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Alison Heyerdahl is the Head of Content at FxScouts and a financial writer with extensive experience 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 to help traders make informed, safe decisions.
In the fast-paced world of forex trading, choosing the right broker is crucial. Skilling and IQ Option 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 Skilling and IQ Option 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 Skilling and IQ Option, 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, Skilling earned a higher trust rating than IQ Option.
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 Skilling has overall lower trading costs than IQ Option.
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 IQ Option and Skilling offer copy trading.
A broader range of CFD instruments provides more trading opportunities. Skilling offers a greater variety of instruments compared to IQ Option:
For those interested in trading cryptocurrencies, Skilling offers 61 cryptocurrencies, while IQ Option offers 12 cryptocurrencies. Therefore, Skilling 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 IQ Option nor Skilling charges a withdrawal fee. Overall, Skilling has better deposit and withdrawal processes than IQ Option.Â
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.Â
Skilling has better educational support than IQ Option. Both IQ Option and Skilling offer educational support for more experienced traders.Access to frequent and high-quality market research and analysis is crucial.
We found that IQ Option offers better research analysis than Skilling and that both IQ Option and Skilling offer frequent webinars.
With a wide range of tradable assets and good trading conditions on four live accounts, Skilling may appeal to traders familiar with the MetaTrader 4 or cTrader platforms.
Skilling's commission-free Standard accounts have a minimum deposit requirement of 100 EUR and spreads that start at 0.8 pips (EUR/USD), which is tighter than the spreads on other brokers' entry-level accounts. Spreads tighten to 0.1 pips (EUR/USD) with a commission of 6 USD (round turn), but this is in exchange for a minimum deposit requirement of 5000 USD on its Premium Accounts.Â
Skilling's financial instrument offering is impressive, with 73 forex pairs, 37 cryptocurrencies, over 700 share CFDs, 5 commodities, and 17 indices available for trading. MetaTrader 4, cTrader, and Skilling’s proprietary trading platform are all supported, with seamless integration provided between cTrader and Skilling’s own platform – an industry first. Beginner traders will be disappointed to know that Skilling’s Forex education and market analysis are almost completely absent.
FxScouts does NOT recommend IQ Option due to insufficient regulation
IQ Option appeals to beginners with its unique social trading platform, low minimum deposits, and low trading costs. However, IQ option's non-trading fees are high, and its global entity is unregulated.Â
IQ Option offers one live commission-free account with competitive spreads (starting at 0.80 pips on the EUR/USD) and a minimum deposit of only 10 USD. However, while deposits are free, IQ Option charges unreasonably high withdrawal fees and an inactivity fee of 10 EUR (or equivalent) per month after 90 days of inactivity.
IQ Option's global entity is registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG FSA). The SVG FSA is not a Forex broker regulator and does not supervise any trading-related activities, but IQ Option claims to segregate all client funds from its operating capital and provides traders with negative balance protection.Â
IQ Option provides little in the way of market research or educational materials, forcing beginners to self-educate elsewhere.
For more detailed reviews, please read our comprehensive assessments of Skilling and IQ Option.
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Broker | Countries Regulated | Minimum Spread EUR/USD | Minimum Deposit | Trading cost/lot EURUSD Total trading cost at the time of last update, for 1 lot of EUR/USD using the account with the lowest minimum deposit. Includes spread and commission. | Broker Score | Broker Website | Select and Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |      | 0.10 pips | USD 3 | USD 7 | |||
 |      | 0 pips | USD 0 | USD 10 | |||
 | | 0.10 pips | USD 200 | USD 8 | |||
 |  | 0.70 pips | USD 10 | USD 17 | |||
 |  | 0 pips | AUD 0 | USD 4.50 | |||
 |    | 0.90 pips | USD 100 | USD 9 | |||
|  | 0.60 pips | USD 5 | USD 6 | |||
 | | 0 pips | USD 0 | USD 10 | |||
 | | 0.70 pips | USD 5 | USD 7 | |||
 | | 0 pips | USD 100 | USD 6 |
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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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