Best spread betting platforms in the UK for 2026

Spread betting is a uniquely British way to trade: you stake an amount per point of movement in a market, profits are currently free of capital gains tax and stamp duty for UK residents, and you can go long or short on thousands of instruments without owning the underlying asset.

In this article, we compare the best spread betting platforms available to UK residents, all authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

For related comparisons, see our guides to the best trading platforms in the UK and the best forex brokers in the UK.

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Best spread betting platforms in the UK

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What is spread betting?

With a spread bet, you stake a pound amount per point of movement in a market, say £5 per point on the FTSE 100, rather than buying a number of shares or lots. If the market moves 20 points in your favour, you make £100; if it moves 20 points against you, you lose £100. You can bet on prices rising or falling, and positions are leveraged, meaning both gains and losses are amplified relative to your initial margin.

The structure matters for UK residents because spread betting profits are currently exempt from capital gains tax, unlike CFD and share trading profits, and there is no stamp duty, which applies when you buy UK shares. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change in the future, but for a consistently profitable trader, the difference is meaningful. Otherwise, the mechanics (margin, leverage and overnight financing on daily funded bets) are very similar to CFDs. Spread betting accounts are generally only available to residents of the UK and Ireland.

Broker reviews

Capital.com serves UK clients through Capital Com (UK) Limited, authorised and regulated by the FCA (reference number 793714), and takes the top spot as the best all-round spread betting platform: commission-free pricing on more than 5,000 spread betting markets, with costs built into the spread and no deposit or withdrawal fees.

The £20 minimum deposit is a low entry point, and the platforms are a genuine strength: Capital.com’s own clean web and mobile apps, plus TradingView for advanced charting. Keep in mind that a 0.7% currency conversion fee applies when you trade markets in another currency, and overnight funding is charged on positions held past the daily cut-off.

For traders newer to spread betting, Capital.com is one of the best places to learn: its free Investmate app offers 30+ courses, and the platform includes extensive in-platform education.

The limitation for high-volume traders is the absence of raw pricing. For everyone else, the combination of a low entry point, education and platform quality is the strongest overall package.

Want to know more? Check our Capital.com review and visit Capital.com’s website.

Founded in 2010, Pepperstone brings the execution standards of a forex specialist to spread betting. UK clients trade with Pepperstone Limited, authorised and regulated by the FCA (reference number 684312), with segregated client funds.

Pepperstone offers one spread betting account, with all costs built into the spread and no commission. Its Razor account (raw spreads plus commission) is only available for CFDs. The minimum deposit is £10, and you can spread bet on 90+ forex pairs, 1,100+ shares, 20+ indices, commodities and 90+ ETFs.

Execution is the main differentiator: Pepperstone reports a 99.32% fill rate on all trades between 1 January and 31 March 2026. For active spread bettors, slippage control matters as much as the headline spread.

Platform choice is unmatched among spread betting providers: you can spread bet on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView, as well as on Pepperstone’s own web platform and mobile app, so algorithmic and discretionary traders alike can bet from the environment they prefer.

Want to know more? Check our Pepperstone review and visit Pepperstone’s website.

IG invented financial spread betting in 1974, and half a century later it remains the reference point for the industry. UK spread bets are provided through IG Index Ltd, authorised and regulated by the FCA (reference number 114059), and the parent, IG Group, is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 100 company.

The standout feature is range: more than 17,000 markets, from major indices and forex to individual shares, sectors and bonds, plus weekend trading on selected markets such as the FTSE 100, Wall Street, major forex pairs and gold, so you can react to news when everything else is closed. Spreads are competitive at the core: FTSE 100 from 1 point and EUR/USD from 0.6 pips.

Platform depth matches the market range: IG’s own web and mobile platforms, ProRealTime advanced charting, MetaTrader 4, TradingView and L2 Dealer for professionals. Research, news and the IG Academy education hub round out a very complete offering.

There is no minimum for bank transfer deposits and no inactivity fee, and you can start spread betting from 1p per point. The trade-off is cost at the margins: some peripheral markets carry wider spreads.

Want to know more? Visit IG’s website.

