Plus500 Review 2020

Plus500 has low trading fees and average non-trading fees. Even if they have an inactivity fee, it is applied only if you are not logging in at all.

How we ranked fees

We ranked Plus500's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo 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 Plus500 for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading, spreads, commissions and financing rates are the most important fees.

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

To have a clear overview of Plus500, let's start with the trading fees.

Plus500 trading fees

Plus500 trading fees are low.

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 have chosen 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 Plus500 fees.

CFD fees

Plus500 has generally low CFD trading fees.

There is no commission: everything is included in the spread, i.e. the difference between the ask and bid prices.

Forex fees

Plus500 forex fees are average. Again, no commission, everything is included the spreads.

Non-trading fees

Plus500 has average non-trading fees.

Plus500's withdrawal fee conditions are favorable: there are five free withdrawals per month, after which the withdrawal fee is $10. However, Plus500 will also charge you $10 if you withdraw less than the minimum withdrawal amount of $100. The cost for withdrawals by bank transfer is a fixed $6. There is also a high inactivity fee of $10 per quarter after 3 months of inactivity. At the same time we have to share, you can save the inactivity fee with a simple login to the platform. In the case of other brokers, we've tested skipping inactivity fee regularly tied to trading not only login. 

Plus500 account opening is seamless, fast and fully digital. You can open your trading account within a day.

Can you open an account?

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Plus500 accepts customers from many countries all around the world. However, there are some notable exceptions: for example, residents of the US and Canada can't open an account, while other countries such as Cuba, Iran and Syria are also excluded.

What is the minimum deposit at Plus500?

The Plus500 minimum deposit is $100 for debit/credit cards and electronic wallets, and $500 for bank transfers.

Account types

Plus500 has only one account type.

How to open your account

If you want a fast and digital account opening process, Plus500 is your broker. You can easily open your trading account within a day.

After the online registration, you have to verify your identity and provide proof of residency. You can upload a copy of your ID or passport for verifying your identity, and a bank statement or utility bill for verifying your residency. 

Plus500's deposit and withdrawal services are both great. You have many options, the process is simple and usually free of charge.

Account base currencies

At Plus500, there are several currencies available, even minor ones, but it is not transparent how many and which ones. You need to contact support if you wish to change your base currency. However, make sure you do this before depositing money to your account.

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

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. Revolut or Transferwise both 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.

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Deposit fees and options

Plus500 charges no deposit fees.

As with other CFD brokers, there are a lot of depositing options at Plus500:

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

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

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

Plus500 withdrawal fees and options

Plus500 withdrawal is free of charge for the first five withdrawals each month. After that, there is a $10 fee per withdrawal. This is a competitive offer, since many other brokers charge withdrawal fees. 

There is also a minimum withdrawal amount, which is $50 for PayPal and $100 for bank transfer and credit/debit cards. If you want to withdraw less than this, a $10 charge will be applied.

For withdrawals, you can use the same methods as for deposits.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Plus500? We tested the credit card/bank transfer withdrawal and it took 2 business days.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from Plus500?

1. Log in to your account.
2. Click the 'Menu' icon in the top left corner.
3. Click 'Withdraw'.
4. Enter the amount you'd like to withdraw.
5. Initiate the transaction by clicking 'Open a Withdrawal'.

Compare to other brokers

The Plus500 trading platform is very easy to use and also looks great. On the negative side, it cannot be customized.

The web trading platform is available in a lot of languages: Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish,Traditional Chinese, Turkish.

Look and feel

The Plus500 web trading platform is clean, well-designed and easy to use. As such, even a first-timer can navigate the site with ease.

On the downside, you cannot customize the platform.

Login and security

Plus500 provides a safer, two-step login. Google and Facebook authentication is also available, which is quite convenient.

Search functions

The search function is great, you will have no trouble finding anything. You can find the products categorized on the left or you can search by typing in the product name.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Trailing stop

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

On the other hand, there are no order time limits provided.

Alerts and notifications

We also liked the platform's alert and notification functions. You can set up email, SMS and push notifications.

The alert lets you know if the price of an asset reaches a level or changes by a set percentage. Additionally, you can also sign up be alerted if the Plus500 Traders' Sentiment (the percentage of Buyers or Sellers among Plus500 customers) reaches a certain level.

Portfolio and fee reports

Plus500 provides transparent portfolio and fee reports. It is clearly indicated how much you paid in overnight fees. The composition of your current portfolio is also made clear, which you can check in the bar at the top of the platform.

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The Plus500 mobile trading platform is well-designed and user-friendly.

The Plus500 mobile trading platform is very similar to the web platform. It has the same functionalities and is also user-friendly.

