Share Trading comparison
Capital.com vs SelfWealth
Capital.com and SelfWealth are fundamentally different products. Capital.com is a CFD broker — you never own the underlying asset, you're speculating on price movements with leverage. SelfWealth is a traditional CHESS-sponsored broker where you buy real ASX and US shares under your own HIN. The biggest practical difference: one is for trading derivatives, the other is for building a real portfolio.
Choose
Capital.com
if…
- ›You want to trade leveraged CFDs on indices, forex, commodities or crypto — not own actual shares
- ›You're comfortable with the risk of leveraged positions and overnight funding costs
- ›You want to start with as little as $20 and use PayID, card or even PayPal to deposit
- ›You want 24/7 customer support and a demo account to practice before trading real money
- ›You trade global markets (UK, EU, HK, JP, DE, FR) beyond just the US and Australia
Choose
SelfWealth
if…
- ›You want to buy and hold real ASX shares or ETFs under your own HIN with CHESS sponsorship
- ›You need a joint account, trust account, SMSF or kids account — SelfWealth supports all of them
- ›You want dividend reinvestment (DRP) and auto-invest/DCA with multiple rule options
- ›You want a US dollar account to avoid paying FX conversion fees on every US trade
- ›You need an Australian tax statement and Sharesight integration for end-of-year reporting
Where they differ
| Fact | Capital.com | SelfWealth |
|---|---|---|
| What you actually own | CFD contracts — you never hold the underlying asset | Real shares under your own HIN (CHESS-sponsored) |
| ASX brokerage | $0 (cost embedded in spread) | $9.50 per trade |
| FX fee on US trades | 0.7% spread, no USD account | 0.6% spread, or $0 if you use the USD account |
| Minimum deposit | $20 | $500 |
| Account types | Individual and company only | Individual, joint, company, trust, SMSF and kids accounts |
Verdict
Choose Capital.com for leveraged CFD speculation; choose SelfWealth for real, CHESS-sponsored share investing with proper account options.
All data points side-by-side
Every verified fact for both platforms. Differences are highlighted.
| Field | Capital.com | SelfWealth |
|---|---|---|
| account structure | ||
| CHESS sponsorship model | — | mixed |
| Individual HIN | — | Yes |
| Individual account | Yes | Yes |
| Joint account | No | Yes |
| Company account | Yes | Yes |
| Trust account | No | Yes |
| SMSF account | No | Yes |
| Kids / minor account | No | Yes |
| asset coverage | ||
| ASX shares supported | No | Yes |
| ASX ETFs supported | No | Yes |
| US shares supported | No | Yes |
| US ETFs supported | No | Yes |
| Other markets supported | US, UK, EU, HK, JP, DE, FR, AU | HK |
| Fractional shares (ASX) | No | No |
| Fractional shares (US) | No | No |
| Options trading | No | No |
| CFDs supported | Yes | No |
| Managed funds | No | No |
| Bonds supported | No | No |
| IPO access | No | — |
| costs hidden | ||
| FX spread (AUD/USD) | 70% | 60% |
| FX spread (other currencies) | 70% | — |
| Holds USD account | No | Yes |
| FX currency switch trick | No | — |
| Market data fees | $0/month | $0/month |
| Conditional order fees | $0 | $0 |
| Corporate action fees | Not applicable — Capital.com offers CFDs only, not real shares. There are no corporate-action fees because clients do not hold underlying securities; dividend adjustments on share CFDs are passed through automatically (credited on long positions, debited on short positions) without an explicit fee. | — |
| costs visible | ||
| ASX brokerage minimum | — | $9.5 |
| ASX free trade conditions | — | Selfwealth Premium subscribers ($29/month or $240/year) receive 10 complimentary trades annually; otherwise no free-trade conditions. |
| US brokerage minimum | — | US$9.5 |
| Monthly platform fee | $0/month | $0/month |
| Annual platform fee | $0/year | $0/year |
| Inactivity fee | $0 | $0 |
| Withdrawal fee (AUD) | $0 | $0 |
| Off-market transfer fee | — | $27.5 |
| identity and trust | ||
| Legal entity name | Capital Com Australia Pty Ltd | SelfWealth Pty Ltd |
| AFSL number | 513,393 | 421,789 |
| Year founded | 2,021 | 2,012 |
| Parent / ownership | Capital.com Group (founded by Viktor Prokopenya, backed by VP Capital); ultimate AU operator is Capital Com Australia Pty Ltd, part of the Cyprus-headquartered Capital.com group with multiple regulated entities globally | Syfe (Svava Pte Ltd, Singapore) |
| Country of incorporation | AU | AU |
| Public company status | private | private |
| money movement | ||
| Minimum initial deposit | $20 | $500 |
| Minimum subsequent purchase | $20 | $0 |
| Deposit methods | PayID, bank transfer, debit card, credit card, Apple Pay, PayPal | OSKO, BPAY, EFT/bank transfer |
| Settlement period | N/A (CFDs are not settled — positions are open contracts marked-to-market continuously) | T+2 |
| Withdrawal time | Within 1 business day for PayID and bank transfer; 3-5 business days for card/Apple Pay/PayPal. 91% of withdrawals processed within 5 minutes. | 1-2 business days |
| platform ux | ||
| iOS app | Yes | Yes |
| Android app | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop platform | Yes | No |
| Demo account | Yes | No |
| Free real-time market data | Yes | No |
| Free research reports | Yes | No |
| 2FA support | authenticator | authenticator app |
| Customer support channels | phone, email, live chat, WhatsApp | live chat, email, phone |
| Support hours (AU time) | 24/7 English live chat and email; Melbourne-based phone support during AEST business hours | 10am-4pm AET, Monday-Friday (closed public holidays) |
| Education content | video + courses | basic articles |
| tax and reporting | ||
| Australian tax statement | No | Yes |
| Distribution component breakdown | No | — |
| CGT calculator / report | No | No |
| Sharesight / Navexa integration | No | Yes |
| trading mechanics | ||
| Market orders | Yes | Yes |
| Limit orders | Yes | Yes |
| Stop loss orders | Yes | Yes |
| Conditional orders | Yes | Yes |
| Auto-invest / DCA | No | Yes |
| Auto-invest sophistication | none | multiple |
| DRP (dividend reinvestment) | No | Yes |
| After-hours / overnight trading | Yes | Yes |