IQ Option ranks among the best brokerage firms available to retail investors. However, traders believe in numbers, not words. This is why we compared IQ Option vs. Pocket Option, and with 3 other competing brokers (XM, Olymp Trade, Forex.com) in various parameters:
- Investment options
- Spreads
- Fees
- Trading platforms
- Charting features
- Market research tools
- Account types
Compare the characteristics that are important to you and team up with the best broker!
General
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| App Store rating | 3.7 | No app | 4.0 | 3.4 | 4.2 |
| Google Play rating | 4.1 | No app | 4.2 | 3.0 | 4.2 |
| Years in business | 7 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 6 |
| Leverage | Up to 1:1000 | Up to 1:888 | Up to 1:500 | Up to 1:50 | Up to 1:500 |
| Payment options | Credit card, Perfect Money, Skrill, Neteller, WebMoney, Wire Transfer, local banks, bitcoin | Cashu, Credit card, Perfect Money, QIWI, Sofort, Sticpay, UnionPay, WorldPay, Yandex Money | Perfect Money, AdvCash, Bitcoin, vLoad, Litecoin, Stellar, Ethereum, Jeton, Ripple, Zcash, Tether, TrueUSD, USDK, USD Coin, DAI, Paxos Standard | Credit card, Giropay, MoneyGram, Paysafecard, Wire Transfer | Perfect Money, Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin, Tether, Ethereum, WebMoney, bank transfer |
| Customer support | 24/7 in Thai, English, English (India), Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian, French, Italian, Swedish, Hindi, Chinese (Mandarin Simplified), Korean, Turkish, Bengali | 24/5 in English, Greek, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Czech, Slovakian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Bengali, Urdu, Thai, Nepali, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Cebuano, Korean, Serbian | English, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Hindi, Chinese (Mandarin Simplified), Korean, Turkish, Malay, Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, Japanese, Romanian, Greek | 10 a.m. Sunday – 5 p.m. Friday in English | 24/7 in English, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French, Hindi, Chinese (Mandarin Simplified), Korean, Turkish, Malay, Arabic |
| Languages | English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Indonesian, Russian, French, Swedish, Hindi, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Turkish, Bengali | English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Indonesian, Russian, French, Swedish, Hindi, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Malay, Greek, Arabic, Filipino, Hungarian, Bengali, Dutch, Polish, Czech | English, German, Russian, Polish, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Serbian, Greek, Spanish, French, Farsi, Japanese, Romanian, Italian, Thai, Malay, Korean, Croatian | English, Spanish, German, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Arabic | English, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, French, Malay, Indonesian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Japanese |
| Social trading | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Copy trading | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Auto trading | No | EAs | No | EAs | EAs |
| Live chat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliate program | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Specials | Tournaments, free webinars, VIP status | Refer a friend, 100% bonus, free VPN, Loyalty program | Tournaments, deposit bonus, cashback | Welcome bonus | Promo Code 50%, 30% |
| Account currency | USD, GBP, EUR, THB, IDR, VND, Peso, MYR, CNY, BRL, ZAR, RUB, LYR, INR | USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, AUD, HUF, PLN, RUB, SGD, ZAR | USD | USD, EUR, GBP | USD, EUR |
| OTC trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes |
Trading assets
When comparing IQ Option vs. Pocket Option and other brokers, it is evident that all brokers have a very different amount of assets available.
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| Stocks | 180 | 1,295 | 0 | 220 | 21 |
| Binary options | 49 | 0 | 60 | 0 | 0 |
| Digital options | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forex pairs | 22 | 57 | 0 | 91 | 33 |
| Cryptocurrencies | 26 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| Commodities | 4 | 13 | 0 | 12 | 6 |
| Indices | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 14 |
| ETFs | 23 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| TOTAL | 295 | 1379 | 60 | 341 | 82 |
Spreads*
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| Forex | |||||
| EUR/USD | 0.00006 | 0.00017 | – | 1.5 | 1.0746 |
| GBP/USD | 0.0001 | 0.00022 | – | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| Binary options | |||||
| EUR/USD | 0.00006 | – | 0.00004 | – | – |
| GBP/USD | 0.0001 | – | 0.00015 | – | – |
| Cryptocurrencies | |||||
| Bitcoin | 181.968 | – | – | – | 0.02 |
| Ethereum | 1.793 | – | – | – | 0.02 |
| Commodities | |||||
| Crude Oil WTI | 0.116 | 0.04 | – | 0.05 | 0,004 |
| Gold | 0.9292 | 0.35 | – | 0.6 | 0,004 |
| Silver | 0.043 | 0.035 | – | 0,04 | 0,004 |
| Stocks | |||||
| Apple | 0.794 | 0.27 | – | 0.01 | N/A |
| Tesla | 5.172 | 4.57 | – | 0.1 | N/A |
*The average spreads in this chart are calculated throughout the day and may vary depending on the market conditions.
