On this page you’ll find out how to personally evaluate the best CFD brokers. In fact, while on one hand it is important that there are specialized websites prepared to recommend trading platforms and brokers to you, on the other it is much more important for you to be able to evaluate which CFD brokers you find more suited to your needs.
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But what is it you need to know to evaluate a CFD broker? This depends on many factors but what matters is that you can do it even if you are a beginner. Each type of user (from beginner to expert) can make their own evaluations according to their needs, so we will start from this distinction between the various possible assessments.
Are you a beginner? Learn to evaluate the best CFD brokers
If you are a beginner, your evaluation should be based on factors that are decisive to you: ease of use, the possibility of practicing with a free demo, the clarity of terminology and functions of the platform, the option of easily interfacing (for example with live chat) with customer support or chat to find other users.
Furthermore, as a beginner you probably won’t be used to easily distinguishing a legal and regulated broker from an unregulated one that could bring trouble your way. For this very reason, always remember to check if a broker is authorized and licensed. The brokers mentioned by us are all regulated by CySEC in Europe (in some cases FDA for the United Kingdom), registered in the Consob register, and obey user protection regulations from MiFID 2 and ESMA framework.
Apart from technicalities, keep in mind what was said at the beginning, that is to say the decisive factors for trading if you are a beginner.
To help you choose, in this table are some of the best CFD brokers for beginners, with all their papers in order and well established.
Plus500 is one of the most important and well-known CFD brokers in the world. This is because it has been operating worldwide for about 10 years, including in Italy. It offers a very simple to use platform, also available with a free demo. To use the free demo, just visit this page and then choose “Demo”. Switching to a real account is optional and you can also interface with customer support via live chat featured on the platform. Try it out now for free.
IQ Option is a broker that became famous for its binary options but now also offers CFDs. Its platform is very different from Plus500 and in some ways it may seem easier to use. However, it will be necessary for you to look at it in detail, as, for example on how to set a stop losses and make a profit, as we explain in this video. Try IQ Option for free.
Are you an intermediate user? Find out what your goals could be
By “intermediate user” we mean a user who is no longer a beginner but cannot yet consider himself an expert. We recommend a little modesty here and strongly advise you not to immediately consider yourself experts. Being an expert does not mean knowing how to use a platform, but it means knowing all aspects of trading in general, including many concepts concerning technical analysis, as well as technicalities such as spreads, roll-overs (etc.), and above all your money management experts.
Well, at an intermediate level we have two types of traders: those who want to improve and those who don’t want or have time to do it.
If you want to improve your skills, it is best for you to start with a demo account where you could gain the necessary skills for a real account. We recommend using the following platforms.
- With Plus500 you will be able to start with a demo account and then use it more in depth depending on your level and the level you want to achieve. For example, there are numerous technical analysis tools (many of which have recently been added).
- Technical analysis tools are also available on the IQ Option platforms, 24option, 24CM (webtrader), and Markets (webtrader). Advanced technical analysis tools will allow you to progress and become an expert.
To these platforms we can also add MetaTrader 4, which however requires much more effort to understand its functions.
Now, let’s move on to the second category, intermediate users. If you are an intermediate user but don’t have the time/desire to improve to an expert level, there is good news: you can use the same platforms mentioned above. By doing so, if you want to in the future, you can use these to achieve the next level.
Are you an experienced trader? Here’s how to evaluate the best online brokers
If you are an expert trader and want to evaluate other platforms than those you already use (those that have led you to become an expert), you should evaluate some very advanced aspects, both generally and specifically. By “specific” we mean those suited to your specific needs which only you know.
As for very advanced “general” aspects, CFD brokers for experts are certainly those that offer the option of operating with professional trading platforms such as MetaTrader.
There are some platforms that allow you to operate through MetaTrader, although it must be specified that some of them “come and go” depending on their agreements with MetaTrader itself. There have been some brokers that in certain periods have offered the option of operating with MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, only then to end or suspend relations with MT and return to offer only their own webtrader or their original platform.
Currently, 24option, 24CM Capital Markets, and iTrader are among the best CFD brokers offering the option of trading (and practicing) with MetaTrader.
Best stock and Forex CFD brokers in Italy
If your favourite assets include stocks and/or Forex currency pairs, there are some brokers that offer a wide choice of these two assets.
