Complete XTB 2022 Review - Benefits and Drawbacks Revealed

As a reputable multi-asset broker, XTB provides exceptional customer service, a diverse range of FX and CFDs, and an overall positive trading experience. Its xStation 5 trading interface is well-designed and filled with new features, and XTB's extensive instructional material and research contributed to the broker's Best in Class for Research in 2022.

Pros

• XTB, which was founded in 2002, is publicly listed and regulated in one tier-1 country, making it a safe (low-risk) broker for trading forex and CFDs.

• The xStation platform suite from XTB offers exceptional usability as well as a complete set of trading tools and features.

• XTB's Trading Academy provides an amazing selection of detailed instructional videos and textual information, as well as over 200 classes.

• XTB U.K. just introduced no-commission share CFDs.

Cons

• XTB does not give daily video updates in English, except for its weekly webinars (but does so in other languages).

• MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is no longer advertised in XTB's branches in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Cyprus, while it may be requested manually from select worldwide XTB offices.

• The bespoke investment basket function has been removed from the xStation 5 platform for the time being.

• In the EU, cash equities are exclusively offered via XTB's Polish office.

Is XTB secure？

With an overall Trust Score of 95 out of 99, XTB is rated low-risk. XTB is a publicly listed corporation with one tier-1 regulator (high trust), three tier-2 regulators (medium trust), and one tier-3 regulator (low trust) (low trust). The following tier-1 regulators have approved XTB: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Find out more about Trust Score.

Investments are available.

XTB offers CFDs on 1,848 stocks, 135 ETFs, 22 commodities, 36 indices, 5 cryptocurrencies, and 57 currency pairings. As part of its securities offering, XTB also offers over 7,800 cash equities (non-leveraged) and 150 ETFs (though these are not available from its U.K. or Cyprus branches). The table below outlines the various investment packages accessible to XTB customers.

Cryptocurrency trading is offered at XTB through CFDs and trading the underlying asset (e.g. buying Bitcoin). Please keep in mind that crypto CFDs are not offered to retail traders via any broker's U.K. business, nor are they available to U.K. citizens (except for professional clients).

Fees and Commissions

XTB has two account types: a spread-only Standard account and a commission-based Professional account – but the latter is only available to customers who fulfill the description of elected Professionals in the United Kingdom and Europe. Overall, XTB's price is in line with the industry average, although it lags below the top brokers in this area.

Average spreads: Based on data from the third quarter of 2021, XTB's average spreads on the EUR/USD was at 0.91. (note: the commission-based pro account is being phased out and is no longer promoted).

Standard vs. Pro accounts: When trading at bigger volumes, XTB's Standard and Professional accounts have equal pricing – and minimum deposits start at 250 base currency (£250, €250, or $250). However, for lower quantities, the Standard account looks to be less expensive. The Standard account is my recommendation for retail traders, particularly since the Pro account is no longer accessible in most countries — save for specific historical customers.

Discounts for active traders: For active traders (and those in the EU who meet the definition of elective professionals), XTB will rebate a portion of the spread (from 5% to 30%) back to you when you reach certain volume thresholds, ranging from 20 lots per month to 1000 lots for the full 30% discount. This active trader program is called XTB's Lower Spread Group, and it assists the corporation in competing with comparable products like FXCM, FOREX.com, and CMC Markets.

XTB Pricing Overview:

Apps for Mobile Trading

While the MetaTrader 4 mobile software is accessible in certain areas, XTB's own xStation 5 mobile app is significantly better and available worldwide. Without a doubt, XTB's mobile app can compete with the greatest forex brokers.

xStation mobile features: The xStation 5 app is well-designed and has many of the same features as the online version, such as streaming news, preset watchlists, an economic calendar, top movers, and client sentiment data. Some integrated films in the mobile app also provide webinar-style instructional information, with several courses lasting more than an hour.

xStation charting: xStation 5 charts are adequate but not exceptional; I was dismayed to see that watchlists do not sync with the platform's online version and that there are only half as many indicators (13 total). An automatic-save function for your trend lines and drawings, as well as the ability to simply add indicators to your charts while zooming in on different time frames, are nice additions to xStation 5 mobile charts

Other Investing Platforms

XTB provides MT4 in limited areas, but its feature-rich xStation 5 platforms, with their clean style and powerful features, steal the show.

