Capital.com UK review

Account types

Capital.com has two regulatory classifications for UK clients under FCA rules: Retail and Elective Professional.

• Retail account: the default option, and the right one for most traders. Retail clients get the full FCA protections:
  • negative balance protection,
  • leverage limits (up to 1:30 on major currency pairs, 1:20 on indices, 1:10 on commodities and 1:5 on shares),
  • access to all CFD products offered to UK retail traders.
• Elective professional account: experienced traders who meet the FCA’s criteria (trading activity, financial experience and portfolio size) can apply for professional classification. This allows higher leverage, but removes protections:
  • no guaranteed negative balance protection,
  • limited access to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS),
  • no FSCS cover for trading losses (the FSCS still applies if the firm fails).

Capital.com doesn’t use tiered account levels such as “Basic” or “Advanced”. All UK clients get the same platform, and the difference is only the classification and the protections that come with it.

Trading platforms

Capital.com offers its own web and mobile platforms, plus integrations with MetaTrader and TradingView.

Web platform

The web platform is fast and intuitive, so placing trades or analysing markets is straightforward even if you are not an experienced trader.

The layout is clean: watchlists, open positions and the order ticket sit on one side, with a large customisable chart in the main area.

You can search instruments by name, ticker or asset class and add them to your favourites with one click. Each instrument page shows the bid and ask prices, the daily change, the price range and fundamentals where available.

The charts offer multiple timeframes, from seconds to monthly, and more than 100 technical tools, such as trendlines, Fibonacci retracements and channels. You can switch chart types and save layouts.

Placing an order is simple: choose your direction and position size and set stop-loss and take-profit levels in the same ticket. The platform shows the margin requirement, estimated costs and potential profit or loss before you confirm, which matters with leveraged products.

Mobile app

Available for iOS and Android, the app mirrors the web experience, with price alerts, charting tools and watchlists. Like the web platform, it includes a demo mode with virtual funds.

MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5

Capital.com also integrates with MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, which work differently from its own platforms.

While Capital.com’s interface focuses on simplicity, MetaTrader is built for algorithmic trading. It supports Expert Advisors (EAs), so you can automate strategies and run them 24/5 on your account, backtest them or run custom scripts.

MetaTrader also offers deeper technical analysis: thousands of custom indicators, your own tools built with the MQL scripting language and several chart windows at once.

TradingView

Connecting your Capital.com account to TradingView lets you trade straight from TradingView charts.

TradingView stands out for its charting depth and its community, with hundreds of indicators, customisable layouts, multi-timeframe analysis and Pine Script for building your own strategies. Traders can also share charts and ideas or follow other people’s analysis.

Markets and products

In the UK, Capital.com offers three ways to trade: leveraged CFDs, spread betting and the unleveraged 1X account.

CFDs (with leverage)

• Shares: CFDs on companies listed on exchanges such as NASDAQ, NYSE, the LSE and Euronext.
• ETFs: exposure to popular ETFs through CFDs.
• Indices: major benchmarks such as the FTSE 100, DAX 40, CAC 40, S&P 500 and Euro Stoxx 50.
• Forex: over 130 currency pairs, including EUR/USD, GBP/USD and EUR/JPY.
• Commodities: precious metals, oil, natural gas and agricultural products.

Because these instruments are CFDs, you don’t own the underlying assets, but you can go long or short with leverage.

Spread betting

UK clients can also trade through spread betting, on thousands of markets across indices, forex, commodities and shares, using the same platform, charts and risk management tools as CFDs.

For many UK residents, the appeal is the tax treatment: profits from spread betting are generally free of UK Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty, although this depends on your personal circumstances and tax rules can change.

Like CFDs, spread betting is leveraged, so both gains and losses are amplified.

Example of a spread betting trade

Suppose the UK 100 index is quoted at 7,500/7,501. You place a £1-per-point buy bet at 7,501 because you expect the index to rise. If it moves to 7,531 and you close the position, the market has moved 30 points in your favour, so your profit is 30 × £1 = £30.

If it drops to 7,471 instead, the market has moved 30 points against you, and you lose £30.

1X account (unleveraged CFDs)

The 1X account is a simpler way to trade, using CFDs without leverage.

Instead of trading on margin, you only use the money you deposit, which brings the experience closer to traditional investing and limits your losses to the amount invested.

With 1:1 positions, overnight funding doesn’t apply on most markets, although Capital.com lists some instruments where it applies regardless of leverage. Guaranteed stop-losses are not available on 1X, and the product is still a derivative.

24/5 index CFD trading

Capital.com offers 24/5 trading on major index CFDs, from Sunday to Friday (UTC), so you can trade before markets open and after they close.

The indices available include the EU Stocks 50, Germany 40, UK 100, US 500, US Tech 100, Japan 225 and Hong Kong 50. Prices come from futures markets, so there is price action even when the underlying exchanges are closed.

Execution quality is the same as during regular hours (Capital.com reported an average execution speed of 0.014 seconds in October 2025), but trading outside standard hours can mean lower liquidity and wider spreads, which increases risk.

