Cameron Zain
Best broker for
Forex & CFDSummary
Capital.com is a global CFD and forex broker that was founded in 2016, with offices in London, Cyprus and Belarus. It is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB).
Capital.com is considered safe because it is regulated by the top-tier FCA.
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71.2% 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.
Capital.com pros and cons
Capital.com has low forex and stock CFD fees. The account opening process is easy and user-friendly. Customer support is also excellent, providing quick and in-depth answers.
On the negative side, the range of available products is limited to CFDs (shares, indices, crypto, commodity, forex). Price alerts are missing from the web trading platform and minor account base currencies are not provided.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Low forex and stock CFD fees . | • Limited product portfolio |
| • Great account opening experience | • No price alerts on web platform |
| • Excellent customer support | • Smaller account currencies not available |
| 🗺️ Country of regulation | UK, Cyprus, Belarus |
| 💰 Trading fees class | Low |
| 💰 Inactivity fee charged | No |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee amount | $0 |
| 💰 Minimum deposit | $20 |
| 🕖 Time to open an account | 1 day |
| 💳 Deposit with bank card | Available |
| 👛 Depositing with electronic wallet | Available |
| 💱 Number of base currencies supported . | 4 |
| 🎮 Demo account provided | Yes |
| 🛍️ Products offered | Forex, CFD, Crypto |
- • User-Friendly Interface
- • Comprehensive Research and Analysis Tools
- • Low Fees and Charges
- • Wide Range of Products Available
- • Regulated by Reputable Authorities
- • High Security and Safety Protocols
- • No Minimum Initial Deposit Requirements
- • Access to Leveraged Trading with CFDs
- • Multiple Account Types for Different Needs
- • Educational Resources for New Traders.
- • Lack of Support for Cryptocurrencies and Options Trading
- • Not Available in All Countries
- • Limited Customer Support Options
Fees
Capital.com has low forex and CFD fees. The non-trading fees are low as well, there are no inactivity or withdrawal fees charged. On the other hand, the stock index CFD fees are not the most competitive.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Low forex and stock CFD fees . | • Average stock index CFD fees . |
| • No withdrawal fee | |
| • No inactivity fee |
| Assets | Fee level | Fee terms |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 CFD | Average | The fees are built into the spread, 0.4 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| Europe 50 CFD . | Average . | The fees are built into the spread, 2 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| EURUSD | Low | The fees are built into the spread, 0.6 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| Inactivity fee | Low | No inactivity fee |
How we ranked fees
We ranked Capital.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 Capital.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 Capital.com’s fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, XTB and XM. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Capital.com alternatives.
To have a clear overview of Capital.com, let’s start with the trading fees.
Capital.com trading fees
Capital.com 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 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 Capital.com fees.
CFD fees
Capital.com has overall low stock CFD, but average stock index CFD fees.
| Capital.com . | XTB . | XM . | |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 index CFD fee | $3.1 | $1.5 | $1.7 |
| Europe 50 index CFD fee . | $2.9 | $1.8 | $2.4 |
| Apple CFD fee | $3.1 | $17.3 | $6.4 |
| Vodafone CFD fee | $2.7 | $20.8 | $1.2 |
Forex fees
Capital.com has low forex fees.
| Capital.com . | XTB . | XM . | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $7.6 | $8.5 | $9.5 |
| GBPUSD benchmark fee | $5.5 | $6.1 | $8.2 |
| AUDUSD benchmark fee | $7.9 | $6.7 | $10.4 |
| EURCHF benchmark fee | $6.1 | $9.0 | $9.6 |
| EURGBP benchmark fee . | $8.1 | $8.3 | $10.6 |
Non-trading fees
Capital.com has low non-trading fees. It is great that it does not charge an inactivity fee if you don’t trade for a long time, which is rare for CFD brokers. There are also no account, deposit or withdrawal fees.
| Capital.com . | XTB . | XM . | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account fee | No | No | No |
| Inactivity fee | No | Yes | Yes |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Account Opening
Capital.com has one of the best account opening processes we’ve seen: it is simple, quick, well-designed and intuitive. We were impressed.
| Pros | Cons . |
|---|---|
| • Fast | None |
| • Fully digital | |
| • Low minimum deposit . |
Capital.com accepts clients from all over the world with a few exceptions, most notably the US.
