Reputable worldwide, Plus500 provides an intuitive online trading platform for traders as well as access to share trading through the Plus500 Invest platform, futures in the US market, and a wide range of CFDs via the broker’s own Plus500 CFD platform.
Beginners seeking an easy-to-use platform are drawn to Plus500’s streamlined trading interface, which also offers an expanding library of instructional materials. Even with these continued improvements, active traders will still be disappointed by Plus500’s limited variety of market research.
Pros and Cons
- Pros
- Established in 2008, Plus500 is included in the FTSE 250 Index and is traded publicly (LSE: PLUS).
- Six Tier-1, three Tier-2, and one Tier-4 jurisdiction (see more about Trust Score) have regulations governing Plus500.
- I thought Plus500’s easy-to-use web-based trading platform was a good option for novice traders. (Disclosure: Earning money is not simple on a trading platform that is suggested for novices. Trading carries risk.)
- Advanced sentiment features from FactSet and Trading Central are integrated with proprietary sentiment data in the new +Insights analytics tool.
- Â Robust charting is a characteristic of Plus500’s mobile app and web platform, offering a consistent experience across devices.
- Â A good selection of 2,800 CFD-tradable symbols are available for trading.
- CFD option contracts are offered for more than 20 well-known symbols.
- With more articles for its Trading Academy and more webinars conducted with Corellian Academy, Plus500 has increased the amount of educational content it offers.
- Cons
- Active traders find the Plus500 platform less appealing because it provides a little bit more than just the essential functions.
- Â The Trading Academy at Plus500 is still growing, although it lags behind the top brokers in terms of instruction. There isn’t a wide range of instructional content available on Plus500 to learn about financial markets.Â
- Plus500’s strongest attribute isn’t low costs; in April 2024, average spreads on the EUR/USD were 1.5 pips.
- Â The Plus500 platform suite lacks news headlines even with its integrated economic calendar, +Insights sentiment data, and analytical articles.
- Â Only a few articles a day make up Plus500’s research content, and there are no market updates or analyses in its video content.
Overall Summary
Overall Rating
Trust Score
99 out of 100
Commissions & Fees
Platform & Tools
Mobile Trading
Research
Education
Is Plus500 Legal Or Safe?
Plus500 has an overall trust score of 99 out of 100, making it regarded as Highly Trusted. Plus500 does not run a bank; it is a publicly traded company. Six Tier-1 (Highly Trusted), three Tier-2 (Trusted), zero Tier-3 (Average Risk), and one Tier-4 (High Risk) regulators have authorized Plus500. The following Tier-1 regulators have granted Plus500 authorization: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Markets Authority (FMA), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), and Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC). Find out more about Trust Score or the regulatory jurisdictions of the various Plus500 corporations.
Year Founded
2008
Publicly TradedÂ
Yes
Bank info
No
Tier-1 Licenses info
6
Tier-2 Licenses info
3
Tier-3 Licenses info
0
Tier-4 Licenses info
1
Offering of investments
At Plus500, all forex trading is done through CFDs, in contrast to brokers who offer non-deliverable spot forex as a rolling contract. In addition to launching shares trading through Plus500 Invest in 2021, Plus500 also purchased a U.S.-based futures company and opened up futures trading to citizens of the United States on domestic markets. The many investment products that Plus500 clients can choose from are listed in the table below.
Cryptocurrency: Trading in cryptocurrency is possible with CFDs, but not with trading the underlying asset (such as purchasing Bitcoin). Note: Neither U.K. residents nor retail traders from any broker’s U.K. business may access cryptocurrency CFDs.
The various investment products that FOREX.com clients can choose from are compiled in the following table.
Tradeable SymbolsÂ
5500
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)Â
Yes
Forex PairsÂ
65
U.S. Stock TradingÂ
Yes
Social Trading / Copy TradingÂ
No
Int’l Stock TradingÂ
Yes
Cryptocurrency (Physical)Â
No
Cryptocurrency (Derivative)Â
Yes
Commisions and Fees
Indeed, when it comes to active trader pricing, Plus500 lags behind the leading forex brokers and is marginally above the industry average (for instance, look at IG or Saxo). Retail customers are not eligible for discounts from Plus500; however, if you meet the requirements and are accepted as a Professional client, you may receive cash rebates that resemble active trading programs.
Spreads: In April 2024, spreads for the EUR/USD averaged 1.5 pips at Plus500, which is greater than the industry average.
Is there a minimum deposit required on Forex.com?
To start trading on Forex.com, a minimum investment of $100 is required. Even if a lot of brokers don’t have minimum requirements, this sum is nonetheless regarded as appropriate.
