Table of contents:
Best Platforms & Brokers
There are lots of brokers and platforms out there for you to choose from for trading CFDs. I try to list the best ones that accepts PayPal in the UK below.
We are compensated for referring clients to some of the listed trading providers.
Libertex
With Libertex you can trade CFDs for over 50 stocks, lots of cryptocurrencies, a range of currency pairs, commodities, ETFs, and indices. They offer the largest list of cryptocurrencies of any of the CFD brokers we've written about so far. Unfortunately, none of the cryptocurrencies are available to trade for retail clients in the UK.
Libertex Reviews
Platforms
- Libertex's own: Mobile app available for both iOS and Android smartphones.
- MetaTrader 4: One of the most popular trading platforms.
Demo: Try trading with a demo account free of risk.
Risk warning: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Visit LibertexIC Markets
IC Markets is a very popular trading site with over 1,750 tradable instruments and up to 500x leverage.
This includes forex CFDs for over 60 currency pairs, over 20 indices CFDs with up to 200x leverage, over 20 commodity CFDs with up to 500x leverage, over 1,600 CFDs for shares, over 10 bond CFDs, crypto CFDs with up to 5x leverage, and CFDs for futures with up to 200x leverage.
IC Markets Reviews
Review info
The review data from Google Play and the App Store are for the IC Markets cTrader App. There are also other IC Markets apps available.
Crypto trading
As with all CFD brokers, crypto is not possible to be traded in the UK. Check out other crypto trading platforms in the UK.
Platforms
- WebTrader: Trade with MT4 or MT5 in your web browser without the need to download anything.
- Mobile Trading App: Trade on your smartphone.
- MetaTrader 4: One of the most popular trading platforms.
- MetaTrader 5: Next-genetration trading platform.
- cTrader: Popular trading platform.
Demo: Try trading with a demo account free of risk.
Risk warning: Trading Derivatives carries a high level of risk to your capital and you should only trade with money you can afford to lose. Trading Derivatives may not be suitable for all investors, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.
Visit IC MarketsWhat is a CFD?
CFDs are financial instruments that can be used for short-term trading. It is not suitable for long-term investing. There are fees for holding on to a position with CFDs over time. For instance overnight. Make sure you learn how it all works before trading substantial funds. CFDs often come with high leverage enabling bigger results from smaller investments. Both to the downside and to the upside.
CFD trading advantages
There are advantages to CFD trading compared with buying stocks and other financial instruments directly. You can, for instance, trade with leverage and you can also often trade a wide range of all sorts of underlying instruments with the same CFD broker. This includes shares, cryptocurrencies, and commodities in most cases. You can also go short just as easily as you can go long with CFDs which can be a big advantage.
CFD trading risks
As you can see from the risk warning all CFD brokers are required to put on their websites, there are risks involved with online trading, and maybe CFD trading in particular. The main reason for this might be that there is built in a lot of leverage into CFDs. This can be a benefit if you know what you are doing. However, it can be terrifying to see a position move against you really heavily just because of a small drop in price on the underlying asset. CFDs also are subject to other rules as set by the brokers.