Best Day Trading Platforms And Brokers UK Reviewed | Trading Education (2024)

Day trading is one of the most popular trading strategies in the UK - largely because it lets investors make money trading a rich list of assets, including stocks, forex, crypto, commodities, ETFs, options, futures, and more.

But with many online brokerages operating here, finding the best day trading platform or broker can be quite overwhelming - especially for newbie investors.

In this guide, we help you get started with online trading by pointing you to the 10 best day trading platforms and brokers in the UK.

81% 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.

In the next section, we discuss each of these top day trading brokerages in detail. We tell you what makes them the best online brokerages UK and why you should consider registering an account with either.

A Closer Look At The Top Day Trading Platforms In The UK

When vetting different online brokerages and creating this list of best day trading platforms, we looked past a broker’s popularity. We examined the number of assets supported by each broker, the cost of trading, level of customer support, minimum deposit/trade limits, leverage limits, transaction processing speeds, user-friendliness, security, and more.

Let us discuss each of these top day trading brokerages UK to seek why they made it here and how they stand out from the rest.

1. eToro - Overall Best Day Trading Platform UK

eToro tops our list of the best day trading platforms in the UK - and it is easy to see why. For starters, it is a no-commission trading platform with a solid reputation for user-friendliness, reliability, and transparency.

Further, eToro is a multi-trader platform available as a web trader and mobile app. Both are highly intuitive and feature a rich resource of educational tools, a demo account, and highly advanced trading and risk management tools.

We also feature the FCA-regulated brokerage among the top day trading platforms in the UK because of its rich list of tradeable asset classes. These include real stocks, ETFs, and Cryptos - implying that you can own and earn dividends from the shares and ETFs purchased here.

You also get to own the private keys for the cryptocurrencies. You also get to access forex, indices, and commodity CFDs. And all these products can be margin-traded with leverages of between 1:2 and 1:30 - for retail traders.

We especially liked eToro’s transparency regarding the cost of trading. It charges 0% commission on real stocks and ETFs, maintains a standard 1% fee for all crypto trades, and variable spreads for all other assets - starting from 1 pip for the EUR/USD fax pair. But even more importantly, eToro doesn’t maintain hidden charges and lets you view all the fees impacting your trade before you press the buy/sell button.

You will also like eToro’s affordability - seeing that you only need to deposit a minimum of $10 to start trading. And it supports virtually all the most popular payment options in the UK. Your deposits into eToro are also insured with FSCS - for up to £85,000 and eToro private insurance for up to £1 Million.

Not forgetting that it also integrates social and copy trading tools - making it one of the most beginner-friendly day trading platforms UK.

81% 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.

2. Capital.com - Best Day Trading Platform for Trade Automation

Capital.com - yet another 0% commission online broker - comes a close second on our ranking of best day trading platforms in the UK. It is a CFD and spread betting platform that stands with its user-friendliness, affordability, and automated trading.

Capital.com is one of the growing numbers of online brokerages that let you integrate bots and other algo-trading tools to automate your trades. And this can be done on its proprietary web and app trading platforms as well as on the MT4 trader.

We also feature it among the best online brokers in the UK because it supports tax-free spread betting. In the UK, spread betting is considered gambling and thus tax exempt.

Other notable Capital.com features include that would make you consider registering with the platform include the fact that it is regulated by the FCA. Client deposits - of up to £85000 are also insured with the FSCS. Additionally, Capital.com runs a straightforward client onboarding process, supports all the popular payment methods in the UK, and doesn’t charge deposit or withdrawal fees.

To start trading on Capital.com, you only need to deposit a minimum of £20. This gives you access to Forex, stocks, ETFs, indices, and commodity CFDs. They all can be margin traded and leverages range between 1:5 and 1:30 - depending on the asset.

Here, you get to trade stocks and ETFs at 0% commission. However, the rest attract highly variable spreads - starting from 0.6 pips for the EUR/USD FX pair. The broker doesn’t maintain hidden fees and will let you view the trading costs before hitting the buy/sell button.

81% 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.

3. Pepperstone - Best Zero Spread Account

Pepperstone stands out and makes it to our list of best day trading platforms in the UK because of its highly effective zero-spread account. Also referred to as the razor-spread account, it is preferred by high-volume day traders, scalpers, and others using automated trading tools.

