Head to head

ThinkMarkets vs BlackBull Markets — which broker is better?

ThinkMarkets or BlackBull Markets? Fees, regulation, platform and product range compared side by side — with a verdict drawn from the data.

Risk warning: CFDs and leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly. Investments can fall in value. Past performance is not an indicator of future results.

ThinkMarkets

Raw-spread pricing, six licences and a strong mobile app - held back by its withdrawal record.

4.1

Group index 79/100Protection depends on your legal entity

FCAASICJFSA+3

Stocks (per order): in the spread
Minimum deposit: None
EUR/USD spread: 1.1 pips

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BlackBull Markets

A New Zealand ECN broker with excellent platforms, real institutional plumbing — and no investor compensation anywhere.

3.7

Group index 73/100Protection depends on your legal entity

FMAFSA

Stocks (per order): US$0.02/share (CFD)
Minimum deposit: None
EUR/USD spread: 1.16 pips

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Advertising disclosure: where a partnership is active, we may earn a commission through broker links. The provider’s terms apply. Commissions do not influence our ratings; paid placements are separately labelled as sponsored.

The verdict in numbers

Four decision axes, each derived from the recorded data.

Overall ThinkMarkets takes it, 4.1 against 3.7 out of 5. The two pricing models cannot be converted like for like; the fee rows in the table carry the detail. ThinkMarkets scores 79 against 73 out of 100 on the group index. Your account's protection depends on its legal entity. BlackBull Markets covers more ground with 11 of 14 asset classes against 8. On platform and app ThinkMarkets is ahead, 4.4 against 3.8 out of 5. Which one is right depends on which of these axes matters for your trading profile.

Overall score

ThinkMarkets: 4.1 — Better
BlackBull Markets: 3.7

CostsTie

ThinkMarkets: €5.00
BlackBull Markets: Not offered

Group indexNo winner

ThinkMarkets: 79 of 100
BlackBull Markets: 73 of 100

Product range

ThinkMarkets: 8/14
BlackBull Markets: 11/14 — Better

Platform & app

ThinkMarkets: 4.4 — Better
BlackBull Markets: 3.8

Compare brokers side by side

Up to four brokers at once — every row a decision point.

Data as of: 30 Aug 2026

Best value in the row

ThinkMarkets · BlackBull Markets
Criterion	ThinkMarkets 4.1 Visit broker	BlackBull Markets 3.7 Visit broker

Overall score	4.1 — Better	3.7
Group index	79 of 100	73 of 100
Best for	Active FX tradersMobile-first tradersRaw-spread scalpingShare CFD breadthCopy trading	Active forex and CFD traderscTrader and TradingView usersCopy tradersTraders with no minimum capitalSwiss and non-EU clients wanting high leverage

Regulation	FCAASICJFSACySECFSCAFSA	FMAFSA
Top-tier licences	3 — Better	1
Investor protection	£85,000 — Better	None
Listed group	No	No
Banking licence	No	No
Segregated client accounts	Yes	Yes
Negative balance protection	Yes	Yes
Audited financials	No	Yes
Disclosed regulatory actions	None	None
Founded	2010	2014
Headquarters	London, GB	Auckland, NZ

Fees	4.4 — Better	4.0
Safety & regulation	4.1 — Better	3.0
Trading platform	4.3 — Better	3.9
Product range	3.9 — Better	3.6
Mobile app	4.5 — Better	3.6
Research	3.6 — Better	3.0
Customer support	3.9	4.1 — Better
Deposit & withdrawal	3.8	3.8
Account opening	4.4	4.8 — Better
Education	3.2	3.9 — Better

