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<p>Alison Heyerdahl is the Head of Content at FxScouts, a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), and an experienced trader, as well as a financial writer with extensive expertise in Forex trading, broker analysis, and market research. She has reviewed 100+ brokers, publishes weekly YouTube trading videos, and co-hosts the “Let’s Talk Forex” podcast.</p>
In the fast-paced world of forex trading, choosing the right broker is crucial. Plus500 and SquaredFinancial are two popular options, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. This comparison will dive into the key features of both platforms,helping you decide which one best suits your trading style and goals.
The radar chart above illustrates the comparison between Plus500 and SquaredFinancial across several key metrics, with the highest possible score being 100 in each category.
At FxScouts, our mission is to assist traders in finding the broker that best suits their needs. Comparing brokers side-by-side is an effective method to achieve this goal. We evaluated Plus500 and SquaredFinancial, using our standard criteria: trust and regulation, trading platforms, costs and trading conditions, and educational and market analysis resources.
Trust and regulation are crucial when selecting a Forex broker. A broker’s credibility is largely built on its regulatory status. We spend considerable time verifying the safety of each broker by examining their regulatory licenses. We also consider numerous factors when deciding which tier a regulator belongs to. Regulators that we rank as the world’s top regulators, gets a tier 1 rank, while regulators who only scores a tier 5-rank, provide virtually no regulatory oversight. The more top-tier authorities regulating a broker, the higher its trust rating. Read more about regulation and our tier system here.
In our comparison:
Based on these findings, Plus500 earned a higher trust rating than SquaredFinancial.
When comparing brokers, trading costs are a significant factor. We consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and ongoing costs, including spreads and commissions. We measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit, including both the spread and any commission charged.
We found that Plus500 has overall lower trading costs than SquaredFinancial.
Trading Platforms Offered Traders prefer brokers that offer a variety of trading platforms. We rate brokers higher if they support multiple platforms like MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader, and proprietary platforms.
Copy trading is beneficial for beginner traders or those unable to trade full-time. In this case both Plus500 and SquaredFinancial offer copy trading.
A broader range of CFD instruments provides more trading opportunities. Plus500 offers a greater variety of instruments compared to SquaredFinancial:
For those interested in trading cryptocurrencies, Plus500 offers 18 cryptocurrencies, while SquaredFinancial offers 5 cryptocurrencies. Therefore, Plus500 is the better choice for cryptocurrency trading.
Traders prefer brokers with quick and cost-effective deposit and withdrawal processes. We favor brokers that process withdrawals within 24 hours using multiple methods without charging fees.We found that neither Plus500 nor SquaredFinancial charges a withdrawal fee. Overall, SquaredFinancial has better deposit and withdrawal processes than Plus500.
We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas.
SquaredFinancial has better educational support than Plus500. Both Plus500 and SquaredFinancial offer educational support for more experienced traders.Access to frequent and high-quality market research and analysis is crucial.
We found that Plus500 offers better research analysis than SquaredFinancial and that both Plus500 and SquaredFinancial offer frequent webinars.
NOTE: Currently, Plus500 does not accept traders from Uganda. This review is for information purposes only. For trading options, explore our list of top brokers here.
Founded in 2008, Plus500 is a well-regulated market maker that is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange. It offers a wider range of tradable instruments than is available at other CFD providers, including over 70 Forex pairs, cryptocurrencies, indices, commodities, shares, options, and ETFs.
Although Plus500 only offers one live account, which is limited compared to other CFD providers, its trading costs are average, with spreads starting at 0.8 pips on the EUR/USD, no commissions, and a minimum deposit requirement of 100 USD.
Additionally, unlike other CFD providers that provide support for a variety of trading platforms - such as MT4, MT5, or cTrader - Plus500 only offers support for its proprietary platform. The platform is web-based with no need for any downloads or setup, making it a good choice for beginner traders, but Plus500 does not offer hedging, scalping, or copy trading.
Plus500’s education and market analysis materials are virtually non-existent, making it a poor choice for beginner traders, but its award-winning customer service is available 24/7, which is exceptional for an industry where trading is usually offered 24/5.
SquaredFinancial has a large range of tradable assets, low admin fees, and an Elite account with very low trading costs. This combination will appeal to many traders, though many beginners may be put off by the high minimum deposit on the Elite account.
SquaredFinancial has two trading accounts on both the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. The SquaredPro Account is an entry-level account with no minimum deposit and trading costs included in its variable spreads, which start at 1.20 pips on the EUR/USD. SquaredFinancial's commission-based Elite account has a minimum deposit requirement of 500 USD, excluding many beginner traders, but offers spreads of 0 pips on the EUR/USD in exchange for a low commission of 5 USD, making it one of the lowest-cost trading accounts in the industry. SquaredFinancial's clients are not charged for making deposits, and withdrawals only incur a fee if there has been no trading on the account.
SquaredFinancial offers over 10,000 financial instruments to trade, a much broader selection of assets than is typically available at other brokers, including over 40 forex pairs, 9000 share CFDs, 250 ETFs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
Although trading tools, market research, and education are limited, traders beginners will be able to subscribe to automated trading signals from Trading Central, a world leader in technical and fundamental analysis.
For more detailed reviews, please read our comprehensive assessments of Plus500 and SquaredFinancial.
Select another broker to another broker to compare features, fees, and platforms side by side.
Alison and Chris cover a range of topics, including how to choose a Forex broker, safety and regulation, how to reduce your risk, trading psychology, trading platforms, and trading strategies, among others.
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