Pepperstone vs IC Markets

Pepperstone and IC Markets grew up in the same Australian raw-spread tradition, and on execution the two are genuinely close. Both quote EUR/USD from roughly six-tenths of a pip on their tightest accounts, both run MT4, MT5 and cTrader, and both are built around the ECN-style pricing that active traders ask for. The separators are regulation and entry cost, not the trading engine.

Pepperstone holds the wider regulatory spread — FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia and BaFin in Germany all sit in Tier-1 — where IC Markets leans mainly on its ASIC licence with CySEC and an offshore Seychelles arm behind it. Pepperstone also lets you open with no minimum deposit, while IC Markets asks for $200 to start. For a UK or EU trader who wants the strongest home-regulator cover and a low bar to entry, that combination is hard to look past.

IC Markets earns its following on raw pricing and deep liquidity, and traders running high volume through cTrader will find little to complain about. But on the facts that decide this page — more Tier-1 licences and a $0 minimum — Pepperstone takes the fees and trust rounds, and the accessibility round is a dead heat only because both platforms are otherwise so similar.