Plus500 Broker Review

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.

Traders from some countries may be trading under the subsidiary, Plus500AU Pty LTD regulated by ASIC. ASIC is considered one of the strictest regulators in the world. As such it restricts maximum leverage to 30:1 for Forex trading, and ensures that brokers provide negative balance protection, which means that traders can never lose more money than they have in their trading accounts. In addition, all brokers are required to segregate client funds from their operating capital and cannot offer bonuses or promotions.

As per ASIC regulations, all client funds are kept in segregated accounts, Plus500 also offers negative balance protection, and restricts leverage to 30:1. While the additional protection offered by ASIC regulation is welcome, some traders may find the low leverage levels restrictive.

Plus500 does not highlight any industry recognition it has received, but it has won numerous awards for its services over the years.

Considering the strict regulatory oversight, the long track history, and the fact that it is listed on a public stock exchange, we deem Plus500 a trustworthy and safe CFD provider.

The account-opening process at Plus500 is easy, hassle-free, and fully digital.

Unfortunately Ugandans cannot open an account with Plus500. For traders from certain other countries, opening an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are usually ready within one day.

How to open an account at Plus500:

1. First, click on “Start Trading.”
2. Plus500’s intake form requires clients to fill in their personal details (including name, country of residence, email address, birth date, and level of education). 
3. Plus500 requires individuals to submit a copy of their National ID or Passport with the signature page, as well as a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement. For your convenience, you can also use Plus500’s mobile apps to upload your documents.
4. Documents can be scanned or sent through as a high-quality digital camera picture.
5. We advise you to read Plus500’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading. 

Once all the documents have been received, the account will be ready for trading within one day.

Overall, Plus500’s account opening process is fast, hassle-free, and fully digital compared to other similar brokers.

Plus500 offers a wide range of financial instruments for CFD trading, including Forex, options, indices, shares, commodities, options, and ETFs.

Plus500 has a simple account structure with trading costs close to the industry average. Plus500 states that its revenue is derived from the spread, but it is not transparent about how the spreads are derived, and it does not publish the average spreads on its site.

The trading costs are built into the spread, which is variable and gets wider or tighter depending on trade volume and market volatility. 

The average cost of trading one lot of EUR/USD is 8 USD, which is around the average charged by other similar market maker brokers. The minimum deposit is also reasonable, at 100USD , putting it well within the reach of most traders. 

Swap Fees (Overnight Funding)

Plus500 charges swap fees, or fees for positions that are held overnight. The overnight funding amount is either added to or subtracted from your account when holding a position after a certain time (the “Overnight Funding Time”).

The overnight funding time and the daily overnight funding percentage can be found in the “Details” link next to the instrument’s name on the main screen of the platform.

With a single registration, Plus500 clients can open both a real and a demo account, and trading is only offered on Plus500’s proprietary platform. 

We opened and tested these accounts:

Retail Account

A market maker, Plus500’s retail account is commission-free and has spreads that start at 0.8 pips on the EUR/USD, which are average compared to most other CFD providers. Maximum leverage (under ASIC regulations) is up to 30:1, and the minimum deposit requirement is reasonable, at 100 USD. Trading is only offered on the Plus500 proprietary platform, which is limited compared to most other brokers but traders can choose between a wide range of tradable assets, including over 70 Forex pairs and indices, ETFs, commodities, share CFDs, cryptocurrencies, and currency indices.

Demo Account

The demo account allows traders to practice trading and get used to the Plus500 platform before depositing real money. The Plus500 platform is different from that of other CFD providers, so it is advisable that new clients take the time to get comfortable with the platform before committing to a deposit. While many traders enjoy the clean design of the Plus500 platform, others may prefer a more traditional layout. Demo accounts do not expire and are loaded with virtual funds that can be topped up by request.

A well-regulated CFD provider, Plus500 ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed. As such, all non-profit funds are returned to the original deposit source. No matter your deposit method, the withdrawal of all profits must be made by bank transfer to a bank account in your name.

Deposits and withdrawals can be made securely at Plus500 using major debit cards and credit cards (including Visa and MasterCard), bank wire transfer, and leading payment services such as Skrill, Neteller, and PayPal. Plus500 does not charge deposit or withdrawal fees.

Deposits and withdrawals are generally commission-free, but Plus500 requires a minimum withdrawal amount of 100 USD for Skrill, Neteller, Paypal, and credit cards; and 300 USD for bank transfers. Withdrawals below this amount incur a 10 USD fee. Withdrawals are processed in one to three days, which is about average. 

Plus500 offers 15 base currencies, which is a much wider range than is available at other CFD providers.

The base currencies available at Plus500 include USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, AUD, JPY, PLN, HUF, CZK, CAD, TRY, SEK, NOK, ZAR, and SGD. 

For deposits and withdrawals in currencies other than these, Plus500 will charge a Currency Conversion Fee for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different from the currency of your account. The Currency Conversion Fee is up to 0.7% of the trade’s realised net profit and loss, which is higher than fees charged by other CFD providers.

