Qtrade Direct Investing vs Spreadex - BrokerCue
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Broker Comparison

Qtrade Direct Investing vs Spreadex

Compare Qtrade Direct Investing and Spreadex side by side: fees, regulation, platforms.

Qtrade Direct Investing

Qtrade Direct Investing

Canadian self-directed investors seeking research tools

Qtrade Direct Investing is a Canadian online brokerage offering zero-commission trading on stocks, ETFs and mโ€ฆ

VS
Spreadex

Spreadex

Leveraged spread betting and CFD traders

Spreadex is a UK-based broker founded in 1999 offering spread betting, CFDs and options on shares, indices, fโ€ฆ

Head-to-head comparison

Qtrade Direct Investing vs Spreadex
Feature Qtrade Direct Investing Spreadex
Minimum deposit - -
Stock trading fee $0 per trade (Canadian and U.S. exchanges) -
Regulators CIRO, CIPF FCA
Best for Canadian self-directed investors seeking research tools Leveraged spread betting and CFD traders
Markets & account
Stocks
ETFs
Forex
-
CFDs
-
Crypto
-
Bonds
Options
Funds
-
Margin
Ready Made Portfolios
-
Demo Account
-
Business Account
-
Spread Betting
-

Pros & cons

Qtrade Direct Investing

Qtrade Direct Investing

Pros

  • Zero-commission trading on stocks, ETFs and mutual funds since October 2025
  • No quarterly account or inactivity fees
  • Strong research tools including Morningstar analyst reports and screeners
  • Portfolio analytics with risk exposure and ESG scoring
  • Qtrade Guided Portfolios robo-advisor available for hands-off investors
  • Wide range of registered account types (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP, RRIF, LIRA, LIF)
  • Pre-market and after-hours trading available for U.S. markets
  • 30-day free trial account for platform exploration

Cons

  • No support for forex, CFDs, crypto, futures or precious metals
  • No fractional share trading
  • Currency conversion markup of approximately 0.9% applies to U.S. trades
  • Stock alerts not available on the mobile app
  • Options fee of $0.75 per contract is not the cheapest in Canada
  • Transfer-out fee of $150 per account
  • Limited to Canadian and U.S. exchanges only
  • 30-day trial account is view-only and does not support simulated trading
Spreadex

Spreadex

Pros

  • EUR/USD spreads start from 0.6 pts
  • UK 100 and Germany 40 spreads start from 1pt
  • Gold spreads start from 0.3 pts
  • Free price alerts by text, push or email
  • TradingView access alongside the Spreadex platform
  • Advanced charts include over 10 years of price history
  • Out-of-hours trading is available on select shares

Cons

  • 61% of retail investor accounts lose money on spread bets and CFDs
  • Retail clients cannot trade cryptocurrencies
  • Professional clients waive negative balance protection
  • Spreadex Pro requires an existing standard spread betting or CFD account
  • Professional cryptocurrency margin is 18%
  • Shares are traded through spread betting or CFD products
Qtrade Direct Investing

Qtrade Direct Investing

Qtrade Direct Investing is a Canadian online brokerage offering zero-commission trading on stocks, ETFs and mutual funds, with strong research tools and a robo-advisor option.

Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.

Spreadex

Spreadex

Spreadex is a UK-based broker founded in 1999 offering spread betting, CFDs and options on shares, indices, forex and commodities, with TradingView and mobile apps.

Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.

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