XTB Review

XTB is one of the more prominent brokerages in the forex space – but it’s far from a one-trick pony. The company was founded in 2002 in Poland as X-Trade, and has enjoyed a lot of success since.

The company was the first leverage forex brokerage in Poland – and by 2010, it had expanded to offer services across the EU and in the UK, and in 2016 it was successfully listed on the Warsaw stock exchange, making it one of the few publicly-traded brokerages.

Since then, the company has expanded further into new markets and currently enjoys the patronage of more than 400,000 clients. There’s a good reason for that – lightning-fast execution speeds, low fees, and a pretty wide variety of tradable assets.

We’ve taken the time to compile all of the most relevant info regarding this brokerage in one place. What’s on offer is slightly different depending on your country of residence – so we made sure to highlight those differences as well. If you’re interested in a reliable brokerage that offers a powerful, feature-rich platform that focuses on technical analysis, take a look at our review.

XTB offers a powerful platform, low spreads, and commission-free trading on a wide variety of tradable assets, as well as comprehensive educational materials for beginner traders.

Fast Facts

• Account Minimum: $0 
• Fees: Commission-free trading, $10 inactivity fee and variable withdrawal fee for small transfers, 0.35 minimum spread
• Best for: Forex traders
• Highlight: Built-in trading calculator, market sentiment tool, 85ms order execution speed

Rating

• Commissions & Fees: 8/10
• Investment Selection: 8/10
• Account Options & Features: 7/10
• Usability: 8/10
• Educational Resources: 7/10
• Customer Service: 7/10
• Overall: 7.5/10

Visit XTB on XTB’s webiste

XTB’s Forex Trading Offerings 💵

Forex trading is one of XTB’s main selling points – so it comes as no surprise that the brokerage focuses quite a bit on this area. Both XTB UK and XTB International offer clients access to 57 currency pairs.

Among those 57 currency pairs, clients can find everything they could possibly need, from major pairs (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, and USD/CHF) to minor pairs (EUR/GBP, GBP/JPY, GBP/AUD, GBP/CHF, EUR/JPY, among others), as well as plenty of exotic currency pairs such as EUR/HUF, EUR/MXN, EUR/PLN, USD/RUB, GBP/ZAR.

There is one major difference between XTB’s forex offerings between the UK/EU brokerage and the international brokerage – and that is leverage. In order to comply with regulations, XTB can only offer leverage of up to 1:30 to UK and EU clients – while international clients can, depending on their place of residence, get leverage of up to 1:500 in certain cases.

XTB’s minimum order size is 0.01 lot, and minimum spreads start at 0.35 – but according to market data, the average spreads are closer to 0.9. However, when you take into account the fact that there is no commission charged on forex traders, the brokerage’s pricing overall is competitive. To top it all off, the average execution speed of orders is 85 milliseconds- better than most of XTB’s competitors.

That’s one piece of the puzzle – but it wouldn’t be worth much without the proper tools to make use of this wide assortment of tradable assets. XTB’s platforms support some pretty extensive and advanced trading tools – with 30 drawing tools, 39 technical indicators, and support for one-click trading, even veteran traders will feel right at home.

XTB’s Stock Trading Opportunities 📜

XTB provides access to a wide variety of stock CFDs worldwide. The brokerage allows clients to trade 1906 stock CFDs if they are based in the UK, and 1915 if they are based in other jurisdictions.

The stock exchanges covered include the NYSE, LSE, as well as stock exchanges in markets such as Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands, among others.

Although XTB does not offer access to stocks listed on the NASDAQ, US-based stocks still take up the lion’s share of the offerings – with 1133 of the stock CFDs available being US stocks. This is a very wide range of tradable assets and includes the most popular US stocks such as Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Alphabet, and Microsoft.

The minimum order size depends on what stock exchange you will be dealing with – but it is roughly equivalent either to $50 or $100, or $150 CHF in the case of Switzerland. There are no commissions charged either, and the average.

Most of the stocks listed can be shorted, while the maximum leverage available is 1:5 for UK clients and 1:10 for international clients.

As far as market data goes, XTB’s quotes are quite close to being real-time – with an average delay of 5ms.  Traders can also make use of a wide array of order types, including market, limit, stop, and trailing stop orders. This allows for a greater degree of risk management, as well as complex trading strategies. Orders are executed, on average, in 85 milliseconds.

Although it is much more well-known for its forex trading offerings, it’s clear that XTB is no slouch in the stock department either. The range of investment offerings is wide, the execution speed is lightning-fast, and the choice of order types is sufficient. While the available leverage is nothing to write home about, all in all, this is still a serious contender – even if you’re not interested in trading forex.

Trading Platforms 💻

Up until 2020, XTB offered traders access to multiple platforms. Apart from its proprietary xStation 5, clients could also download and use the perennial MT4. However, MT4 is no longer supported.

So, is this a bad thing? Not necessarily – although MT4 was used by millions of traders to cut their teeth, and supports a wide variety of addons and plugins making it highly customizable, xStation 5 is a great platform in its own right.

Available in a web-based version (compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera) and a desktop version, xStation 5 is sleek, easy to use, customizable, and has plenty of interesting features that make the overall trading experience better.

