Beyond currency pairs
CFD brokers, compared
A CFD account puts forex, metals, indices, shares and crypto on one platform. What separates these nine brokers is not the list but the leverage and the entity: Tickmill's global page offers 1:1000 on forex and 1:20 on shares, its European company caps retail at 1:30, and FxPro's UK entity does not offer crypto CFDs to retail clients at all.
Conditions checked against each broker's own pages
What each broker lets you trade
Ordered by how much of the asset range each broker publishes on its own pages, widest first. It is not a quality score — no scoring method has been published on this site — and the leverage column is only meaningful next to the entity that offers it.
| Broker | Traded as CFDs | Leverage | Platforms | Who you contract with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FxPro | CFDs on forex, metals, energies, spot indices, shares, ETFs, futures and cryptocurrencies — with crypto unavailable to retail clients of the UK entity | 1:500 on the accounts page, without a per-asset breakdown | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, FxPro WebTrader, TradingView | FxPro UK Ltd (FCA 509956), FxPro Global Markets Ltd (FSA Seychelles SD120), FxPro Global Markets Limited (SCB Bahamas SIA-F184) |
| Tickmill | 60+ currency pairs, precious metals and energies, cryptocurrencies, 20+ stock indices, 500+ stocks and ETFs, German bonds, plus futures and options | Global page: up to 1:1000 forex and commodities, 1:200 crypto, 1:100 indices and bonds, 1:20 stocks and ETFs. European entity: 1:30 retail, 1:500 professional | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrader | Tickmill UK (FCA), Tickmill Europe (CySEC), Tickmill South Africa (FSCA) |
| ForTrade | CFDs on currencies, stocks, indices, commodities, US treasuries, ETFs and digital currencies | Not published to visitors outside the markets it serves | MetaTrader 4 and the Fortrader platform | Fortrade Ltd (FCA), Fortrade Cyprus (CySEC), Fort Securities Australia (ASIC), Fortrade Canada (CIRO), Fortrade Mauritius (FSC), Fortrade DIFC (DFSA) |
| Bybit | 300+ CFD contracts: forex, metals, stock indices, US stock CFDs, commodities and oil, traded on an MT5 CFD account alongside crypto | Up to 500:1 on forex, metals, oil and most indices; 20:1 on commodities; 5:1 on US stock CFDs | MetaTrader 5 | Infra Capital Limited (Mauritius) and Infra Capital LLC (St Vincent) — not Bybit itself |
| LiteFinance | Currency pairs and crosses, precious metals and energy, global stock indices, and stock CFDs on NYSE, NASDAQ, EURONEXT and the London Stock Exchange | 1:1000 on ECN and Classic accounts | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, LiteFinance platform, cTrader | LiteFinance Global LLC (St Vincent); Liteforex (Europe) Ltd under CySEC does not serve EEA residents |
| Libertex | CFDs on forex, shares, crypto, metals, indices and commodities | Not published outside the platform | Libertex platform | Indication Investments Ltd (CySEC, CIF licence 164/12) |
| Alpari | Forex, metals, indices, commodities, stock and ETF CFDs, cryptocurrencies | Up to 1:3000 on ECN and Pro ECN, 1:1000 on Standard, 1:500 on Micro | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 | Parlance Trading Ltd, licensed by the Mwali International Services Authority |
| RoboForex | 28 currency pairs, metals, CFDs on US stocks, indices, oil and crypto | Up to 1:2000 on Pro and ProCent, 1:500 ECN, 1:300 Prime; 1:500 fixed on major crypto | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, R StocksTrader, RoboForex Trading Platform | RoboForex Ltd, Belize FSC licence 9759600 |
| Deriv | CFDs on forex, stocks, commodities and Derived Indices — synthetic instruments that trade 24/7 and exist nowhere else | Not published as a single figure; the European entity trades under MFSA limits | Deriv MT5, Deriv Trader | Deriv Investments (Europe) Ltd (MFSA) for the EEA; Labuan, BVI, Vanuatu, Mauritius, Cayman and St Vincent entities elsewhere |
Scroll the table sideways →
Asset lists and leverage are quoted as each broker publishes them. Where a broker runs several companies, the leverage belongs to the entity named in the last column — the same brand offers 1:1000 through one company and 1:30 through another, and the one you get is decided by where you live.
The same broker offers different products to different people
A CFD broker is not one company. Tickmill's instruments page offers leverage up to 1:1000 on forex and 1:200 on crypto; its European accounts page, for the CySEC-regulated company, caps retail clients at 1:30 and professional ones at 1:500. Both pages are true — they describe different entities, and which one you get is decided by where you live.
