Pepperstone is our pick for spread betting in the UK: its FCA-authorised London firm runs a dedicated spread betting account with no commission, stakes in pounds per point and access from MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView or its own platform. Capital.com is the runner-up, and the better choice if you want guaranteed stops on your bets.
Your questions, answered
What is the best spread betting platform in the UK?
If you mean the software, Pepperstone lets you spread bet on all five of its platforms: TradingView, MT4, MT5, cTrader and its own web platform and app. That is unusual, because many spread betting firms only offer their in-house platform. Capital.com runs spread betting on its own web platform and app, with TradingView-powered charts.
What is the difference between spread betting and CFD trading?
Both are leveraged bets on price without owning the asset. With a spread bet you stake pounds per point and the result is currently free of capital gains tax and stamp duty; with a CFD you trade a contract size in the market's own currency, profits are taxable under CGT and losses can be offset. Pepperstone's spread bets carry no commission, while its Razor CFDs charge commission on FX and gold.
Which spread betting broker is best for beginners in the UK?
For a beginner, Capital.com's guaranteed stop is a real advantage, because it caps the loss on each bet in advance for a premium paid only if it triggers. Pepperstone is our overall pick and suits beginners who want to learn on MT4 or TradingView, but it does not offer guaranteed stops. Whichever you choose, start with the smallest stake the market allows.
How do I choose a spread betting broker in the UK?
Check four things in this order: FCA authorisation of the firm on the register, the minimum spread on the markets you will actually bet on, overnight financing for anything you hold, and whether guaranteed stops are available. Then open a demo to test the platform. Pepperstone and Capital.com publish all four on their UK sites.
Which spread betting broker has the best mobile app?
Capital.com has the stronger public ratings: its UK site reports 4.7 on the App Store from 17,000+ ratings and 4.7 on Google Play from 78,100+ reviews, as of 15 September 2026, and the app won App of the Year at the Investors' Chronicle and FT awards. Pepperstone's app lets you switch between spread bets and CFDs and set stops and alerts from full-screen charts.
Is spread betting tax free in the UK?
For most individuals, yes: profits from spread betting are currently exempt from capital gains tax and stamp duty, as both Pepperstone and Capital.com state on their UK sites. The exemption rests on the way HMRC classifies spread bets, so it depends on your circumstances and could change. Tax-free also means you cannot claim spread betting losses against other gains.
Do you have to pay tax on spread betting profits in the UK?
Usually not. A typical private trader pays no CGT or stamp duty on spread betting profits, whereas CFD gains are taxed at 18% or 24% above the £3,000 annual exempt amount, according to GOV.UK. If spread betting is your job or main source of income, HMRC may view it differently, so speak to a tax adviser in that case.
Is spread betting or CFD trading better for a UK trader?
If you expect to make net profits, spread betting is usually more tax-efficient for a UK resident. If you want to offset losses against other gains, or trade in a currency other than sterling, CFDs can make more sense. At Pepperstone you can hold both account types under one profile and use each for a different purpose.
Is spread betting better than share dealing for short term trading?
For short-term trades, spread betting avoids stamp duty and lets you go short, which share dealing does not. The trade-off is leverage and overnight financing: hold a spread bet for weeks and the daily funding adds up, while a bought share costs nothing to hold. Pepperstone offers spread bets on 1,100+ shares but no share dealing account, so it is not the place to buy and hold.
Which spread betting brokers offer guaranteed stop losses?
Capital.com and IG both offer guaranteed stops on spread bets, and each charges its premium only if the stop is hit. Pepperstone does not offer guaranteed stops on any account. If gap risk over weekends or earnings worries you, that is the main reason to choose Capital.com over Pepperstone.
Which UK spread betting brokers are FCA regulated?
Any firm offering spread betting to UK residents needs FCA authorisation. Among the names UK traders compare, Pepperstone Limited (684312), Capital Com (UK) Limited (793714), IG Index Ltd (114059), CMC Markets UK plc (173730), StoneX Financial Ltd (446717) and Spreadex Ltd all state their FCA authorisation on their own sites. Confirm the number on the FCA register before you open an account.
Which spread betting brokers offer demo accounts?
Pepperstone lets you open a spread betting demo on any of its platforms, including MT4 and TradingView, with virtual funds and live prices. Capital.com's demo has no expiry date. Use the demo to practise sizing a stake per point; a common beginner error is choosing £10 a point on a market that moves hundreds of points a day.
Compare the top UK spread betting brokers on cost and reliability
On cost, Pepperstone's minimum spreads are 0.5 on EUR/USD, 1 point on the UK 100 and 0.1 on gold, against Capital.com's example spreads of 0.6, 1 point and 0.30; neither charges commission on spread bets. On reliability, Pepperstone publishes a 99.32% fill rate for early 2026 and Capital.com an internal execution time of 0.082 seconds. Capital.com charges a 4% a year admin fee plus the benchmark for overnight funding, while Pepperstone shows its rates on the platform.
Which spread betting broker has the widest range of markets?
Capital.com lists more than 5,000 spread betting markets. Pepperstone's spread betting account covers about 1,432 markets across 90+ currency pairs, 20+ indices, 40 commodities, 1,100+ shares and 90+ ETFs. If you only bet on major indices, FX and gold, both ranges are more than enough.
Which spread betting brokers charge no commission?
