Plus500 Review Australia 2026

Is Plus500 safe? ASIC AFSL 417727

Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153 301 681) holds ASIC AFSL 417727, current since 9 October 2012 on the register checked 16 July 2026, and is the entity licensed to issue and sell Plus500’s products in Australia. The same entity also holds New Zealand FMA FSP 486026 and South Africa FSCA FSP 47546, per the AU site footer read on 27 September 2026.

ASIC regulation and global licences

AFSL 417727 is held by Plus500AU Pty. Ltd. with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The register shows the licence as current since 9 October 2012, as verified during our review.

The AU site footer, read on 27 September 2026, names these subsidiaries of Plus500 Ltd and the licences each holds, and those licences belong to the subsidiaries rather than to Plus500AU.

• Plus500UK Ltd: Financial Conduct Authority, UK (FRN 509909)
• Plus500CY Ltd: Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (licence 250/14)
• Plus500SG Pte Ltd: Monetary Authority of Singapore (licence CMS100648)
• Plus500AE Ltd: Dubai Financial Services Authority (F005651)

The same footer also names subsidiaries in Estonia, the Bahamas, the Seychelles and Canada, and none of the listed subsidiaries holds an Australian licence. Plus500AU is the licensed entity for you as an Australian client.

Before depositing, confirm Plus500 holds AFSL 417727 using the site's guide to checking a broker on ASIC's register.

Is Plus500 legal in Australia?

Trading with Plus500 is legal for Australian residents through Plus500AU Pty. Ltd., which ASIC licenses under AFSL 417727.

Plus500 client money protection and the FTSE 250 parent

Plus500’s AU deposits FAQ, read on 27 September 2026, states that all client funds are held in segregated client bank accounts, and as a retail client you have negative balance protection under ASIC rules. The parent, Plus500 Ltd, is a FTSE 250 company listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market.

What sets Plus500 apart on trust, in my view, is the listing. A FTSE 250 company files audited accounts, discloses client-money balances and answers to a market regulator on top of ASIC, a disclosure burden most private Australian brokers never carry.

Client money is kept separate from company funds. If something goes wrong, AFCA can hear claims up to A$1,263,000 and award up to A$631,500. Note that the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort pays at most A$150,000, and only for personal advice, securities dealing and credit, so CFD and forex trading sit outside it. For the full retail standard, see negative balance cover on CFD accounts.

Electing Professional status at Plus500 does not cost you negative balance protection, which Plus500 says you keep, along with client money protection and margin close-out protection. What you give up is the ASIC leverage limits, the PDS and FSG, and recourse to AFCA. In my view that is the real trade, and it is why I steer beginners away from Pro status.

Plus500’s AFCA member is Plus500au Pty Ltd, and AFCA’s Datacube, read on 27 September 2026, records 30 complaints received against it in 2025-26 and 32 in 2024-25, with the figures set out in the table that follows.

• AFCA business size: Very small
• Not adjusted for client numbers
• AFCA listing threshold: Financial firms that received four or more complaints during the selected period appear in the AFCA Datacube.
• Middle of the field: 23 AFCA firms listed for 01/07/2025 - 30/06/2026 among the brokers this site covers, each firm counted once
• Source: AFCA Datacube, complaints by firm, read 27 September 2026

History and ownership

Plus500 was established in 2008, and Plus500AU’s ASIC licence has been current since 9 October 2012. The parent, Plus500 Ltd, is a FTSE 250 company listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market, per the AU site read on 27 September 2026. In my view that listing gives you a parent whose accounts are published and scrutinised, which is a useful thing to have behind your broker.

Public reviews

Plus500 holds a Trustpilot rating of 4.2 out of 5 from 20,004 reviews, which Trustpilot labels great, captured October 2026. The profile has been claimed by the broker since May 2021.

How popular is Plus500 in Australia?

Australians made 5,670 branded searches for Plus500 in August 2026, placing it 8th of the 33 brokers we review. Search interest measures attention, not quality; the score above is the review verdict.

8of 33Search interest rank

5,670

Brand searches, August 2026

+24.3%

vs July 2026

760

Login searches

3.1%

Share of all broker searches

Source: Google search volume, Australia, August 2026. How this is measured

What other review sites say

Plus500's iOS app rates 4.15 out of 5 from 6,702 ratings on the Australian App Store (October 2026), listed as Plus500: AU & Global Trading.

Android users rate Plus500's Android app 4.4 out of 5 from 126K reviews worldwide on Google Play (October 2026), listed as Plus500 Trading.

App Store AU

4.15

6,702 ratingsOctober 2026

Google Play

4.4

126K reviews worldwideOctober 2026View on Google Play

What traders say about Plus500

Public ratings of Plus500 from the rating sites that list it, showing the number of reviews or ratings behind each score and the month it was captured.