It is well known that brokers like Markets and Plus500 are among those with the widest choices. Plus500, above all, has always specialized in offering equity CFDs, which is why it offers around 1000 stocks, including all the main Italian ones. Its offerings are concentrated, it must be said, above all in the United States, since it offers several hundred stocks (CFD on shares) listed on the US market. However, as far as Italy and other European countries are concerned, it offers all (or almost all) the most important stocks.
As for the Forex, the same two platforms also offer all the main primary exchange rates. Plus500 offers a wide choice of primary, secondary, and virtual exchanges.
Best CFD Platforms
It must be said that some of the best Italian CFD brokers offer the option of trading on different platforms. For example, there may be a “basic” platform, usually a webtrader (since it allows access from the web, or from a browser) and other alternatives suitable to more advanced users.
This is the case, for example, with the 24option platform, which allows you to trade CFDs with your own webtrader platform, but also to trade via award-winning MetaTrader.
Now, regardless of this, what is the best CFD trading platform offered by a broker in Italy?
From a point of view of completeness we could say “MetaTrader 4” or “MetaTrader 5”, however, as we have already previously mentioned, a platform must adapt to the needs of the user. This means that for a user with certain needs the best usable CFD platform will be different than that used by someone with different needs.
To this regard, we recommend re-reading or reading (if you have not already done so) the part of this article dedicated to the three categories of traders, i.e. beginner, intermediate, expert. To these three should also be added the “professional” category, but in this case, a professional will already know how to operate, which platforms to use etc. So, if you’ve come this far, this probably doesn’t apply to you.
Reliable CFD brokers and necessary training
If talking about subjective opinions that’s one thing, but if talking about objective things, that’s something entirely different. In fact, if on one hand anyone prefers one CFD broker over another, on the flipside there should be no room to say “to me he’s reliable” or “to me he’s not reliable”.
The broker, both small and large, must eliminate all kinds of doubts in the trader’s mind. Responding to every request made by the user, and operating with correctness and transparency is a must. On a larger scale, be a stickler and make sure the broker follows industry regulations and is monitored by the competent bodies, as well as by regulatory bodies such as CySEC.
There should never be any doubt as to whether a broker is trustworthy or not. And in fact, for the best CFD brokers there is never any doubt. Working with brokers like Plus500 or Markets, for example, eliminates any kind of doubt; as well as the Fineco trading platform, if we want to use a more “classic” example.
In general, to verify the reliability of a broker it would be enough to verify its popularity and licensing since a regulated broker with hundreds of thousands of users is highly unlikely to be unreliable. Certainly they would not have achieved a decade of international success as the two brokers mentioned above have, as well as other very popular platforms such as IQ Option and 24option.
Of course, if one judges the reliability of one’s results, then the judgment would certainly not be objective. Today, however, ESMA requires regulated European CFD brokers to report the percentage of users who lose money on their platforms. It’s no surprise that most users lose, but that doesn’t mean that brokers are not reliable. At most, many websites are responsible of not offering much training and instead offer only enthusiasm and empty promises. Not to mention “traders” that branch out without even (in most cases) offering the option of preparing a user to trading. In short, if on the one hand brokers and responsible websites have done a good job, in accordance with regulations, on the other hand there are those who seek only to profit from you.
CFD and Forex, is there a difference?
Basically no. CFD brokers also offer Forex CFDs, so there is no difference in the type of trading instruments offered. However, the underlying assets change.
Remember that CFDs are financial instruments that replicate the performance of another financial instrument, called an asset or underlying asset. This asset can be a stock, a commodity, an ETF, a cryptocurrency, as well as a currency exchange. The mechanisms underlying the trading of stocks and Forex, therefore, are the same.
Italian CFD Brokers
Most of the Italian CFD brokers so far mentioned are international brokers based abroad, but they have all the credentials to operate in Italy and offer their services to Italian users.
Besides these, which are 100% made in Italy CFD brokers? The most famous Italian trading platform is certainly Fineco, offered by Fineco Bank. It was founded in 1999 in Milan and is part of the Unicredit group. Among the various offers for trading, there is also one dedicated to CFDs, or Contracts for Difference, with which it has been operating since 2004.
However, it is good to specify that each broker operating in Italy is subjected to equally vigorous and constant checks as well as those for Italian CFD brokers.