You can download the mobile app for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. You can also use your smartwatch, but we stuck to a conventional smartphone and tested the mobile iOS app. It was great.

Plus500 provides a safe two-step login and you also use biometric authentication, which is a convenient feature.

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76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Plus500 does not offer a desktop trading platform.

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76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money

At Plus500 you can trade only with CFDs and forex. There is a wide selection of CFDs and currency pairs to trade with.

Plus500 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. 76.4% 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.

Plus500 offers a good selection of CFDs, which is wider than eToro's and in line with XTB's product lineup. There are some cryptos as well, but less than at eToro and XTB.

You can also trade with options on a few stock CFDs and stock index CFDs.

You cannot change leverage levels, which is a drawback.

Changing the leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. For example, instead of trading with 5:1 leverage, only trade with 2:1 leverage in case of stock CFDs. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as the preset leverage levels are high.

Plus500 provides limited research options. It has great charting tools and a well-designed economic calendar, but no recommendations, fundamental data or news feed.

Plus500 does not provide trading ideas or fundamental data.

Charting

The charting tool is of good quality. There are 107 technical indicators and great editor tools. You can also save the charts.

News feed

You will find a well-designed economic calendar, but no news feed or newsletter.

We liked that you can filter for macro events or company-related events.

Other research tools you will enjoy

You can use Plus500's Traders' Sentiment tool, which shows the proportion of buyers and sellers at Plus500.

Compare research pros and cons

Plus500 has great customer support, available 24/7 . Both the live chat and the email support are quick and reliable.

You can contact customer service via live chat and email. There is no phone support, but they use WhatsApp.

We tested the Plus500 live chat several times. It was always quick and reliable. For example, when we asked about fees they provided all relevant fees, including financing rates. After the conversation, you can rate your customer agent instantly, which is a good way to provide feedback. 

The email customer support was also fine. They replied within one hour, which is extremely fast compared to other brokers. The answers we got were all relevant.

In addition to the good quality of customer service, it is also available 24/7, which is not the case at most other brokers.

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76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Plus500 only provides a demo account and a few very basic videos about trading and using the platform.

All education related materials can be reached at the site of Plus500 under the 'Trader's Guide' section.

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76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Plus500 is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and is also regulated by more than one top-tier financial authority.

Is Plus500 regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by several financial authorities: the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Israel Securities Authority (ISA).

Plus500 is based in Israel and was founded in 2008.

Is Plus500 safe?

To be certain, 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

Plus500 operates several subsidiaries and which one will serve you depends on your residency. The investor protection amount you get depends on the country of the subsidiary you are signing up with.

For example, if you are from the UK, you account will be with Plus500UK Ltd and you will get £85,000 in investor protection. Plus500UK Ltd is regulated by the FCA, the UK's financial authority.

Plus500 provides negative balance protection for forex spot and CFD trading, but only for retail clients from the European Union. Professional and non-EU clients are not covered with any negative balance protection. This means that if the balance on your account should go into negative territory, you will be protected.

Background

Plus500 was established in 2008. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Plus500 is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, which is a big plus for safety as Plus500 releases financial statements regularly and transparently. Other aspects, such as ownership and regulatory compliance are also all transparent.

A financially strong parent company is a plus since it can provide the online broker with additional capital if needed. In 2018, the biggest owners of the company were mostly large investment banks and asset management companies, like JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. The biggest owner, Brighttech Investments, had a 9.99% stake. Alon Gonen, one of the founders, was also among the top shareholders, through Sparta24 Ltd.

Being listed on a stock exchange, providing financial statements and being regulated by a top-tier authority like the FCA are all great signs for Plus500's safety.

Find your safe broker

Plus500 is a good CFD and forex broker. It is recommended for traders who are aware of the risks of CFD trading. The broker is regulated by several financial authorities globally, including the UK's FCA, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. If you are not from the UK, you will most likely be served by Plus500 Cyprus, thus the Cypriot investor protection will apply.

Attention Daytraders! At Plus500 scalping is defined as "a trading strategy where a significant portion of the customer's positions are opened and closed by him/her within 2 minutes." If Plus500 believes you are scalping, your account may be blocked and closed. Therefore, if you plan to execute many trades within 2 minutes, Plus500 is not your broker.

The Plus500 platform is easy to use, with a great user experience, which even first-time users can navigate with ease. Spreads are competitive, but financing rates are quite high. Some more advanced research tools would be useful. 

As there is no minimum balance required, no withdrawal fee above $100, and the inactivity fee only kicks in after three months, feel free to give Plus500 a try.

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76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money