Plus500 Broker Review

Is Plus500 Safe?

Plus500 was founded in 2008 and has grown into one of the largest online CFD providers in the world – not only is the company publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, meaning an additional level of scrutiny, but eight national authorities also regulate its subsidiaries:

• Plus500UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), licence number 509909.
• Plus500CY Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), licence number 250/14.
• Plus500AU Pty Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC), afsl # 417727.
• The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) New Zealand, licence number 486026.
• The Financial Sector Commission Authority (FSCA) South Africa, licence number 47546.
• Plus500SG Pte Ltd (UEN 201422211Z) holds a capital markets services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for dealing in capital markets products, license number CMS100648-1.
• Plus500IL Ltd is registered in Israel and is licenced to operate a trading platform.
• Plus500SEY is registered and authorised by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority, FSA License Number SD039, Registration Number 8426415-1.

Traders will be trading under the subsidiary, Plus500SG Pte Ltd, which is regulated and authorised by the MAS.  The MAS is a well-respected regulator and provides strict regulatory oversight over its brokers. All brokers are supervised and audited for their performance, and are required to provide periodic audit reports to the concerned authorities.  MAS regulated brokers are also required to hold their client funds in segregated client accounts. 

In compliance with the rules set out by the MAS, Plus500 is regularly assessed by external auditors, segregates client funds from its operating capital,  restricts maximum leverage to 30:1 for Forex trading, and provides negative balance protection, which means that traders can never lose more money than they have in their trading accounts.

While the additional protection offered by the MAS regulation is welcome, some Filipino 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.

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Trading Fees

Plus500’s Forex trading fees are average compared to other similar CFD providers.  

There is no account choice at Plus500, which is unusual as most of its serious competitors have several account types with tighter spreads linked to higher deposit requirements. Click here for more details on Plus500’s single account.

While Plus500 is a market maker, as soon as a client places a trade on the platform, an automated system (with no human interference) sets a hedging trade to protect Plus500 against any potential loss. Because it is a closed system where Plus500 is the counterparty, there are few requotes and fast trade execution.

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.     

Plus500’s accounts were assessed to compare the costs to those of other brokers. The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) on the EUR/USD, including the spread and commission:

Spread x Trade Size + Commission = Total Trading Cost (USD)

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Plus500 charges low deposit and withdrawal fees compared to other CFD providers and offers a wide variety of deposit and withdrawal methods. 

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.

Deposit and withdrawals methods include Credit Card, PayPal, Skrill, and bank transfers.

Deposits and withdrawals are generally commission-free, though a 10 USD withdrawal fee is charged after more than five withdrawals have been made in a single month. Withdrawals via bank transfer may also incur a 6 USD charge. Please check with Plus500 customer service to see if your bank will incur a transfer charge.

Plus500 also requires a minimum withdrawal amount of 50 USD for Skrill, Neteller, and Paypal and 100 USD for bank transfers and credit cards. Withdrawals below this amount incur a 10 USD fee.  Withdrawals are processed in 1-3 days, which is about average for the industry. 

How do you withdraw money from Plus500?

1. Log in to your account.
2. Click the ‘Menu’ icon in the top left corner.
3. Click ‘Withdraw’.
4. Enter the amount you’d like to withdraw.
5. Initiate the transaction by clicking ‘Open a Withdrawal’.

Overall, Plus500 provides various payment methods, and its processing times are the same as other CFD providers. 

Bonus Structure

Plus500 offers several bonuses.  Each bonus has conditions for eligibility and availability for trading and/or withdrawal, such as certain minimum trading volumes (represented by Trader Points), within a specified time period. From time to time, Plus500 may offer additional bonus promotions, which are offered to clients based on certain predefined criteria and at Plus500’s sole discretion. If a client is eligible to receive such a bonus, a message with the bonus details will appear in their Plus500 Account.

Base Currencies

Plus500 offers 15 base currencies, which is a much wider range than is available at other CFD providers, but accounts are not denominated in INR.  

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

Plus500 charges 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 it charges higher currency conversion fees than other similar CFD providers. 

Plus500 Trading Platform

Unlike most CFD providers, Plus500 only provides its own trading platform, which cannot be customised and does not allow for algorithmic trading. 

Unlike most CFD providers, Plus500 only offers its proprietary trading platform. This could be a concern as most similar providers also offer MetaTrader 4 or 5 in conjunction with any first-party software.

The Plus500 web trader is web-based and 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. Exceptionally, it is available in over 30 languages.

The simple interface allows users to create watchlists, analyze charts, place and monitor trades.  Technical analysis charts offer more than 100 technical indicators available in multiple timeframes.  Traders can set automated price and percentage alerts that will inform them when a certain price has been reached or when a price has increased or decreased by a chosen percentage. Traders can also view trader sentiment and set alerts to inform them when a predefined percentage of traders are buying or selling an instrument. All of these alerts can also be sent via email and SMS.

However, 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.  

Another disadvantage of using the Plus500 platform versus third-party platforms is that none of the trading tools available on the Metatrader can be integrated directly into the Plus500 platform.  Additionally, traders who use third-party platforms such as the Metatrader suite can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.

Overall, Plus500’s platform is a good choice for beginner traders because of its simple and intuitive interface, but 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.

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Broker

Platform Choice

Copy Trading

Platforms

Plus500

4/ 5

No

Plus500

AvaTrade

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

Avatrade Social

AvaOptions

Admirals

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

MT Supreme

Mobile Trading

Plus500’s mobile trading platform is average compared to other CFD providers.