Let’s move on to those interesting features – a market sentiment tool allows traders to see how other XTB users are feeling about a particular asset. In essence, it indicates how many XTB users are going long on the asset, and how many are going short. Next, XTB has a built-in trading calculator, which allows traders to easily see the potential profit, loss, and risk of any given trade.

xStation 5 supports various types of charts – candlesticks, lines, and bar charts, as well as 39 technical indicators that are fully customizable. Last but not least, the platform supports one-click trading directly from the chart – allowing traders to instantly capitalize on any potential trading opportunity. 

The brokerage’s trading platform also supports trading alerts, as well as an economic calendar and a news section. Traders can also make use of a stock screener, a top movers list, and a heatmap that allows for a handy visualization of which industries are rising and which are falling.

All in all, xStation 5 is more than satisfactory – the platform offers a lot of punch in terms of analysis tools, the design is sleek and efficient, and the various drawing tools and technical indicators mean that it is a good fit for a plethora of strategies and trading styles.

Investment Selection 🗃

While forex and stocks might be the specialty of XTB, the brokerage hasn’t neglected other asset classes. Apart from stocks and forex, clients can also trade ETF CFDs, indices, cryptocurrencies, and commodities.

Let’s take it one at a time. As far as ETF CFDs go, 159 are available to trade, and they include some of the largest ETFs on the market from providers such as Blackrock, Vanguard, Schwab, and Invesco.

All of these ETF CFDs are traded without commissions, and most of them can be shorted. As far as leverage goes, it’s on a case-by-case basis – but the maximum is a modest 1:5 leverage. Keep in mind that ETF CFDs are not available to UK traders.

When it comes to indices, 30 are tradable – with most of them recreating the performance of a certain number of the largest stocks trading on a given international exchange. These exchanges cover various markets such as Brazil, China, the European Union, the UK, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico. 

There are 4 US indices available, reflecting the performance of the 100 largest tech stocks, the 2000 smallest stocks, the 30 largest industrial stocks, and the S&P 500. Leverage varies depending on whether or not you’re a UK client – UK clients can get leverage of up to 1:20 on indices, while international clients can get up to 1:200.

XTB also supports crypto trading through crypto pairs that always have the US dollar on one side. Clients can trade Bitcoin, Binancecoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Ripple, Solana, and other tokens this way. A total of 46 crypto pairs are supported. The supported level of leverage for crypto pairs is up to 1:5.

Last but not least, XTB also supports commodities trading through CFDs, with 28 commodities available to trade – with most supporting leverage of 1:67, but up to 1:500 in some cases. These commodities include soybeans, platinum, oil, natural gas, nickel, coffee, cattle, aluminum, and plenty more.

Fees, Pricing, Withdrawals, and Deposits

XTB offers two account types for international clients – the standard account and the swap-free account. The standard account has a minimum spread of 0.5, while the swap-free account has a minimum spread of 0.7, but doesn’t charge you for holding positions overnight.

For UK-based clients, the only option is the standard account – but in this case, the minimum spread is 0.35. There are no commissions charged when trading forex, indices, commodities, stock CFDs, and ETF CFDs for both UK and international clients. 

There is no minimum deposit associated with XTB – you can open an account with as little as 1$. However, when it comes to fees, things look a little less rosy.

Although it doesn’t amount to a huge problem, XTB is one of the rare brokerages that hasn’t done away entirely with antiquated fees. For example, a $10 monthly inactivity fee is charged if no positions are opened or closed in 365 days and no cash deposits happen in the last 90 days. 

On top of that, XTB charges a withdrawal fee for transactions below a certain threshold (100 USD, 80 EUR, 60 GBP, and 12 000 HUF respectively), amounting to 20 USD, 16 EUR, 12 GBP, or 3000 HUF.

XTB will also charge you a currency conversion fee of 0.5% for all trades that include instruments denominated in a currency that isn’t the main currency of your account. The brokerage supports accounts in the following currencies: USD, GBP, EUR, HUF.

When it comes to deposit methods, XTB supports bank transfers, credit cards, debit cards, and Skrill for UK residents, all of the above + PayPal for EU residents, and all of that plus Neteller for non-UK/EU residents. 

Clients from the MENA region can deposit funds via bank transfers and debit cards only. EU residents can use any deposit method without fees – while UK residents and non UK/EU residents will have to pay a 2% fee if using Skrill, and a 1% fee for using Neteller.

As far as withdrawal speed goes, withdrawals are processed on the same day if requested before 1PM. Requests made after 1PM will be processed the following day.

Customer Support and Education ☎

In terms of customer support, XTB can be contacted via live chat, phone, and email. The only major drawback is that the brokerage does not have 24/7 customer support – instead, CS is reachable 24/5.

The customer support agents are helpful, knowledgeable, and patient. The phone support is responsive, and wait times are short – and the same holds true for the live chat option.

Customer support is available in these languages:

• English
• Czech
• French
• German
• Hungarian
• Italian
• Portuguese
• Polish
• Russian
• Romanian
• Spanish
• Slovak
• Turkish
• Vietnamese
• Thai
• Arabic

On top of that, chat support can be contacted directly from the trading platform, and clients can also contact a personal account manager that is there to answer any questions regarding the platform.

