDs organized along themes like 'cryptoblend,' 'Brexit winners' or 'Brexit losers.' The composition of the CFD portfolios is transparent, and you can also check their past performance. We liked this function.

Real stocks

Markets.com's Marketsi platform focuses on real stocks. The stock selection is similar to eToro, but there are no ETFs. 

The real stock selection covers the important European and US markets, but lacks many exchanges globally, like the Canadian or the Singapore markets.

Markets.com has great research tools, including charting, recommendations, an economic calendar and a good-quality news flow. You can also get limited fundamental data on assets.

Trading ideas

Markets.com provides trading ideas. These recommendations are clear, stating whether to buy or sell, as well as the target prices. They do not provide any reasoning behind the recommendations, however. 

You can find recommendations from analysts. These are experts from top-tier banks (J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and some others) who provide stock recommendations. We liked that analysts are ranked based on their past performance.

You can also see what bloggers on Seeking Alpha or The Motley Fool write about some of the stocks.

In addition, there is an Insider Trades sentiment section where you can see how insiders, such as company management or other stakeholders traded with the stock in question.

Hedge Fund sentiment is also available, where you can see how the leading fund managers have adjusted their positions over the previous quarter.

Fundamental data

There is a menu for fundamental data, but it contains no real useful data on fundamentals like financial ratios or past financial reports, only some basic company data. You can take a quick look at some basic financial data when you click on the relevant tab of an asset.

Charting

Markets.com has good charting tools. Besides the basics, you can add more than 80 technical indicators. For some stocks, you can access technical recommendations from Trading Central, a third-party technical analysis firm. On the negative side, you cannot save charts.

Economic calendar

When it comes to fundamentals, there are detailed macro data in the economic calendar, where you can also access predictions, trends and analyses. In addition, you can also see the currency pairs the events in the economic calendar influence. We really liked this tool.

News feed

Under the News Sentiment, you can find the relevant news for each asset. In addition, you can see whether the sentiment of the news is positive, neutral, or negative.

Marketsi's research tools

The Marketsi platform is provided by Saxo Bank and it is nearly identical to TraderGO. The news feed is lower-quality, but charting feels the same. Head to our Saxo Bank review to learn more about these features.

Compare research pros and cons

Markets.com's customer service is good: you can reach it on several channels and get quick and relevant answers. However, it is not available on weekends.

You can contact Markets.com via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

Markets.com's customer service was always quick and reliable when we tested it. For example, when we asked about fees, they also mentioned the financing rates. You can rate your agent at the end of the conversation, which is a good way to give feedback. The tone was also professional.

If you prefer the phone, you can call a local phone number, so there is no need for an international call. 

On the negative side, customer service is not available on weekends, so it is only 24/5.

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Markets.com has good education materials, including a demo account, regular webinars and tutorial videos on its YouTube platform.

At Markets.com you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Webinars

Previously, educational videos were available on the website's Knowledge Centre, but now you can find them either on the platform or on the Markets.com YouTube channel. Educational content includes tutorial videos, short videos about trading tips, as well as some longer, 60-minute videos on special topics such as trend signals.

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Markets.com is regulated by many financial authorities globally, including the top-tier FCA. In addition, there is negative balance protection provided. On the negative side, it does not hold a banking license.

Markets.com is the trading and investing arm of a group called TradeTech, which itself is owned by Playtech, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Is Markets.com regulated?

Yes, among others it is regulated by many financial authorities:

• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia
• Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Europe
• South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in Africa
• BVI Financial Services Commission (FSC) in the rest of the world.

Is Markets.com safe?

To be certain if a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

Markets.com operates several subsidiaries; the one that will serve you depends on your residence. The investor protection amount you get depends on the country of the subsidiary you are signing up with.

For example, if you reside in the UK, you will sign up with TradeTech Alpha Limited and get investor protection for up to £85,000. TradeTech Alpha Limited is regulated by the FCA, the UK regulator.

Markets.com provides negative balance protection for retail clients under CySEC and FCA regulation. This means your balance can't go negative if you trade with leverage, which limits some of your risk. Professional and non-EU clients are not covered with any negative balance protection.

Background

Markets.com's background is a bit complicated. Safecap Investments Limited operates Markets.com in Cyprus, while the other entities are operated by TradeTech Markets Limited. Safecap Investments Limited is owned by TradeTech Markets Limited which is a subsidiary of Playtech, a company traded on the London Stock Exchange. This is a good sign as companies listed on major exchanges need to be transparent. 

Markets.com was established in 2010. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

The fact that Markets.com is regulated by at least one top-tier financial authority and offers negative balance protection are all good signs for its safety.

Find your safe broker

Markets.com is an OK broker, especially if you want to concentrate on CFD trading.

Account opening is seamless and fast, it has good research tools and great customer service and is regulated by multiple top-tier financial regulators, like the UK's FCA and ASIC in Australia.

On the other hand, trading fees are high and product selection covers mostly CFDs and forex. We also missed some important features on the trading platforms, like two-step authentication and price alerts on the web.

All in all, Markets.com is a good choice. As the account opening is super easy and there is no inactivity fee, feel free to try it.

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