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The comparison reads the same evidence fields used by broker profiles, so users can scan scores, regulation, costs, platforms, withdrawals, and caveats side by side.

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VS field	Admirals admiralmarkets.com Forex BrokerCFD BrokerStock CFD	Charles Schwab schwab.com Stock BrokerETF BrokerMutual Fund	Interactive Brokers interactivebrokers.com Stock Broker

Decision summary
Overall score	78	91	91	90
Trust score	76	100	94	99
Cost score	80	92	88	85
Platform score	88	94	93	94
Withdrawal score	71	89	80	86
Best for	Experienced Forex and CFD traders · MetaTrader 4/5 users · Traders wanting many CFDs across currency pairs, indices, commodities, stocks and ETFs	Best suited for U.S.-centric investors and active traders who want a large, bank-affiliated multi-asset brokerage with $0 online listed stock/ETF commissions, strong platform dept…	Active traders · Advanced investors · International-market investors	Experienced forex/CFD traders · Scalpers, day traders and algorithmic traders comfortable with high-risk leveraged products · Users who specifically need MT4/MT5, cTrader or Tradi…
Watch out	Many key conditions vary by entity, country, account type, client classification and instrument · Global officialWebsite content reviewed is primarily Admirals SC Ltd/Seychelles ·…	Needs verification	Fee schedule is complex and varies by product, plan, market and entity · Country availability/restrictions need entity-specific review · No single universal max leverage figure fo…	Long-term investors seeking physical stocks/ETFs · Beginners who need strong statutory investor compensation or negative balance protection · Residents of restricted countries or…
Trust & regulation
Regulators	FSA Seychelles, CySEC Cyprus, FCA UK. Source	SEC; FINRA; SIPC; CFTC; NFA; FDIC Source	Regulated by SEC/FINRA/CFTC/NYSE in the US and by FCA, Central Bank of Ireland, ASIC, Hong Kong SFC, SEBI, Kanto Local Finance Bureau and MAS for regional affiliates. Source
Costs & account conditions
Minimum deposit	Not consistently disclosed at broker-level; likely account/entity specific. Official index CFD page mentions 'Start with just 25 USD'. Source	$0 minimum for standard U.S. brokerage and IRA accounts; Schwab One International accounts require a minimum deposit but amount is not disclosed in checked official pages. Source	USD 0 account minimum for IBKR Pro and IBKR Lite; broker accounts can require a USD 10,000 up-front deposit applied against commissions. Source
Markets, platforms & payments
Tradable assets	2,300+ CFDs across currency pairs, indices, shares, commodities and ETFs; FAQ says Invest.MT5 offers thousands of stocks and ETFs. Homepage says 6,900+ instruments across global markets, creating count uncertainty by region/product scope. Source	Stocks; fractional shares; ETFs; mutual funds; bonds/CDs/fixed income; money market funds; options; futures; futures options; forex; international stocks/ADRs/foreign ordinaries; cash products; annuities; alternatives; crypto ETPs/securities/futures. Source

License numbers	Admirals SC Ltd: SD073; Admirals Europe Ltd: CySEC 201/13; Admiral Markets UK Ltd: FCA 595450. Source	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. CRD 5393; SEC 801-29938 and 8-16514 Source	US CRD 36418 / SEC 8-47257; UK FCA 208159; AU AFSL 453554; India SEBI INZ000217730 and NSDL IN-DP-602-2021; Singapore MAS CMS100917; Japan Kanto Local Finance Bureau No.187. Source	Securities Dealer license number SD018 Source

Regulated entities	Admirals discloses Admirals SC Ltd (Seychelles), Admirals Europe Ltd (Cyprus), and Admiral Markets UK Ltd (UK); the reviewed global site is primarily Admirals SC Ltd. Source	Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Charles Schwab Futures and Forex LLC; Charles Schwab Bank, SSB; Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB Source	Major regulated entities include Interactive Brokers LLC plus UK, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore affiliates. Source	Raw Trading Ltd, registered in Seychelles (registration number 8419879-1), regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles with Securities Dealer license SD018. Source

