A structured environment for spread betting

• Spread Betting Provider of the Year (5-star rating) — Investors' Chronicle & Financial Times, 29th Celebration of Investment Awards, announced 13/01/2025.
• Best in Class: Commissions & Fees — ForexBrokers.com, 2024 Annual Awards, announced 06/02/2024 (2nd year running).
• App of the Year (5-star rating) — Investors' Chronicle & Financial Times, 29th Celebration of Investment Awards, announced 13/01/2025.

Spread betting lets you speculate on whether the price of a financial market will rise or fall — without owning the underlying asset. Instead of buying shares or commodities outright, you place a bet on price direction, staking a set amount per point of movement.

If the market moves in your favour, you profit by the number of points moved multiplied by your stake. If it moves against you, you lose by the same calculation. Because spread betting uses leverage, you only need to deposit a fraction of the total position value — but leverage also magnifies losses.

In the UK, profits from spread betting are currently exempt from Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty, making it a tax-efficient way to trade financial markets.

• Forex — 70+ major, minor, and exotic currency pairs including GBP/USD, EUR/USD, and USD/JPY. Forex markets run 24 hours a day, five days a week.
• Indices — FTSE 100, Wall Street, Germany 40, S&P 500, and more — long or short, without owning any shares.
• Shares — thousands of individual shares from the UK, US, and Europe. No stamp duty, no ownership, just exposure to price direction.
• Commodities — crude oil, natural gas, gold, silver, and more using leverage.

Browse all 5,000+ spread betting markets.

There is no commission on spread bets. Our costs are built into the spread — the difference between the buy and sell price — so you know what you are paying before you place a trade.

See our pricing page for the latest figures.

• Spread bet on the move with the Capital.com app — full charting, price alerts, and fast order execution on iOS and Android.
• Recognised as App of the Year (5-star, Investors' Chronicle & Financial Times, 29th Celebration of Investment Awards, 2025).
• Rated 4.7 on the App Store (17,000+ ratings) and 4.7 on Google Play (78,100+ reviews), as of 15/09/2026.

• Step 1: Choose your market — browse 5,000+ instruments across forex, indices, shares, and commodities.
• Step 2: Decide your direction — go long (buy) if you think the price will rise, or short (sell) if you think it will fall.
• Step 3: Set your stake — choose how much to stake per point of price movement. You only need to deposit a fraction of the full position value as margin.
• Step 4: Manage your risk — set a stop-loss order or guaranteed stop before you open the trade. Take-profit orders close your position automatically when a target is reached.
• Step 5: Close your trade — exit at any point to lock in a profit or cut a loss. Profits from spread betting are currently exempt from Capital Gains Tax for UK residents.

Not sure whether spread betting or CFD trading is right for you? The key difference for UK traders is tax: spread betting profits are currently exempt from Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty, while CFD profits are not.

A spread betting account lets you speculate on the price movements of financial markets — including forex, indices, shares, and commodities — without owning the underlying asset. You stake an amount per point of price movement, and your profit or loss is determined by how far the market moves. In the UK, profits from spread betting are currently exempt from Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty.

You choose a market and decide whether to go long (buy) if you think the price will rise, or short (sell) if you think it will fall. Your profit or loss is calculated as: price movement in points × your stake per point. Because spread betting uses leverage, you only need to deposit a fraction of the total position value as margin — but leverage also magnifies losses.

Profits from spread betting are currently exempt from Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty for UK residents. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change.

Both let you speculate on price movements without owning the underlying asset. The main difference for UK traders is tax: spread betting profits are currently exempt from CGT and stamp duty, while CFD profits are not.

Yes. You can take short positions on any available market, meaning you can potentially profit when prices fall as well as when they rise.

Retail clients on Capital.com benefit from negative balance protection — your losses cannot exceed your account balance. You can also set a guaranteed stop-loss order (GSLO) before you open a trade to define the maximum you are willing to lose on that position.

Spread betting is a leveraged product, so it carries risk and is not a shortcut to easy profits. If you are new to it, use stop-loss orders from your first trade, begin with small stakes on markets you understand, and make sure you understand how margin and leverage work before you place your first trade.

Compare providers on regulation (FCA authorisation for UK clients), the range of markets, spread costs and overnight funding, risk management tools such as guaranteed stops and negative balance protection, and platform usability on web and mobile.

The main cost is the spread itself. There is no commission and no stamp duty. Positions held overnight incur funding adjustments, and guaranteed stop-loss orders only carry a premium if triggered. See the full breakdown on our pricing page.