Which is better XM Group or Plus500? For the past five months, we have been testing 30 different brokers across various services to find out the best brokers on the market today. Based on that research, we’ve found Plus500 to be more reliable than XM Group. Plus500 represents a trusted global forex broker with a user-friendly interface that helps you achieve faster results with less effort. Keep in mind that this broker doesn’t feature in-depth educational resources, trading tools, or up-to-date research data.
You can read the full Plus500 review here and the full XM review here.
All trading involves risk. More than 70% of investors lose money in Forex and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
Overall Rating
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Overall | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| | XM Group Review | Plus500 Review |
| | 73.57% of retail CFD accounts lose money | 76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
Regulation
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Trust Score | 81 | 99 |
| Year Founded | 2009 | 2008 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | 🚫 | ✅ |
| Bank | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 3 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 4 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
| Authorized in the European Union | ✅ | ✅ |
All trading involves risk. More than 70% of investors lose money in Forex and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
Tier-1 Licenses
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| ASIC Authorized (Australia) | ✅ | ✅ |
| IIROC Authorized (Canada) | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| SFC Authorized (Hong Kong) | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| FSA Authorized (Japan) | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| MAS Authorized (Singapore) | 🚫 | ✅ |
| FINMA Authorized (Switzerland) | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| FCA Authorized (UK) | ✅ | ✅ |
| CFTC Registered (USA) | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Investments
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Forex: Spot Trading | ✅ | ✅ |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | ✅ | 🚫 |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 57 | 50 |
| CFDs – Total Offered | 1247 | 2033 |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | 🚫 | ✅ |
| Offering of Investments | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Winner | | ✅ |
Cost
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard | 1.6 (as of Mar 2020) | 3 (Mar 2020) |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD – Active | 0.8 (Mar 2020) | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | 🚫 | ✅ |
| Commissions & Fees | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Winner | | ✅ |
Funding
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $5-100 | €100 |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | 🚫 | ✅ |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | 🚫 | ✅ |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | ✅ | ✅ |
Trading Platforms
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Proprietary Platform | 🚫 | ✅ |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Web Platform | ✅ | ✅ |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | ✅ | 🚫 |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | ✅ | 🚫 |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | ✅ | 🚫 |
| cTrader | 🚫 | 🚫 |
Trading Tools
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Alerts – Basic Fields | ✅ | ✅ |
| Watchlists – Total Fields | (MT4/MT5) | 10 |
| Charting – Indicators / Studies (Total) | (MT4/MT5) | 103 |
| Charting – Drawing Tools (Total) | (MT4/MT5) | 21 |
| Charting – Trade From Chart | ✅ | 🚫 |
| Charting – Drawings Autosave | ✅ | 🚫 |
| Order Type – Trailing Stop | ✅ | ✅ |
| Platform & Tools | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Winner | ✅ |
Mobile Trading
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Android App | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple iOS App | ✅ | ✅ |
| Trading – Forex | ✅ | ✅ |
| Trading – CFDs | ✅ | ✅ |
| Alerts – Basic Fields | ✅ | ✅ |
| Watch List | ✅ | ✅ |
| Watch List Syncing | ✅ | ✅ |
| Charting – Indicators / Studies | (MT4/MT5) | 18 |
| Charting – Draw Trend Lines | ✅ | 🚫 |
| Charting – Trend Lines Moveable | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Charting – Multiple Time Frames | ✅ | ✅ |
| Charting – Drawings Autosave | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Forex Calendar | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Mobile Trading | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Winner | | ✅ |
Research
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 | |
| Daily Market Commentary | ✅ | 🚫 | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | ✅ | 🚫 | |
| Weekly Webinars | ✅ | 🚫 | |
| AutoChartist | ✅ | 🚫 | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | 🚫 | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| 🚫 | |||
| Delkos Research | 🚫 | 🚫 | |
| Social Sentiment – Currency Pairs | ✅ | 🚫 | |
| Economic Calendar | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Research | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | |
| Winner | ✅ | |
Education
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| Has Education – Forex | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Has Education – CFDs | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Client Webinars | ✅ | 🚫 |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Videos – Beginner Trading Videos | ✅ | 🚫 |
| Videos – Advanced Trading Videos | ✅ | 🚫 |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | 🚫 | 🚫 |
| Education | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Winner | ✅ | |
Major Forex Pairs
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| GBP/USD | ✅ | ✅ |
| USD/JPY | ✅ | ✅ |
| EUR/USD | ✅ | ✅ |
| USD/CHF | ✅ | ✅ |
| USD/CAD | ✅ | ✅ |
| NZD/USD | ✅ | ✅ |
| AUD/USD | ✅ | ✅ |
Overall
| Feature | XM Group | Plus500 |
| XM Group Review | Plus500 Review | |
| Overall | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Winner | | ✅ |
A forex broker comparison is a complex task to complete. After hundreds of hours reviewing 30 forex and CFD brokerages, we compared them across 14 different categories to find out if Plus500 is better or worse than XM Group.
Price differences between Plus500 and XM Group
Analyzing trading prices for both CFDs and forex is not simple. That’s because not all pricing structures are the same across brokers. Through our annual broker analysis, we’ve determined that for 2020, Plus500 provides a more competitive pricing model than XM Group.
Monetary safety concerns for forex and CFDs trading with XM Group and Plus500
With the aid of more than 20 international databases, we tracked each of the 30 forex and CFD brokers on our list. Through our database search, we found out that Plus500 has three global Tier-1 licenses, and XM Group only has two. Plus500 comes with four global Tier-2 licenses, while XM Group only has one. That’s why we’ve given Plus500 a Trust Score of 99.00 while XM Group only got an 81.00.
What to choose: Plus500 or XM Group?
Since our goal is to identify the best trading broker for 2020, we analyzed each platform based on its mobile apps, research tools, and trading platform. Our research shows that XM Group provides a more user-friendly experience and excellent market research tools. Keep in mind that Plus500 offers an enhanced mobile application, which allows you to trade on the go.
Are these forex broker tools suitable for MetaTrader and copy trading?
XM Group uses the MetaTrader platform and provides tools to its traders for copy trading. Interestingly, Plus500 does not offer MetaTrader nor copy trading. That means if you are planning on using copy trading or MetaTrader in your trading, then Plus500 is not for you.
Which forex pairs and CFDs are available with Plus500 and XM Group?
XM Group provides access to 57 currency pairs (e.g., USD/EUR) while Plus500 only has 50. However, Plus500 provides access to far more CFDs (2,033) than XM Group (1247).
Verdict
Based on our research, Plus500 is more reliable at the moment than XM Group.
Plus500 compared to other brokers:
Plus500 Review
Plus500 Insights
Methodology
The mission of Business24-7 is to provide comprehensive, unbiased ratings and reviews of online providers. User experience, the mobile experience, customer service, costs and fees, security, the quality of trade executions, the products available on their platforms are all part of our six-month evaluation of a providers’s platform. The rating scale was based on thousands of data points that have been weighted into the scoring system.
Providers were also required to fill out a multi-point survey regarding every aspect of their platform. In-person demonstrations and evaluations were provided by the majority of the online providers we reviewed.
Stefan Grasic, along with our team of industry experts, conducted our reviews and developed this methodology for ranking what form is used in online investing.
Business24-7 maintains high editorial standards and provides the best advice and recommendations. The products and companies that we review may compensate us when you click on the links on this website. Click below to find out more about our review process and methodology.
Disclosure
All trading involves risk. More than 80% of investors lose in spread bet and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