Negative balance protection	Admirals has a negative balance protection policy; exact terms depend on Admirals entity. SC Ltd policy applies to eligible normal trading activity and excludes debts unrelated to trading or illicit trading methods. Source	Not disclosed as retail brokerage negative balance protection; futures/forex are leveraged and losses may exceed initial investment. Source	No universal negative-balance-protection promise found for Interactive Brokers LLC; IBKR describes real-time margin requirements and protective liquidations to return accounts to margin compliance. Source	No negative balance protection found for the reviewed global entity; IC says clients bear negative consequences and are responsible for any negative balance. Source

Investor compensation	Admirals SC Ltd client funds protection insurance up to 100,000 USD; not a universal broker-level investor compensation scheme claim. Source	SIPC protection up to $500,000 including a $250,000 cash limit for brokerage account assets; futures accounts are not protected by SIPC. Source	Interactive Brokers LLC securities accounts are protected by SIPC up to $500,000, including $250,000 cash sublimit, plus excess SIPC coverage up to an additional $30 million per account with $900,000 cash sublimit, subject to $150 million aggregate; futures/options on futures are excluded. Regional schemes vary. Source	Client funds insurance up to US$1,000,000; no statutory investor compensation scheme found in reviewed official sources. Source

Restricted countries	Country availability/restrictions are jurisdiction-specific and not available as a reliable public list in reviewed sources. Source	Not all products, services, or investments are available in all countries; Schwab is not registered outside the United States and products/services may not be registered in a user's jurisdiction. Source	Official available-countries page lists countries/territories where applications are available rather than a concise restricted-country list. Treat unsupported/sanctioned-country restrictions as country/entity-dependent and requiring manual review. Source	Raw Trading Ltd does not provide services to residents of the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Iran, North Korea (DPRK), or countries where distribution/use would be contrary to local law or regulation. Source

Spread from	Zero accounts: spreads from 0; Trade accounts: from 0.5 pips in FAQ / 0.6 pips on start-trading comparison; floating and vary by instrument/account/market conditions. Source	Not applicable to this stock/ETF investment broker profile; no CFD/FX spread schedule identified as a core product in reviewed sources. Source	Spot currency spreads advertised as narrow as 1/10 pip on Interactive Brokers Australia pricing overview; spreads vary by product/entity/market. Source	Spreads from 0.0 pips on MetaTrader/cTrader Raw Spread platforms; Standard account spread starts from 0.8 pip. Source

Commission	Trade accounts mostly spread-based; Zero accounts spread plus commission; stock/ETF CFD and investing commissions vary by exchange/region. Source	stock_commission: $0 online commission for listed stocks and ETFs; OTC equities $6.95; broker-assisted service charge $25; etf_commission: $0 online commission for listed U.S.-exchange ETFs; options_commission: $0 online base commission plus $0.65 per options contract; futures_commission: $2.25 per contract, per side, for futures and futures options; exchange, regulatory, overnight, NFA, and market-data fees may apply; mutual_fund_commission: $0 on thousands of Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource funds; all other mutual funds up to $74.95 per purchase; bond_commission: New-issue bonds/CDs: $0 online/selling concession included; Treasuries online $0; most other secondary bonds $1 per bond with $10 minimum and $250 maximum; forex_commission: $0 commission; forex trade costs are reflected in the bid/ask spread Source	IBKR Lite offers $0 commissions on US stocks and ETFs; IBKR Pro uses fixed/tiered commissions and third-party/exchange/regulatory fees may apply by market/product. Source	Standard: no commission, 0.8 pip markup. Raw Spread MetaTrader: USD $3.50 per lot per side / $7 round turn. cTrader/TradingView: USD $3 per $100,000 traded per side. Source

Maximum leverage	Up to 1:500 depending on instrument (official index CFDs page); broker-level maximum is entity/account/instrument dependent. Source	Not disclosed as a single broker-level maximum; leverage/margin depends on product, account approval, and regulatory/product requirements. Source	Not expressed as a single max leverage figure; margin requirements are product-, account-, entity- and regulation-dependent and IBKR applies real-time risk margin. Source	IC offers flexible leverage from 1:1 to 1:5000; leverage is dynamic and may change at any time. Source

Deposit fee	No Admirals deposit fee; third-party charges and conversion may apply. Source	$0 for funds entering a standard brokerage account; banking deposit services generally no monthly/account minimum fees, but certain services can have fees Source	Most standard bank/security deposit methods show no IBKR deposit fee in the extracted official fee table, but physical currency deposits incur a special handling fee of 1% of deposit amount, minimum $50; third-party/bank fees may apply. Source	IC does not charge additional deposit fees; bank/intermediary fees may apply. Source

