The Two Minute Review
PROS
- 👛 Low trading fees.
- 🧑🎓 Great educational and news content.
- 🧑💻 Brilliant xStation trading software.
- ☎️ Great customer support including 24/5 phone service.
- 🦺 Highly regulated and trusted.
- 0️⃣ Zero commission on trading real stocks and ETFs.
CONS
- ❌ Crypto is not offered in the UK.
- 🧑🎓 The educational material could be better organised so beginners know where to start.
What The Experts Say
What Users Say
3.7/5
When you exclude reviews the company itself invited and look only at organic reviews the average score is 3.28.
Some Interesting User Comments
We spend hours reading user comments to see what feedback people are giving. Here are some positive and critical comments that stood out to us:
Positive
5/5
Registration is fast. Reviewing of documents is approved within a day. Everyone looking to build generational wealth should start with the XTB platform. ♥️🥰
5/5
Clean and clear UI with all tools trader needs.
5/5
It’s easy to use and helps calculate the margin and profit/loss. It would be even better if it had a function to download the report in Excel and the ability to customize the values of Fibonacci. Love it!!
Critical
3/5
My overall experience is really positive, however when it comes to big events on the stock marboth the app and xStation5 can be very laggy which is super annoying when you need to “act fast”!
3/5
Also, pulling the Stop Loss (SL) or Take Profit (TP) of the trade provides seamless control. Unfortunately, if these features were available, it would be great. It would also be great if the screen chart could be expanded from two different angles instead of only one side. I would suggest getting the TradingView app and seeing how smoothly their chart functions. Thank you.
1/5
They received numerous complaints about this for a long time but refuse to listen to this ask. The fingerprint unlock on mobile is NOT enough.
The Deep Dive
Overview
XTB, established in 2002 in Warsaw, Poland, has grown into one of the biggest online brokers globally with over half a million customers. It specialises in providing CFD trading through its proprietary xStation 5 platform which is recognized for its user-friendly interface and advanced trading features. In its 21 years of operation, XTB has gained a reputation for transparency and reliability, bolstered by its regulation across multiple jurisdictions. Over the years, the broker has expanded its services across Europe, Latin America, and Asia, offering access to a wide range of markets.
It offers users two types of trading:
CFD Trading: Through Contract for Differences (CFDs), XTB enables traders to speculate on the price changes of various financial instruments, including forex, indices, commodities and company shares without owning the assets.
Stock Trading: Besides CFDs, XTB also provides the opportunity for stock trading, allowing investors to purchase and sell actual shares of companies. This form of investing permits investors to potentially acquire dividends and hold stakes in the companies they invest in, which is suited for those with a longer-term investment horizon.
Wait. What are CFDs?
CFDs, or Contracts for Differences, are financial instruments that let traders bet on the rising or falling prices of assets without owning them. Essentially, you enter a contract to exchange the price difference from when it opens to when it closes. If you predict a price increase and buy a CFD, you profit if the price goes up. Conversely, if you predict a decrease and sell a CFD, you profit if the stock goes down. However, CFDs carry high risks, especially with leverage (explained later), which can magnify both gains and losses. It’s important to understand these risks before trading.
Account Options
🏦 XTB offers various account types tailored to different trading needs.
Standard Account: This is the most common type of account and is suitable for most retail traders. It typically features higher spreads but no commissions on trades.
Pro Account: Aimed at more experienced traders, the Pro Account usually offers lower spreads but includes a commission on trades. This type of account is designed for high-volume traders who prefer direct market access and faster execution.
Islamic Account: For traders who follow Sharia law, XTB provides an Islamic account that does not incur overnight swap fees, adhering to Islamic finance principles. Annoyingly, this account is not currently offered to UK customers.
Demo Account: XTB also offers a demo account, which is a risk-free way for new traders to get accustomed to the platform and for experienced traders to test their strategies without using real money.
Range of Investments
💹 Unlike lots of other brokers, XTB allows you to invest in both real stocks well as CFDs.
Real stocks: There are 2240 real stocks listed as well as 300 Exchange Traded Funds – essentially baskets of stocks grouped around a theme so you can invest in industries or trends. This is great for those who want to invest in the long term, but short-term traders will probably want the flexibility of CFDs.
