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CMC Markets vs Pepperstone: Comparison and Analysis

Written by Filippo Ucchino

Fact-Checked by Luca Puddu Publication Date 28 September 2026 Last Updated 28 September 2026

Our verdict · CFD trading

CMC Markets and Pepperstone are two great brokers in Nigeria for scalping and crypto trading. However, Pepperstone is the better choice if you are looking for cTrader next to the platforms both brokers share, for more account base currencies (ten against two) and for expert advisors, high-frequency strategies, VPS hosting and API access. CMC Markets is better because it has a lower EUR/USD cost (7.00 USD per lot against 9.00 USD) and more tradable symbols (12,000 against 1,444), and it opens corporate and professional accounts. CMC Markets holds licences from BaFin, ASIC, the CSRC, the FCA, the FMA (New Zealand), CIRO and the MAS, and Pepperstone from BaFin, CySEC, ASIC, the SCB, the DFSA, the FCA and the CMA. Both brokers ask for no minimum deposit, run MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and TradingView, provide a demo account and allow scalping and hedging.

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CMC Markets

CFD

84CFD

Open Account

78% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Pepperstone

CFD

84CFD

Open Account

89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Best for

1 / 12

Pepperstone is better than CMC Markets for professional traders and crypto traders. High-volume traders, scalpers and swing traders can choose either Pepperstone or CMC Markets.

Best for
Overall score	CMC Markets 84	Pepperstone 84
Day trading i
Long-term investing i
Professional traders i
High-volume traders i
Scalpers i
Swing traders i
News traders i
Algo traders i
Stock traders i
Crypto traders i
Futures traders i
Options traders i

Regulation

2 / 12

CMC Markets and Pepperstone are both regulated by top-tier authorities, CMC Markets by BaFin, ASIC (Australia) and the FCA (United Kingdom) and Pepperstone by BaFin, CySEC and ASIC (Australia).

Regulation
Section score	CMC Markets 100	Pepperstone 100
Tier-1 regulators
ESMA (European Union) i	BaFin (Germany)
FCA (United Kingdom) i
ASIC (Australia) i
CFTC (United States) i
NFA (United States) i
SEC (United States) i
CIRO (Canada) i
MAS (Singapore) i
SFC (Hong Kong) i
JFSA (Japan) i
FINMA (Switzerland) i
Tier-2 regulators
FMA (New Zealand) i
CBR (Russia) i
FSCA (South Africa) i
DFSA (Dubai) i
CSRC (China) i
ISA (Israel) i
LFSA (Malaysia) i
JSC (Jordan) i
CMA (Kenya) i
Tier-3 regulators
FSA (Seychelles) i
MMA (Maldives) i
SCB (Bahamas) i
FSC (Mauritius) i
VFSC (Vanuatu) i
FSC (Belize) i
CIMA (Cayman Islands) i
SV FSA (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) i
FSRC (St. Kitts & Nevis) i
BMA (Bermuda) i
BVI FSC (British Virgin Islands) i
EDR (External Dispute Resolution) i

Safety

3 / 12

Both CMC Markets and Pepperstone offer segregated client funds and two-factor authentication. CMC Markets also offers an investor compensation scheme and additional money insurance.

Safety
Section score	CMC Markets 95 Best	Pepperstone 65 -30
Company info
Is it publicly traded i
Is it a bank i
Year founded i	1989	2010
Parent company i	CMC Markets plc	Pepperstone Group Limited
CEO i	Peter Cruddas	Tamas Szabo
Money safety
Segregated client funds i
Two-factor authentication i
Investor compensation scheme i
Additional money insurance i
Partner bank i		N/A
Brand power
Number of customers worldwide i	1,000,000	900,000
Annual revenue i	USD 324,700,000	USD 13,000,000
Monthly website search traffic i	10.5M monthly visits	1.3M monthly visits

Costs

4 / 12

CMC Markets and Pepperstone are equally good for costs, as CMC Markets is cheaper on EUR/USD, at 7 USD per lot (against Pepperstone's 9 USD). On the other hand, Pepperstone has tighter S&P 500 CFD spreads, at 0.47 points (against CMC Markets' 0.5 points), and has tighter gold CFD spreads, at 0.19 points (against CMC Markets' 0.2 points). Neither CMC Markets nor Pepperstone charges account maintenance fees or deposit fees.