Withdrawal fee	One free withdrawal per calendar month per payment method, additional withdrawals fee varies. Source	No fee for routine withdrawals from standard brokerage per FAQ; full outbound ACAT $50 and outgoing wire $25; Schwab Bank Investor Checking has unlimited ATM fee rebates for cash withdrawals worldwide, subject to conditions. Source	Two free withdrawal requests per calendar month; after the second withdrawal IBKR charges listed fees by currency/method (example USD: wire 10.00, check 4.00, ACH/EFT/SEPA 1.00). Source	IC does not charge additional withdrawal fees, but third-party/intermediary/bank fees can apply; one Help Centre example mentions 20 AUD bank fee for some bankwire paths. Source

Inactivity fee	10 EUR/month after 24 months inactivity on positive-balance account; wallet can avoid fee; refund may be available for up to three months. Source	$0 annual maintenance/inactivity fee for standard brokerage accounts Source	USD 0 inactivity fee for IBKR Pro and IBKR Lite account minimums page. Source	No account inactivity fees. Source

Trading platforms	MT4, MT5, MetaTrader WebTrader, Admirals Platform, Admirals Mobile App (iOS/Android). Source	Schwab.com; Schwab Mobile; thinkorswim desktop; thinkorswim web; thinkorswim mobile; paperMoney Source	IBKR Desktop, Trader Workstation, IB Gateway, IBKR Mobile and web/client portal tools. Source	MetaTrader 5, MetaTrader 4, cTrader, TradingView, MetaTrader WebTrader/cTrader Web and social/copy tools IC Social, Signal Start, ZuluTrade. Source

Account types	Trade.MT5 and Zero.MT5 are highlighted on the global start-trading page; FAQ also describes Trade.MT4, Trade.MT5, Zero.MT4, Zero.MT5 and Invest.MT5; demo accounts are free. Source	Individual Brokerage; Joint Brokerage; Schwab One Brokerage; Investor Checking-linked brokerage; Futures Account; Global Account; IRAs; custodial, education, trust, estate, organization, and business retirement accounts; Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. Source	Supports individual and institutional accounts; official minimums page also distinguishes advisor, family office, hedge fund and broker account structures. Source	Official pages list Standard, Raw Spread, cTrader Raw Spread and Swap Free; account overview also shows Raw Pro and Raw Pro+ entries. Source

Deposit methods	Available payment methods are not safely globalized; official FAQ says methods depend on region/entity and to check the Deposits & Withdrawals page/Dashboard. Source	ACH/electronic transfer/MoneyLink; wire transfer; check/mail check; Schwab Mobile Deposit for checking; direct deposit for checking; account transfer/ACAT; branch/in-person deposit where available. Source	Wire transfer, check, direct bank transfer/ACH, SEPA/regional bank transfers where available, and securities transfer methods such as ACATS; physical cash deposits are against policy. Source	Credit/debit cards, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, UnionPay, wire transfer, Bpay, broker-to-broker, POLI, Thai Internet Banking, Rapidpay, Klarna, Vietnamese Internet Banking, cryptocurrency. Source

Withdrawal methods	Not safely disclosed as a universal list; same-source withdrawal rule applies. Source	Transfer to linked bank/checking; wire transfer; check; ATM/debit card for Schwab Bank Investor Checking; ACAT outbound account transfer. Source	Bank wire/transfer, checks and regional transfer rails such as BACS/GIRO/ACH/EFT/SEPA where available; securities transfer methods such as ACATS may also apply. Source	Withdrawal methods depend on original deposit method; examples include Visa/Mastercard/card routes, bank wire, Neteller, Skrill and PayPal. Source

Withdrawal processing time	Same-business-day processing before 17:00 for Admirals SC Ltd; otherwise next business day. Source	Cash moved from brokerage to linked Investor Checking is generally available in seconds, but weekend/after-hours transfers may not be available until the next business day; other withdrawal methods vary/not fully disclosed on checked pages. Source	Not captured as a single verified processing-time SLA; varies by withdrawal method, currency, region and receiving bank. Source	Same-business-day processing cutoff before 12:00 AEST/AEDT; after processing allow at least 3 business days depending on method. Source