Overview of platforms: XTB provides two main web-based trading platforms: xStation 5 and – in certain regions – MetaTrader 4 (MT4), produced by MetaQuotes Software Corp. (not available from Cyprus, France, or the U.K.).

Charting: In addition to its responsive contemporary appearance (and its 30 drawing tools and 39 technical indicators), xStation 5 has a few standout features. For example, I liked how the charts feature a countdown meter that shows how much time is left in each candlestick. Economic news releases are also displayed along the bottom axis of its charts, giving traders useful information during major economic events.

Trading tools for xStation 5: XTB's flagship platform, xStation 5, provides a superb experience for online, mobile, tablet, and even iOS and Android smartwatches. Color-coded heat mapping for assessing top movers, a comprehensive stock screener, and sentiment data that reveals the proportion of XTB customers who are long or short for a certain trade symbol are among the trading tool features.

Trading Platform XTB:

Market Investigation

Because of high-quality analysis from in-house employees as well as third-party vendors, XTB's research material can compete with the finest in the business. XTB, on the other hand, does not produce as many daily English articles and videos as some of the finest brokers in this area — while having a significant worldwide presence in other languages.

XTB compensates for the lack of Trading Central and Authochartist by providing unique tactics as part of its Premium Research service. XTB provides an economic calendar, market sentiment, and other platform tools for study in addition to streaming headlines from top-tier news suppliers. XTB also offers written pieces from its team as well as weekly video webinars on YouTube, which are available in a variety of languages including Polish, German, and Italian.

Market News and analysis: XTB produces high-quality articles in its Market News area, which are subsequently broadcast as headlines on the xStation 5 platform. The research covers both fundamental and technical analysis, as well as highlights like the “Chart of the Day” series. XTB's news panel also includes trading signals, as well as price evaluations from Thomson Reuters, Barclays, Citi Group, and other top-tier sources.

News filtering: Identifying articles authored by in-house workers (as opposed to third-party material) is not an easy task at XTB. For example, Saxo Bank's online platform enables users to select news material by source (in-house vs third-party). As a trader, I value what XTB's staff has to say, thus the option to filter or quickly identify in-house information would be a good addition.

Education

I was delighted by XTB's instructional offering, which included a wealth of written resources, video assets, and archived webinars. XTB does an excellent job of embedding education across its platform suite and website. The sole disadvantage is that its video material is disorganized–it isn't all in one location and is instead distributed over its site and YouTube account.

Learning Center: Under the “Learn To Trade” area of its website, XTB offers a selection of resources that may be categorized by subject or experience level. XTB's well-organized Trading Academy has over 200 classes, as well as updated FAQs, platform tutorials, financial market knowledge, and premium material for real account holders.

There are at least 10 lectures covering forex and CFD education, with tests in each area. There are also thousands of articles on more general topics, such as “What are macroeconomic indicators？”

There is room for improvement: XTB offers a nice mix of films in its Trading Academy and on its YouTube channel, including 17 in its Masterclass series. Many of these films may also be found in the Premium part of the xStation 5 online platform and mobile app. Organizing all of these films by topic or expertise level and maintaining them in one location - such as the Trading Academy or a dedicated video library – would be a wonderful approach to ensure that all of XTB's video material is accessible at all times. Furthermore, I like the use of progress monitoring; offering traders the choice to quantify their learning progress – via quizzes or examinations – would be a nice addition.

Finally, Some Ideas

XTB is a well-known brand that offers a diverse range of tradeable assets, exceptional customer service, competitive research, and its unique xStation 5 proprietary trading platform suite.

Despite its average price, XTB was named Best in Class for 2022 in our Research, Education, and Overall categories, out of 39 brokers. XTB pleased me and is worth serious consideration for traders looking for a broker to trade FX and CFDs in 2022.

Concerning XTB

XTB was started in Poland in 2002 and has since evolved to become a well-known FX and CFD broker. XTB is publicly listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and has a market value of $409 million as of September 21, 2021. (WSE: XTB.PL). According to its 2021 H1 report for the first of the year, XTB serves 105,005 active customers internationally. XTB has offices in over a dozen countries across Europe and is licensed by several regulators, including the FCA in the United Kingdom, the KNF in Poland, the BaFIN in Germany, the CNMV in Spain, the AMF in France, CySEC in Cyprus, the DFSA in the United Arab Emirates, the FSCA in South Africa, and the FSC in Belize. Through its Belize subsidiary, XTB has indemnity insurance coverage of up to $1 million per customer claim and a total of $5 million.