Here is what is offered as CFDs:
Forex Trading: XTB gives traders access to the forex market with 48 currency pairs available, including major pairs like EUR/USD, minor pairs, and more exotic currencies.
Stock CFDs: You can trade on the price movements of over 1,700 global company stocks.
Indices: More than 20 indices are available for trading at XTB, representing a range of global equity markets and allowing traders to speculate on overall market performance.
Commodities: XTB allows you to trade around 20 different commodities, including precious metals like gold and silver, energy commodities such as oil and natural gas, and agricultural products.
Cryptocurrencies: Not available in the UK.
Note: XTB does not offer options.
Leverage
XTB offers leverage, which means for a smaller amount of capital, known as margin, you can control a larger position. For instance, with leverage of 10:1, you could control a position worth £10,000 with just £1,000. This can amplify profits if the market moves in your favour, but it’s a double-edged sword because it also increases the potential for higher losses, and if the market moves against you, losses can exceed deposits. It’s important to use leverage cautiously.
The amount of leverage offered depends on your location and the asset class you are trading. So in the UK, European Union, and Australia leverage is usually capped at 20:1 on forex, 10:1 on indices and 5:1 on stocks.
Fees
💸 XTB is pretty cheap.
XTB doesn’t charge you to set up your account nor to deposit/withdraw money. It also doesn’t charge you for holding assets in your account which many traditional brokers do in the form of an account charge. They don’t charge an explicit commission fee either.
Instead, they charge fees when you trade, typically in the form of a “spread fee” when you buy or sell CFDs.
(Do also note they will charge you £10 after a year of inactivity – so try not to get stung by this!)
What Are Spread Fees
A spread fee in trading is the difference between the buying price (ask) and the selling price (bid) of an asset. It represents the cost to traders when they enter a trade. Here’s how it works:
Bid Price: This is the price at which you can sell an asset. It’s the highest price a buyer is willing to pay.
Ask (or Offer) Price: This is the price at which you can buy an asset. It’s the lowest price a seller is willing to accept.
The Spread: The gap between these two prices is the spread. For example, if the bid price for a stock is $100 and the ask price is $101, the spread is $1.
Brokers, like XTB, usually make their money from this spread. Instead of charging a direct commission, they’ll automatically open your trade at a slightly higher price than the market price if you’re buying, or a slightly lower price if you’re selling.
With that explained, let’s turn to how much you are charged, which depends on the type of asset you are trading:
Real Stocks
XTB charges a 0% commission on trading real stocks until you reach a value of £100,000 in trades a month. At this point, they will charge you 0.2% on future trades with a minimum charge of £10. You are also charged a currency exchange fee of 0.5% if you are buying a stock that isn’t in your base currency.
CFDs
This depends on the type of CFD you’re trading:
Stock and ETF CFDs: The spread charges on these vary but typically land around 0.3% of the value of the stock. For example, at the time of writing, if you want to trade Tesla there is a buy price of 222.76 on a sell price of 222.06 which is a 0.315% difference.
Forex: Spread fees on Forex are usually lower but can vary wildly depending on the currency pair you are trading. It’s probably best to check the latest spreads on these here.
Commodities: Spreads vary on commodities too, so we would advise you to check out the latest figures here.
Indices: Similarly, the spreads vary on indices so we would advise you to check out the latest figures here.
Overnight fees: These are fees for holding a CFD position open overnight – essentially it is the interest rate for using leverage for an extended period.
Currency Conversion: CFDs also attract a currency conversion fee of 0.5%
Phew! OK so there are a lot of charges to calculate and we don’t think XTB’s website does the best job of making it clear. However, there is a calculator within xStation 5 that lets you calculate the fees associated with any trade. For best results, you should rely on this rather than the info above.
Account Opening
🚪 Account opening is painless, mostly.
In our test, we were able to open an account in just over 10 minutes. You will be asked the standard things like name, date of birth and last three years of address history. We were also asked for a National Insurance number.
It didn’t happen to us, but you may also need to verify that you are who you say you are with a passport or driving licence.
As the platform offers CFDs, which are inherently risky, you will face a little quiz designed to assess your knowledge and suitability for trading. This includes questions about your previous trading experience as well as straight-up factual test questions. The ones we faced can be seen in the screenshot on the right above.
