S&P 500 Spread Comparison UK: 10 Brokers Tested (2026)
Which broker has the lowest US500 spread?
Last updated: 29th August 2026
In our August 2026 test, the lowest S&P 500 spread across the comparable UK broker accounts we checked was 0.4pts, shared by Capital.com, Pepperstone and City Index.
| Month Checked | Tightest broker(s) | S&P 500 Spread |
|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | Capital.com, Pepperstone & City Index | 0.4pts |
| July 2026 | Capital.com, Pepperstone & City Index | 0.4pts |
| June 2026 | Capital.com, Pepperstone, City Index & Oanda* | 0.4pts |
| May 2026 | City Index, IG*, Capital.com & Pepperstone | 0.4pts |
* Variable spread
Between 61-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Capital at risk.
S&P 500 spreads compared from ten different UK brokers
This is my test to find the broker with the lowest S&P500 spread or US500 as it is often called, when trading CFDs or a spread bet.
S&P 500 spreads are typically low. Why?
Because the underlying futures market is highly liquid, and good liquidity often means tight spreads.
If your spread betting (which is tax-free for UK traders) or CFD broker uses a liquidity provider, it means they can pass that saving onto you and still make money.
But we’ve all seen the headline spreads… or “spreads from…” and, to be honest, it’s hard to know what the real-world spreads are until you’ve opened an account and actually placed a few trades.
So, I decided to do a spread comparison and share it with my fellow traders.
Here’s how I did the spread test:
I took ten of the most popular brokers, opened up the S&P 500 (or US 500/SPX as many call it…), then took a screenshot of the US500 quotes at a specific time.
To me, that mirrors how we actually trade… we spot an opportunity, open a ticket and execute.
I did this on Tuesday 25th August at 3.36 pm BST… Now, I chose this because it’s a typical time you might trade the S&P, an hour after the opening US bell at 2.30 pm
The brokers I chose were:
IG
CMC Markets
Plus 500
Capital.com
Pepperstone
FXCM
Oanda
City Index
Forex.com
FxPro
S&P 500 broker spreads ranked: From best to worst
Ok, so let’s rank them in order. Lots were tied for the top spot this time… (any broker out there want to break ranks and cut to 0.3pts?!)
- Capital.com, Pepperstone, and City Index 0.4pts (fixed)
- CMC Markets and FXCM 0.5pts
- Oanda 0.6pts (variable)
- IG, Forex.com and FXPro 0.6pts
- Plus500 0.7pts
Capital.com, Pepperstone and City Index have recorded the joint-lowest S&P 500 spread in every monthly test since May… four months in a row at 0.4pts.
On the S&P 500, the difference between the cheapest broker and the most expensive is 0.3 pts. That sounds tiny, but it adds up (trust me!). Use the Spread Saver to see what you could save.
As a side note, both Capital.com and Pepperstone came joint top on my Dow spread comparison at 2pts each.
Pepperstone was also the joint best in my Nasdaq spread comparison with 1pt.
So if you generally trade US indices, those two are probably a decent starting point.
Always check for yourself, and remember spreads can change at any time. This was just a test at a single point in time. I’ll update this in a month.
Meanwhile, you can see my other spread comparisons on these other markets:
Indices: Dow, Nasdaq, DAX, FTSE,
Commodities: Gold, Oil,
Forex: USD/JPY, EUR/USD, GBP/USD
If you’re new to UK spread betting, it’s worth knowing why spread betting profits are tax-free.
And if you want to see the whole lot in a table for easy comparison, then take a look at my Spread Checker tool.