Some of its key features include ultra-fast transaction processing, deep liquidity, a competitive commission of $3.5 per lot, and real-time market spreads - which average 0.3 pips but start from 0 pips for popular FX pairs like EUR/USD.

But this is far from the only reason we feature it among the top day trading platforms in the UK. We also include the pure CFD brokerage here because it too is quite user-friendly, runs a parallel no-commission trading platform, supports a wide range of trading instruments, is a multiplatform trader, and supports leverage trading.

You get to day trade forex, indices, stocks, ETFs, and commodity CFDs here. You only need to deposit £200 and the FCA-regulated online broker supports all the most popular online payment methods in the UK. Your deposits here are also incurred by the FSCS - up to £85,000.

For retail traders, leverage starts from 1:5 and extends to 1:30 - depending on the preferred asset. You also have the option of automating your trades, as well as a wide range of trading platforms to choose from, including MT4/5, cTrader, Capitalise.ai, and TradingView. Pepperstone also supports social and copy trading - which is offered in partnership with Dupli Trade.

81% 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.

4. I.G Markets - Most Trusted Day Trading Platform UK

Started in 1974, IG Markets is one of the oldest and most trusted online brokers in the UK. In addition to being regulated by the FCA, IG Markets is a subsidiary of IG Group - which is listed with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and a member of the FTSE 250.

This day trading platform operates one of the most reliable online trading interfaces - and this solid reputation is why we feature IG Markets among the best day trading platforms in the UK.

We also feature it here because it is a trading and investing platform. Here, you can invest in real stocks, ETFs, and indices and also trade forex, options, futures, and commodity markets. In total, IG Markets gives you access to 18000+ trading instruments - most of which can be margin traded with leverages ranging between 1:5 and 1:30 for retail investors. Not forgetting that it also supports tax-exempt spread betting.

To start investing and day trading on IG Markets, deposit a minimum of £250 into your trader account. You then can trade this wide range of products via their web trader, mobile trading app, MT4, or the ProRealTime trading platforms. Most of these support automated trading.

Note that IG Markets UK is a commission broker. It charges an £8 commission for UK-listed stocks - but can drop to £3 if you place more than three trades per month. All other CFD instruments and spread betting trades are charged a variable spread - starting from 0.6 pips for the EUR/USD FX pair.

81% 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.

5. Forex.com - Best CFD-Focused Day Trading Platform UK

Forex.com is a CFD day trading platform. Here, you interact with hundreds of the most popular financial instruments across forex, commodities, stocks, and indices. This makes Forex.com appealing to specialist CFD day traders and is part of the reasons why we feature Forex.com among the best day trading platforms in the UK.

It also makes it to our list of the best online brokers UK because of its user-friendliness, integration of advanced research, trading, and risk management tool, the fact that it is a multi-platform brokerage, competitive fees, and affordable deposit/trade minimums.

To start trading on the FCA-regulated brokerage, for instance, there is no minimum deposit limit when using a bank, but you will have to deposit a minimum of £100 if using any other supported payment option.

You can also trade via its web trader, mobile app, or the universal MT4/MT5 platforms. All these and the Forex.com website give you access to a wide range of market research tools, including news and financial market reports, trading tools like custom charts and indicators, as well as risk management tools like the stop loss. Everyone will also have access to a free demo account and trading tutorials.

We also include the commission-free broker among the top day trading platforms UK because of its competitive trading fees. Here, all trades attract variable spreads, starting from 0.8 pips for the all-popular EUR/USD FX pair. Additionally, all these financial instruments can be margin traded with leverages ranging between 1:5 and 1:30 - for retail traders.

81% 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.

6. Skilling - Best for Advanced Trading And Risk Management Tools

Skilling makes it to our list of the best day trading platforms UK because of the rich resource of trading, market research, and risk-management tools integrated here. These range from custom charts, indicators, news, financial reports, and an economic calendar to the guaranteed stop loss.

These are availed on the Skilling web and mobile app trader and complemented by other universal tools hosted on the MT4 and cTrader platforms supported by the FCA-regulated online broker.

