Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of ThinkMarkets vs ACY Securities, 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.
ThinkMarkets, established in 2010, and ACY Securities, founded a year later in 2011, are both online brokers not listed on any stock exchange, nor are they banks. When it comes to regulatory status, ThinkMarkets stands out with five top-tier licenses recognized as highly trusted, compared to ACY Securities, which holds just one. This positions ThinkMarkets as a broker with a strong regulatory foundation, reflective of higher trust in the financial industry.
In terms of trust ratings, ThinkMarkets boasts a trust score of 92 out of 99 according to ForexBrokers.com, categorizing it as highly trusted. In contrast, ACY Securities holds a score of 75, which places it in the average risk category. Additionally, ThinkMarkets also holds two Tier-2 licenses, further reinforcing its established credibility, while ACY Securities does not currently possess any Tier-2 licenses.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2010 | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 3 | 1 |
When evaluating the commissions and fees for ThinkMarkets, it's important to note that specific average spread data isn't available. However, the broker has been rated 4 out of 5 stars in this category. ThinkMarkets is ranked #47 out of 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, highlighting its relatively competitive, yet not industry-leading, pricing structure.
ACY Securities offers a more detailed and flexible fee structure, catering to various trading needs. With three account types, including Standard, ProZero, and Bespoke, traders can choose based on their preference for spreads and commissions. While the Standard account comes with slightly higher pricing at 1.2 pips on EUR/USD, it has no commission and a low $50 deposit requirement. In contrast, the commission-based ProZero and Bespoke accounts present more favorable spreads, averaging around 0.25 pips, with minimum deposits of $200 and $10,000, respectively. For those in Australia, the ProZero account offers an even lower commission, reducing the trading cost effectively. ACY Securities received a higher rating for commissions and fees at 4.5 stars and is ranked #21 out of 63 brokers, making it a strong contender in the industry.
Overall, for traders seeking a broader range of account options and potentially lower trading costs, especially in Australia, ACY Securities could be a more appealing choice. Despite ThinkMarkets' decent rating, its lack of detailed spread information and lower ranking in commissions and fees suggests it might be less competitive for those prioritizing cost efficiency.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $50 | $50 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | 0.85 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | Yes |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
When comparing ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities on their range of investments, both brokers offer forex trading as a CFD option, allowing investors to trade on the value of currency pairs without owning the actual currencies. ThinkMarkets provides a broader selection with 4,000 tradeable symbols, while ACY Securities offers 2,200. Specifically, ACY Securities has a greater selection of forex pairs, offering 66 compared to ThinkMarkets' 46. Neither broker supports direct investment in U.S. exchange-traded securities like Apple shares, but ThinkMarkets offers an advantage by allowing investments in international exchange-traded securities such as Vodafone shares, whereas ACY Securities does not.
In terms of additional features, both brokers support copy trading, letting investors replicate the strategies of more experienced traders. For cryptocurrency enthusiasts, both ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities allow trading in cryptocurrency derivatives, but not the actual cryptocurrencies. In summary, ThinkMarkets is rated 4.5 stars for its range of investments, ranking 22nd out of 63 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com, while ACY Securities holds a 4-star rating, achieving a 30th place ranking. This data may help investors decide based on their specific needs and priorities.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 4000 | 2200 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 46 | 66 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | 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.
When comparing the trading platforms and tools of ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities, both brokers shine with their offerings. Each provides a simulated trading environment through a free virtual demo account and offers proprietary and universally popular platforms like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. For those who favor Windows-based applications, both brokers accommodate with desktop download options, while also providing web-based, browser-friendly platforms. Features such as copy trading and the ability to trade directly from stock charts further enhance their competitive offerings. However, neither broker supports platforms like DupliTrade or ZuluTrade, which might be a limitation for some users.
In terms of charting capabilities, both brokers offer 15 drawing tools, but the variety of technical indicators remains unspecified. ThinkMarkets offers a more customizable watch list with 15 columns compared to ACY Securities’ seven. Despite these differences, each broker garners a four-star rating for their trading platforms and tools. According to rankings on ForexBrokers.com, ThinkMarkets claims the 28th spot while ACY Securities sits at 41 out of 63 brokers, displaying a slight edge for ThinkMarkets in user perception and industry recognition.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 15 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
When it comes to mobile trading apps, both ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities provide solutions for both iPhone and Android users, offering a seamless experience for those who trade on-the-go. They both allow users to receive stock or forex price alerts, which keeps traders informed about market movements. However, while they both support creating watchlists with real-time quotes, neither offers the feature to sync watchlist symbols across devices, which means changes made on the app may not reflect on other platforms used by the trader.