The Platform
👩💻 XTB has its own platform, XStation 5.
xStation 5 is a dynamic and robust trading platform that caters to both novice and seasoned traders. With its sleek and modern user interface, it offers an intuitive trading experience, seamlessly blending functionality with simplicity. The platform excels in execution speed, a crucial aspect for traders engaging in fast-paced markets, ensuring minimal slippage and real-time market access.
The “hot” tab is a handy feature, showing you which assets are popular at the moment. Alternatively, you can search for an instrument that you wish to trade. You can then dive in to see its performance over time, trade it and set up “take profit” or “stop loss” orders.
Charting on xStation 5 is a standout feature, it updates in real-time and has multiple chart types as well as a suite of 39 technical indicators which provide you with the tools necessary for detailed market analysis. One-click trading and a built-in trading calculator facilitate swift trade management, enhancing efficiency and decision-making.
Risk management is made more accessible through clear, visual representations of potential profit and loss on trades, and the performance statistics module allows traders to analyse what others are doing in relation to each asset.
xStation’s Terminal also makes it easy to see your own positions, pending orders, closed positions and cash in real time.
Overall, xStation 5 is super powerful – but it strikes the fine balance between advanced features and user-centric design, making it a compelling choice for traders looking for a reliable and sophisticated trading environment.
If you want to use MetaTrader 4 you can hook this up to XTB, but as yet it does not support MetaTrader 5.
Research & Trading Ideas
💡 XTB offers excellent research and inspiration.
XTB has a news tab built into its platform which offers on-point advice usually about short-term market fluctuations – e.g. the “Trade of the Day” update provided regular inspiration for us in our tests. If you’re looking for longer-term investing tips though this probably isn’t the place.
There’s also an economic calendar so you can prep for upcoming events.
In addition, the platform itself has a couple of good ways to generate ideas. We particularly like the stock screener which allows users to sort through stocks based on various parameters such as market cap, dividend yield, P/E ratio, sector, and other financial metrics. The screener is particularly useful for traders who employ a strategy that relies on finding stocks with specific characteristics. For example, if a trader is looking for high-volatility stocks in the technology sector with a price-to-earnings ratio below a certain threshold, the screener can help identify these stocks from the platform’s extensive database.
The “Sentiment” feature is also awesome. It aggregates the trading behaviour of XTB’s clients and displays it as a percentage of buyers versus sellers for a given financial instrument.
How Good Is Customer Service?
☎️ Yes, it’s fantastic.
XTB allows you to get in touch via email, live chat and even phone (a rarity these days!). Incredibly its phone lines are open 24/5.
We tested these to see response times. Via live chat our query was answered in 6 minutes and when we called we went through to a live person in just 14 seconds!
You also get a dedicated point of contact assigned to you. Ours, Christopher, called us a few hours after we signed up in order to introduce us to the platform.
Is It Good For Beginners?
🧑🎓 We think it is good for beginners and can scale with you as you learn.
It no doubt has a lot of sophisticated charting and trading options platforms, but most people should be able to get to grips with the main functions of the platform in under an hour.
They also offer some great educational material – but we just wish it was arranged in a better format. There are knowledge articles, webinars, and ebooks you can sign up for, but there doesn’t seem to be one central hub where you can start from the beginning and work through logically.
There is also a demo account for those who want to see if XTB is for them.
Is XTB Legit and Safe?
🔒 XTB is a reputable Forex and CFD broker.
It’s been around since 2002 and is regulated by top-tier authorities like the UK’s FCA. Such stringent regulation ensures high standards of safety and transparency. XTB separates client funds from company assets, offering additional protection. It also participates in compensation schemes safeguarding client investments within defined limits.
XTB’s standing as a publicly traded company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange demands rigorous financial reporting and adherence to corporate governance, further underlining its credibility. The firm’s proprietary trading platform, xStation 5, showcases its commitment to providing advanced and secure trading technology.
While XTB is considered safe, traders should remember that trading involves risks. It’s crucial to assess personal financial circumstances and trading experience before starting to trade. Always verify the latest information directly with XTB or regulatory bodies for current details on safety and compliance.
So in conclusion, is it a good platform?
Fundamentally, it’s an excellent platform with a longstanding reputation and low costs. We have no hesitation in recommending it.