Available on iOS and Android, Plus500’s mobile app offers all the same functionality as the web-based platform and is similarly user-friendly and uncomplicated.  It allows traders to open and close positions and has the same indicators and charts.

**For illustrative purposes only**

Plus500’s Trading Tools

Plus500 offers a limited range of trading tools compared to other similar CFD providers.

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 sentiment indicators or analytics services such Autochartist or Trading Central, and the proprietary platform also does not integrate with any third-party tools. See below for more details on the various tools:

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Broker

Economic Calendar

Autochartist

Trading Central

Trading View

Free VPS

Plus500

Yes

No

No

No

No

AvaTrade

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Admirals

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

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, Plus500’s trading tools are limited compared to other CFD providers, but its risk management tools are excellent.  

Plus500 offers a wider range of assets compared to other similar CFD providers and offers trading on over 70 currency pairs. 

Plus500 offers a wide range of financial instruments for CFD trading (click here for more details on CFD trading), including Forex, options, indices, shares, commodities, options, and ETFs.  

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• Forex: Plus500 has over 70 currency pairs available for trading which is a much broader range than is offered at other CFD providers, including majors (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY) and minors (NZD/CAD, EUR/JPY, and USD/ZAR), and exotics. The leverage on Forex pairs is up to 30:1.
• Share CFDs: Plus500 offers 1900 share CFDs, which is a wider range than most other CFD providers. The selection available includes some of the major US companies, such as Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet, among others. Leverage on share CFDs is up to 5:1.
• Options: Plus500 offers an extensive range of options compared to other CFD providers, with 504 options available for trading. Maximum leverage on all futures is up to 5:1.
• ETFs: Plus500 offers trading on 95 ETFs, which is a broader range than is available at other CFD providers.  Leverage on ETFs is up to 5:1.    
• Indices: Limited compared to other CFD providers, there are only 26 indices available for trading at Plus500. The most popular indices are those that combine the shares of some of the largest and globally acknowledged companies.  Leverage is up to 1:20 on indices.  
• Commodities: Plus500 offers trading on 25 commodities, including metals such as gold and silver, energies such as natural gas and oil, and softs such as cotton and wheat.  Most brokers only offer trading on between 5 – 10 commodities, so this is an impressive offering.  Leverage is up to 1:10 on commodities.
• Cryptocurrencies: Plus500 offers 14 cryptocurrencies for trading, which is a wider range than is available at other CFD providers.  Leverage is up to 2:1.

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Overall, the range and depth of assets available to trade are impressive and much more than is normally seen at other similar brokers and it excels in its Forex offering.  

Plus500 for Beginners

Plus500 offers very little in the way of educational and market analysis materials compared to other similar CFD providers, making it a poor choice for beginner traders.  .  

Educational Materials

Plus500’s educational materials are limited compared to other CFD providers.

Many other CFD providers offer courses, videos, e-books, quizzes, and more to help clients learn about the markets in which they are investing, but this is not the case at Plus500.

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.

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

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Broker

Beginner Course

Advanced Course

Well Structured Education

Education Quality

Webinars

Plus500

No

No

No

Low

No

AvaTrade

Yes

Yes

Yes

High

Yes

Admirals

Yes

Yes

Yes

High

Yes

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 that can select for company or macro-events.

Overall, while the market analysis provided is updated daily, the materials are brief and limited compared to most other large international CFD providers.  Plus500 should consider partnering with some third-party providers to offer more useful market analysis.  

Customer Support

Plus500’s customer support is excellent compared to other CFD providers – with support available 24/7 on live chat and via email.  

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.   

Evaluation Method

We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the Plus500 offer. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the CFD provider, the platform offering of the CFD provider, and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the CFD provider.

Plus500 Risk Statement

Trading Forex is risky, and each CFD provider is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. Plus500 would like you to know that: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Overview

Plus500 is a leading brand in the CFD trading industry and has a loyal following of traders. Its trading costs are average, but the low minimum deposits and wide range of tradable assets make it appealing to both beginner and experienced traders alike.  Traders may be disappointed in the limited choice of trading platforms and tools available for trading, but Plus500’s support is available 24/7 via email and live chat. Another drawback is the limited education and market analysis materials, forcing beginner traders to self-educate elsewhere.

Editorial Team

 

Chris Cammack
Head of Content

Chris joined the company in 2019 after ten years experience in research, editorial and design for political and financial publications. His background has given him a deep knowledge of international financial markets and the geopolitics that affects them. Chris has a keen eye for editing and a voracious appetite for financial and political current affairs. He ensures that our content across all sites meets the standards of quality and transparency that our readers expect.

 

Alison Heyerdahl
Senior Financial Writer

Alison joined the team as a writer in 2021. She is the Senior Editor for FXScouts.  She has a medical degree with a focus on physiotherapy and a bachelor’s in psychology. However, her interest in forex trading and her love for writing led her to switch careers. She has a passion for Forex trading and over a decade of editorial experience researching Forex and the financial services industry, producing high-quality content. She hosts a weekly podcast, “Let’s Talk Forex,” alongside her colleague, Chris, and has produced over 100 Forex educational videos for the FXScouts YouTube channel. She also writes weekly technical analyses and has tested and reviewed over 100 Forex brokers.

 

Ida Hermansen
Financial Writer

Ida joined our team as a financial writer in 2023. She has a degree in Digital Marketing and a background in content writing and SEO. In addition to her marketing and writing skills, Ida also has an interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks. Her interest in crypto trading led to a wider fascination with Forex technical analysis and price movement. She continues to develop her skills and knowledge in Forex trading and keeps a close eye on which Forex brokers offer the best trading environments for new traders.