While Interactive Brokers gives full-time access to all the global major markets, it makes them an extremely grave competitor for the Canadian company, Questrade. If you are wondering as to what Questrade is, it is Canada’s biggest brokerage which functions online and is not affiliated with any bank. Questrade offers a wide gamut of services alongside the traditional brokerage service, like, management of wealth and robotic advisors. Any domestic broker like Questrade would be of great help to the people of Canada and help them in things like managing the conversion of currency, as well as help them in complying with the existing tax laws.
If you are still not sure of what to do when you are faced with a similar Questrade v Interactive Brokers situation, then it is also fair enough to introduce Interactive Brokers. This company is well known in the States, but Canadian people might also find this company a little bit more appealing as compared to Questrade. Its market access and the breadth are extremely difficult to keep up with and match, if you contrast it with Questrade. Any broker’s conclusion would be dependent on factors like costs and user-friendliness.
Trading experience:
The first parameter in the Questrade vs. Interactive Brokers debacle is the experience in trading. Questrade’s desktop application is user friendly, and an easy thing to navigate through, and is extremely intuitive as compared to Interactive Brokers ’. It supports forex as well as CFD trading. Questrade definitely stands out for being friendly with beginner investors.
Interactive Brokers has a comparatively lower brokerage fee, but it lacks hugely when it comes to user experience. Interactive Brokers’ usual investors sometimes find it to be a huge task to use. Apart from that, it has a very speedy trade execution; however, one must proceed cautiously since they are irreversible.
Emerging technology and mobiles:
The Questrade vs. Interactive Brokers dilemma would definitely need a mobile and technological parameter. Questrade has steered its android and iOS apps away from its old IQ platform that housed all their basic stuff. Now, the application is supportive of real-time options and stock trades but somehow, they have been upset by quality degradation.
In this scenario, Interactive Brokers have a higher stand. Their mobile app is an antithesis of their desktop website. It is not at all cumbersome and is extremely slimmed down and is available in both android and iOS. The app offers you scanners, watchlists, alerts, orders, trades, market briefs, portfolios and all other simplified options when it comes to trading. The application also features an Artificially Intelligent assistant named IBot.
Research and education:
Since it is a brokerage platform we are discussing, we cannot miss out on an important parameter such as research and education, which would help you to narrow down your selection on the Questrade vs. Interactive Brokers dilemma.
Resources for education are lacking when it comes to Questrade as a contrast to some other brokerages, nevertheless, it does have some excellent programs in paper trading and quite a few other expedients for investors, like a collection of webinars which are heavily on demand. Questrade traders can access research material from Morningstar, and this can go a really long way to fill the gap in analysing stocks and funds.
Interactive Brokers does address some topics related to the market in detail, but a lot of it does not fit for newbies or investors of average quality. It also provides options like “Introduction to Options” and “TWS for Beginners” for traders who are starting out. You can easily imagine that on a trading platform, Interactive Brokers usually puts a lot of focus on an active trader who has previous experiences in the market and hence, a certain lack in introductory study materials would not likely be influencing them.
Cost:
The last and final parameter for the Questrade vs. Interactive Brokers strain cost of brokerage plays a crucial part.
Questrade has a fee structure which is multi-level. You have the standard pricing, and a pricing for the active trader, and another pricing for commissions in stocks and options. All investors are required to purchase an advanced package, costing 89.95 Canadian Dollars so as to access the pricings of an active trader, which brings the company’s costing closer to Interactive Brokers ’ but the fixed subscription cost is usually an additional complication.
In a Nutshell
As a sharp contrast to Questrade, Interactive Brokers has a very straightforward system of pricing and has lower prices compared to Questrade. Their stocks or ETFs are traded for around 0.005 USD on each share.