What is the minimum deposit at Capital.com?
The required Capital.com minimum deposit is $20 if the funds are transferred via credit/debit card or Apple Pay. For bank transfer, the minimum deposit is $250.
Account types
Capital.com offers three account types that differ in the services available to you. The account type you have depends on – and can change according to – your account balance, so if your balance goes up, you can ‘unlock’ additional services.
| Standard | Plus | Premier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account balance | Less than $3,000 | $3,000–$10,000 | $10,000+ |
| Extra services available | – | Dedicated account manager, dedicated platform walkthrough, custom analytics | ‘Plus’ account services, plus exclusive webinars and premier events |
You can also open a corporate account, but you need to contact customer support directly to set this up.
Before providing services, Capital.com categorizes clients as either retail or professional. Even if you are initially categorized as a retail client, you can qualify to be a professional client, which allows for example to trade at higher leverage. To qualify, you have to meet the following criteria:
- Placed 10 trades in the previous quarter and these trades were relevant with significant size
- Your portfolio exceeds €500,000
- You worked in the financial sector for at least one year
How to open your account
The account opening experience at Capital.com is extremely well done: it is a smooth ride, quick and easy. Our account was approved within 1 day.
Here are the steps to opening an account at Capital.com:
- Create an account, after which you can already access the live platform. This is great, as you can get to know the platform first.
- From within the platform, click on ‘Complete registration’.
- Go through a list of questions about your basic data (country of residence, employment status, financial status). The clean design here really makes the process smooth and enjoyable.
- Select your account currency.
- Finally, upload your personal ID and proof of residence documents. For ID, a passport, driver’s license, or national ID card are accepted, while for proof of residence you can provide e.g. a bank statement or utility bill.
Capital.com review – Account opening
Can you open an account?
Select your country of residence to see if you can open an account at Capital.com!
Deposit and Withdrawal
Deposits and withdrawals are free at Capital.com and many options are provided, including Apple Pay. However, only three major currencies (USD, GBP, EUR) and one smaller (PLN) are available.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Credit/Debit card available . | • Smaller currencies not available |
| • Free withdrawal | |
| • No deposit fee |
Account base currencies
At Capital.com, you can choose from 4 base currencies. These are: GBP, USD, EUR, PLN
This selection lags behind what most other similar brokers offer.
| Capital.com . | XTB . | XM . | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of base currencies . | 4 | 5 | 11 |
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. These usually 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.
Deposit fees and options
Capital.com charges no deposit fees.
In addition to bank transfer and credit/debit card, you can also use Apple Pay to add funds to your account.
| Capital.com . | XTB . | XM . | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets . | Yes | Yes | Yes |
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.
Capital.com review – Deposit and withdrawal – Deposit
Capital.com withdrawal fees and options
Capital.com charges no withdrawal fees.
The options for withdrawing funds are the same as for deposits.
| Capital.com . | XTB . | XM . | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | No | Yes |
| Electronic wallets . | Yes | No | Yes |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
How long does it take to withdraw money from Capital.com? We tested the debit card withdrawal and it took 1 business day.
You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.
How do you withdraw money from Capital.com?
- Log in to your account.
- Click on ‘Live’ in the top right corner of the screen.
- Select ‘Withdraw Funds’ from the drop-down menu.
- Select your withdrawal method and enter the amount you wish to withdraw.
