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Home ‣ Compare ‣ Interactive Brokers vs ActivTrades 2025

Interactive Brokers vs ActivTrades 2025

ForexBrokers.com

Written by ForexBrokers.com

February 05, 2025

In this head to head comparison of Interactive Brokers vs ActivTrades, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, range of investments, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.

Interactive Brokers
5/5 Stars Overall
  • Minimum Deposit: $0
  • Trust Score: 99
  • Tradeable Symbols (Total): 8500
ActivTrades
4/5 Stars Overall
  • Minimum Deposit: $0
  • Trust Score: 81
  • Tradeable Symbols (Total): 1267

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 51% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Regulation

Interactive Brokers, founded in 1977, and ActivTrades, established in 2001, present distinct profiles in the online brokerage landscape. Interactive Brokers stands out as a publicly traded company, while ActivTrades remains privately held. Neither company operates as a bank. In terms of regulation, Interactive Brokers holds an impressive nine Tier-1 licenses, indicating a high level of trust, compared to ActivTrades' two Tier-1 licenses. Both firms maintain additional Tier-2 licenses, signaling their commitment to maintaining trusted operations.

When considering trustworthiness as determined by ForexBrokers.com, Interactive Brokers achieves a near-perfect Trust Score rating of 99, placing it at the top of the list for reliability. On the other hand, ActivTrades earns a respectable Trust Score of 81, categorizing it as trusted. These scores emphasize Interactive Brokers' strong regulatory framework and its established reputation in the financial sector.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Year Founded info 1977 2001
Publicly Traded (Listed) info Yes No
Bank info No No
Tier-1 Licenses info 9 2
Tier-2 Licenses info 2 1
Tier-3 Licenses info 0 0
Tier-4 Licenses info 0 2

Fees

Interactive Brokers vs. ActivTrades on commissions and fees: Interactive Brokers earns 5 stars and ranks #2 out of 63, while ActivTrades earns 4 stars and ranks #29. For EUR/USD, Interactive Brokers doesn’t publish typical spreads, but Q3 2024 data shows an average spread of 0.19 pips, translating to about 0.59 pips all-in after commissions on a standard lot. By comparison, ActivTrades reported an average EUR/USD spread of 0.98 pips in May 2024. In plain terms, IBKR often prices out cheaper on forex if you trade standard sizes.

Interactive Brokers uses a commission-based model with agency execution, aggregating quotes from 17 major liquidity providers and avoiding spread markups. Commissions start at 0.00002 (0.2 bps) of the USD trade value per side with a $2 minimum per order ($4 round turn), which equals roughly 0.40 pips in commission on a $100,000 EUR/USD trade. Pricing ranges from $16 to $40 per million round turn ($8–$20 per side), with volume discounts that can cut the minimum to $1.50 per order above $1 billion in monthly volume and $1 at $5 billion. Note: the $2-per-side minimum makes smaller-than-standard trades proportionally pricier, and IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro support forex but are not commission-free. RFQ is available for very large orders.

ActivTrades primarily competes on spread-based pricing. It lists target spreads by asset, though actual spreads can vary during the trading day (including wider spreads around rollover). The EUR/USD averaged 0.98 pips in May 2024. There’s one main account for retail traders (plus Professional and Islamic options), and spreads remain the same across account types. There’s no special active-trader pricing, and total costs depend on the asset and platform you choose.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Minimum Deposit info $0 $0
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard info 0.59 info 0.98 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info 0.65 info N/A
Active Trader or VIP Discounts info Yes No
ACH or SEPA Transfers info Yes No
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) info No No
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) info No Yes
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) info No Yes
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) info Yes Yes

Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.

Featured Offers


Range of investments

For range of investments, Interactive Brokers offers far wider market access than ActivTrades. IBKR lists about 8,500 tradeable symbols and 90 forex pairs, compared with ActivTrades’ 1,267 symbols and 49 pairs. Both brokers support forex trading and let you trade on international stock exchanges, but only Interactive Brokers lets you buy U.S.-listed shares like Apple directly (not as CFDs).

Crypto and social features differ, too: Interactive Brokers supports both real cryptocurrency purchases and crypto derivatives, while ActivTrades only offers crypto derivatives. ActivTrades does provide copy trading, which IBKR does not. Reflecting the breadth of markets, ForexBrokers.com rates Interactive Brokers 5 stars and ranks it #1 out of 63 for Range of Investments, while ActivTrades earns 4 stars and ranks #32.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info Yes Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info 8500 1267
Forex Pairs (Total) info 90 49
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) info Yes No
Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) info Yes Yes
Social Trading / Copy Trading info No Yes
Cryptocurrency (Physical) info Yes No
Cryptocurrency (Derivative) info Yes Yes
Disclaimers Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients).

Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.

Trading platforms and tools

Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and ActivTrades both offer free paper trading (virtual demo accounts), proprietary platforms, and access via Windows desktop downloads and web-based platforms. Both let you trade directly from charts. When it comes to tools, IBKR stands out with 85 chart drawing tools and highly customizable watch lists with 659 available columns, compared with 15 drawing tools and 11 watch list fields at ActivTrades—useful if you track lots of metrics.

Platform choice differs: ActivTrades supports MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 and includes copy trading, while Interactive Brokers does not support MT4/MT5 and does not offer copy trading. Neither supports DupliTrade or ZuluTrade. In ForexBrokers.com testing for Trading Platforms and Tools, Interactive Brokers earned 5 stars and ranked #3 of 63, while ActivTrades earned 4 stars and ranked #32. Consider Interactive Brokers if you want deeper built-in tools and data customization, or ActivTrades if you prefer MetaTrader and integrated copy trading.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Virtual Trading (Demo) info Yes Yes
Proprietary Platform info Yes Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) info Yes Yes
Web Platform info Yes Yes
Social Trading / Copy Trading info No Yes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) info No Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) info No Yes
DupliTrade info No No
ZuluTrade info No No
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info 155 30
Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) info 85 15
Charting - Trade From Chart info Yes Yes
Watchlists - Total Fields info 659 11

Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.

Forex trading apps

Interactive Brokers and ActivTrades both offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android devices, allowing users to trade on the go. Both platforms provide stock and forex price alerts and allow users to draw trendlines and view multiple timeframes on their charts. These features are essential for traders looking to manage their portfolios and monitor market trends efficiently. However, a key difference lies in the synchronization of watchlist symbols: Interactive Brokers syncs watchlists across devices, while ActivTrades does not. Both brokers allow the creation of watchlists with real-time quotes, but ActivTrades' app stands out for automatically saving chart drawings, a feature that Interactive Brokers lacks.

When it comes to technical charting capabilities, Interactive Brokers offers a wider range of options with 97 technical studies compared to ActivTrades' 30. In terms of user satisfaction and expert reviews, Interactive Brokers has an impressive rating of 5 stars and ranks 4th among 63 brokers in the Mobile Trading Apps category by ForexBrokers.com. In contrast, ActivTrades receives a 4-star rating and is positioned at 19th. These ratings reflect the overall user experience, app features, and the level of service provided, making Interactive Brokers a preferred choice for those seeking comprehensive mobile trading functionalities.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Android App info Yes Yes
Apple iOS App info Yes Yes
Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields info Yes Yes
Watchlist Syncing info Yes No
Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies info 97 30
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines info Yes Yes
Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames info Yes Yes
Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave info No Yes
Mobile Watchlist info Yes Yes

Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.

Market research

Interactive Brokers and ActivTrades both cover the basics for market research. Each offers daily market commentary, an economic calendar of global events, and sentiment tools that show long-versus-short positioning. You’ll also find forex news from top-tier sources such as Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones at both brokers. Neither platform currently includes Autochartist.