Minimum Deposit
€100
Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard
1.5
All-in Cost EUR/USD – ActiveÂ
1.5
ACH or SEPA TransfersÂ
No
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw)
Yes
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw
No
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit)Â
Yes
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw)
Yes
Trading apps for mobile devices
The Plus500 trading app offers a gratifyingly smooth platform transition by closely resembling the WebTrader browser platform in terms of appearance, feel, and functionality.
Nevertheless, the Plus500 trading app lacks the sophisticated features and comprehensive functionality of the top mobile trading apps, just as its WebTrader equivalent. For instance, Plus500’s web charts do not sync with the mobile app; this is a feature exclusive to Saxo and Charles Schwab trading apps for US users.
Trading tools: With 109 indicators and more than 20 drawing tools, Plus500’s charting has been greatly enhanced. But there’s still a lot of space for development, and I would want to see more features added, like research, news, and sophisticated trading tools, which aren’t available on Plus500’s mobile app right now. For instance, even if your orders—such as stop or limit orders—are visible on the chart, you are unable to simply drag and drop them to change them. Apart from that, Plus500 is still making little strides. One such step is the incorporation of its +Insights modules into the app, which I think helps traders determine which assets are trending and other sentiment-related information.
Android App
Yes
Apple iOS App
Yes
Mobile Alerts
Yes
Watchlists
10
Watchlist Syncing
Yes
Charting – Indicators / Studies
114
Charting – Drawing Tools
22
Mobile Charting – Draw Trend lines
Yes
Mobile Charting – Multiple Time Frames
Yes
Trading Platforms
Because of its simplicity of use and emphasis on only offering the necessities, the WebTrader web trading platform from Plus500 is a great option for novice investors. Over time, Plus500 has kept making small platform upgrades, and as those improvements have accumulated, the company has become more and more competitive in this particular market.
Overview of platforms: Plus500’s web trading platform is still being improved; it now has pre-made and editable watchlists, the option to add alerts based on client sentiment data, an economic calendar that shows relevant news from Dow Jones, and instrument information from Yahoo Finance that shows up when a particular symbol is viewed.
Charting: There are thirteen different types of charts, more than twenty drawing tools, and 114 indicators on the Plus500 web platform. Even though the platform does not automatically save indicators, you can get around this problem by saving your chart template as a layout. It’s important to note that your chart settings are not device-transferable and do not sync with the Plus500 mobile app. I was pleased overall and thought using Plus500 charts was a responsive, easy process.
Easy to use: Before moving on to a more sophisticated platform, novice traders can make great use of Plus500’s browser-based WebTrader. WebTrader emphasizes simplicity and has a tidy appearance. Plus500’s flagship platform has a few additional features that can be useful, like guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSLO) and trailing stops.
Algo trading, social copy trading:Â MetaTrader suite of platforms are not supported by Plus500 either algo trading or social copy trading, however it does provide a customized trading platform of its own.
Virtual Trading (Demo)
Yes
Proprietary Platform
Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows)
No
Web Platform
Yes
Social Trading / Copy Trading
No
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
No
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
No
DupliTrade
No
ZuluTrade
No
Charting – Indicators / Studies
114
Charting – Drawing Tools
22
Charting – Trade From Chart
No
Watchlists
10
Market Research
While Plus500’s investment research is improving, there is always room for improvement, particularly when compared to industry heavyweights in the field like CMC Markets, Saxo, and IG. Although Plus500 has started to expand this category with webinars (accessible only to Premium members) and daily articles addressing market analysis and commentary, integrated forex news headlines are still missing. While there are notifications that resemble headlines, the articles in question are less frequent than the headlines that are streamed live and provided by the top brokers in this area.
With the release of sophisticated sentiment capabilities from FactSet, Trading Central, and Plus500’s new +Insights module, the company has increased the amount of customer sentiment data it offers. With time, this new tool has developed into a suite of services that offer a variety of trader-related statistics as well as sophisticated insights into the activities of Plus500 traders. For instance, the Trader’s Trends module shows, among other things, the quantity of views and popularity of a certain asset (as well as its ranking as a position that makes money or loses money during a 24-hour period).
Overview of research: The Plus500 web trading platform’s research includes links to Yahoo Finance for each trade symbol and client sentiment data sourced from Dow Jones’ economic calendar. There are no news headlines, and the daily articles published by Plus500 analysts are the only source of technical and fundamental analysis.
