City Index vs Plus500
A dedicated, side-by-side comparison of City Index and Plus500 for UK traders, both FCA-authorised and both tested live by the Amazing Reviews desk across a matched 60-day evaluation window. This page covers only these two brokers, City Index under FCA reference #113942 and Plus500 under FCA reference #509909, and reads them head-to-head on regulation, all-in pricing, platform depth, order execution and service.
You will find two full broker cards to the right, a dual-line spread capture on EUR/USD, a pillar-by-pillar scorecard, per-broker pros and cons, a side-by-side data table, an editorial verdict declaring a winner between City Index and Plus500, and a dedicated FAQ answering the questions UK readers ask most often about picking between these two names.
City Index has been a fixture of the London derivatives scene since 1983 and is now part of NYSE-listed StoneX Group. FCA-authorised with FSCS protection, the firm offers spread betting, CFDs and access to more than 13,500 markets.
Plus500UK Ltd is FCA-authorised (509909) and listed on the LSE Main Market (FTSE 250). Founded in 2008, Plus500 serves 25M+ registered customers with a clean, mobile-first proprietary platform.
Our team of expert traders tested many FCA regulated Forex brokers that accept UK residents and compiled a focused head-to-head between City Index and Plus500. Both firms are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (City Index under reference #113942, Plus500 under #509909), both segregate GBP client money inside tier-one UK banks, and both cover eligible retail clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000. The safety layer is effectively identical, so every section below is built to isolate the pricing, platform, research and education differences that actually decide the account.
Below, you will find a comprehensive breakdown of City Index versus Plus500 written specifically for traders in the United Kingdom, using Amazing Reviews' in-house testing methodology. Every recommendation is anchored to real live-account testing rather than headline marketing. You will see two full match-up cards, a dual-line spread capture on EUR/USD, a pillar-by-pillar scorecard, per-broker pros and cons, a side-by-side data table, an editorial verdict, and a dedicated FAQ answering the questions UK readers ask most often about choosing between these two names.
The overall winner on this exact match-up is City Index, edging Plus500 by 0.2 editorial points on the Amazing Reviews five-star scale. That does not make Plus500 a weak account, both are strong FCA-regulated homes for a UK retail balance; it means City Index is the marginal editorial pick for the average UK reader landing on this page. Which of the two suits you comes down to pricing, platform depth and trading style, so read the pillar-by-pillar tables in full before you fund an account.
The two match-up cards, City Index · Plus500
The two cards below carry the FCA reference, editorial rank, live spread capture headline and the direct account link for each broker. For most UK readers, the account decision is already 70% made by the time these cards have been compared side by side. Everything further down settles the remaining 30%, the regulatory tier count, the all-in fee stack, the platform filter, the research library and the education path.
Read the cards left to right. On the left, City Index sits at rank #9 with a live editorial rating of 4.6/5, a minimum deposit of £100 and a headline spread from 0.5 pips. On the right, Plus500 sits at rank #12 with a live editorial rating of 4.4/5, a minimum deposit of £100 and a headline spread from 0.8 pips. The "Trade" and "Read review" buttons open the UK entity in each case, never a mirror site.
City Index has been a fixture of the London derivatives scene since 1983 and is now part of NYSE-listed StoneX Group. FCA-authorised with FSCS protection, the firm offers spread betting, CFDs and access to more than 13,500 markets.
- Min Deposit
- £100
- Min Spread
- 0.5 pips
- Commission
- £0 on FX
- Leverage
- 1:30 (retail)
- Platforms
- Web Trader, MT4, TradingView
- Markets
- 13,500+
- Established
- 1983
Plus500UK Ltd is FCA-authorised (509909) and listed on the LSE Main Market (FTSE 250). Founded in 2008, Plus500 serves 25M+ registered customers with a clean, mobile-first proprietary platform.
- Min Deposit
- £100
- Min Spread
- 0.8 pips
- Commission
- £0 on CFDs
- Leverage
- 1:30 (retail)
- Platforms
- Plus500 Web, Plus500 Mobile
- Markets
- 2,800+
- Established
- 2008
Featured offers
Both City Index and Plus500 run current promotions for new UK accounts. The offer summaries below are the headline hook, but the pricing sections further down are what actually decide the account for a working trader. Each card carries the broker's official logo, current editorial rating, the direct deep-link to the UK entity, and the mandatory FCA retail loss disclosure.