In terms of charting tools, ThinkMarkets stands out with 94 technical studies compared to ACY Securities' 30, offering more diverse analysis options for traders. Both platforms allow drawing trendlines and viewing multiple time frames on charts, with auto-saving of these drawings as an added convenience. Despite these features, user ratings for mobile trading apps are equally favorable for both brokers at 4 out of 5 stars. Nonetheless, ThinkMarkets holds a stronger position, ranked at #20 by ForexBrokers.com compared to ACY Securities' #40, indicating a slightly more favorable reception among users in the trading community.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 94 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When comparing the market research offerings of ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities, both brokers provide daily market commentary and economic calendars to help traders stay informed about current and upcoming global news events. However, a key difference lies in their access to forex news; ThinkMarkets delivers updates from top-tier sources like Bloomberg and Reuters, while ACY Securities does not offer such services. Another advantage of ThinkMarkets is its sentiment-based trading tool, which reveals long and short position ratios across various currency pairs, a feature not available with ACY Securities. Additionally, ThinkMarkets utilizes tools from Acuity Trading, enhancing its research capabilities further than ACY Securities.
Despite these differences in market research tools, both ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities hold equal ratings of 3.5 stars for research. However, their rankings differ slightly based on ForexBrokers.com evaluations, with ACY Securities positioned at #45 and ThinkMarkets at #50 out of 63 brokers. It's important to consider these distinctions when choosing a broker that best fits your trading research needs.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No |
| Autochartist | No | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | Yes | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When it comes to educational resources for beginners, both ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities offer a solid selection. Each platform provides over ten pieces of forex and CFD educational content, such as articles and videos, ensuring beginner traders have ample learning material at their disposal. Both brokers also conduct at least one online educational webinar monthly, with past sessions accessible through searchable archives. Additionally, beginner traders can delve into over ten beginner-friendly trading videos on both platforms, making the learning process more manageable. However, when it comes to advanced educational videos, ThinkMarkets has the upper hand, delivering a suite of over ten videos for those with more experience, in contrast to ACY Securities, which does not offer advanced trading video content.
While both ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities score 3.5 stars for their educational offerings, ThinkMarkets further provides an investor dictionary with over 50 investing terms to deepen a user's understanding—an added benefit not matched by ACY Securities. According to a ranking of 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, ACY Securities is positioned higher, at #43, compared to ThinkMarkets at #52 in the education category. Despite their similarities in beginner offerings, these differences may play a crucial role for traders who seek more comprehensive educational support as they grow their trading skills.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | No |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that ThinkMarkets is better than ACY Securities. ThinkMarkets finished with an overall rank of #27, while ACY Securities finished with an overall rank of #41.
ThinkMarkets has multiple regulatory license and offers a proprietary trading platform, as well as the entire MetaTrader suite. The broker has made progress in key areas, such as research and education, and the range of markets available, although trails behind the best brokers in these categories.
| Feature |
ThinkMarkets
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 92 | 75 |
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Both ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities do not provide options to buy actual cryptocurrencies, only offering cryptocurrency derivatives for trading instead.
When comparing online brokers ThinkMarkets and ACY Securities, ACY Securities stands out by offering ACH or SEPA transfers for depositing and withdrawing funds, a feature that ThinkMarkets lacks, while both brokers provide Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, and bank wire options with neither offering PayPal.
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 | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
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| Trust Score | 92 | 75 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | ACY Securities Review |
| Broker Screenshots | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
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| Regulation | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 92 | 75 | |
| Year Founded | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | No | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 3 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | No |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 4000 | 2200 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 46 | 66 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | 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 | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.1 | 1.2 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | 0.85 | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | No | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | No |
| Funding | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $50 | $50 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | Yes |
| Trading Platforms | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 15 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 94 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | No |
| Research | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No | |
| Autochartist | No | No | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | No |
| Major Forex Pairs | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/JPY | Yes | Yes | |
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CAD | Yes | Yes | |
| NZD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| AUD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| Review | ACY Securities Review |
| Overall | ThinkMarkets | ACY Securities | |
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| Trust Score | 92 | 75 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | ACY Securities Review |
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