Where they differ is in third-party research depth. Interactive Brokers adds Trading Central analytics plus research from TipRanks and Acuity Trading, while ActivTrades lacks these extras. Reflecting this spread, ForexBrokers.com rates Interactive Brokers 5 stars for Research (ranked #3 of 63 brokers) and ActivTrades 4 stars (ranked #31). If you want a wider mix of outside research and trading ideas, Interactive Brokers has the edge; if you only need core news, commentary, and calendars, ActivTrades fits the bill.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Daily Market Commentary info Yes Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) info Yes Yes
Autochartist info No No
Trading Central (Recognia) info Yes No
Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs info Yes Yes
TipRanks info Yes No
Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) info Yes No
Economic Calendar info Yes Yes

Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.

Beginners and education

When comparing the educational resources for beginners at Interactive Brokers and ActivTrades, both platforms provide substantial offerings. They each supply more than 10 educational materials, including articles, videos, and webinars focused on forex and CFDs. Additionally, both brokers host monthly online educational webinars and maintain an accessible archive of past webinars, making them a great choice for ongoing learning. They each offer over 10 beginner-focused videos, ensuring newcomers have plenty of material to start their trading journey. While both brokers excel in these areas, Interactive Brokers sets itself apart with an extensive investor dictionary containing over 50 financial term definitions, a feature not offered by ActivTrades.

In terms of advanced resources, both Interactive Brokers and ActivTrades meet the needs of more experienced traders with over 10 advanced educational videos. However, Interactive Brokers holds a distinct edge with a 5-star education rating compared to ActivTrades' 4 stars. This higher rating is further reflected in its ranking: Interactive Brokers is placed 3rd out of 63 brokers in the Education category by ForexBrokers.com, while ActivTrades ranks 38th. Overall, Interactive Brokers offers a slightly more comprehensive and highly rated educational experience for beginners looking to deepen their trading knowledge.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Education (Forex or CFDs) info Yes Yes
Client Webinars info Yes Yes
Client Webinars (Archived) info Yes Yes
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info Yes Yes
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos info Yes Yes
Investor Dictionary (Glossary) info Yes No

Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.

Winner

After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that Interactive Brokers is better than ActivTrades. Interactive Brokers finished with an overall rank of #2, while ActivTrades finished with an overall rank of #33.

Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted multi-asset broker with an extensive offering of tradeable global markets. It delivers competitive fees and high-quality research and education, as well as a modern, institutional-grade trading platform suite.

Feature Interactive Brokers logoInteractive Brokers
ActivTrades logoActivTrades
Overall Rating info 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Trust Score info 99 81
Range of Investments 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Commissions & Fees 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Platforms & Tools 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Research 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Mobile Trading 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Education 5/5 Stars 3.5/5 Stars

FAQs

Can you trade cryptocurrency with Interactive Brokers or ActivTrades?

Interactive Brokers allows customers to purchase actual delivered cryptocurrency and offers cryptocurrency derivatives, while ActivTrades only provides the option to trade cryptocurrency derivatives and does not support buying actual delivered cryptocurrency.

What funding options does each broker offer?

Interactive Brokers supports ACH, SEPA transfers, and bank wires for account transactions, whereas ActivTrades offers Skrill, Visa or Mastercard, and bank wires, but does not support ACH or SEPA transfers, and neither broker provides PayPal as a transaction option.

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We review each broker’s overall global offering – a “Yes” checkmark in our Compare Tool does not guarantee the availability of any specific features in your country of residence. To verify the availability of any features within your country of residence, please contact the broker directly.

