FXCM Vs. Skilling - Compare and Choose the Right One


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Overview
FXCM is a global brokerage headquartered in the U.K that specialises in both retail and institutional trading with a comprehensive API offering.	Skilling is a multi-platform global broker founded in 2016 that specialises in CFD trading over several asset classes.
Best For
Professional algorithmic traders looking to benefit from their comprehensive API offering	Forex traders who want relatively straightforward, intuitive platforms with low commissions Beginner traders who need assistance implementing first trades
Licenses
Financial Licenses Regulation Regulated Top-tier Licenses 2 Other Licenses 2 Provided by TheTradingBible.com Learn More	Financial Licenses Regulation Regulated Top-tier Licenses 0 Other Licenses 2 Provided by TheTradingBible.com Learn More
🏛 Financial Regulators
ASIC (Australia) CySec (Cyprus) FCA (United Kingdom) FSCA (South Africa)	CySec (Cyprus) FSAS (Seychelles)
The Good
Comprehensive API offering with a variety of conditions and programming languages at no additional cost Proprietary platform (Trading Station)	Multiple intuitive platforms for traders with different levels of experience Several payment methods for deposits and withdrawals No commission for standard accounts Trade Assistant tool is great for beginners opening their first trade
The Bad
Lack of asset variety in their offering (over 300+ financial instruments) Costly spreads when compared to similar competitors	Doesn’t allow deleveragred trading or customizable leverage Charges commission on forex and spot metal trading for premium accounts Asset offering is not that comprehensive
Status
Operational	Operational
Recent News
N/A	N/A
Key Data
⌛ Account Opening Time
1 Day	1 Day
📋 Documents Required
Valid identity document (Passport, ID Card, etc) Valid proof of residence document (Bank statement, utility bills) All documents must be under the account holder's name.	Valid identity documents (Passport, ID card, etc) Valid proof of residence document (Bank statement, utility bills) All documents must be under the account holder’s name.
📍 Year Founded
1999 (FXCM Group)	2016
💳 Minimum Deposit
€, £, $ - 50 (Varies by payment method)	$, €, £ - 100 (Standard, MT4), 5,000 (Premium, MT4 Premium)
💰 Payment Methods
Visa Mastercard Bank Transfer Neteller Skrill Skrill and Neteller are not available to FXCM EU clients at the moment	Visa Mastercard Fasapay Webmoney PayRetailers PayTrust Pagsmile Directa NganLuong.vn UnionPay Skrill Neteller Bank Transfer
💵 Account Base Currencies
4 - EUR GBP, USD, CHF.	5 - EUR, USD, GBP, NOK, SEK.
🗽 Available to U.S Citizens
No	No
❌ Restricted Countries
RU, US, CA, JP, SK and more.	US, SY, IR.
📊 STP Account
No	Yes - depending on product traded, available liquidity and trade size
📊 DMA Account
No	No
📊 ECN Account
No	No
Assets
📚 Available Assets
CFDs on stocks, currencies, commodities, cryptocurrencies and indices	CFDs on stocks, currencies, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices and ETFs
📙 Stocks
200+	762
📘 Currency Pairs
39	73
📗 Commodities
11	6
📕 Indices
15	18
📔 ETFs
N/A	45
💸 Cryptocurrencies
6 (Cryptocurrencies CFDs are not available to retail clients residing in the UK)	34
📒 Bonds
N/A	N/A
📓 Options
N/A	N/A
📗 Futures
N/A	N/A
📝 Notes:
All of FXCM's assets are CFDs.	All of Skilling’s assets are CFDs
Trading Experience
📈 Minimum Stock Trade Size
1 share	Varies per share - From 0.1 shares (Fractional trading)
📉 Minimum ETFs Trade Size
N/A	Varies per ETF (Eg: VanEck Gold Miners 0.1 unit, XLK 1 unit)
📈 Minimum Crypto Trade Size
1 unit of any cryptocurrency	Varies per Cryptocurrency (Eg: 0.01 BTC, 0.5 LTC)
📉 Minimum FX Trade Size
$1000 (0.01 Lots)	$1,000 (0.01 Lots)
📈 Minimum Commodities Trade Size
Varies by Commodity (Eg: 1 Troy ounce of Gold)	Varies per commodity (eg: Gold 0.1 contracts, Silver 10 contracts)
📉 Minimum Bonds Trade Size
N/A	N/A
📈 Minimum Futures Trade Size
N/A	N/A
📉 Minimum Options Trade Size
N/A	N/A
💪 Retail Leverage
Up to 1:30	Up to 1:30
💪 Professional Leverage
Up to 1:500 (Varies)	Up to 1:500
✍ Customisable Leverage
No	No
🎲 Deleveraged Trading
No	No
🎓 Demo Account
Yes	Yes
📱 IOS App
Yes	Yes
📱 Android App
Yes	Yes
📺 MetaTrader 4
Yes	Yes
📺 MetaTrader 5
No	No
💻 Web trader
Yes	Yes
💻 TradingView Platform
Yes	Yes
💻 Proprietary Platform
Yes	Yes
📊 Multi-chart Tools
Yes	Yes
👬 Copy Trading
Yes	Yes
👫 Social Trading
Yes	No
🔑 Guaranteed Stop-loss
No	No
🔨 Trailing Stop-loss
Yes	Yes, for cTrader, MT4 and MT4 Premium accounts
Fees
💰 Inactivity Fee
50 units of the account's base currency yearly after 1 year of inactivity.	No
💰 Deposit Fees
No	No
💰 Withdrawal Fees
Yes on bank transfer withdrawals depending on location (from $10 to $40 on local currency).	No
💰 Commissions
No	Skilling charges commission on its forex pairs and spot metals for its premium account. The commission starts from $35 per million USD traded (eg: EUR/USD $35, GBP/USD $40 and Gold $60)
Spreads
📈 EUR/USD
From 1.2 Pips (As per our research)	Dynamic - From 0 to 1.3 Pips
📉 SP500
Dynamic - From 58 Pips (As per our research)	Dynamic - From 120 Pips
📈 GOLD
Dynamic - From 41 Pips (As per our research)	Dynamic - From 36 Pips
📉 TSLA (Stock CFD)
Dynamic - From $1.04 (As per our research)	Dynamic - From $4.62
📈 XLK (ETF - CFD)
N/A	Dynamic - From $0.84
📉 BTC
Dynamic - From $51 (As per our research)	Dynamic - From $131.8
Research and Analysis
⭐ Watchlists
Yes	Yes
🔭 Stock Screener
No	No
🗓 Economic Calendar
Yes	Yes
📜 Integrated Newsfeed
Yes	Yes
📡 Reuters Feed
No	No