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Built for final-shortlist moments: select brokers, scan the trade-offs, then open the profile for deeper source notes.
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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 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Decision summary | ||||
| Overall score | 84 | 91 | 91 | 90 |
| Trust score | 82 | 100 | 94 | 99 |
| Cost score | 87 | 92 | 88 | 85 |
| Platform score | 94 | 94 | 93 | 94 |
| Withdrawal score | 89 | 89 | 80 | 86 |
| Best for | Strong forex/CFD broker candidate for demo import; public profile should clarify entity assignment, retail restrictions and minimum-deposit/geography nuances. | 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 | Min deposit not cleanly extracted from official account tables · Investor compensation not universal · Retail availability differs by entity | 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, CBCS, FSC BVI, FSC Belize, FSC Mauritius, CMA Kenya, JSC Jordan, FSCA South Africa, CySEC, FCA and others per official regulation page; CySEC/FCA do not offer retail services. 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 | Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA) Source |
| License numbers | FSA SD025; CBCS 0003LSI; BVI FSC SIBA/L/20/1133; Belize FSC 9110312; Mauritius FSC GB20025294; CMA Kenya 162; FSCA FSP 51024; CySEC 178/12; FCA 730729. 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 | Exness (SC) Ltd, Exness B.V., Exness (VG) Ltd, Forexite Ltd., Exness (MU) Ltd, Exness (KE) Limited, Exness Limited Jordan Ltd, Exness ZA (PTY) Ltd, Exness (Cy) Ltd, Exness (UK) 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 | Negative Balance Protection prevents losses from exceeding balance. 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 | No universal investor compensation scheme captured; regulatory protections are entity-dependent and CySEC/FCA entities do not offer retail services. 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 | Exness Group does not provide services to residents of several jurisdictions, including the USA; page also showed location-based internal restriction message. 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 |
Costs & account conditions | ||||
| Minimum deposit | Standard account minimum deposit field blank in official account extraction; review/search evidence says starts from $10/$100 depending account/geography and Pro from $200 depending region. 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 | No minimum deposit requirement disclosed for opening a trading account. Source |
| Spread from | Standard from 0.2 pips; Pro from 0.1 pips; Zero and Raw Spread from 0 pips. 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 | Standard and Pro no commission; Zero from $0.05 each side per lot; Raw Spread up to $3.50 each side per lot. 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 | 1:Unlimited on Standard/Pro/Zero/Raw Spread, subject to account/entity/regulatory restrictions. 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 | Deposit/withdraw without charges; deposit fees may apply to specific payment methods. 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 | Say goodbye to withdrawal fees; Exness pays third-party transaction fees, but third-party fees may apply depending method. 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 | No management fee / account opening free; no official inactivity fee captured, third-party source says none. 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 |
Markets, platforms & payments | ||||
| Tradable assets | CFDs on 200+ instruments: forex, metals, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices and energies. 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 | Stocks, ETFs, options, futures, spot currencies, bonds, mutual funds and cash-balance services, with availability varying by entity/country/account permission. Source | Forex CFDs, Indices CFDs, Commodities CFDs, Stocks CFDs, Bonds CFDs, Cryptocurrency CFDs, Futures CFDs. Source |
| Trading platforms | MetaTrader 5, Exness Terminal, Exness Trade app; MT4 also cited by review/source snippets. 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 | Standard, Pro, Zero, Raw Spread; demo available. 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 | Global/local secure payment methods; exact methods shown in Personal Area. 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 | Global/local payment methods, withdrawals only to own personal accounts. 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 | Instant/automatic withdrawals; over 98% processed automatically; non-instant requests processed within 24h but bank/payment system may take longer. 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 |
BrokerVS provides broker comparison research only. Scores and evidence can vary by country, account type, and legal entity; users should verify source links before opening an account.