Costs
Section score	CMC Markets 73 -1	Pepperstone 74
Broker fees
Deposit fees i
Withdrawal fees i
Overnight fees i
Inactivity fees i
Currency conversion fees i
Discounts on volume i
Real time market data fee i
Dividend withholding i
Account opening fees i
Account maintenance fee i
Portfolio management fee i
Fees on CFDs
Forex commission per lot i	USD 5	USD 6
EUR/USD average standard spread i	0.7 pips	1.1 pips
EUR/USD average raw spread i		0.1 pips
EUR/USD average fixed spread i
EUR/USD total cost per lot i	USD 7	USD 9
S&P 500 fees (CFD) i	0.5 points	0.47 points
Gold fees (CFD) i	0.2 points	0.19 points
Bitcoin fees (CFD) i	USD 15
US stocks fees (CFD) i	USD 0.02	USD 0.02
Fees on stocks
Stock fee type i		Commission, Percentage
US stocks fees (real) i
ETF fees (real) i
Management costs i
Connection costs i
Fees on futures
Futures fees per contract i
Platform fees i
Fees on options
Options fees per contract i	Free
Event fees i
Fees on savings plans
IRA opening fee i
IRA maintenance fee i
401k opening fee i
401k maintenance fee i

Available markets

5 / 12

There is little between CMC Markets and Pepperstone on available markets. Both CMC Markets and Pepperstone offer CFDs on commodities, crypto, forex, indices and stocks. CMC Markets has a slight edge, as it gives access to 12,000 tradable symbols (against Pepperstone's 1,444).

Available markets
Section score	CMC Markets 75	Pepperstone 75
Total tradable symbols i	12,000	1,444
Currency pairs i
Indices i
Commodities i
Stocks i
ETF i
Cryptocurrencies i
Bonds i
Interest rates i
Portfolios i
CFDs i	Commodities, Crypto, Forex, Indices, Stocks	Commodities, Crypto, Forex, Indices, Stocks
Futures i
Options i
Assets you can own i

Platform

6 / 12

CMC Markets is better than Pepperstone for platforms, as CMC Markets offers a proprietary platform, which Pepperstone does not. Both CMC Markets and Pepperstone offer MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4.

Platform
Section score	CMC Markets 97 Best	Pepperstone 92 -5
Proprietary platform i
MetaTrader 4 i
MetaTrader 5 i
cTrader i
Social trading platform i
Copy trading platform i
ZuluTrade i
TradingView i
Duplitrade i
Mirror Trader i
NinjaTrader i
AutoChartist i
Real time pricing i
5 digit pricing i
One-click trading i

Mobile

7 / 12

Pepperstone is better than CMC Markets for mobile trading, given that Pepperstone offers the cTrader app, a social trading app and a copy trading app, which CMC Markets does not. CMC Markets and Pepperstone both offer a proprietary mobile app and the MetaTrader 5 app.

Mobile
Section score	CMC Markets 73 -27	Pepperstone 100 Best
Proprietary app i
Social trading app i
Copy trading app i
MetaTrader 4 app i
MetaTrader 5 app i
cTrader app i
Mobile trading signals i
Mobile alerts i
Mobile charting tools i
Mobile drawing tools i
Mobile watchlist i
Smartwatch app i

Trading features

8 / 12

Pepperstone is better than CMC Markets for trading features, because Pepperstone offers negative balance protection, tier-1 liquidity providers and VPS hosting, which CMC Markets does not. CMC Markets and Pepperstone both offer trailing stops.