Fees

How Capital.com makes money

Capital.com uses a zero-commission model, so you don’t pay a fixed commission to open or close a position. Instead, it earns revenue in four main ways.

1. Spreads

The spread is the difference between the buy (ask) and sell (bid) price, and it is the main source of revenue. Every time you open a position, you effectively pay this difference.

Spreads vary with:

• Market liquidity: popular markets such as EUR/USD or gold usually have tighter spreads than less traded assets.
• Volatility: spreads can widen in volatile conditions.

Capital.com gives this example for a CFD on Apple shares:

• You hold a position of 10 Apple shares, quoted at $240.00 / $240.13.
• The spread is 0.13 points.
• You pay half of the spread when you open the position and the other half when you close it.
• The total cost is 10 × 0.13 = $1.30.

The larger your position or the wider the spread, the higher your cost. For major currency pairs such as EUR/USD, spreads start from around 0.6 pips in normal conditions.

2. Overnight funding

When you hold a leveraged position overnight, Capital.com applies a daily funding charge (and sometimes pays you, depending on the position). It compensates the broker for financing the leveraged part of your position.

Example of buying a CFD on one Adidas share:

One Adidas share costs €162.75, but the margin requirement is only €32.55. In other words, you only need €32.55 of your own money for €162.75 of exposure. The difference of €130.20 is financed, which is where the leverage of 5:1 shown in the order details comes from.

Funding rates depend on:

• the type of asset (forex, index, share or commodity),
• the direction of your trade (long or short),
• the benchmark interest rate (SONIA for GBP-denominated markets, SOFR for USD-denominated ones),
• Capital.com’s own daily fee.

Why overnight funding adds up

Funding is charged every day you keep a leveraged position open, so small daily costs build up over weeks or months:

• even if the index or share rises, funding eats into your profit,
• if the market moves sideways, funding alone can turn the trade into a loss.

For indices, Capital.com’s own daily fee is 4% a year, plus or minus the relevant benchmark rate (SONIA or SOFR). With rates at current levels, the total annual cost can be several percentage points of your position value.

Funding is applied to your full exposure, not the margin you deposited. If your margin is $1,000 with 1:10 leverage, your exposure is $10,000, and the daily cost is calculated on $10,000.

This makes CFDs and spread bets an expensive way to hold a position for the long term.

3. Currency conversion

If you trade an instrument priced in a currency other than your account currency, a 0.7% mark-up applies for retail clients (0.5% for professional clients). The fee is built into the exchange rate rather than charged separately, and Capital.com shows the rate used in the reports section. It applies when profit, loss, overnight funding, dividends or guaranteed stop-loss fees settle in another currency. If the instrument is priced in your base currency, there is no conversion cost.

4. Guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSL)

A guaranteed stop-loss closes your trade at the price you set, even if the market gaps, which removes the risk of slippage.

The guarantee comes with a premium, charged only if the order is triggered. Capital.com calculates it as the GSL premium (a percentage) × the position’s open price × the quantity, and shows the amount on the deal ticket when you select it.

Security and regulation

In the UK, Capital.com operates through Capital Com (UK) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under firm reference number 793714.

Client money is held under the FCA’s Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) rules, which means retail client funds are kept in segregated client bank accounts at authorised UK or EEA institutions, separate from Capital.com’s own money, so the firm can’t use them for its business.

If Capital.com became insolvent, segregated funds should be ring-fenced and returned to clients, provided there is no shortfall.

If a regulated firm fails and client money can’t be returned in full, eligible clients can claim through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which covers up to £85,000 per person, per firm.

Note that the FSCS doesn’t cover trading losses. If your trades lose value because the market moved, that loss is yours. The FSCS only applies if the firm fails and can’t return your money.

Under FCA rules for CFD and spread betting providers, UK retail clients also have negative balance protection, so your account balance can’t fall below zero and you can’t lose more than you deposit. This protection doesn’t apply to professional clients.

Opening an account

Opening an account is fully digital:

1. Sign up with your email or a social login.
2. Verify your identity with an official document and proof of address.
3. Complete the appropriateness questionnaire required by UK rules.
4. Deposit funds by bank transfer, card or e-wallet, from £20.

Verification is usually completed within 24 hours, and you can start with a demo account before trading real money.

Customer support

Capital.com offers 24/7 support in several languages through:

• live chat on web and mobile,
• email,
• phone support during business hours,
• a help centre with FAQs.

Support is generally well rated, although response times can vary at busy periods.

Final verdict: is Capital.com worth it?

Capital.com offers a modern, FCA-regulated and user-friendly platform for UK traders who want to speculate on short-term price movements in shares, ETFs, forex and commodities.

Its zero-commission structure, charting tools and integrations with MetaTrader and TradingView appeal to active traders who understand leveraged products.

However, it isn’t designed for long-term investors who want to own assets and receive dividends. Overnight funding accumulates, the 0.7% conversion mark-up adds up if you trade in other currencies, and CFD trading carries a high risk of loss.

If your goal is active trading, Capital.com is a strong contender among UK CFD brokers.