In terms of education, one of the standout features that make this one of the top brokerages for beginners is that XTB offers a demo account. The demo account lasts for 30 days and affords you $100,000 in virtual money, allowing you to get a feel for the trading platform and try out different strategies without exposing yourself to any actual risk.

Beyond that, XTB also provides clients with a wealth of educational materials XTB’s trading academy is divided into four tiers: basic, intermediate, expert, and premium, and the course covers topics relating to both fundamental analysis as well as technical analysis through more than 200 lessons.

XTB also provides access to hours of video content, archived webinars, written content, quizzes, platform tutorials, and clients also gain invitation to a private Whatsapp group moderated by industry experts.

To cap everything off, the brokerage hosts a live market analysis, including client Q&A with industry professionals each Wednesday.

Trading Tools and Features 🛠

XTB’s trading platform, xStation 5, was built with powerful trading and analysis tools in mind. Comprehensive technical analysis is the name of the game here – and XTB went all out.

The platform supports a variety of chart types – so whether you prefer candlestick charts, line charts, or bar charts, XTB has you covered. In terms of technical indicators, xStation supports 39 of them – including favorites of forex traders such as Bollinger bands, moving averages, and stochastic oscillators. To make things even better, XTB allows traders to place trades directly from the chart – using only a single click.

In terms of risk management, XTB covers the essentials – stop loss orders and take profit orders allow traders to reduce losses and lock in gains. Trailing stop losses are also supported – allowing you to capture more profits should the tides of the market turn in your favor.

These features, while impressive, are par for the course – but XTB also has a couple of unique features up its sleeve. The market sentiment tool allows you to gauge whether fellow XTB users are feeling bearish or bullish about an asset, while the built-in trading calculator allows you to have a clean, crisp overview of potential gains, losses, and risk.

On top of that, the platform also supports a heat map, giving you a quick overview of how industries are faring on a particular day. To cap everything off, a stock screener is included in the platform, and it also supports watchlists and trading alerts.

Security and Regulations 🛡

Forex trading, just like CFD trading, is a risky business – and risk goes hand in hand with reward. This leads to an unfortunate situation, as both of these niches have a lot of untrustworthy brokerages.

XTB isn’t among them – it is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec), the National Securities Market Commission in Spain, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, as well as the International Financial Services Commission of Belize. In simple terms – this is going above and beyond.

This not only ensures that XTB is on the straight and narrow in terms of following regulations, but it also affords clients a degree of protection in the case of bankruptcy. These policies vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, totalling  £85,000 in the UK, €20,000 in Cyprus, Hungary, and Spain, and €20,100 in other EU states. Clients in the United Arab Emirates and countries not listed here are not afforded investor protection.

As an added level of transparency, XTB posts annual financial statements on its website, and the brokerage is audited by one of the “big four” auditors (KPMG, PWC, Deloitte, EY). Last but not least, XTB is a publicly-traded company, listed on the Warsaw stock exchange – you don’t get more transparent than that.

XTB also features negative balance protection. In short, this means that if your leveraged trades don’t pan out, your account’s value won’t go negative – you can never owe more money than what is deposited into your account.

As far as practical security measures are concerned, XTB supports multi-factor authentication, allows logging in via password, fingerprint, or code, and all connections between the XTB servers and your devices are fully encrypted.

User Experience and Mobile Trading 📱

XTB’s proprietary trading platform, xStation, features an intuitive interface that makes managing your positions and executing your trades easy. The layout is clean and simple, which helps to prevent analysis paralysis and is highly customizable. 

In terms of execution speed, the average execution speed of orders is 85 milliseconds, which helps to prevent slippage. Thankfully, this speed did not come at the cost of stability – xStation 5 is reliable, and very rarely suffers from outages, regardless of market volatility or trading volume.

Markets move rapidly – particularly the forex market, so having reliable, instantaneous access to your account is paramount. To accomplish this, XTB has put plenty of resources into building a well-made mobile app. 

xStation mobile, like most mobile versions of platforms, doesn’t offer access to the entire suite of tools that a web-based or desktop platform does – but it offers more than enough for its weight class. 

The app allows you to execute trades, manage your account, view charts, and even perform technical analysis. It supports 13 technical indicators, as well as having a pretty intuitive and easy-to-use interface, along with several useful features such as market sentiment and watchlists. 

Conclusion 🏁

Thanks for reaching the end of our review. XTB is certainly an interesting brokerage – with an appealing mix of commission-free trading, a wide variety of tradable assets, and a solid platform, XTB offers a great trading experience for beginners and veterans alike.

On a final note, we should point out that XTB is not available in the following countries: India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, United States, Australia, Albania, Belize, Belgium, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Israel, Turkey, Venezuela, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Uganda, Cuba, Yemen, Afghanistan, Laos, North Korea, Guyana, Vanuatu, Mozambique, Republic of the Congo, Libya, Macao, Panama, Singapore, Bangladesh, Kenya, Palestine and the Republic of Zimbabwe.

About the author

Tim Fries

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Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.