Search
CloseOpen
logo
  • service-logo
    Investment Broker

4.6

rating icon

This broker is above average. Average Rating for investment apps 4.3.

Main features

  • check
    Account protection
  • check
    Fast deposits/withdrawals
  • check
    Low fees
  • check
    Mobile + web

Investment Broker at a Glance

Comission

0%

Platform

Mobile + web

Withdrawal fees

0

smiling face icon

Cool

Bonus for deposit

Bonus for deposit

Excellent educational assistance

Excellent educational assistance

Low fees

Low fees

sad face icon

Not cool

No two-factor authentication

No two-factor authentication

Deposit types

  • Credit/Debit card

    Credit/Debit card

  • Bank Transfer

    Bank Transfer

  • PayPal, Skrill

    PayPal, Skrill

Licences and regulations

  • KNF

    KNF

  • FCA

    FCA

  • FSA, FFAJ

    FSA, FFAJ

Available Instruments

  • Crypto

  • Stock

  • Forex, ETFs, Commodities

Countries available

  • 100+

    100+

Updated:

sortter logo

Author:

Sortter Team

alex manea

Fact-checked:

Alex Manea

Quality checked

XTB Review 2023: See If XTB Is The Right Broker For You

If you’re considering trading forex and CFDs, you will need to find a broker who specializes in offering you access to these products.

XTB Online Trading is one of the most prominent and established forex brokers out there, so it’s no wonder you stumbled upon it. Besides forex, it offers access to a wide variety of markets like stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, etc.

On top of that, the broker offers its services at a low cost, making it ideal for active traders.

But when there are so many other brokers out there, it becomes hard to choose one over the other. This is why with this XTB review we aim to help you understand the value this broker has to offer and decide if it’s the right broker for you.

What is XTB?

XTB Online Trading is a foreign exchange brokerage house that has been in business for almost two decades and offers its services mainly in the European Union.

Despite the fact that the specific industry is highly competitive, this broker managed to continue being one of those who offer the best value for all sorts of traders. Due to the low cost and the variety of markets they offer access to, they are one of the top choices out there.

The broker is most famous for its trading platform called “xStation 5” which is very easy to use and provides access to research and trading tools, along with advanced features for experienced traders.

Pros

  • One of the lowest costs when trading forex
  • One of the best forex trading platforms
  • Free and fast deposits/withdrawals
  • Easy to open an account
  • Provides account protection
  • Great customer support
  • Regulated in the UK and Poland

Cons

  • Stock CFD spread costs are high
  • You can’t trade the underlying assets like stocks, ETFs, commodities
  • Doesn’t accept US clients

Who is This XTB Review For

We generally write in-depth reviews that are suited for both beginners and experienced traders. This XTB Trading Platform review is no different. We take a look at all the fees, features, and assets (like forex, CFDs, etc.) and provide as much information as possible for our readers.

Keep in mind that when trading CFDs some retail investor accounts lose money. The percentage varies from broker to broker

Is XTB Safe?

XTB Online Trading is regulated in the United Kingdom and Poland and is registered with the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority - the regulator of the UK markets) and KNF (the regulator for the markets in Poland). So, when it comes to authority, the XTB broker checks all the boxes.

Now, when it comes to specifically the safety of your money, it seems like XTB takes this seriously enough. Your money will be held in segregated bank accounts to keep them separate from the broker’s funds.

In terms of account security, the broker also takes the matter seriously. Although they don’t offer a two-factor authentication process, they do use biometrics (fingerprint/voice verification) to ensure the safety of your account. On top of that, it requires you to input a password that includes upper/lower case letters, characters, and numbers.

To be fair, though, one issue for some users regarding safety features is that the broker doesn’t provide them with guaranteed stop losses, although they do offer this type of order as a feature. But this has less to do with the integrity of the broker and more to do with the fact that the feature is supposed to trigger a sell order after an asset’s price has declined past a certain threshold, not execute the order at that exact price.

XTB Review: Platform & Features

xStation 5, XTB’s trading platform, can be easily accessed by traders through any browser across Android, Windows, and iOs on devices like desktop, tablet, and phone.

The platform is not as rich as others when it comes to features, but this makes it more user-friendly and therefore ideal for those who aren’t professionals. In addition, this lack of “clutter” can help you get started right away with minimal to zero guidance.

But even if you need any help, the broker has integrated FAQs and guides to provide support every step of the way. If that doesn’t suffice for some reason, you can get in touch with them via email, chat, or phone to receive further guidance.

Now, when it comes to the features traders can enjoy while placing orders, XTB offers the following:

  • Market Order. The most basic order with which you ask to buy or sell an asset at the prevailing market price
  • Limit Order. You place this order when you want to trade an asset at a predetermined price, and you can decide how long the order will be pending before it closes if the broker can’t execute it
  • Stop Order. The Stop or Stop-Loss order will liquidate your position if the price of the asset falls below a predetermined threshold that you set
  • Trailing stop. Like the stop order, the trailing stop order will help you limit how much loss you incur, with the difference that if the price moves in your favor, the stop price will be adjusted closer to the market price to lock in some profit

At last, you can also set alerts in the form of emails, SMS, and push notifications to get notified about margin calls, changes in trading positions, deposits/withdrawals, etc.

XTB also has an extensive learning center where clients can learn how to become better traders or investors. XTB also offers weekly live market analysis, every Wednesday, followed by a chat session, where experts will answer all your questions.

See if XTB Is a Good Fit for You

XTB Review: Fees & Commissions

As with many brokers, XTB’s pricing structure consists of the trading fees you must expect to incur while trading and the non-trading fees that are related to non-trading activities like depositing and withdrawing funds.

Trading Fees

The pricing structure for trading is straightforward.

For the Standard account, the minimum spread is 0.5, and the average spread for the EUR/USD is 1.02.

For the Pro account, the minimum spread is 0.1, while the average spread for the EUR/USD is 0.43.

XTB Withdrawal Fees

Fortunately, XTB Online Trading doesn’t charge any fees for depositing funds. There are also no XTB withdrawal fees.

Non-Trading Fees

It actually charges a €10 fee if you don’t deposit at least once per 90 days. This is called an inactivity fee and it’s the only non-trading fee that the broker charges.

The inactivity fee also applies to the scenario where no opening or closing of a position is made within 365 days. But that’s something that should never concern you if you’re a fairly active trader.

XTB Review: Education

This review could not be complete without some information about the broker’s educational content. Since more and more traders and/or investors are opening a brokerage account each day, a strong educational platform is an important thing to have.

XTB is one of those brokers. The broker has an extensive educational section that covers everything from using the XTB platform to advanced notions, like short-selling, hedging or even trading phycology.

XTB Knowledge Base

The educational section is easily accessible from the main menu, so you don’t have to search for it too long. The educational content is also sortable, with the help of various categories which you can select on the top of the page. These categories include:

  • Forex
  • Commodities
  • Indices
  • Stocks
  • Fundamental analysis
  • CFDs
  • ETFs
  • XTB Services

XTB Live Webinars

Besides the articles, as an XTB customer, you also get access to weekly live webinars. The webinar takes place every Wednesday at 5:45 pm GMT and covers several topics, from XTB’s trading platform, called xStation 5, to a market analysis made by XTB experts.

XTB Trading Course

Lastly, as an XTB customer you get access to an in-depth trading course that will take you from beginner to advanced. The course has several hours of video lessons and some additional bonus content. Besides these, you also get access to an exclusive WhatsApp group ran by XTB’s market analysts.

XTB review: Market Analysis

Another of XTB’s strong suits is its market analysis section. Even though it doesn’t publish too many articles each day, the XTB staff and market analysts put out thorough pieces that can help traders and investor make informed decisions. The XTB Market Analysis section is divided into several sections.

Market News

First off is the XTB Market News section. This is where customers can read daily analysis articles written by XTB experts or third-party providers as well as news articles related to the stock market.

Research

Besides news, XTB offers clients some great researching tools. First of all, on the main news section it has a few very useful widgets:

  • Market calendar – where you can see all the important market events expected to take place during the day. There’s also a Market calendar page where you can sort through all the events scheduled for the foreseeable future. These can also be sorted based on country and market impact.
  • Market sentiment – lets you see how other traders and investors are acting on the market – if they are buying or selling certain assets.
  • Top movers – see which assets are the top gainers or top losers of the day.

XTB Trading platforms

As mentioned earlier, XTB has its own, award-winning, trading platform, xStation. This is available for both web (XTB xStation 5) and mobile (XTB xStation Mobile). As an XTB client you can use both of these to make trades or investments.

xStation 5 Trading Ptation

xStation 5 is XTB’s main trading platform and you can access it either via web (with browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Opera or Safari) or as a desktop app (works on both Windows and Mac). The platform offers a great experience to both beginner and advanced users.

xStation 5 is simple and intuitive and has a versatile stock screener, which you can use to sort through more than 2100 instruments (assets) from all over the world, including Forex, indices, commodities, stock CFDs, and ETF CFDs. 

xStation Mobile Trading Platform

XTB’s xStation trading platform is also accessible via mobile devices. You can easily install it on both your Android or iOS devices and start trading from anywhere.

The mobile trading platform has a responsive design so it’s easy to use on any type of devide. xStation Mobile offers most of the features that xStation 5 has, but not all. In total, you have 30 drawing tools and 39 technical indicators, which should be enough to make trades on the go.

Besides these, with XTB’s mobile platform you can also access the news section and other important market analysis tools that the broker offers to its members for free.

Meta Trader 4

Besides xStation, other trading platforms XTB customers get access to is the popular Meta Trader 4.

What can you trade on XTB?

With XTB, you’re allowed to trade the following assets:

  • Forex CFDs. Also known as Foreign Exchange, forex trading refers to the buying and selling of currencies. The broker, however, allows you to speculate on forex without converting your currency, but instead by offering financial contracts called CFDs that base their values on the underlying currencies.
  • Stock CFDs. The broker doesn’t allow you to buy stocks, but they offer you the opportunity to speculate on the short- term direction of stock prices through CFDs.
  • ETF CFDs. Same with forex and stocks, you can’t trade ETFs but you can speculate on short-term ETF price movements through CFDs.
  • Commodity CFDs
  • Cryptocurrency CFDs

How to Open an Account with XTB

Here’s a step by step guide on how you can open an account with XTB Online Trading:

  • Visit this broker's main page page and enter your email and the country of your residence
  • Add your personal information (address, date of birth, etc.)
  • Choose your preferred platform you will be trading on
  • Decide what account type you are going to need (Standard or Pro)
  • Select your base currency for your account
  • Answer a few questions regarding your employment/financial status and your trading experience
  • Activate your account by sharing the required documents to verify your identity and residency

Regarding that last step, bear in mind that XTB could support identity verification through video. Alternatively, you will need to share a scanned picture of your ID, passport, or driver’s license with them.

Now, when it comes to depositing methods, here is a list of options you will have with this broker:

  • Bank transfer
  • Credit/debit card
  • Paypal
  • PayU
  • Neteller
  • Paydoo
  • SafetyPay
  • Paysafe
  • Blik
  • Sofort
  • BlueCash
  • ECOMMPAY

Note: you don’t need to deposit a minimum amount to open an account.

As for withdrawals, you can only execute them through bank transfers.

Here is a more in-depth article on how to open an XTB account.

How to Trade Crypto on XTB

Now, here’s a short and simple guide to trade on this broker’s platform:

  • Log in to your account
  • Choose a market through the platform
  • Do your research by using the plethora of technical and fundamental analysis tools that this broker provides through the platform
  • Either use the chart of the asset you want to buy, open the click & trade panel that appears after you click on the selected asset, or open the order window by right-clicking on the chart
  • Determine how much you want to trade with and what volume you are looking to trade
  • Choose how much margin you would like to trade with
  • Select either or both of the Stop Loss or Take Profit options if you want to limit your risk and cap your gains
  • Decide on the direction that you think the asset will trade by either clicking the Buy or Sell button

XTB Review: Customer Support

The contact options of XTB are plentiful, as they offer a live chat facility, 24/5 local phone support, and email for prospective and existing clients. What’s even more amazing is that they assign account managers to their clients to help them with issues related to their accounts.

XTB Review Conclusion - One of the Best Forex Brokers?

XTB Online Trading is a very good platform for forex trading (some even say one of the best forex brokers) and offers a particularly friendly trading platform to newcomers.

On top of that, you can also trade CFDs on crypto, stocks, and commodities. If you’re not necessarily looking for a dedicated forex broker, you will appreciate this variety of markets they offer access to.

And when it comes to pricing, their spreads are very competitive in the forex broker industry. Additionally, you won’t incur any deposit/withdrawal fees, which is good if your goal is to periodically add funds to your account.

All in all, XTB Online Trading is an established, low-cost, and trustworthy forex broker (in part thanks to its Financial Conduct Authority certification). You really can’t go wrong here no matter what markets you’re looking to trade in.

XTB vs Other Brokers

XTB vs Trading 212

XTB vs eToro

Risk Warning

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.

76% - 85% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

promotion bar icon

Unsure if this broker is for you?

FAQ

  • XTB is a global forex and CFD broker that has headquarters in Warsaw and London, and it was founded in 2002. Several financial authorities regulate this company, so you can be sure that it is completely safe and legitimate.

  • XTB offers three types of accounts, and those are Pro, Standard, and Basic. The commission is charged only on equity trades with the Standard and Basic accounts. The cost of commission is already built in the spread with other assets such as Commodities, Indices, and FX.

  • To buy stock, log into the platform. Choose your market and make a deposit. The payment methods include Paysafe, Paypal, debit and credit cards, and bank transfers. The easiest way to make your first trade is to specify the size of your transaction and click on the green price button on the chart if you want to buy it or the red button if you want to sell it.

sortter logo

Author

Sortter Team

Sortter bases all its content on professionalism and expertise. Some of our articles have been written in collaboration with Sortter's versatile and skilled experts in the financial sector.

Everything you find on Sortter is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology