Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of ActivTrades vs Octa, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, range of investments, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
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.
ActivTrades and Octa, both established players in the online brokerage industry, offer distinct experiences for traders. Founded in 2001, ActivTrades has built a reputation for reliability, evidenced by its holding of two Tier-1 licenses and a Trust Score of 81 out of 99 from ForexBrokers.com, which rates it as a trusted broker. Meanwhile, Octa, which began operations in 2011, holds one Tier-1 license and carries a Trust Score of 72, placing it in the average risk category. Neither ActivTrades nor Octa is publicly traded or operates as a bank, emphasizing their focus on brokerage services.
Choosing between ActivTrades and Octa involves assessing regulatory trust levels and operational years. ActivTrades's higher Trust Score and regulatory standing with two Tier-1 licenses might appeal to traders looking for increased reassurance. However, Octa's decade-long presence and competitive offering make it a viable option for those comfortable with a moderate level of risk.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
Comparing commissions and fees, both ActivTrades and Octa earn 4 out of 5 stars from ForexBrokers.com. ActivTrades ranks #21 of 63 in this category, while Octa ranks #26 of 63. For EUR/USD, ActivTrades reported a 0.98-pip average spread in May 2024—better than the industry average but not the lowest available. Octa lists 0.5 pips for its EU entity and 0.9 pips for its foreign entities, though it does not provide a date range for these figures, making direct, time-matched comparisons difficult.
ActivTrades keeps pricing straightforward with one main Individual Account, plus Professional and Islamic options. Spreads are the same across accounts; the Professional setup mainly changes margin requirements (and thus potential leverage). There’s no dedicated high-volume account or active-trader pricing, and costs vary by asset and platform, with spreads that can widen during rollover. A demo account is available. Rating and ranking: 4/5 stars; #21 of 63 for Commissions and Fees.
Octa’s pricing depends on your chosen entity and platform: EU clients get a single MT5 account, while international clients can choose MT4, MT5, or OctaTrader. Octa has improved its spreads and reports no slippage on 97.5% of orders, plus no overnight carry costs, though some rules can limit high-frequency strategies. Spread levels differ by entity (EU vs. foreign), and the lack of date ranges on its spread claims limits precision when comparing. Rating and ranking: 4/5 stars; #26 of 63 for Commissions and Fees.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 1.08 | 0.9 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.92 | N/A |
| Non-wire bank transfer | No | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
ActivTrades delivers a wider range of investments than Octa. It lists 1,267 tradeable symbols compared with Octa’s 300, and offers 49 forex pairs versus Octa’s 35. Both brokers support forex trading as CFDs or spot contracts, provide copy trading, and let you trade crypto via CFDs (but not buy actual coins). Neither broker offers access to U.S.-listed shares, though both let clients buy exchange-traded stocks on certain international exchanges.
Independent ratings echo this gap in choice: ActivTrades earns 4 stars for Range of Investments and ranks #25 out of 63 brokers at ForexBrokers.com, while Octa scores 3.5 stars and ranks #33. If you want more symbols and currency pairs to choose from, ActivTrades has the edge; if you need the basics with crypto CFD and copy-trading access, Octa covers those needs too.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1267 | 300 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 49 | 35 |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | No | No |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | Yes | Yes |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | 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.
ActivTrades and Octa both make it easy to get started with a free demo account for paper trading. Each broker offers its own proprietary platform alongside MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), plus Windows desktop downloads and web-based platforms you can run in your browser. You can copy trade with either broker and place orders straight from charts. Details on the number of built-in technical indicators and watchlist column options were not specified.
For Trading Platforms and Tools, both brokers earned 4 out of 5 stars from ForexBrokers.com. In this category, ActivTrades ranked 26th out of 63 brokers, while Octa ranked 30th, giving ActivTrades a slight edge in the standings.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
For mobile trading, ActivTrades and Octa both check the key boxes. Each offers an iPhone and Android app, supports price alerts for stocks and forex, and delivers solid charting with 30 technical studies. You can draw trendlines and your chart drawings auto-save on both platforms. One limitation is watchlists: neither app syncs watchlist symbols with the web platform, so changes on mobile won’t carry over to your online account.