The same split decides what exists at all. FxPro states that cryptocurrencies are not available to retail clients under FxPro UK Ltd, while its Seychelles and Bahamas companies list crypto CFDs normally. LiteFinance's Cyprus company does not serve EEA residents, leaving its St Vincent entity for everyone else. Deriv runs seven entities, of which only the Maltese one is inside the EU.
So the practical question is not which broker has the longest instrument list. It is which of its companies will hold your account, what that company is licensed to offer, and what leverage its regulator allows. The instrument list you are shown before signing up is frequently the widest one the group publishes anywhere.
Leverage is per asset class, not per broker
Bybit publishes the clearest breakdown of the nine: up to 500:1 on forex, metals, oil and most indices, 20:1 on commodities, and 5:1 on US stock CFDs. Tickmill's global page runs the same shape — 1:1000 on forex, 1:100 on indices and bonds, 1:20 on stocks and ETFs. The pattern is consistent across the industry, because the numbers follow how violently each asset class moves rather than broker generosity.
The headline figure a broker advertises is almost always the forex one, and it is the least relevant to anyone trading shares. Alpari's 1:3000 and RoboForex's 1:2000 are currency-pair numbers on specific accounts; a stock CFD at either broker will be nothing like that.
Higher leverage does not make an account cheaper — the spread and commission decide that, and they are compared on our lowest-spread page. It makes positions larger for the same deposit, which cuts both ways and is exactly why regulators cap it for retail clients.
Where these nine actually differ
Breadth: FxPro and Tickmill publish the widest lists — eight and seven asset classes including ETFs, bonds, futures and options. ForTrade adds US treasuries, which the others do not list. RoboForex names the tightest forex range on this page, 28 currency pairs.
Something no one else has: Deriv's Derived Indices are synthetic instruments that trade around the clock, weekends included, and exist only inside Deriv. If a broker's asset list is the reason you are choosing, that is the one item on any of these pages that cannot be found elsewhere.
Who you contract with: Bybit is the outlier. Its MT5 CFD service is provided by Infra Capital Limited in Mauritius and Infra Capital LLC in St Vincent, with Bybit itself named in the agreement as the infrastructure provider. The name on the app and the name on the contract are different companies.
One broker on our list offers no CFDs at all: HTX trades crypto spot and crypto futures only, with no forex pairs, no CFDs and no MetaTrader, which is why it does not appear in the table above.
What to check before opening a CFD account
Which entity your application routes to, and what its licence covers. It is on the account opening page and in the footer, and it determines your leverage, your protections and, in the case of crypto CFDs, whether the product exists for you.
Whether the instruments you actually want are in your entity's list rather than the group's. Marketing pages describe the widest range; the contract specification inside the platform describes yours.
What a position costs to hold. CFDs are financed positions: an overnight swap is charged for every night you keep one open, and on a long-held position that cost dwarfs the spread you compared on.
The risk warnings the brokers publish themselves: 74% of retail investor accounts lose money at Deriv, 75.85% at RoboForex, 83% at Libertex, 69.54% at ForTrade's Cyprus entity. Those are their own numbers, printed because their regulators require it.
Questions people ask
What is a CFD broker?
A broker that lets you trade a contract on a price rather than the asset itself, on margin. The same account usually covers forex, metals, stock indices, shares and crypto, and the broker is your counterparty on every position rather than an intermediary to an exchange.
Which CFD broker offers the most instruments?
Of the nine compared here, FxPro and Tickmill publish the widest ranges — forex, metals, energies, indices, shares, ETFs, bonds, futures and crypto between them. Bybit publishes a count, 300+ CFD contracts. Breadth is worth less than it looks if the entity that takes your account carries a shorter list.
What leverage do CFD brokers offer?
It depends on the asset class and the regulator. Bybit publishes up to 500:1 on forex and 5:1 on US stock CFDs; Tickmill's global page goes to 1:1000 on forex and 1:20 on stocks, while its European company caps retail clients at 1:30. Advertised figures are almost always the forex ones.
Are CFDs available everywhere?
No. CFDs are banned for retail clients in the United States, and inside the EU and UK leverage is capped and some products — crypto CFDs at FxPro's UK entity, for example — are not offered to retail clients at all. Which rules apply to you depends on the group company your account is opened with.
Is CFD trading the same as forex trading?
Forex is one of the asset classes traded as CFDs. The mechanics are identical — margin, leverage, overnight swap, the broker as counterparty — so a broker good at one is usually competent at the other. The differences show up in leverage caps and in how many non-currency markets are on the list.
What does it cost to hold a CFD position overnight?
A swap or financing charge, set per instrument and per direction, debited every night the position stays open. It is the cost most comparison tables leave out, and for positions held longer than a few days it matters more than the spread.
Costs decide more than the instrument list: what a trade actually costs compares the same brokers on spread plus commission, and a demo account shows you the platform before any money moves.