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Overall Rating Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Overall Rating info 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Commissions & Fees 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Range of Investments 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Platforms & Tools 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Mobile Trading 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Research 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Education 5/5 Stars 3.5/5 Stars
Trust Score info 99 81
Winner check_circle
Review Interactive Brokers Review ActivTrades Review
Broker Screenshots Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Broker Gallery (click to expand) info
IBKR mobile watchlist. IBKR Desktop platform charts. Interactive Brokers research Traders Insight daily analysis article detail Interactive Brokers IBKR Podcast video.
ActivTrades ActivTrader mobile app watchlist light mode. ActivTrader platform web. ActivTrader research weekly outlook articles. ActivTrades educational articles macro analysis.
Regulation Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Trust Score info 99 81
Year Founded info 1977 2001
Publicly Traded (Listed) info Yes No
Bank info No No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info Yes info
Tier-1 Licenses info 9 2
Tier-2 Licenses info 2 1
Tier-3 Licenses info 0 0
Tier-4 Licenses info 0 2
Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Australia (ASIC Authorised) info Yes
Canada (CIRO Authorised) info Yes
Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) info Yes
Japan (SFC Authorised) info Yes
Singapore (MAS Authorised) info Yes
Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) info Yes
United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) info Yes Yes
USA (CFTC Authorized) info Yes
New Zealand (FMA Authorised) info No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info Yes info
Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Kenya (CMA Authorised) info
Israel (ISA Authorised) info No
South Africa (FSCA Authorised) info No
UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) info Yes
India (SEBI Authorised) info Yes
Jordan (JSC Authorised) info
Investments Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info Yes Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total) info 8500 1267
Forex Pairs (Total) info 90 49
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) info Yes No
Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) info Yes Yes
Social Trading / Copy Trading info No Yes
Cryptocurrency (Physical) info Yes No
Cryptocurrency (Derivative) info Yes Yes
Disclaimers Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients).
Cost Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard info 0.59 info 0.98 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info 0.65 info N/A
Active Trader or VIP Discounts info Yes No
Inactivity Fee info No Yes
Execution: Agency Broker info Yes No
Execution: Market Maker info No Yes
Funding Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Minimum Deposit info $0 $0
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) info No No
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) info No Yes
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) info No Yes
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) info Yes Yes
ACH or SEPA Transfers info Yes No
Trading Platforms Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Proprietary Platform info Yes Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) info Yes Yes
Web Platform info Yes Yes
Social Trading / Copy Trading info No Yes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) info No Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) info No Yes
cTrader info No No
DupliTrade info No No
ZuluTrade info No No
Trading Tools Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Virtual Trading (Demo) info Yes Yes
Alerts - Basic Fields info Yes Yes
Watchlists - Total Fields info 659 11
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info 155 30
Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) info 85 15
Charting - Trade From Chart info Yes Yes
Charts can be saved info Yes Yes
Mobile Trading Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Android App info Yes Yes
Apple iOS App info Yes Yes
Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields info Yes Yes
Mobile Watchlist info Yes Yes
Watchlist Syncing info Yes No
Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies info 97 30
Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines info Yes Yes
Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames info Yes Yes
Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave info No Yes
Mobile Economic Calendar info Yes Yes
Research Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Daily Market Commentary info Yes Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) info Yes Yes
Autochartist info No No
Trading Central (Recognia) info Yes No
TipRanks info Yes No
Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs info Yes Yes
Economic Calendar info Yes Yes
Education Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Education (Forex or CFDs) info Yes Yes
Client Webinars info Yes Yes
Client Webinars (Archived) info Yes Yes
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info Yes Yes
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos info Yes Yes
Investor Dictionary (Glossary) info Yes No
Major Forex Pairs Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
GBP/USD info Yes Yes
USD/JPY info Yes Yes
EUR/USD info Yes Yes
USD/CHF info Yes Yes
USD/CAD info Yes Yes
NZD/USD info Yes Yes
AUD/USD info Yes Yes
Review Interactive Brokers Review ActivTrades Review
Overall Interactive Brokers ActivTrades
Overall Rating info 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Commissions & Fees 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Range of Investments 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Platforms & Tools 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Mobile Trading 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Research 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Education 5/5 Stars 3.5/5 Stars
Trust Score info 99 81
Winner check_circle
Review Interactive Brokers Review ActivTrades Review
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