Identify the legal product
A CFD is a contract whose value changes with an underlying price. Physical or allocated gold involves different ownership, storage and delivery arrangements. An XAU/USD chart alone does not establish what you own.
Compare complete costs
For a CFD, examine spread, commission, margin and financing. For physical gold, examine dealer premium, storage, insurance, delivery and resale spread. Comparing only the displayed spot price misses these differences.
Ask about exit and insolvency
Read how you close or redeem the product, whether delivery is possible and what claim exists if the provider fails. If religious compliance matters, obtain product-specific qualified review rather than assuming all gold products share the same structure.