Minimum values
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| Minimum deposit | $10 | $5 | $5 | $100 | $10 |
| Minimum withdrawal | $2 | $5 | $10 | $100 | $10 |
| Minimum trade | $1 | 0.01 micro lot | $1 | $1 | $1 |
Fees
To have a full and detailed comparison of IQ Option vs. Pocket Option and other brokers, it is important to take fees and commissions into account.
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| Swap (e.g. EUR/USD)* | -0.0028 -0.0084 | -0.56 -0.84 | N/A | -1.46 -0.06 | -0.0038 |
| Inactivity fee | $10/month after 90 days | $5/month after 90 days | 0 | $15/month after 12 months | $10/month after 180 days |
| Deposit fee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Withdrawal fee | 1 free withdrawal per month; 2% fee (but no more than $30) on each subsequent withdrawal | 0 | 0; 0.5% commission on Perfect Money payments | 0; $40 for international wire transfers | 0 |
| Fees per trade | No | For Zero trading accounts | No | No | Yes |
*Swap fees are subject to change.
Trading platforms
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| MT4 | X | ✓ | X | ✓ | X |
| MT5 | X | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
| Desktop (Windows) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Desktop (Mac) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile app (Android) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile app (iOS) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile app (Windows) | ✓ | ✓ | X | X | X |
Traderoom features
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| Indicators | 100 | 50 | 30 | 67 | 23 |
| Drawing tools | Trend, horizontal, vertical, Fibonacci lines, Fibonacci arc lines, Fibonacci spiral | Trend, Fibonacci, cycle, Elliott, Gann, geometric shapes | Horizontal, vertical lines, Ray, Trend, Fibonacci, Parallel Channel, Rectangle, Andrew’s Pitchfork | Trend, Gann, Fibonacci, geometric shapes | Trend, horizontal, vertical, Fibonacci, Ray |
| Chart types | Bar, line, candlestick, Heikin-Ashi | Bar, line, candlestick | Area, lines, bars, candles, Heikin-Ashi | Bar, line, Japanese candlestick, hollow candlestick, Heikin-Ashi, line, baseline, Renko, line break, Kagi, Point and Figure | Area chart, Japanese candlesticks, Heikin-Ashi, bars |
| Candle time periods | 5 seconds – 1 month | 1 minute – 1 month | 5 seconds – 1 day | 1 minute – 1 month | 15 seconds – 1 month |
| Alerts | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Stop-Loss and Take-Profit | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Leaderboard | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Market research
| IQ Option | XM | Pocket Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| News | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Economic calendar | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Traders’ sentiment | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Education | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Account types
| IQ Option | XM | Expert Option | Forex.com | Olymp Trade | |
| Demo | + | + | + | + | + |
| Standard | + | + | + | + | + |
| Micro | − | + | − | − | − |
| VIP | + | − | − | − | + |
| VIP account offers | Increased profitability, training materials, personal manager, access to all tournaments | N/A | N/A | N/A | Increased profitability, higher maximum trade amount, risk-free trades, training materials, personal manager, strategies, special events |
| Islamic | + | + | + | − | − |
| ECN | − | − | − | + | + |
| DMA | − | − | − | + | − |
| Margin trading | + | + | + | + | + |
Summary
As appears from the comparison tables, IQ Option competes with high-profile brokers and goes head-to-head with them in the main parameters: assets, platform functionality, market research tools, and trading conditions. When comparing IQ Option vs. Pocket Option and other brokers, there are several conclusions to be made.
Pros
The most notable difference is the options trading offers – IQ Option and Expert Option are the only ones to have these instruments, although Expert Option doesn’t offer any other instruments aside from binary options.
Those who take technical analysis seriously will find the biggest indicators selection at IQ Option – over 100. The templates feature allows traders to create their favorite indicator combos and save them for further use.
IQ Option also stands out in terms of trading platform usability – only Olymp Trade and Pocket Option can compete with it. All three have proprietary platforms that are way more understandable than the classic MT4 and MT5 and thus more accessible for the general public. This along with competitive spreads, low deposit and investment amounts, zero fees per trade, and a variety of international and local payment options make IQ Option a top choice for beginner and advanced-level traders.
On top of that, IQ Option is the only one of the presented brokers to have a charitable foundation that contributes to the social well-being of the most vulnerable local community of least developed African countries. If social responsibility means something to you, that would score one for IQ Option too.
Cons
Some may find the lack of MT4 and MT4 platforms rather upsetting. Another thing that distinguishes IQ Option from its competitors is а limited amount of free withdrawals. Traders can withdraw their profit at zero cost once a month, but they have to pay a small fee for each subsequent one. If you are the type of trader that likes to make withdrawals frequently, that might be a little upsetting.
The IQ Option’s asset choice is significantly outnumbered by XM with its 1000+ stock collection that leaves all the competitors far behind. However, IQ Option is an absolute leader when it comes to cryptocurrency trading.