In terms of quality scores, both brokers earn 4 out of 5 stars for their mobile trading apps. However, in ForexBrokers.com’s Mobile Trading Apps category, ActivTrades ranks 21st out of 63 brokers, while Octa ranks 29th. That slight gap suggests ActivTrades has a small overall advantage, though day-to-day features feel very similar—making either app a practical pick for trading on the go.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | No | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
Comparing ActivTrades vs Octa for market research, both brokers cover the essentials: daily market commentary, forex news from major wire services like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones, and a helpful economic calendar. The main differences are in extras. Octa includes Autochartist for automated chart-pattern and volatility scanning that can surface trade ideas. ActivTrades, meanwhile, offers a sentiment tool that shows the balance of long and short positions across instruments—useful for gauging market crowd behavior. Neither broker currently integrates Trading Central, TipRanks, or Acuity Trading.
In independent testing by ForexBrokers.com, both earned 4 stars for research, with Octa ranked #24 of 63 brokers and ActivTrades at #26 of 63. Choose Octa if you want Autochartist-powered technical insights; pick ActivTrades if trader sentiment data is a priority alongside high-quality news and daily commentary.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | Yes |
| Trading Central | No | No |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Acuity Trading | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
ActivTrades vs Octa for education: both brokers offer beginner-friendly forex and CFD education with well over 10 learning pieces, including articles, videos, and archived webinars. Each hosts ongoing client webinars at least monthly and provides at least 10 beginner videos to help newcomers learn key trading basics, plus 10+ advanced videos for when you’re ready to go deeper.
In independent evaluations, both score 4 out of 5 stars for Education. ActivTrades holds a slight edge in ranking (#30 out of 63) compared with Octa (#32 out of 63). If you want a small advantage in overall standing, ActivTrades nudges ahead; if you simply want rich, accessible learning materials—videos, webinars, and articles—Octa delivers a very similar experience for beginners.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that ActivTrades is better than Octa. ActivTrades finished with an overall rank of #28, while Octa finished with an overall rank of #34.
ActivTrades is a long-standing brand that offers a proprietary trading platform, ActivTrader, and support for the award-winning TradingView and MetaTrader (MT4 and MT5) platforms. ActivTrades also delivers a selection of custom add-ons, indicators, and trading tools for traders who prefer to use MetaTrader. Drawbacks for trading with ActivTrades include a smaller selection of tradeable symbols and fewer educational resources than what’s available from the best forex brokers.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 81 | 72 |
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ActivTrades vs Octa: neither broker offers the ability to buy actual (delivered) cryptocurrency, but both support trading cryptocurrency CFDs.
ActivTrades vs Octa: both brokers do not support ACH/SEPA or PayPal, do support Skrill and bank wire transfers for deposits and withdrawals, and provide no specified information on Visa/Mastercard availability.
Please note:
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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0 of 5| Overall Rating | ActivTrades | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 81 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | ActivTrades Review | Octa Review |
| Broker Screenshots | ActivTrades | Octa | |
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| Regulation | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 81 | 72 | |
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2011 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | ||
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 1 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (FSA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | No | ||
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | ||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or SCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No |
| Investments | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1267 | 300 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 49 | 35 | |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | No | No | |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | Yes | Yes | |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | No | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | 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 | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 1.08 | 0.9 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.92 | N/A | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | No | |
| Order execution: Agency | No | Yes | |
| Order execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Non-wire bank transfer | No | No |
| Trading Platforms | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No |
| Trading Tools | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist [DELETED] | |||
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | No | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | No | Yes | |
| Trading Central | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | ActivTrades | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD [DELETED] | |||
| USD/JPY [DELETED] | |||
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF [DELETED] | |||
| USD/CAD [DELETED] | |||
| NZD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| AUD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| Review | ActivTrades Review | Octa Review |
| Overall | ActivTrades | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 81 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | ActivTrades Review | Octa Review |
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