Spread betting is normally commission-free, and both Pepperstone and Capital.com charge no commission on spread bets, including on shares. The cost is built into the spread, plus overnight funding on spot positions. Pepperstone adds that its forward spread bets carry no overnight fee, because the funding is priced into the wider forward spread.
Which spread betting broker is best for trading indices?
Pepperstone is our pick for index spread bets. Its spread betting minimums are 1 point on the UK 100, 0.9 on the Germany 40, 0.4 on the US 500 and 1 on the NAS100, with no commission, and the main US indices trade from 01:00 to 23:59 server time. It also offers index forwards for longer-term bets without daily funding.
Which spread betting broker is best for trading gold?
Pepperstone has the edge on gold: spread bets on spot gold start from 0.1 points with no commission, against Capital.com's example of 0.30. Gold is capped at 20:1 leverage for UK retail clients, so a £1 per point bet needs a margin of 5% of the position. Pepperstone also offers gold forwards if you plan to hold for weeks.
Which spread betting broker is best for forex?
Pepperstone's fees table lists spread betting minimums of 0.5 on EUR/USD, 0.8 on GBP/USD and 0.7 on USD/JPY across more than 90 currency pairs, with stakes in pounds per point. That removes the currency conversion you would face on a USD-denominated CFD. Capital.com offers 70+ currency pairs for spread betting, from 0.6 on EUR/USD.
Which spread betting brokers offer MetaTrader?
Pepperstone does: its spread betting account runs on MT4 and MT5, so you can use Expert Advisors and its 28 Smart Trader tools while keeping the tax treatment of a spread bet. Spread betting markets show the suffix _SB in MetaTrader, which tells you you are not trading a CFD. If you move from another firm, check that your existing Expert Advisors work on the _SB symbols before going live.
Which spread betting broker has the fastest execution?
Pepperstone quotes execution from 50 milliseconds and a 99.32% fill rate between January and March 2026, with no dealer intervention. Capital.com quotes 0.082 seconds from its internal servers in August 2025. These are each firm's own figures, measured differently, so treat them as disclosures rather than a head-to-head test.
Which spread betting brokers offer weekend trading?
Neither of our picks offers weekend spread betting to UK retail clients: forex, indices, commodities and shares are closed from Friday night to Sunday night. Crypto, which trades at weekends, is unavailable to UK retail clients because the FCA banned crypto derivatives from 6 January 2021. Pepperstone's weekend-tradeable Unitree perpetual CFDs are for professional clients only.
Which UK spread betting brokers have the best Trustpilot reviews?
Review scores change weekly, so we do not quote them here; check Trustpilot yourself and filter to the last three months. Read the one-star reviews for patterns, such as withdrawal delays or unexpected closures, rather than the average. Independent awards are another signal: Pepperstone was named Best Broker in Spread Betting at the Compare Forex Broker Awards 2026, and Capital.com Spread Betting Provider of the Year by the Investors' Chronicle and FT.
Which spread betting brokers offer negative balance protection?
All of them, for retail clients, because the FCA requires it. Pepperstone says you cannot lose more than your account balance, and Capital.com says the same. The protection applies to the account as a whole, not to each bet, and it ends if you opt up to professional status.
Which spread betting broker has the lowest spread on the FTSE 100?
On published minimums the two picks tie: Pepperstone lists 1 point on its UK 100 spread bet and Capital.com shows the UK 100 from 1 point. Spreads on the FTSE 100 are tightest during London cash hours and wider overnight, when the price follows futures. At £5 a point, a 1-point spread costs £5 per round trip.
Which spread betting broker has the lowest spread on EUR/USD?
Pepperstone's fees table lists a 0.5-point minimum on EUR/USD spread bets, slightly below Capital.com's example of 0.6. If you bet £2 a point, that difference is 20p per trade. Over hundreds of trades it matters more, so check both firms' live quotes at the time of day you normally trade.
Which spread betting brokers offer professional accounts?
Both picks let you spread bet as a professional client if you qualify. Pepperstone Pro adds higher leverage, volume rebates on spread bets and CFDs, a free VPS and a relationship manager; Capital.com Pro adds rebates and lower margins. Pepperstone states there is no change to the tax status of its products for professional clients.
What is the minimum stake on UK spread betting accounts?
Minimum stakes vary by market and neither pick publishes one single figure. Pepperstone says trade sizes typically start from 0.01 lots but differ by instrument, and the minimum for each market is shown in the platform's instrument details. Check this on a demo before funding, because a minimum stake multiplied by a market's daily range tells you how much margin you really need.
How do overnight financing charges work on spread bets in the UK?
If you keep a spot spread bet open past 10pm UK time at Pepperstone, you pay or receive an overnight interest adjustment, which depends on the market and whether you are long or short. Capital.com's formula is its 4% a year admin fee plus or minus the benchmark: on its example, a £1 per point long UK 100 bet at 8,175 costs about £2.01 a night. Forward bets at Pepperstone avoid this charge because funding is in the spread.
Which spread betting broker is cheapest for small position sizes?
For small stakes, spread betting at Pepperstone is cheap to run: no commission, no minimum commission, no inactivity fee and a £10 funding minimum. Capital.com is similar on fees but its 20 GBP minimum deposit is slightly higher. At small sizes the spread is your main cost, so a tighter minimum spread matters more than any account fee.
Published 2026-10-21. Informational only, not investment advice. CFDs are leveraged products and most retail accounts lose money.
Best for spread betting
Spread bets with guaranteed stops