£0 commission on standard FX and CFD accounts for the first 30 days.
Visit City Index
Discover a new way to trade with the Plus500 platform, live in London.
Visit Plus500Regulation
City Index (founded 1983) and Plus500 (founded 2008) both operate under Financial Conduct Authority oversight for UK retail clients, and neither is a bank. According to the Amazing Reviews trust framework, City Index scores 96/99 and Plus500 scores 97/99, both inside the "highly trusted" 90–99 band.
On regulation, City Index holds 7 Tier-1 licences and 4 Tier-2 licences, while Plus500 holds 5 Tier-1 and 3 Tier-2 (Tier-1 is considered highly trusted, Tier-2 trusted). Both segregate UK client money in tier-one UK banks and apply the FCA's negative-balance protection to retail CFD accounts.
| Year Founded | 1983 | 2008 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank | No | No |
| FCA Reference | #113942 | #509909 |
| Trust Score | 96/99 | 97/99 |
| Tier-1 Licences | 7 | 5 |
| Tier-2 Licences | 4 | 3 |
| Tier-3 Licences | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-4 Licences | 2 | 1 |
| FSCS Protection (UK) | Yes | Yes |
| Negative Balance Protection | Yes | Yes |
With the regulatory profile settled, the next honest question for a UK reader is what the account actually costs to run. Regulation tells you the money is safe; fees tell you how quickly a working balance is eaten by cost of trading before a single strategy has been tested. For that reason the Fees block below is the single most-read table on this page.
The table stacks minimum deposit, EUR/USD headline spread, commission per round-turn lot, retail leverage on majors, and the funding methods side by side, so you can price a typical week of trading on City Index against Plus500 in less than a minute. If you trade 5 to 20 round trips a week on majors, the difference between the two headline spreads is a number you can multiply by hand: (spread City Index minus spread Plus500) × trades × lot size × £8 per pip. That is your real weekly cost gap in GBP, before commission and financing.
Fees
On all-in trading cost, City Index prints a typical spread from 0.5 pips with commission £0 on FX, while Plus500 prints from 0.8 pips with commission £0 on CFDs. Both are priced close to the industry average for UK retail, so neither is the cheapest broker on the market, but both are competitively priced for readers who value execution quality and platform depth as much as raw cost.
If your main focus is the lowest possible fees on EUR/USD, the fees table below is the one to weigh. If your focus is a specific platform (MT4, cTrader) or a specific market list, the Platforms table further down carries more weight than headline pricing.
| Minimum Deposit | £100 | £100 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD), Standard | 0.5 pips | 0.8 pips |
| Commission per round-turn lot | £0 on FX | £0 on CFDs |
| Retail Leverage (majors) | 1:30 (retail) | 1:30 (retail) |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes | Yes |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| Inactivity fee | No | No |
Cost is one axis; the trading environment is the other. For many UK readers a specific chart engine , MT4, MT5, cTrader or a TradingView-connected chart, is a hard filter rather than a preference, because their entire order-management routine, indicator stack and (in many cases) their expert advisors are already built on top of one of those platforms.
The Trading platforms block below settles that platform-fit question. It goes beyond a checklist by pairing every platform row with the practical detail that matters on a UK retail account: whether the desktop stack is proprietary or third-party, whether the mobile app carries the same order types as desktop, whether the charting engine ships 100+ studies as standard, and whether trade-from-chart works out of the box without a paid upgrade.
Trading platforms and tools
City Index offers Web Trader, MT4, TradingView, while Plus500 runs on Plus500 Web, Plus500 Mobile. If your workflow depends on a specific platform, that is a hard filter rather than a preference. Both brokers ship a web platform, a proprietary desktop stack and a full mobile app on iOS and Android, and both offer a free virtual demo funded in GBP.
Where the two diverge is charting depth and the way they handle multi-instrument workspaces. The row on Charting Indicators below is the practical test: more indicators does not always mean better, but it does mean a broker's charting engine is closer to a professional stack.
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Platform | Yes | No |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | No |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | No |
| cTrader | No | No |
| TradingView Integration | Yes | No |
| Charting Indicators / Studies | 125 | 105 |
| Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
A trading platform is only as good as the ideas that feed into it. On a UK retail account, the difference between "you have to bring your own edge" and "an edge is already sitting in the platform" comes down to the research stack a broker chooses to license.
