Interactive Brokers Account Types: Detailed Overview for Traders

Interactive Brokers offers a good number of account types:

• Interactive Brokers Demo account
• Interactive Brokers Individual account
• Interactive Brokers MAM/PAMM account
• Interactive Brokers IBRK Pro account
• Interactive Brokers IBKR Lite account

What types of trading accounts are available at Interactive Brokers?

Below you will find a complete list of all account types available to traders on Interactive Brokers, with details on features and useful information for choosing.

Interactive Brokers are highly regulated in most countries. For this reason, you may find some features or assets not available to you, according to your country of residence. Such as European, UK, and Australian retail clients have a leverage of up to 1:30.

Interactive Brokers individual account: Best for casual traders

• Availability: Under the Central Bank of Hungary, the Central bank of Ireland, FCA, ASIC, SEC, CIRO (former IIROC), CSSF, MAS, HKSFC, SEBI.
• Markets: Forex, stocks, ETFs, options, futures, metals, bonds, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies (10.000+ assets in total).
• Commissions: Floating spread from 0.2 pips and a $2 commission. Commissions will get lower with higher traded volume.
• Platforms: Interactive Brokers Trader WorkStation, Client Portal, IBRK Mobile, IBKR GlobalTrader.
• Trade size: No minimum order size on almost all products, placing trades from 1 unit.
• Leverage: Up to 1:20 (MAS), up to 1:30 (Central Bank of Hungary, FCA, ASIC), 1:50 (SEC, CIRO). Margin is available with a Cash, Reg T, and Portfolio Margin profile.
• Account opening: Demo account is unlimited, and there is no minimum deposit requirement to open a live account. Other types of individual accounts include a joint account, a trust account, an IRA account (only for US residents), and a UGMA/UTMA (only US residents).

Interactive Brokers MAM/PAMM account: Best for money managers

• Availability: Under the Central Bank of Hungary, the Central bank of Ireland, FCA, ASIC, SEC, CIRO (former IIROC), CSSF, MAS, HKSFC, SEBI.
• Markets: Forex, stocks, ETFs, options, futures, metals, bonds, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies (10.000+ assets in total).
• Commissions: You will be charged spreads starting at 0.2 pips with a commission up to $2 depending on your trading volume. There will also be a fee set by the money manager for each winning position.
• Platforms: Interactive Brokers Trader WorkStation, Client Portal, IBRK Mobile, IBKR GlobalTrader.
• Trade size: You can place trades from 1 unit.
• Leverage: Up to 1:20 (MAS), up to 1:30 (Central Bank of Hungary, FCA, ASIC), 1:50 (SEC, CIRO). Each money manager client’s account is margined separately.
• Account opening: You can first try a free demo account, and then switch to a live account with no minimum deposit.

Interactive Brokers IBKR Pro account: Best for active traders

• Availability:
• Markets: Forex, stocks, ETFs, options, futures, metals, bonds, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies (10.000+ assets in total).
• Commissions: Commission per share from $0.005 for a minimum of $1; fixed pricing for other markets.
• Platforms: Interactive Brokers Trader WorkStation, Client Portal, IBRK Mobile, IBKR GlobalTrader.
• Trade size: There is no minimum order size, you can open trades starting from a single unit.
• Leverage: 1:50.
• Special features: Access to IBKR API with IB Smart Routing enabled for the best execution.
• Account opening: Unlimited demo account available; live account requires no minimum deposit.

Interactive Brokers IBKR Lite account: Best for low cost

• Availability:
• Markets: Forex, stocks, ETFs, options, futures, metals, bonds, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies (10.000+ assets in total).
• Commissions: Commission-free on US-listed stocks and ETFs; other markets have fixed pricing.
• Platforms: Interactive Brokers Trader WorkStation, Client Portal, IBRK Mobile, IBKR GlobalTrader.
• Trade size: 1 unit is the smallest size you can trade.
• Leverage: 1:50.
• Account opening: Unlimited demo account available; live accounts require no minimum deposit.

What happens to Interactive Brokers trading accounts?

Interactive Brokers does not charge any inactivity fee and there is no inactive status account.

If your balance falls to 0 though, Interactive Brokers has the right to close your account.

In such cases, you can consider opening a new account to keep trading.