Market news and analysis: Plus500’s News and Market Insights category, which includes high caliber reporting, publishes a daily item from Sunday through Thursday. That being said, I discovered that the majority of the content was centered around fundamental research, with little to no emphasis on charts or technical analysis—features and data that you can get with the top brokers in this market. Additionally, Plus500 has included a new function called Media Trends. This tool summarizes news volume and sources based on data from FactSet’s ESG rating and Trading Central, as well as data from Plus500’s own customer base and crowd sentiment. On Plus500’s website, the +Insights section contains Media Trends.
Alerts: Plus500’s alert capabilities let you follow your statistics with both accuracy and originality. You can set up notifications, for instance, based on percentage changes in client sentiment data. This is a creative feature that goes above and beyond the typical price notifications, in my opinion. It would be fantastic to see Plus500 offer indicator notifications, which would be the next natural step.
Concluding remarks
Even though Plus500 doesn’t have any instructional material, it nonetheless works well for novice traders who want simplicity and convenience of use. Plus500 is a very reputable broker that is still a great option for novice traders and has a high user experience rating. For our Trust Score, Ease of Use, and Beginners categories in our 2024 Annual Awards, Plus500 was recognized as Best in Class.
The Plus500 web platform has been updated with the addition of the new +Insights tool, improved charts, and integrated economic calendar. However, those who are more experienced and active traders and are searching for more complex tools and market research may be disappointed. Think about trading with IG or CMC Markets for a more sophisticated experience.
Plus500 offers a simple approach for newcomers to the market to experience online trading, with over 2,000 CFDs accessible and a low minimum investment needed to start a live account.
Is the Plus500 broker reputable?
Plus500 is a well-rounded broker that keeps enhancing its services for both novice and experienced traders. Its trading platform suite includes comprehensive charting and an expanding collection of trading tools.
Because Plus500 has been in business since 2008 and holds many regulatory licenses in Tier-1 jurisdictions such as the EU, Singapore, Australia, and the United Kingdom, it is also regarded as a reliable broker. The broker became subject to reporting obligations when it was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2013 (ticker symbol LSE: PLUS). As a result, it is currently one of the 250 largest public firms on the FTSE 250 index.
Is Plus500 a good broker for beginners?
Because of its software’s ease of use, Plus500 is still a suitable option for novices even though its library of educational resources is now restricted. In contrast to the intricate trading platforms provided by other brokers, the Plus500 trading platform’s straightforward design makes it simple for a novice to use and become familiar with the program.
For novices who wish to avoid a high learning curve, it is crucial to use a less complex trading platform, albeit there is no assurance that you will succeed.
Is there a minimum deposit required on Forex.com?
Generally, Plus500 requires a minimum deposit of 100 units of currency ($100 or comparable), depending on the amount of your account and the payment option you choose from the client dashboard.
For instance, if your account balance is in euros, the minimum deposit for funding your Plus500 account will be 100 euros if you use Skrill, PayPal, or debit/credit cards; but, when funding your account via a bank transfer (wire), the minimum deposit is $500.
Is Plus500 a good broker for beginners?
Because of its software’s ease of use, Plus500 is still a suitable option for novices even though its library of educational resources is now restricted. In contrast to the intricate trading platforms provided by other brokers, the Plus500 trading platform’s straightforward design makes it simple for a novice to use and become familiar with the program.
For novices who wish to avoid a high learning curve, it is crucial to use a less complex trading platform, albeit there is no assurance that you will succeed.
About Plus500
Listed as a public company on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: PLUS) and included in the FTSE 250 Index, Plus500 was established in 2008. Via its regulated companies with licenses in important financial centers like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and Singapore, Plus500 provides services to internet traders. Over 430,000 active customer accounts with 85 million opened positions and $1.7 trillion in traded value were serviced by Plus500 in 2019. By 2021, Plus500 has amassed 20 million customers. Visit Plus500’s Wikipedia page to learn more about the business.
ASIC in Australia has granted Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681) an AFSL #417727 license. FMA, FSP #486026, New Zealand; Authorized Financial Services Provider, FSP #47546, South Africa. CySEC (#250/14) has authorized and regulated Plus500CY Ltd. The Financial Conduct Authority has granted Plus500UK Ltd authorization and oversight (FRN 509909). Regarding the underlying assets, you are not the owner or have any rights. Think about whether you fit inside our target market distribution. Regarding the Disclosure materials, please visit the Plus500 website.
Disclaimer of Forex Risk
Trading securities carries a significant amount of risk. Leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection, and market volatility are just a few of the risks associated with margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies. These risks have the potential to significantly impact the price or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be expected that the strategies, tactics, or indications that are described in these goods will be lucrative or loss-free. Study up on the dangers of FX trading.