Reference order EUR 5,000	€5.00	US$0.02/share (CFD)
Minimum deposit	None	None
Stocks (per order)	in the spread	US$0.02/share (CFD)
US stocks	in the spread	n/a
ETFs	in the spread	Not offered
Options	Not offered	Not offered
Futures	Not offered	in the spread
Crypto	in the spread	in the spread
Bonds (order)	n/a	n/a
Funds (order)	n/a	n/a
EUR/USD spread	1.1 pips — Better	1.16 pips
Index CFD spread	n/a	0.6 points
FX conversion	n/a	0.01 %
Inactivity fee	£10 · after 6 months	None — Better
Custody fee	n/a	None
Withdrawal fee	free — Better	US$5
Deposit fee	Free on every published method except PayPal deposits in Australia, which carry a 2.5 percent charge.	free
Overnight financing	n/a	n/a
Other fees	EUR/USD all-in cost (ThinkZero): About 0.8 pips - roughly a 0.1 pip raw spread plus USD 3.50 per lot per side EUR/USD spread (Standard): Around 1.1 pips as a monthly average, no separate commission ThinkZero commission: USD 3.50 per standard lot per side on forex and metals - USD 7 round turn ThinkZero minimum deposit: USD 100 Standard account minimum deposit: None Minimum withdrawal: USD 100 +2	ECN Prime / Prime+ commission: USD 3.00 per lot per side (USD 6 per round turn) on top of the raw spread; EUR/USD averaged 0.16 pips over the twelve months to October 2025, so a standard-lot round turn lands at roughly USD 7.60 all-in ECN Standard commission: None — the whole cost sits in the spread. Advertised from 0.8 pips, but EUR/USD averaged 1.16 pips over the twelve months to October 2025, roughly USD 11.60 per standard-lot round turn Inactivity fee: None Custody / account fee: None Currency conversion: Liquidity-provider rate plus a mark-up, measured at roughly 0.01% in independent testing Swap-free (Islamic) accounts: Available on all account types, but subject to administrative fees; BlackBull reserves the right to revoke swap-free status +2

Asset classes (of 14)	8	11 — Better
Exchanges	n/a	n/a
Stocks	Yes	Yes
ETFs	Yes	Yes
Options	No	Yes
Futures	No	Yes
Forex	Yes	Yes
CFDs	Yes	Yes
Crypto	Yes	Yes
Bonds	No	Yes
Funds	No	No
Commodities	Yes	Yes
Indices	Yes	Yes
Warrants	No	No
Spread betting	No	No
Social trading	Yes	Yes

Platforms	ThinkTraderThinkTrader mobileMetaTrader 4MetaTrader 5TradingViewThinkCopy and ZuluTrade	MetaTrader 4MetaTrader 5cTraderTradingViewBlackBull CopyTraderBlackBull InvestBlackBull Client PortalZuluTrade and Myfxbook AutoTrade
Demo account	Yes	Yes
Fractional shares	No	No
Maximum leverage	1:30 · Pro 1:500	1:500
Account opening	Fully digital, commonly approved the same business day	Fully online in roughly 10–15 minutes; usually approved within one business day
Account types	StandardThinkZeroIslamic (swap-free)Demo	ECN StandardECN PrimePrime+Swap-free (Islamic)BlackBull Invest

Payment methods	Bank transferSEPACredit cardDebit cardPayPalSkrillNetellerApple PayGoogle PayCrypto	Bank transferCredit cardDebit cardSkrillNeteller
Account currencies	USDEURGBPAUDCHFSGDNZD	USDEURGBPAUDNZDSGDCADJPYZAR
Deposit time	Instant for cards and e-wallets, 1-3 business days by bank transfer	Cards and e-wallets typically instant; bank transfers 1–3 business days
Withdrawal time	Processed within 24 hours by the broker, then 1-7 business days to reach your account	Around 1 business day in independent testing; card and e-wallet withdrawals are capped at the amount deposited by that method
Free withdrawals	n/a	n/a

Languages	EnglishGermanSpanishFrenchItalianPortugueseChineseArabicJapaneseThai	EnglishSpanishThaiArabicChinesePortugueseRussianUzbek
Channels	PhoneEmailLive chat	PhoneEmailLive chatWhatsApp
Availability	24/5 for clients of the FCA and ASIC entities	24/7, with separate English and Spanish WhatsApp lines and a New Zealand freephone number

Strengths and weaknesses side by side

Editorial assessment based on the recorded data.

ThinkMarkets

Raw-spread pricing, six licences and a strong mobile app - held back by its withdrawal record.