Trading Platform
Capital.com has an easy-to-use and well-designed web trading platform, with clear fee reports and a two-step login. However, it has limited customizability and lacks price alerts.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • User-friendly | • Limited customizability (for charts, workspace) . |
| • Clear fee report | • No price alerts |
| • Two-step (safer) login . |
| Trading platform . | Score . | Available . |
|---|---|---|
| Web | 3.9 | Yes |
| Mobile | 4.9 | Yes |
| Desktop | 3.4 | Yes |
Capital.com has its own self-developed trading platform. Besides, you can also use MetaTrader 4 platform.
The web trading platform is available in many languages.
| Capital.com web trading platform languages | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Dutch | German | Swedish | Italian |
| Spanish | French | Chinese | Russian | Norsk |
| Malaysian | Indonesian | Vietnamese | Thai | |
Look and feel
The Capital.com web trading platform is user-friendly and has a great design. All the important functions, such as searching and portfolio reports, can be found easily.
Its biggest drawback is that you cannot customize the platform to your own needs.
Capital.com review – Web trading platform
Login and security
Capital.com provides a more secure, two-step login option, which is great.
Search functions
The search functions are good. There are pre-set categories where you can search (e.g. US stocks, indices, commodities), but there is also a search bar where you can enter your search terms manually.
Capital.com review – Web trading platform – Search
Placing orders
Capital.com offers the basic order types, with no advanced ones like One-Cancels-the-Other (OCO) available. You can use the following order types:
- Market
- Limit
- Stop
- Guaranteed stop
To get a better understanding of these terms, read our overview of order types.
The web trading platform has only one order time limit you can use, which is Good ’til time (GTT).
Capital.com review – Web trading platform – Order panel
Alerts and notifications
You cannot set price alerts and notifications on the web trading platform. This is a miss in our view as it is a useful feature for users.
Portfolio and fee reports
Capital.com has clear portfolio and fee reports. They can be found under the ‘Reports’ tab, and you can immediately send it to yourself in an email and download it as a CSV file, which is very convenient.
Mobile trading platform
Capital.com’s mobile trading platform is user-friendly, has a modern design, provides two-step login as well as price alerts.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • User-friendly | • Touch/Face ID login only on iOS . |
| • Two-step (safer) login . | |
| • Good search function |
Similar to the web platform, Capital.com has its own self-developed mobile trading platform.
The mobile platform is available in many more languages than the web platform.
| Capital.com mobile trading platform languages | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Bulgarian | Czech | Danish | German | Greek |
| Dutch | Estonian | French | Croatian | Hungarian | Italian |
| Latvian | Lithuanian | Finnish | Portuguese | Romanian | Russian |
| Norwegian | Polish | Slovenian | Slovakian | Spanish | Swedish |
| Malaysian | Chinese | Indonesian | Thai | Vietnamese | |
Look and feel
The Capital.com mobile trading platform is user-friendly. Similarly to the web platform, it is easy to use even after a short learning period.
Capital.com review – Mobile trading platform
Login and security
Capital.com provides a secure, two-step login for its mobile platform. Also, you can set biometric authentication on iOS platforms.
However, it would be great if this feature would be available on Android devices as well.
Search functions
The search functions are good. There are pre-defined categories, such as Top Risers/Fallers or Most Volatile, or you can also search manually.
Capital.com review – Mobile trading platform – Search
Placing orders
You can use the same order types and order time limits as on the web trading platform.
Capital.com review – Mobile trading platform – Order panel
Alerts and notifications
You can set alerts and notifications on the Capital.com mobile platform. To set up the alerts, you have to click on the asset and select the price level you would like to get notifications about.
Desktop trading platform
Capital.com’s desktop trading platform 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.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Clear fee report | • No two-step (safer) login . |
| • Good customizability (for charts, workspace) . | • Poor design |
| • Price alerts |
Capital.com doesn’t have an own-developed desktop trading platform, it provides MetaTrader 4 desktop trading platform. MetaTrader 4 is available only for clients under CySEC.
| Arabic | Bulgarian | Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) | Croatian | Czech | Danish |
| Dutch | English | Estonian | Farsi | French | German |
| Greek | Hebrew | Hindi | Hungarian | Indonesian | Italian |
| Japanese | Korean | Latvian | Lithuanian | Malay | Mongolian |
| Persian | Polish | Portuguese | Romanian | Russian | Serbian |
| Slovak | Slovenian | Spanish | Swedish | Tajik | Thai |
| Turkish | Ukrainian | Uzbek | Vietnamese |
Look and feel
Capital.com’s desktop trading platform has great customizability. It is easy to 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.