Rating site	Rating	Based on	Who rated	Captured
Trustpilot	4.2 out of 5	20,004 reviews	Worldwide	October 2026
App Store	4.15 out of 5	6,702 ratings	Australia only	October 2026

Each row above is a public rating of Plus500 taken from a rating site, dated to the month its figure was captured. An App Store rating counts ratings left on Apple's Australian App Store only, while a Trustpilot figure counts reviews and a TradingView figure counts ratings from anywhere in the world. A site with no row has no rating for Plus500, withholds it, cannot be matched to Plus500 with confidence, or we have not captured it yet.

Plus500 at a glance: 17 key facts

Plus500’s 17 key facts include ASIC AFSL 417727, a single retail CFD account, and 2,800 or more instruments, as the table below sets out.

All those instruments are priced through the spread alone, with no commission added. The section below puts a number on what that costs you.

Plus500 spreads and commission

Plus500 charges zero commission, so the spread is the whole trading cost. We have not measured that spread, because our captures run IceFX SpreadMonitor on MetaTrader and cTrader servers and Plus500 trades only on its own platform.

Plus500 runs a single spread-only account and sits in neither our raw nor our standard league table. Plus500 advertises EUR/USD at 1.0 pips, recorded on 29 July 2026, and that advertised figure is the one this review works from.

Plus500’s advertised EUR/USD spread

Below is the EUR/USD figure Plus500 itself advertises, as recorded on 29 July 2026, not a figure we measured.

Plus500 also appears in our fixed spread forex brokers comparison although its spread is variable rather than fixed.

For an active forex scalper, the lack of a raw commission account is the main cost issue. At 50 standard lots a month or more, Plus500 costs you more than a Razor or Raw account elsewhere.

Other fees AU traders should check

• Overnight financing applies to positions held past the daily cut, and the charge depends on trade direction.
• The guaranteed stop-loss premium is charged through a wider spread set when the position opens, and is not refunded if the stop never fires. The leverage section below sets out the mechanism in full.
• An inactivity fee of up to US$10 a month applies once you have not logged in for at least three months, charged monthly from then on and equal to the lesser of your remaining available balance or US$10, per the AU fees page read on 27 September 2026.
• Currency conversion applies to any instrument priced outside the account base currency.
• Plus500 charges no withdrawal fee, per its deposit screen and AU FAQ of 18 September 2026; requests below a method’s minimum withdrawal amount may be charged, and the payment issuer or bank may charge.

How Plus500 compares to Pepperstone and eToro

Plus500 charges A$0 commission, advertises EUR/USD at 1.0 pips (recorded 29 July 2026) and sets an A$100 minimum deposit. In my judgement, against Pepperstone you give up platform choice and a raw account, and against eToro you lose copy trading.

Pepperstone gives you four platforms, MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView, a raw account priced by commission and no inactivity fee, as our Pepperstone review sets out. Plus500 runs one proprietary platform, has no raw account and levies an inactivity fee.

Plus500 runs no copy trading, which eToro does, as covered in our eToro review. eToro’s minimum deposit is US$50 against Plus500’s A$100.

Plus500 account types and minimum deposit

Plus500 account types are limited to a single retail CFD account with zero commission, funded by card from A$100 or bank transfer from A$500, and no tiered structures.

That simplicity is deliberate and matches the platform design. Plus500 is on the beginner-friendly forex brokers list because there’s no second price book to compare, so you can’t pick the wrong account.

Professional (Elective Pro)

Qualifying for elective Professional status, which Plus500 calls “Plus500 Pro”, requires a qualified accountant’s certificate confirming one of two tests: net assets of at least A$2.5 million, or gross income of at least A$250,000 in each of the last two financial years. Pro leverage runs at 300:1 on major and minor forex and indices, 150:1 on gold and other commodities, 100:1 on ETFs, 20:1 on shares and crypto, and 5:1 on options. You keep negative balance protection and client money protection, and you give up the ASIC leverage limits, the PDS and FSG, and AFCA recourse. In my judgement, Pro status only suits someone who fully understands that trade-off.

Minimum deposit

Plus500’s minimum deposit is A$100 by card or e-wallet and A$500 by bank transfer. Noam Korbl deposited A$200 by Visa into our live Plus500 AUD account on 1 September 2026. Pepperstone opens at A$0. Registration for the free and unlimited demo asks only for an email and a password, and the platform opens before any application step. Plus500 sits fourth in our demo account comparison.

Plus500 funding methods and withdrawal times

Plus500 charges no deposit or withdrawal fee, per its AU FAQ of 18 September 2026, and every withdrawal is processed within 1 to 3 business days, with receipt depending on the method.

Deposit methods (AU clients)

On 1 September 2026 the menu Noam Korbl captured carried card, Google Pay, PayPal, BPAY and bank transfer. PayID was not on it, and for Australian clients used to paying that way, that’s a real gap. Skrill appears on Plus500’s FAQ but was not on the menu.

The deposit screen showed the heading “No deposit and withdrawal fees with us” and small print warning that until verification is completed the requested amount stays with the card as reserved funds, not credited to the trading account. Noam Korbl deposited A$200 by Visa on 1 September 2026. Plus500 confirmed the deposit and held it as A$200.00 pending with A$0.00 available. The Verification Centre then required a photo of the card, and our snapshot dated 9 September 2026 shows the funds as available, with the clearing time not captured. The disclosure of that hold is upfront, and the order still asks a lot of a first-time depositor.

Withdrawals

Plus500 charges no withdrawal fee, per its AU FAQ of 18 September 2026, though a request below a method’s minimum withdrawal amount may be charged, and payment issuer or bank may charge. Every request is processed within 1 to 3 business days, then receipt depends on the method: e-wallets take 3 to 7 business days, bank transfer 5 to 7, and cards by the card’s next billing date. Funds return to the original deposit source wherever possible. Plus500 may ask for documents verifying the payment method before paying out.

Account opening

Plus500 opens accounts under Plus500AU Pty. Ltd., the ASIC licensee holding AFSL 417727. Noam Korbl’s application on 1 September 2026 completed in one session, with the A$200 deposit accepted the same day and held pending verification. The funds show as available on 9 September 2026; the clearing time is not captured, so I read this as one record rather than a promise.

You register with an email and a password, or you sign in through Google or Apple. The platform opens straight after registration, with a welcome tour and zero balances, before any application step. The application then asks for your country of residence and account currency, AUD in this case. One box confirming your nationality and place of birth match your country of residence arrives pre-ticked, as do two tax declarations: taxed only in your country of residence, and not a US citizen or resident for tax purposes. Your residential address needs state, street, building number, city and postcode, with no address search. The Trading Experience question asks how many trades you have placed over the last two years, split between OTC derivatives and shares or exchange-traded derivatives, under a warning that your answers decide whether you are eligible to open a CFD account. Five documents, from the User Agreement to the Privacy Policy, sit under one agreement box, plus a second consent letting Plus500 verify your name, date of birth and address electronically, marked “Recommended for faster account activation”.

The frames have limits, and you should see them plainly. They show the consent, the deposit accepted and held, and the Verification Centre asking for a photo of the card or a card statement showing the last four digits and the holder’s name. None shows an identity-document step, and none shows a verification result, so I cannot tell you what Plus500 checked electronically or when the hold lifted. What the capture does show is the consequence for you: money you deposit before verification sits as reserved funds on your card until Plus500 clears you.

Noam’s notes call the flow easy to follow and the eligibility and consent steps clearly presented. The weaker part, in his view, was the order: funding before verification, which Plus500 disclosed rather than hid. My own view is that approving your account before taking your money would serve a beginner better. Once the hold lifts, you can trade CFDs across forex, shares, indices and more.

Plus500 trading platforms

Trading platforms come down to one: the proprietary WebTrader, available as a web client, Windows desktop app and mobile app. MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView are absent, as noted in the cons.

The platform was built for beginners who don’t want to wrestle with an institutional charting tool, so the single-platform approach is deliberate, not a gap, and the hero chip confirms the count of one.

Plus500 WebTrader (proprietary)

The platform carries:

• Clean instrument search by category across forex, indices, shares, commodities, crypto, ETFs and options
• One-click trade tickets with built-in risk warnings before submission
• Native guaranteed stop-loss orders, premium charged through a wider spread when the position opens
• Trailing stops, take profits and standard stop losses out of the box
• Real-time alerts on price, volume and percentage moves
• An economic calendar and per-instrument sentiment data built in

The platform omits:

• Expert advisors and algorithmic trading
• Depth-of-book pricing
• Advanced charting comparable to TradingView or cTrader
• API access for custom integrations
• Copy trading

Plus500 desktop app

A downloadable Windows desktop app mirrors the web platform’s layout and trade ticket. There’s no native Mac app, so Mac users trade through WebTrader in the browser.

Plus500 app

Plus500 publishes its own mobile app, listed on the Australian App Store as “Plus500: AU & Global Trading” and on Google Play as “Plus500 Trading”, and a client trades WebTrader from a phone on iOS or Android.

Biometric login, push price alerts and the same trade ticket as the web platform come with the download, and because Plus500 runs a single proprietary platform with no MT4, MT5, cTrader or TradingView, no third-party app is needed on a phone. Compare the listing against rivals in the best trading apps in Australia roundup.

• App Store: Australian storefront, exact figures from Apple's iTunes Search API
• Google Play: worldwide counts, not comparable with the App Store counts
• Third-party MetaTrader, cTrader and TradingView apps not listed

Plus500 leverage, margin and guaranteed stop-loss orders

Plus500 leverage in Australia caps major forex at 30:1 under ASIC retail rules; guaranteed stop-loss orders are offered at a wider spread set when the position is opened.

• Given up with professional status: negative balance protection, the retail leverage limits, the 50% margin close-out
• Source: ASIC product intervention order (retail); Plus500 and its Australian support, read 30 September 2026 (professional)

The cost is visible on the ticket before confirmation, and it’s not refunded if the stop never fires. That’s standard among brokers offering a guaranteed stop, and it means if a guaranteed stop is attached to every position, you pay for the protection on every trade, not just the ones that gap. Three constraints apply: you can only attach a guaranteed stop to a new position, you can’t add it to a running position, and you can’t revoke it once placed, though the level can be moved. The mechanism is set out in the Plus500 Trading Academy FAQ, “What is a Guaranteed Stop Order?”, and on the Plus500 fees and charges page (accessed 29 July 2026).

Plus500 retail leverage is capped at 30:1 on major forex pairs, 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities, 5:1 on share CFDs and 2:1 on crypto. These caps come from a product intervention order extended to 23 May 2027, so they apply at every ASIC broker, not just Plus500. The single retail account carries them in full, and nothing you choose changes them.

Plus500 closes retail positions at the 50% margin close-out. That means if the account equity drops below half the total initial margin on all open positions, the broker must close you out. Positions can’t be netted against each other to lower that number, and a gapping market can close you out below the 50% mark. The full tier structure is in what leverage does to position sizing.

Plus500 markets and instrument counts

Markets and instrument counts reach 2,800 or more across seven asset classes, with around 2,000 share CFDs. Every instrument is a CFD, so you can’t take ownership of the underlying asset here.

That range is shaped for its audience: deep on shares, solid on indices and commodities, lighter on forex. Around 70 pairs covers the majors and AUD crosses, enough for most beginners, but for those needing the full currency suite, Pepperstone, IC Markets and OANDA go wider. Options on selected indices and forex pairs are also listed, which I find unusual on a beginner-focused platform.

Share CFDs

Around 2,000 of the 2,800+ instruments are share CFDs across ASX, NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE and major European exchanges. For a beginner, that breadth is the real strength, covering names beginners are likely to search for. There’s no ASX ownership route, so for those wanting to hold real shares, look to CMC Markets or Interactive Brokers. More on this in share CFDs for beginners.

Crypto, indices and commodities

Crypto covers the major pairs only, at the ASIC 2:1 retail cap, providing price exposure, not ownership of coins. Indices run 30+ benchmarks including the ASX 200 and S&P/ASX SPI 200, and commodities span gold, silver, copper, crude, natural gas and softs, all at standard ASIC retail caps.

Plus500 customer service, research and education

Plus500’s AU site, read on 27 September 2026, lists online chat, email and WhatsApp as contact options and advertises around-the-clock customer service in multiple languages. No phone number appeared on the AU pages read that day.

The application screens on 1 September 2026 showed a Live Support link, which tells you help sits inside the sign-up flow rather than only after you fund. We hold no record of reply times because our team has not tested Plus500 support, so this review states none. In my opinion a written chat or WhatsApp thread suits a beginner, since you keep a record you can re-read. A reader who wants a voice call should confirm a phone option with Plus500 before depositing.

Plus500 research, tools and education

Plus500 publishes a Trader’s Guide, a Beginner’s Guide, Webinars, Risk Management, an FAQ, News, an economic calendar built into WebTrader, and sentiment data per instrument. We have not assessed the research or education live, so this section states only what the broker publishes.

Should you open a Plus500 account?

I’d recommend a Plus500 account for new CFD traders who want one clean platform and an A$100 entry. If you need MT4, expert advisors, an API or copy trading, Pepperstone is the better fit.

First-time CFD traders who want one proprietary platform, one retail account and an A$100 minimum deposit, with a FTSE 250-listed parent behind the Australian licensee, are one group that gains here. Risk-first traders are the other, because Plus500 lets you set a guaranteed stop and shows its cost on the ticket before you commit.

Plus500 is a broker two groups should look past. Active forex traders will pay a markup with no raw alternative. If your strategy relies on expert advisors, an API or copy trading, you’ll find none of those here.

On our 2026 scoring, Plus500 ranks tenth with 78 out of 100, carried there by Trading Experience and Trust scores of 9 out of 10 against a Trading Platform score of 6, and it holds the last of the ten full broker cards on our best forex brokers in Australia page. The demo account is the right first step, and it costs nothing to leave dormant, which I’d suggest before committing real money.