Broker to Trading

These brokers offer different kinds of trading platforms and accounts. Pepperstone offers trading on MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MT4's successor MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader and TradingView. However in the UK, Pepperstone additionally offers spread betting. These are platforms which let the trade execute their own trades and to use online trading robots to trade on their behalf. Trading 212 has a web trading platform designed for the trader who executes their own trades. Trading 212 offers a CFD account and an Invest account. The Invest account has 10,000+ real Stocks and ETFs to buy to own and to sell. When trading a CFD, the trader does not own the market.

Trading 212 does not charge commissions. On its Razor account, Pepperstone does charge commissions. This is because it can provide what can be very low spreads for the more liquid Forex pairs, to which it adds a commission charge. Additionally Pepperstone uses infrastructure to help provide traders with low latency order execution, which can be important in trading such as automated trading strategies which make rapid trades. Pepperstone also provides an account which does not charge commissions and thus has higher Forex spreads.

Trading 212 can provide many more markets to trade than Pepperstone, however Pepperstone has a competitive number (including Stocks CFDs on MT5). On its platforms, Pepperstone also enables features allowing the trader to use social and copy trading and supports the use of third party platforms supporting social and copy trading.

Pepperstone is regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, the ASIC in Australia, the CySEC in Cyprus, the BaFin in Germany, the CMA in Kenya, the SCB in the Bahamas and the DFSA in Dubai.

Trading 212 is regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, the CySEC in Cyprus and the FSC in Bulgaria.

Quick comparison

Pepperstone is a broker offering CFD trading on MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView and supporting automated trading with robots. Trading 212 has many more markets to trade and offers CFD trading and an Invest account, which lets the trader buys Stocks and ETFs to own (i.e. they are not CFDs).

Minimum deposit and key account features

The minimum deposit for Pepperstone is $/£200. The minimum deposit for Trading 212 to trade CFDs is $/€/£10 (the minimum deposit for the Invest account is $/€/£1).

Pepperstone offers a Standard and a Razor account for CFD trading and in the UK additionally offers a spread betting account. Pepperstone provides trading guides, a market review and an economic calendar its website. Pepperstone says that latency is as low as 30ms. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots.
Pepperstone's Standard and Islamic accounts do not charge commissions and hence offer higher spreads as they include a mark up. The Razor account charges commissions and allows scalping.
Trading 212 has a CFD and an Invest account. Trading 212 provides Videos, News, Analysis and an Economic Calendar on its trading platform and its website.

Markets

• Pepperstone offers Forex, Indices, Energy, Metals, Cryptocurrencies, Soft Commodities and Stocks, with 1000+ available.
• Trading 212 offers CFD trading in Forex, Indices, Energy, Metals, Cryptocurrencies, Soft Commodities, Stocks and ETFs, with 2,500+ available. Trading 212 on the Invest account offers real Stocks and ETFs, with 10,000+ available.

Pepperstone has 60+ Forex Pairs. Trading 212 has 180+ Forex Pairs.

Cryptocurrency CFDs

• Pepperstone offers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash and Bitcoin Cash CFDs.
• Trading 212 offers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Chainlink, Dogecoin, Binance Coin, EOS, Polkadot, Stellar, Uniswap, Tezos, Solana, Polygon, Avalanche and Terra CFDs.

Commissions

• Pepperstone charges a commission of $3.76 or AU$3.5 or €2.61 per lot per side on the Razor account, depending on the account currency. cTrader commissions are 7 units per lot round trip of the first quoted currency in the traded currency.
• Trading 212 does not charge commissions.

Leverage

Maximum leverage for Pepperstone (CySEC regulated) is . Maximum leverage for Trading 212 is .

Online trading platforms

Pepperstone offers MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView. Trading 212 offers a web trader and apps.

Why Pepperstone or Trading 212 ?

Traders who want to trade using automated trading strategies on a wide range of platforms can do so at Pepperstone, on MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView. The trader who executes their own trades can also use these platforms. Trading 212's platform is designed for the trader who executes their own trades. Trading 212 can provide many more markets to trade than Pepperstone (principally as it has many more Stocks). However Trading 212 also offers a relatively large number of Forex pairs compared with Pepperstone or other brokers, with 180+. Trading 212 offers an Invest account which lets the trader buy Stocks and ETFs to own. Traders who want to spread bet in the UK may do so at Pepperstone.

Comparison summary

• Both brokers offer CFD trading
• In the UK, Pepperstone additionally provides spread betting
• Trading 212 offers real Stocks and ETFs to own on its Invest account
• Neither broker charges commissions for Stocks
• Trading 212 has a very low minimum deposit for its Invest account of $1 ($10 for CFDs)
• Trading 212 allows factional Stock ownership
• Pepperstone supports trading with robots
• Trading 212 offers 180+ Forex pairs to trade
• Pepperstone offers MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView