Review · Demo account

IG demo account: virtual balance, platforms and limits

IG’s UK demo starts with £10,000 in virtual funds, pre-set by IG on IG’s web platform and MT4 and covers both spread betting and CFDs (checked 20 Oct 2026). Duration: not published for the web-platform demo; the MT4 demo expires after 60 consecutive days of inactivity.

Written and checked by: Low Spread Brokers team
Updated: 20 Oct 2026

19 Oct 2026latest data check

Low Spread Brokers does not give personal investment advice.

At a glance

8.0/10

Entities 13

Minimum deposit: £1
EUR/USD spread from: 0.6 pips (UK spread bet/CFD, 19 Oct 2026)
Max retail leverage: 1:30 (major FX, retail; margin 3.33% on EUR/USD, GBP/USD) (FCA) · 1:30 (major FX spread bets, retail; margin 3.33%) (FCA)
Platforms: MT4, MT5, TradingView, proprietary, API, ProRealTime, L2 Dealer
Founded: 1974

7 of 13 licences checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026

Visit brokerUnpaid link

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider (IG Markets Ltd / IG Index Ltd (UK)).

Full IG review

Quick answer

Does IG have a demo account?

Yes. IG’s UK site offers a demo with £10,000 in virtual funds, pre-set by IG for spread betting and CFD trading. To open one, IG asks for: username, password, email and country of residence; no ID check is mentioned. Duration: not published for the web-platform demo; the MT4 demo expires after 60 consecutive days of inactivity (checked 20 Oct 2026).

Live UK spread bets are with IG Index Ltd (licence 114059) and CFDs with IG Markets Ltd (licence 195355), FCA-authorised as IG publishes it.
Live costs after the demo: EUR/USD from 0.6 pips, no separate commission; card deposits from £1 (checked 19 Oct 2026).
Demo results are not live results: 70% of retail CFD accounts lose money at IG Markets Ltd / IG Index Ltd (UK), 74% at IG Europe GmbH.

Which IG company runs the live account

A demo has no regulator behind it; the live account does. These are the IG companies in our data, with licence numbers as IG publishes them; check each on the regulator’s register.

Which IG company runs the live account
Entity	Regulator	Licence	Max. retail leverage	Negative balance protection	Compensation
IG Markets Ltd	Tier 1 FCA	195355Checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026	1:30 (major FX, retail; margin 3.33% on EUR/USD, GBP/USD)	Yes	FSCS up to £85,000 (firm insolvency)
IG Index Ltd	Tier 1 FCA	114059Checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026	1:30 (major FX spread bets, retail; margin 3.33%)	Yes	FSCS up to £85,000 (firm insolvency)
IG Trading and Investments Ltd	Tier 1 FCA	944492Checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026	Not published	Not published	FSCS up to £85,000 (firm insolvency)
IG Europe GmbH	Tier 1 BaFin	148759Checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026	Not published	Yes	EdW: 90% of claim up to €20,000
IG Australia Pty Ltd	Tier 1 ASIC	AFSL 515106Checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026	Not published	Yes	Not published
IG Markets Ltd (New Zealand)	Tier 2 FMA	Not publishedAs published by the broker	Not published	Not published	Not published
IG Bank SA	Tier 1 FINMA	Not publishedAs published by the broker	Not published	Not published	esisuisse up to CHF 100,000
IG Asia Pte Ltd	Tier 1 MAS	Not publishedCompany checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026; the register does not list the number	Not published	Not published	Not published
IG Limited	Tier 1 DFSA	F001780Checked on the register, 20 Oct 2026	Not published	Not published	Not published
IG Securities Ltd	Tier 1 JFSA	Not publishedAs published by the broker	Not published	Not published	Not published
IG Markets South Africa Ltd	Tier 2 FSCA	Not publishedAs published by the broker	Not published	Not published	Not published
IG International Limited	Offshore BMA	Not publishedAs published by the broker	Not published	Not published	Not published
tastyfx LLC	Tier 1 CFTC/NFA	NFA ID 0509630As published by the broker	Not published	Not published	Not published

Which entity will I get?

Pick your region to see the entity that would open your account.

IG Markets Ltd · FCA · 195355 · Max retail leverage 1:30 (major FX, retail; margin 3.33% on EUR/USD, GBP/USD)

IG Europe GmbH · BaFin · 148759 · Max retail leverage Not published

IG Australia Pty Ltd · ASIC · AFSL 515106 · Max retail leverage Not published

IG Limited · DFSA · F001780 · Max retail leverage Not published

IG International Limited · BMA · Not published · Max retail leverage Not published

Check the register yourself

Open the regulator’s register, search the licence number and compare the firm name and website address with ig.com. Clone firms copy real names and numbers.

Client money

Tier 1 regulators require client money to be held apart from the firm’s own money; an offshore company may not have that rule.

UK spread betting demos with a published balance

Brokers with an FCA company for UK residents that offer spread betting and publish their demo’s virtual balance, in the order of our platforms score: Pepperstone (unlimited, in a currency you choose), Vantage ($1,000 to $100,000, chosen by you, in USD, GBP, CAD, AUD, EUR, SGD, NZD, HKD or JPY) and CMC Markets (£10,000 in virtual funds).

1
Pepperstone
8.6/10
Minimum deposit
£10
EUR/USD spread from
0.0 pips
Regulated by
FCA, CySEC, BaFin, ASIC, DFSA, CMA (UAE), CMA Kenya, SCB
Visit brokerUnpaid link
73.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider (Pepperstone Limited (UK)).
Read review
2
Vantage
8.0/10
Minimum deposit
$50
EUR/USD spread from
0.0 pips
Regulated by
FCA, ASIC, FSCA, CIMA, VFSC, FSC Mauritius
Visit brokerUnpaid link
72.65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider (Vantage Global Prime LLP).
Read review
3
CMC Markets
7.9/10
Minimum deposit
£0
EUR/USD spread from
0.0 pips
Regulated by
FCA, FCA, BaFin, ASIC, FMA, MAS, CIRO, DFSA
Visit brokerUnpaid link
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider (CMC Markets UK plc).

IG demo account: our verdict

8.0/10

IG publishes the demo balance (£10,000 in virtual funds, pre-set by IG) and the sign-up fields; on duration its terms say: not published for the web-platform demo; the MT4 demo expires after 60 consecutive days of inactivity. The live account behind it is FCA-regulated in the UK and prices EUR/USD from 0.6 pips with no commission. This verdict compares published terms; we have not used the demo ourselves.

Choose it if

you want to practise UK spread betting and CFDs on the same IG web platform you would trade live
you want to test MT4 expert advisors before going live: IG’s demo platforms are IG’s web platform and MT4

Look elsewhere if

you want a demo on MT5, TradingView, API, ProRealTime and L2 Dealer: IG offers them for live accounts but does not name them as demo platforms
you want a cTrader demo: IG does not list cTrader

Visit brokerUnpaid link

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider (IG Markets Ltd / IG Index Ltd (UK)).

What changed

19 Oct 2026 Entities, costs and loss rates re-collected from IG’s own pages.

Risk warning:

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Most retail investor accounts lose money. Consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford the high risk of losing your money.

Low Spread Brokers does not give personal investment advice.

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FAQ

IG demo account: questions

Short answers from IG’s published terms, collected up to 19 Oct 2026. Terms change: check IG’s own page before you trade.

Ask a question

We cannot give personal investment advice.

1Does IG offer a demo account?

Yes. IG’s UK demo page offers £10,000 in virtual funds, pre-set by IG on IG’s web platform and MT4. Sign-up, as IG describes it: username, password, email and country of residence; no ID check is mentioned (checked 20 Oct 2026).