Overall, Plus500 offers a wider range of base currencies than other brokers, but charges higher currency conversion fees on non-base currencies than other similar CFD providers. 

Plus500 only provides its own mobile trading platform, which cannot be customised and does not allow for algorithmic trading, but the platform has a sleek design and is easy to use.

We rigorously tested the trading platform. See below for more details:

Easy to Use: We found that the platform offers a streamlined trading experience, appealing to traders who want to avoid the complexity of third-party platforms. The platform looks fantastic, is very easy to use, and has a solid reputation in the trading community. 

Platform Features: As you can see below, the simple interface allows users to create watchlists (or favourites), analyze charts, and place and monitor trades. Additionally, technical analysis charts offer more than 100 technical indicators available in multiple timeframes:

The Plus500 platform is exclusively web-based and is not available as a downloadable desktop app. 

Functionality: We found that like the mobile trading platform, the web-based platform is similarly user-friendly and uncomplicated. It also has the same functionality, including the ability to make deposits and withdrawals, set alerts, view trader sentiment, analyse charts, place and monitor trades, and access over 100 technical indicators:

No Automated Trading: We found that Plus500 provides a superior trading experience compared to other similar CFD providers, but, unlike platforms such as MT4 and MT5, the Plus500 platform is not customisable, and traders who are used to setting up their own charts over a bespoke workspace will be disappointed. In addition, the platform does not offer the execution speeds of the Metatrader platforms, nor does it offer algorithmic trading.

Overall, we enjoyed using Plus500’s trading platform because of its intuitive interface and excellent support. However, compared to third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5, it lacks the execution speeds and doesn’t allow for automated trading via expert advisors or other trading algorithms.

Plus500’s trading tools include unique risk management tools, some of which come at an extra cost. However, unlike other similar CFD providers, it does not offer any additional analytics services such as Autochartist or Trading Central, and the proprietary platform also does not integrate with any third-party tools. 

The risk management tools include:

‘Close at Profit’ [Stop Limit] or ‘Close at Loss’ [Stop loss] rates

These orders allow you to set a specific rate at which your position will close, in order to protect your profit, in the case of Close at Profit order or minimise your loss, in the case of Close at Loss order. Traders can access this tool for free.

Guaranteed Stop

Adding a Guaranteed Stop order to your trading position puts an absolute limit on your potential loss. Even if the price of the instrument moves significantly against you, your position will automatically be closed at the specified price, with no risk of Slippage. Guaranteed Stop is only available for some instruments. If an instrument supports the Guaranteed Stop order, a checkbox will be available for use in the platform (after you select the ‘Close at Loss’ checkbox). Traders are charged a spread markup for using this tool.

Trailing Stop

Placing a Trailing Stop order helps you lock in a certain amount of profits. When you open a position or pending order with a Trailing Stop, it will remain open as long as its price moves in your favour, but will automatically close if its price changes direction by a specified amount of pips. This tool is available free of charge.

Overall, while the market analysis provided is updated daily, we found the materials brief and limited compared to most other large international CFD providers. It also provides a limited range of trading tools to help traders make trading decisions, but its risk management tools are excellent. Plus500 should consider partnering with some third-party providers to offer a more comprehensive market analysis.

Plus500’s market analysis materials are limited in scope compared to other similar CFD providers, but the materials are curated by Plus500’s in-house team.

Plus500 offers a good selection of market analysis materials written by an in-house research team. These include a Market Insights blog and an Economic Calendar. The Market News is updated daily, providing traders with good insight into various market events. The materials are well-written and useful, but the articles are short. Plus500’s Economic Calendar has filters which can select for company or macro-events.

Plus500’s educational materials include a set of Trader’s guides covering topics such as ‘What is CFD Trading,’ ‘Slippage When opening a Position,’ and more. It also provides a set of ‘how-to’ videos to learn more about online trading with Plus500’s platform. All videos are accompanied by an article on the respective topic. Plus500 also recently launched a detailed 28-page eBook covering all aspects of CFD trading that traders will find helpful.

Many other CFD providers offer courses, quizzes, and more to help clients learn about the markets in which they are investing, which is not available at Plus500.

Demo Account

The demo account allows traders to practice trading and get used to the Plus500 platform before depositing real money. The Plus500 platform is different from that of other CFD providers, so we advise that new clients take the time to get comfortable with the platform before committing to a deposit. While we enjoyed the clean design of the Plus500 platform, some traders may prefer a more traditional layout. Demo accounts do not expire and are loaded with virtual funds that can be topped up by request.

Overall, we think that the education section could be improved with a greater variety of materials in addition to providing sections for more experienced traders. Traders would also benefit greatly from being able to attend webinars on CFD trading basics and risk management.

Plus500 offers 24/7 customer support via email, online chat, and WhatsApp message in 31 different languages. This is a much higher level of service than is commonly available. The only way customer support could be improved is by offering phone support for more complex queries and troubleshooting.

For the purposes of this review, we found the live chat support responsive and polite, but uninformed. It was difficult to get information on Plus500’s average spreads.