OANDA has been a reference name in retail forex since the 1990s, and UK clients are served by OANDA Europe Limited, authorised and regulated by the FCA (reference number 542574), with spread betting available alongside CFDs. Spread betting must be enabled on your sub-account, as it is not switched on by default.

The forex focus shows in the pricing: EUR/USD from 0.6 pips on spread-only pricing, plus UK 100 from 1 point and gold from 19 cents. There is no minimum deposit, including by card, which makes it easy to start with small amounts.

For spread betting, you can use the OANDA web and mobile platforms, MetaTrader 4 and TradingView (spread betting is not available on MT5), and Autochartist pattern-recognition tools are built into the OANDA web platform.

The trade-off is range: just over 100 spread betting instruments covers forex, major indices, commodities and bonds well, which keeps OANDA a specialist choice rather than an all-rounder.

Want to know more? Visit OANDA’s website.

CMC Markets has been running since 1989 and, like IG, is listed on the London Stock Exchange. UK clients trade with CMC Markets UK plc, authorised and regulated by the FCA (reference number 173730).

The Next Generation platform is the main attraction: arguably the best proprietary charting in the spread betting industry, with 12 chart types, more than 115 technical indicators and drawing tools, 70+ chart patterns and client sentiment data showing how other CMC traders are positioned. MetaTrader 4 and TradingView are also available.

Market coverage is deep where it counts, including 300+ forex pairs, more than any other provider on this list, and you can bet from 1p per point on many markets. Loyalty schemes reduce costs for active traders: Price+ offers spread discounts of up to 40% (for example on EUR/USD), and Alpha, for accounts of £25,000 or more, adds further discounts and priority service.

There is no minimum deposit, and education and market analysis are solid. The main gaps versus Pepperstone are the absence of MT5 and cTrader in the UK, and versus IG, a narrower range of markets.

Want to know more? Visit CMC Markets’ website.

How we chose the best spread betting platforms

Our team has professional experience in finance and portfolio analysis, and we have reviewed well over 100 brokers and trading platforms since we started publishing comparisons. This ranking follows the same methodology we apply across the site.

First, regulation: we only considered providers authorised by the FCA for their UK entity, verified directly on the Financial Conduct Authority register, with FSCS eligibility checked where applicable. Spread betting is a UK-specific product, so offshore alternatives were excluded by definition.

Second, the all-in cost of betting: spreads on the markets people actually trade (FTSE 100, EUR/USD, gold, US indices), overnight financing on daily funded bets, and non-trading fees, measured against published pricing and our own account testing rather than headline claims. We paid attention to how spreads behave in volatile conditions, not just at their advertised minimums.

Third, platform quality, execution, and market range: charting, order types, published execution statistics, mobile experience, and the breadth of instruments available for spread betting specifically, which is often narrower than a provider’s CFD range.

We regularly re-verify spreads, fees and regulatory details to keep this comparison current.

Spread betting and tax

Under current UK rules, spread betting profits are free of capital gains tax, because HMRC treats them as betting: as its Capital Gains Manual puts it, no chargeable gains or allowable losses arise from spread betting. There is also no stamp duty. This is the main reason a UK trader might choose a spread bet over an economically identical CFD, where gains above the £3,000 annual exempt amount are taxed at 18% or 24%, depending on your income. For comparison, buying UK shares also carries 0.5% stamp duty reserve tax.

Two caveats matter. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances: if spread betting is your business and main source of income, HMRC may tax the profits as trading income. And tax rules can change in the future. Losses on spread bets also cannot be offset against other capital gains, precisely because they sit outside the capital gains regime, a real disadvantage for the majority of traders who lose money.

Final thoughts

Capital.com takes the top spot as the best all-round spread betting platform, combining commission-free pricing, education, and a low entry point. Pepperstone is the pick for traders who want the widest platform choice and strong execution, IG offers unmatched market range from the firm that invented the product, OANDA suits forex-focused traders who want to start with small amounts, and CMC Markets has the best proprietary charting.

Whichever provider you choose, confirm the FCA authorisation on the Financial Services Register, start with a demo account, and remember that the tax advantage only matters if you are profitable, which most retail spread bettors are not. For related comparisons, see our guides to the best trading platforms and the best forex brokers in the UK.

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