We also rank Skilling highly among the top day trading platforms in the UK because it maintains competitive trading fees, supports a wide range of financial instruments, supports margin trading, and allows for copy and social trading.

You can trade forex, stocks, indices, and commodity CFDs here. You only need to deposit a minimum of £100 to start trading and the broker supports all the popular online payment options in the UK. It also supports margin trading and the maximum leverage limit for retail traders is capped at 1:30. Additionally, Skilling is a commission-free broker and your CFD trades will, therefore, only attract variable spreads - starting from 0.5 pips for the EUR/USD FX pair.

81% 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.

7. Plus 500 - Best Day Trading Platform for Trader Education

Plus 500 is a highly reputable online brokerage - famed for its user-friendliness, reliability, and level of support offered here. It is regulated by the FCA, insures client deposits with the FSCS - up to £85,000 -, is listed with the LSE, and forms part of the FTSE 250 index.

These factors led our analysts to consider listing Plus 500 among the best day trading platforms in the UK.

Others include that it exposes you to 2000+ financial instruments in markets such as forex, stocks, indices, ETFs, options, and commodities. You need to deposit a minimum of £100 to start trading any of these instruments. You, however, can balloon the actual trading amount by applying leverages of up to 1:30.

Since Plus 500 doesn’t support universal trading platforms like MT4/5, you get to trade on either the Plus 500 web trader or mobile app. Nonetheless, both are highly advanced, featuring the broadest range of trading, analysis, and risk management tools - with special benefits like a demo account and negative balance protection.

81% 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.

8. AvaTrade - Best Day Trading Platform for Spread Betting

AvaTrade is one of the best all-around online brokerages in the UK. For example, it is a commission-free trading platform featuring thousands of financial instruments. It is also a multi-platform brokerage that integrates some of the most advanced trading, analysis, and risk management tools to these platforms.

Not forgetting that it is a pure CFD online trading platform that integrates thousands of financial instruments.

These notwithstanding, we feature it among the best day trading platforms UK for its spread betting feature. This means that you can trade stocks, forex, EFTs, bonds, indices, options, and commodities tax-free. You can also margin trade all these instruments with leverages of up to 1:30 - depending on the instrument.

In addition to these, the FCA-regulated online broker is also quite user-friendly. It maintains a straightforward client onboarding process, features a free demo account, charges highly competitive fees, and operates a highly intuitive trading interface. To start trading either of these CFDs or spread betting on AvaTrade, deposit a minimum of £100 into the brokerage using any of the popular deposit methods in the UK.

You then can trade via the broker’s proprietary AvaTrade Go, web trader, mobile app, or Mac Trading (for macOS).

You could also prefer to use the universal MT4 or MT5 trading platforms, especially if you engage auto trading bots/algo-traders. And if you wish to engage in social and copy trading, link your AvaTrade account with DupliTrade. In all these platforms, however, you pay a variable spread - starting from 0.9 pips for EUR/USD for the EUR/USD pair.

81% 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.

9. CMC Markets - Best Day Trading Platform for Low Minimum Deposits

We feature CMC markets among the best day trading platforms in the UK because it maintains the lowest minimum deposits - at £0. The FCA-regulated online broker also makes it here because it supports many popular payment options. Plus, it insures all client deposits - up to £85,000 with the FSCS.

But these are far from the only reasons why we rank CMC markets among the 10 top day trading platforms in the UK. We also feature it here because of its user-friendliness, the intuitiveness of its trading interfaces, competitive fees, support for leveraged products, integration of a wide range of financial instruments, and the dynamicity of its trading platforms.

The broker, for instance, lets you interact with 12000+ financial instruments drawn from multiple markets, including forex, indices, ETFs, stocks, treasuries, and commodities. It lets you buy real stocks and indices at a competitive commission of 0.1% for UK shares (minimum trade amount is £9) and 0.2% for non-UK shares (minimum trade amount is $10). All other assets attract variable spreads - starting from 0.7 pips for the EUR/USD FX pair.