Trading features
Section score	CMC Markets 59 -34	Pepperstone 93 Best
Trade execution
Broker type i	Agency	NDD
Average execution time i	9 ms	30 ms
Slippage occurrence i
Requotes occurrence i	0.08%	0.08%
Tier-1 liquidity providers i
PFOF i
Leverage
Major FX pairs leverage i	30:1	500:1
Minor/Exotic FX pairs leverage i	20:1	500:1
Major indices leverage i	10:1	400:1
Minor indices leverage i	10:1	100:1
Gold leverage i	20:1	500:1
Commodities leverage i	10:1	50:1
Equities leverage i	3:1	20:1
Cryptocurrency leverage i	2:1	20:1
Risk management
Stop losses i
Take profits i
Limit orders i
Trailing stop i
Margin call i
OCO orders i
Guaranteed stop loss i
Negative balance protection i
Minimum trade size (FX) i	0.01 lots	0.01 lots
Minimum trade size (stocks) i	USD 0	USD 0
Fractional stocks i
Trading compliance
Scalping strategies allowed i
Hedging strategies allowed i
Automated trading strategy allowed i
EAs use allowed i
HFT strategy allowed i
VPS use allowed i
API use allowed i
Price scraping allowed i
FIFO rule applies i

Account types

9 / 12

Pepperstone is better than CMC Markets for account types, given that Pepperstone offers an ECN account, an Islamic account and a copy trading account, which CMC Markets does not. CMC Markets and Pepperstone both offer a demo account and a professional traders account.

Account types
Section score	CMC Markets 48 -27	Pepperstone 75 Best
Demo account i
Unlimited demo account i
Standard account i
Micro account i
Cent account i
Nano account i
Raw spread account i
ECN account i
Swap-free account i
Islamic account i
Professional traders account i
Fixed spread account i
Spread betting account i
Copy trading account i
Corporate account i
Managed account i
Stock investing account i
Margin investing account i
Savings account i
Retirement account i

Account opening

10 / 12

Pepperstone is better than CMC Markets for account opening, since Pepperstone offers 10 account base currencies (against CMC Markets' 2), supports e-wallets, which CMC Markets does not, and credits deposits faster, within 1 day (against CMC Markets' 2 days). Neither CMC Markets nor Pepperstone requires a minimum deposit.

Account opening
Section score	CMC Markets 65 -25	Pepperstone 90 Best
Minimum deposit i	USD 0	USD 0
Minimum withdrawal i	USD 0	USD 0
Wire transfers i
Credit cards i
Debit cards i
eWallets i		PayPal, Neteller, Skrill
Local payment methods i
Account base currencies i	EUR, USD	AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, USD
Deposit waiting time i	up to 2 business days	up to 1 business days
Withdrawal waiting time i	up to 2 business days	up to 1 business days
Bonus program i

Customer care

11 / 12

There is little between CMC Markets and Pepperstone on customer care, as both offer a dedicated account manager and phone support. Pepperstone has a slight edge, as it offers customer support in 10 languages (against CMC Markets' 9).

Customer care
Section score	CMC Markets 73	Pepperstone 73
Number of languages supported i	9	10
Website languages i	German, English, French, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese	Arabic, English, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese
Website available in English i
Customer support languages i	German, English, French, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese	Arabic, English, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese
Customer support in English i
Call back request i
Email support i
Phone support i
Live chat i
Priority customer support i
Dedicated account manager i
Cash sweep i
Stock lending i
Distributes proceeds i
Tax withholding agent i
Tax assistance i

Learning

12 / 12

CMC Markets is better than Pepperstone for learning, as CMC Markets offers professional reports, which Pepperstone does not. Both CMC Markets and Pepperstone offer education for advanced traders and webinars.

Learning
Section score	CMC Markets 100 Best	Pepperstone 88 -12
Education
Education center i
Education for beginners i
Education for advanced traders i
Webinars i
Tutorials i
Glossary i
Research
Economic calendar i
Traders' sentiment i
Daily market commentary i
Daily trading ideas i
News via social media i
Professional reports i
Watchlist i

CMC Markets

Open Account 78% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Pepperstone

Open Account 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Our verdict

CMC Markets vs Pepperstone: which one should you choose?

CMC Markets

CFD Choose CMC Markets, regulated by the FCA and ASIC, if you want a CFD and forex broker with low trading costs, a wide choice of markets and professional accounts.

Open Account 78% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Pepperstone

CFD Choose Pepperstone, regulated by BaFin and CySEC, if you want an online CFD broker with cTrader, several account base currencies and room for high-frequency strategies.

Open Account 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.