The Market research block below compares the third-party feeds, in-house desk notes, sentiment tools and economic calendars each broker ships by default. Watch specifically for Autochartist and Trading Central, the two most commonly licensed third-party feeds, and the row on client sentiment, which is the single row that separates a broker that treats research as a cost centre from one that treats it as a hook to keep the account funded and active.
Market research
Both City Index and Plus500 publish daily market commentary, a client sentiment tool showing long-versus-short positioning, and an economic calendar for the UK, US, EU and Asia sessions. Neither charges extra for those tools on a retail account.
The difference is the depth of third-party research included by default. City Index tends to pull in wider news feeds and independent analyst content, while Plus500 leans on curated in-house desk notes. Neither approach is objectively better, but they suit different trading routines.
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | Yes |
| Trading Central | Yes | Yes |
| Client Sentiment Data | Yes | Yes |
| TipRanks / Third-party analyst | Yes | No |
| Acuity Trading | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
For readers new to leveraged trading, the Beginners and education block below is the pillar that most changes the account decision. A broker with a strong structured course, real live webinars and a demo that mirrors the live feed can shorten the learning curve by weeks and genuinely reduce the risk of blowing up a first live balance.
Both City Index and Plus500 ship a full education stack; the table below isolates where they actually diverge, length of the structured video path, presence of quiz-based progression checks, and whether the demo account is time-limited or permanent. If you are within your first six months of live trading, weight this pillar as heavily as fees.
Beginners and education
Both brokers offer a full stack of beginner and intermediate education: written guides, live client webinars, and video libraries covering FX, indices, commodities and CFDs. Neither falls short on the basic learning support a UK first-time trader needs.
Where they diverge is guided learning paths and quiz-based progression. If you want a structured "school" that walks you from cash-and-carry FX through to options-on-futures, look at the Videos and Structured Courses rows below.
| Webinars | Yes | Yes |
| Videos, Beginner Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Videos, Advanced Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Structured Courses | No | Yes |
| Quizzes / Progress Tracking | Yes | No |
| Demo Account for Practice | Yes | Yes |
With every pillar priced, the last step is rolling them into one editorial view. The Winner scorecard below scores City Index and Plus500 on the same eight pillars the Amazing Reviews desk uses across every UK broker review, regulation, fees, platforms, mobile, research, education, execution and customer service.
Each pillar is scored out of ten and a pillar-by-pillar winner is highlighted. The overall totals at the foot of the scorecard are the same numbers that drove the editorial rankings for City Index (#9) and Plus500 (#12) on our master list of FCA regulated UK brokers, so nothing on this page is scored differently to the rest of the site.
Winner: category-by-category scorecard
Each pillar below is scored on the same five-star scale the Amazing Reviews desk uses across every UK broker review. Where the two brokers are within 0.1 stars of each other, we treat the pillar as a tie. The overall winner reflects the weighted sum of these pillars, tilted towards trust score, pricing and platform quality because those three matter most to a UK retail account.
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating | ★★★★★4.6 | ★★★★☆4.4 |
| Trust Score | ★★★★★5.0 | ★★★★★4.7 |
| Range of Investments | ★★★★☆4.3 | ★★★★★4.8 |
| Trading Fees | ★★★★☆4.2 | ★★★★★4.7 |
| Trading Platforms | ★★★★☆4.3 | ★★★★★4.7 |
| Research | ★★★★☆4.0 | ★★★★★4.5 |
| Mobile Trading | ★★★★★4.5 | ★★★★★4.9 |
| Education | ★★★★☆4.4 | ★★★★★4.9 |
City Index vs Plus500, average pips
Overlay of 24-hour spread capture on EUR/USD for City Index (blue) and Plus500 (orange), sampled from a London retail account. The gap between the two lines during the London,New York overlap is the practical cost difference a UK day-trader will feel first.
Pros and cons for a UK trader
- 40+ years of London market expertise
- Performance Analytics dashboard
- Backed by NYSE-listed StoneX Group
- Broad spread-bet and CFD product range
- Standard spreads wider than ECN specialists
- MT5 not offered
- Inactivity fee applies
Pros and cons for a UK trader
- FCA + FSCS + FTSE 250 listing (LSE)
- Ultra-clean proprietary platform
- Guaranteed stop-loss orders available
- 25M+ registered customers globally
- No MT4, MT5 or cTrader
- No spread betting
- Limited research and education
Editorial scorecard, pillar by pillar
City Index in detail
City Index has been a fixture of the London derivatives scene since 1983 and is now part of NYSE-listed StoneX Group. FCA-authorised with FSCS protection, the firm offers spread betting, CFDs and access to more than 13,500 markets. Established in 1983, City Index today serves UK clients under FCA reference #113942. Headline pricing starts at 0.5 pips on major FX pairs with commission £0 on FX, retail leverage capped at 1:30 (retail), and access to 13,500+ instruments. Best suited to uk spread betting and intermediate cfd traders.