You can trade these assets on the CMC markets web trader or mobile app. You could also prefer to trade them on the universal MT4 trading platform, especially if you want to leverage the integrated automated trading tools. Speaking of leverages, CMC markets support margin trading, and leverages for retail traders start from 1:5 and extend to 1:30 - depending on the asset.

81% 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.

10. XTB - Best Day Trading Platform for Tight Spreads

XTB UK is an FCA-regulated CFD-trading platform that makes it to our list of best day trading platforms in the UK because of its competitive trading fees. For starters, XTB doesn’t charge a trading commission. It only maintains highly variable spreads for all the CFDs traded here - starting from 0.2 pips for the all-popular EUR/USD trading pair.

We also feature it here because it provides day traders with a wide range of financial instruments - more than 2100 CFDs. These are spread across multiple markets, including forex, stocks, index, ETFs, and commodities. However, unlike most other top day trading platforms in the UK that embrace third-party trading platforms, XTB will only let you trade via its proprietary xStation 5 web trader and xStation mobile app.

Other factors that make XTB one of the best online brokers UK include its user-friendliness. These trading platforms are highly intuitive and XTB maintains a straightforward client onboarding process. It even has a free demo account that beginners can use to practice trading and familiarise themselves with the platform. Expert traders, on the other hand, use it to perfect their strategies.

Additionally, no minimum deposit limit is required before you start trading these CFDs on XTB UK. The broker, however, supports all the popular deposit methods in the UK, does not charge a deposit/withdrawal fee, but insures all your deposits - up to £85,000 with the FSCS.

81% 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.

What To Look For When Searching For The Best Day Trading Platform UK

Here are some of the factors that our analysts paid most attention to when compiling this list of the best day trading platform in the UK. You, too, could use them to find the day trading platform that works best for you.

• Regulation and reputation: You must only register with an FCA-regulated and highly reputable online broker.
• Cost of trading: Your preferred online trading platform must also maintain highly competitive spreads.
• Supported deposit methods: Your preferred day trading platform UK should also support your preferred payment methods and maintain an affordable minimum deposit.
• Customer support: A good day trading platform should have an easily accessible customer support team.
• Range of assets: Your preferred day trading platform should also list the widest range of assets and support leverage trading.
• Demo account: A good day trading platform should also provide users with a free demo account.

How To Day Trade Cryptocurrencies In The UK

You are now familiar with the 10 top day trading platforms in the UK and understand how to find a reliable online broker. Let us now teach you how to trade any asset on the all-popular and highly reliable eToro brokerage in under 10 minutes.

Step 1: Register a trading account with eToro

Open the official eToro UK website on your browser and press the “Join Now” icon. Complete the registration form that pops up here by entering your basic personal details.

Step 2: Verify identity

The FCA-regulated online broker will then require you to verify your identity. Simply upload a copy of a government-issued identification document - preferably a passport or driver’s license.

Step 3: Fund the account

Log in to the approved eToro trader account and press the “Deposit Funds” icon on the user dashboard. Choose a payment option from the funding tab that pops up and follow the prompts to initiate a cash transfer.

Step 4: Identify assets to day trade

Click on the “Discover” icon on the user dashboard to reveal the supported asset classes. Click on the asset you would like to day trade e.g. forex, then select the instrument you wish to day trade e.g. EUR/USD.

Step 5: Buy the asset

Press the “Buy” option against the instrument (if going long or the “SELL” option is shorting the trade). On the trading tab that pops up, customize the trade by indicating how much you wish to spend on the trade and maximum leverage, then set the stop loss and take profit levels. Hit the “Open Trade” button to enter the position.

Step 6: Sell the asset

To close the trade, simply hit the “Sell” or “Buy” button against the open trade, depending on whether it was a long or short trade.

81% 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.

Conclusion - Best Day Trading Platforms In The UK

That is it. There goes everything you need to know about the best day trading platforms in the UK.

To recap, we have discussed what our analysts consider the 10 top day trading platforms and brokers in the UK - highlighting why they made it to the list and their core features. We have shared the factors that these analysts considered when coming up with the list and what you need to consider when searching for the best day trading platform.

If you want to begin day trading right away, we have shared a step-by-step guide on how you can day trade any asset on the all-popular eToro online brokerage.

eToro - Best Trading Platform In The UK

81% 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.

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