4.1

Pros

ThinkZero all-in EUR/USD cost of about 0.8 pips - raw spreads from 0.0 pips plus USD 3.50 per lot per side on forex and metals
Three top-tier licences - FCA 629628, ASIC AFSL 424700 and JFSA registration 0250 - alongside CySEC 215/13 and FSCA FSP 49835
Roughly 3,260 instruments on ThinkMarkets' own contract table, including 2,796 share CFDs and 324 ETF CFDs, which is unusually broad for a CFD-only broker
ThinkTrader mobile is a full trading client with proper charting, drawing tools and server-side alerts, and is consistently rated among the best mobile apps in the category
No minimum deposit on the Standard account and no broker fee on deposits or withdrawals on the published methods
Seven base currencies including CHF, AUD, SGD and NZD, which removes a conversion layer for clients outside the euro and dollar
Copy trading through both the in-house ThinkCopy layer and the ZuluTrade network, plus MT4, MT5 and TradingView on the same account

Cons

75 percent of ThinkMarkets UK retail accounts lose money trading CFDs, and disclosures across the group's entities have ranged from roughly 68 percent to 89 percent
Withdrawals are the recurring complaint in public reviews: repeated document requests on already-verified accounts, multi-week delays, and disputed payments marked as successful. A USD 100 minimum withdrawal adds friction on top
Dormancy is charged on the UK entity: GBP 10 per month from day 181 without a trade, for as long as the balance is positive. The CySEC, ASIC and offshore entities publish no comparable figure we could verify
No published currency conversion rate, so the true cost of trading a US share CFD from a EUR or GBP account cannot be modelled before you trade
The FG Acquisition Corp SPAC merger that would have listed the group in Toronto never completed, so there are no public accounts and no listed-company disclosure
No listed options, no exchange-traded futures, no bonds, no funds and no share ownership - the entire book is contracts for difference

Best for

Active FX tradersMobile-first tradersRaw-spread scalpingShare CFD breadthCopy trading

BlackBull Markets

A New Zealand ECN broker with excellent platforms, real institutional plumbing — and no investor compensation anywhere.

3.7

Pros

No minimum deposit at all — every account tier including Prime opens from USD 0
Prime pricing of USD 3.00 per lot per side with EUR/USD averaging 0.16 pips — about USD 7.60 all-in on a standard-lot round turn
Platform range beats brokers many times its size: MT4, MT5, cTrader, native TradingView, in-house CopyTrader, ZuluTrade and Myfxbook
LMAX ECN liquidity into Equinix-hosted servers with sub-100ms average execution — genuine institutional plumbing rather than marketing language
24/7 support across phone, email, live chat and dedicated English and Spanish WhatsApp lines, consistently praised in recent public feedback
No inactivity fee, no custody fee, no account fee, and nine base currencies including NZD, SGD and ZAR
Milford Asset Management, a NZ$34bn manager, holds a minority stake — an outside investor with reputational skin in the game
BlackBull Invest adds real ownership of 26,000+ shares, options, ETFs and bonds alongside the leveraged accounts

Cons

No investor compensation scheme under either entity — New Zealand has none and the Seychelles has none, so segregation is the only protection if the firm fails
USD 5 charged on every withdrawal, in the account base currency, which almost no direct competitor does; small or frequent withdrawals get expensive fast
The commission-free ECN Standard tier is not the cheap option it looks like — EUR/USD averaged 1.16 pips over the twelve months to October 2025, about USD 11.60 per standard-lot round turn against USD 7.60 on Prime
Not available to EU, UK or Indian residents by BlackBull's own disclosure, which rules it out for German and Austrian readers entirely
BlackBull does not publish which countries are onboarded to which legal entity, so you may not know which regulator covers you until you read the agreement
Research is thin — a hub of daily snapshots and a podcast, with no screener depth or serious analytical tooling
Privately held with no banking licence and no exchange listing — audited accounts surface once a year on the New Zealand register and not in between; the credit ratings quoted on its compliance page are those of custodian banks, not of BlackBull

Best for

Active forex and CFD traderscTrader and TradingView usersCopy tradersTraders with no minimum capitalSwiss and non-EU clients wanting high leverage

Open an account with either

A demo account costs nothing and answers the platform question in ten minutes.

Visit broker: ThinkMarkets Visit broker: BlackBull Markets