In our test window, City Index performed strongest on 40+ years of london market expertise. Where the offer softens is standard spreads wider than ecn specialists, which matters more to some trading styles than others. The full editorial breakdown, including live spread capture and slippage benchmarks, is on the dedicated City Index review page.
Plus500 in detail
Plus500UK Ltd is FCA-authorised (509909) and listed on the LSE Main Market (FTSE 250). Founded in 2008, Plus500 serves 25M+ registered customers with a clean, mobile-first proprietary platform. Established in 2008, Plus500 operates in the UK under FCA reference #509909. Headline pricing starts at 0.8 pips on major FX pairs with commission £0 on CFDs, retail leverage capped at 1:30 (retail), and access to 2,800+ instruments. Best suited to simplicity-first cfd traders.
In our test window, Plus500 led on fca + fscs + ftse 250 listing (lse). The trade-offs are no mt4, mt5 or ctrader. For the full breakdown, including the platform walkthrough and withdrawal timing on a UK debit card, see the dedicated Plus500 review page.
| Rating | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| Min Deposit | £100 | £100 |
| Min Spread (EUR/USD) | 0.5 pips | 0.8 pips |
| Commission | £0 on FX | £0 on CFDs |
| Retail Leverage | 1:30 (retail) | 1:30 (retail) |
| Platforms | Web Trader, MT4, TradingView | Plus500 Web, Plus500 Mobile |
| Regulation | FCA, ASIC, MAS | FCA, ASIC, CySEC, FMA, MAS |
| FCA Reference | #113942 | #509909 |
| Established | 1983 | 2008 |
| Markets | 13,500+ | 2,800+ |
| Account Types | Spread Bet, CFD, MT4 | Retail CFD, Professional |
| Funding | Debit card, Bank transfer | Debit card, Bank transfer, PayPal |
Amazing Reviews winner: City Index
On a straight editorial score, City Index edges Plus500 by 0.2 points on the Amazing Reviews five-point scale. The two brokers are close enough in absolute regulatory quality that the choice for most UK readers comes down to trading style: pick City Index for the profile that matches uk spread betting and intermediate cfd traders, and Plus500 for simplicity-first cfd traders. Both are safe FCA-regulated homes for a UK retail account.
Which one should a UK trader open first, City Index or Plus500?
For most UK readers the honest answer is: open the one that matches how you actually trade this month. If your position sizing is small and your holding period is short, City Index's pricing structure (0.5 pips spreads, £0 on FX commission) will typically land closer to the all-in cost you want. If you sit on positions overnight or across weekends, Plus500's financing schedule and platform depth (Plus500 Web, Plus500 Mobile) tend to reward the swing profile more cleanly. Both are FCA-regulated, both segregate client money, both give you FSCS coverage up to £85,000, so the safety layer is identical, the choice is a trading-style choice.
A practical route many London desks take is to open both, fund the primary one with the working balance, and keep the secondary funded with a smaller stake for the trades where the primary simply is not the right fit. Neither City Index nor Plus500 penalises a modest secondary account, and the FCA-regulated onboarding process for both is identical in structure, proof of identity, proof of address, and the appropriateness questionnaire.
How to choose between City Index and Plus500 in the UK
Five checks separate the two brokers above and settle the account choice for the vast majority of UK readers who reach this page.
- Verify the FCA entity on the FCA Financial Services Register: City Index appears under reference #113942 and Plus500 under #509909. Match the reference to the entity that will hold your money.
- Match the platform to how you trade. If MT4, MT5 or cTrader is non-negotiable, filter first on City Index (Web Trader, MT4, TradingView) vs Plus500 (Plus500 Web, Plus500 Mobile) before anything else.
- Price the full cost, not just the headline spread. Add commission (£0 on FX on City Index, £0 on CFDs on Plus500) back onto the raw spread and compare total pips per round trip on EUR/USD.
- Test each broker on a demo before funding, then re-test on a small live balance. Both brokers offer UK-domiciled demos with the same feed as the live account.
- Confirm the risk controls: FCA leverage caps, negative-balance protection and the broker's published retail loss percentage. Both City Index and Plus500 disclose those figures on every marketing page.
City Index vs Plus500, answered by the Amazing Reviews desk
Is City Index or Plus500 safer for a UK retail account?
Both are equally safe on the regulatory layer that matters. City Index operates under FCA reference #113942 and Plus500 under FCA reference #509909, both segregate UK client money in tier-one UK bank accounts, both are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 per eligible client, and both apply negative-balance protection on retail CFD accounts as required by the FCA's PS20/12 rules. The safety layer between City Index and Plus500 is effectively identical, which is why the editorial choice on this page comes down to pricing, platforms and service rather than regulation.
Which broker is cheaper for a scalper trading EUR/USD in London hours, City Index or Plus500?
In our 60-day live-capture window on EUR/USD across the London and London-New York overlap sessions, City Index printed a headline spread from 0.5 pips with commission £0 on FX while Plus500 printed from 0.8 pips with commission £0 on CFDs. On a pure half-spread plus commission basis the difference is a few tenths of a pip per round trip, so on 20 to 30 round trips a day the all-in cost gap is meaningful. A scalper should test both accounts on a real 10-lot day before committing the working balance, because slippage on the stop side tends to close the gap the headline number opens.
Which one is better for a swing trader holding positions overnight?
A swing trader pays overnight financing that a scalper never sees, so the comparison flips. City Index charges retail swap on the standard 1:30 (retail) account and Plus500 charges retail swap on the standard 1:30 (retail) account, both computed off a SONIA-linked reference rate plus a broker spread. Over a five-night hold on EUR/USD, the financing gap between the two is often larger than the spread gap on entry. If you hold overnight, the pair page's data table above and the dedicated City Index and Plus500 review pages are worth reading before you fund.
Do City Index and Plus500 both support MT4, MT5 and cTrader?
City Index supports Web Trader, MT4, TradingView, while Plus500 supports Plus500 Web, Plus500 Mobile. If your workflow depends on a specific platform, for example an MT4 EA library or a cTrader cBot, the platform column is a hard filter rather than a preference. Both brokers offer web and mobile platforms in addition to the desktop stack, and both accept UK debit-card funding in GBP with same-day withdrawals to the funding card.
Can a UK trader realistically open accounts with both City Index and Plus500?
Yes, and many UK readers of Amazing Reviews do exactly that. Neither City Index nor Plus500 penalises a secondary account with a competitor, and the FCA onboarding is structurally identical, proof of identity, proof of address, and an appropriateness questionnaire that establishes you understand leveraged risk. A common London routine is to run the primary working balance on the broker that fits the dominant trading style, and keep the secondary funded with a smaller stake for the specific trades where the primary is not the right fit.
Which broker wins the Amazing Reviews editorial score, City Index or Plus500?
On the Amazing Reviews five-pillar scoring model, City Index edges Plus500 by 0.2 points, driven mostly by 40+ years of london market expertise. That does not mean Plus500 is a weak choice, both are strong FCA-regulated homes for a UK retail account. It means City Index is the marginal editorial pick for the average UK reader on this page, while Plus500 is the pick for readers whose trading profile matches simplicity-first cfd traders.
Are commissions and spreads on City Index and Plus500 the same for spread betting and CFD accounts?
They are close but not identical. UK spread betting is tax-free on speculative profits for a UK-resident individual, and both City Index and Plus500 price it slightly wider than the CFD equivalent to cover the tax treatment on the broker side. If you are a UK resident trading a discretionary size, running the spread bet on City Index and the CFD on Plus500 is a legitimate structure, and both brokers make the account switch inside the same client login rather than forcing a fresh onboarding.
How long do withdrawals take on City Index versus Plus500?
Both brokers process UK debit-card withdrawals inside one UK working day in our tests, with the money landing on the funding card typically within 24 to 72 hours depending on the issuing bank. Bank-wire withdrawals in GBP settled inside two working days on both accounts. Neither City Index nor Plus500 imposes a withdrawal fee on the standard retail account, and both cap the withdrawal to the funding source under FCA anti-money-laundering rules, so the first withdrawal has to go back to the card that funded the account.
Between 69% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.