Capital.com review – Desktop trading platform
Login and security
Capital.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 several forex categories. We also missed the usual search function when you can type in the asset names manually.
Capital.com review – Desktop trading platform – Search
Placing orders
Here, you will not find very sophisticated orders like one-cancels-the-other. 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 various order types, read this overview.
There are also order time limits you can use:
- Good ’til canceled (GTC)
- Good ’til time (GTT)
Capital.com review – Desktop trading platform – Order panel
Alerts and notifications
You can set alerts and notifications in the form of email, push notifications to mobile, or notification to 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 the MT4 app’s settings). You can add them if you go to ‘Tools’ and then ‘Options’.
Portfolio and fee reports
Capital.com has clear portfolio and fee reports. It is easy to find 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’.
Markets and Products
Capital.com has an impressive selection of CFD, forex and crypto products compared to other CFD brokers. However, it lacks popular asset types like real stocks, ETFs and funds.
Capital.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. 71.2% 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.
Capital.com has a great selection of CFD and forex products compared to other similar brokers.
| Capital.com . | XTB . | XM . | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Currency pairs (#) | 142 | 49 | 57 |
| Stock index CFDs (#) | 34 | 42 | 28 |
| Stock CFDs (#) | 3,000 | 1,800 | 1,240 |
| ETF CFDs (#) | 87 | 114 | – |
| Commodity CFDs (#) , | 53 | 22 | 15 |
| Cryptos (#) | 84 | 25 | – |
FCA bans the sale of crypto-derivatives to UK retail consumers from 6 January 2021.
You can change the size of the leverage, which is great.
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.
Research
Capital.com has great research services. Its charting tool is easy to edit and it has a quality news flow. There are also great fundamental data and trading ideas.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Good interactive chart | None . |
| • Trading ideas | |
| • Data on asset fundamentals . |
Capital.com’s research tools are available on its web trading platform. Just like the platform itself, every tool is easy to use, and the language options are also the same as on the web platform.
Trading ideas
Capital.com provides trading ideas through Trading Central, a third-party research provider. The ideas are based purely on technical analysis and cover certain commodities, stock indices, as well as most FX pairs. You can find them if you click on ‘Insights’ and then ‘Analysts Views’.
Capital.com review – Research – Recommendations
In addition, there are high-quality analyses about market events and assets on Capital.com TV. These analyses can give you insights into what and how to trade.
Capital.com review – Research – Capital.com TV
Fundamental data
The best place to access fundamental data is Capital.com’s economic calendar. We really liked the feature that allows you to gauge historical volatility and trends: for example, if you see that of Japan interest rate decision is coming up, you can click the ‘impact’ button and see how the USD/JPY price evolved after recent decisions.
We missed fundamental data on stocks, however.
Capital.com review – Research – Fundamental data
Charting
Capital.com has good charting tools. It is easy to edit the chart and you can use a lot of technical indicators.
Capital.com review – Research – Charting
News feed
The news feed is available by clicking on the ‘Discover’ menu icon. It is very well-designed and unique as not only is the news easy-to-read and integrated into the platform, but it also includes relevant images and charts.
Capital.com review – Research – News
We liked Capital.com’s news feeds, provided by Trading Central. You can find them under the ‘Market Buzz’ section.
Not only can you filter the news feeds for a specific asset, but you are also shown a sentiment score for that asset. For example, if all the articles are bullish/positive, then a 100% positive score is given.
