IG Review 2027 Supported Platforms and Tools

IG was offering leveraged trading to private clients a quarter of a century before the first retail forex website existed. Founded in London in 1974, it is the oldest and by most measures the largest company in its industry. This IG review for 2027 examines what that history is worth to a trader today: the regulation, the range of markets, the costs, and the areas where newer rivals have the edge.

Fifty years of IG

The company began life as IG Index, set up by Stuart Wheeler to let people speculate on the price of gold without owning it. That idea, financial spread betting, became a British institution, and IG later extended the same model to contracts for difference and foreign exchange. Today the parent company, IG Group, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and serves several hundred thousand active clients around the world.

Being a listed company with five decades of trading history is IG's strongest credential. It publishes audited accounts, holds substantial regulatory capital, and has come through every market crisis since the 1970s without a client-fund scandal. In the United States it operates a forex brand called tastyfx and owns the options and futures broker tastytrade.

Regulation: the broadest licence list in the business

IG is authorised by more top-tier regulators than any other retail forex broker. Its licences include the FCA in the UK, BaFin in Germany, FINMA in Switzerland, ASIC in Australia, MAS in Singapore, the JFSA in Japan, the DFSA in Dubai, the FSCA in South Africa, and the CFTC and NFA in the United States.

For clients this translates into segregated funds, negative balance protection for retail accounts in the UK, EU and Australia, and access to compensation schemes such as the UK's FSCS where applicable. Retail leverage is capped at 1:30 on major pairs in those regions and 1:50 in the US, with higher limits of up to around 1:200 through IG's international entity and for approved professional clients.

IG review of markets and products

No retail broker offers a wider menu. IG provides access to more than 17,000 markets, including around 80 to 100 currency pairs depending on the region, thousands of shares, indices, commodities, bonds, interest rates, ETFs and cryptocurrencies. Several product types sit side by side:

• CFDs across all asset classes
• Spread betting for UK and Irish residents, where profits are currently free of capital gains tax
• Share dealing and ISAs for investors who want to own stocks and funds outright
• Barriers and vanilla options, limited-risk products with a known maximum loss
• Weekend trading on selected indices and currency pairs
• Direct market access for forex and shares through the L2 Dealer platform

This breadth lets a single account cover short-term trading and long-term investing, something specialist forex brokers cannot match.

Costs and fees in 2027

IG is a market maker on its standard accounts and prices forex through the spread, with no separate commission.

Average spreads are competitive for a market maker, though raw-spread accounts at ECN-style brokers such as IC Markets or Pepperstone are cheaper for high-frequency strategies. Share CFDs carry a commission, and guaranteed stop-loss orders are free to place and incur a premium only if triggered. High-volume traders can earn rebates through a tiered programme.

Platforms and tools

The proprietary web platform and mobile app are among the best in the industry: fast, cleanly designed, and equipped with advanced charting, alerts, integrated news and client sentiment data. IG also supports:

• MetaTrader 4, with a set of free add-ons and indicators
• ProRealTime, an advanced charting and automated trading package, free for active users
• TradingView, with direct account connection
• L2 Dealer for direct market access
• APIs for building custom trading applications

MetaTrader 5 and cTrader are not offered, which may matter to traders who rely on those ecosystems, and only a subset of markets is available through MT4.

Education, research and service

IG Academy provides structured courses, webinars and a learning app that take a beginner from first principles to advanced topics. In-house analysts publish market commentary throughout the day, and the platform integrates third-party signals and an economic calendar. Customer support runs 24 hours a day on trading days, plus weekend cover, by phone, live chat and email. A demo account with virtual funds is available without a time limit.

Pros and cons

Who is IG best for?

IG is the natural choice for traders who put trust and regulation first, for those who want many asset classes in one place, and for UK residents interested in spread betting. Beginners benefit from its education and unlimited demo. Dedicated scalpers and algorithmic traders focused purely on the lowest forex costs may be better served by a raw-spread specialist.

Frequently asked questions

Risk warning: spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. This IG review is not investment advice.