Additionally, there’s a tool called Trend Analysis that bluntly says if the asset “might fall” or “might rise” x or y%. The somewhat sensationalist headline is based on technical analysis by AI software that is also presented among trading ideas.
Overall, we wouldn’t say that the quality of the information presented in ‘Market Buzz’ is good enough to base your trading decisions on, but it’s still much more useful compared with other MetaTrader brokers’ news feeds.
Capital.com review – Research – Market buzz
Other research tools you will enjoy
There are trading statistics on Capital.com’s trading platform, such as the most traded or most volatile assets. You can find these statistics under the ‘Discover’ section.
Capital.com review – Research – Trading statistics
Customer Service
Capital.com’s customer service is exemplary, one of the best in the business. We received fast and comprehensive answers on every channel, and support is available 24/7.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Phone support | None . |
| • Live chat | |
| • Fast response time . |
You can contact Capital.com via:
- live chat
- phone
Additionally, you can also reach the broker on various other channels such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger or Viber, which is a big plus.
Capital.com has a great live chat service – any time we asked a question, day or night, we always got a response and were connected with someone within minutes. The relevancy of the answers was satisfactory.
Phone and email support were also fast and provided relevant answers. On the phone, we were connected within a minute, while by email we received replies with 10-20 minutes, even to more complicated queries.
Support is available 24/7, which is great.
Capital.com review – Customer Service
Education
Capital.com’s education services include a demo account as well as videos and courses. However, a walkthrough video for the trading platform is available only for premium accounts.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Demo account | • No trading platform tutorial videos . |
| • Educational videos . |
At Capital.com you can learn in the following ways:
- Demo account
- General educational videos
- Webinars
- Quality educational articles
- Glossary
- Learning courses (on different topics, ending with a quiz)
It is always good to have the option to try out and learn the trading platform for free before signing up, so Capital.com providing a demo account is a plus.
Educational articles are mostly grouped by asset type (e.g. forex, commodities, shares), and include integrated videos.
There is a platform tutorial walkthrough video available, but only if your balance exceeds $3,000 and you qualify for a premium account.
Capital.com review – Education
Safety
Capital.com is regulated by the top-tier FCA and offers negative balance protection. On the negative side, it does not have a banking license and publishes no financial information.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Majority of clients belong to a top-tier . financial authority | • Does not hold a banking license . |
| • Negative balance protection | • Not listed on stock exchange |
| • Financial information is not publicly available |
Is Capital.com regulated?
Yes, it is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Is Capital.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
Whether you are covered by investor protection and to what amount depends on the legal entity you belong to. You can check out the available countries and regulators this handy spreadsheet.
| Country of client | Protection amount | Regulator | Legal entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | £85,000 | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | Capital Com (UK) Limited |
| EEA and some other selected countries | €20,000 | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | Capital Com SV Investments Limited |
| All other countries | No protection | National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) | Capital Com Bel CJSC |
Capital.com provides negative balance protection. If the balance on your account goes into negative, you will be protected.
Background
Capital.com is a relatively new company, as it was established in 2016. It has offices in London, Cyprus and Belarus. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.
Bottom Line
Capital.com is a great CFD and forex broker, regulated by the FCA, a top-tier authority.
On the plus side, the stock CFD and forex fees are low, the account opening is very user-friendly, and customer support is exceptional.
On the other hand, Capital.com offers only CFD, forex, and crypto asset classes. Minor account base currencies and price alerts are missing from the web platform.
As there is no inactivity fee and account opening is quick, feel free to try Capital.com.
Capital.com is a global online broker that offers CFD trading on a range of financial instruments, including forex, stocks, commodities, and indices. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Cyprus. Capital.com is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. The company offers a range of trading platforms, including the popular MetaTrader 4 platform, as well as educational resources and customer support to help traders make informed decisions and improve their skills. Capital.com is known for its innovative technology and user-friendly trading platform, which is designed to make it easy for traders of all levels to buy and sell a variety of financial instruments.
