Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Admirals vs BDSwiss, 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.
Admirals, established in 2001, and BDSwiss, founded in 2012, are both online brokers with a focus on providing trading services. Neither company is publicly traded or operates as a bank, differentiating them from some other financial service providers. In terms of regulatory oversight, Admirals has secured a prominent position by holding four Tier-1 licenses and three Tier-2 licenses, reflecting a high level of trust and regulatory compliance.
In contrast, BDSwiss possesses one Tier-1 license and lacks Tier-2 licenses, aligning it with an average risk evaluation. According to ForexBrokers.com, Admirals earns a high Trust Score of 93 out of 99, signaling high reliability, whereas BDSwiss has a Trust Score of 73, indicating an average trust level. These scores and licensing details can be crucial factors for prospective traders when choosing between the two platforms.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2012 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 4 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 3 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 2 |
Comparing commissions and fees, Admirals comes out cheaper overall. Admirals is rated 4.5/5 stars and ranks #18 out of 63 for Commissions and Fees on ForexBrokers.com, while BDSwiss holds 4/5 stars and ranks #31 out of 63. Admirals lists a typical EUR/USD spread of about 0.8 pips on its Trade account (with similar pricing on the Zero account). By contrast, BDSwiss’ Classic account spread of 1.5 pips is pricey, and even its VIP account at 1.2 pips and Raw account at 0.3 pips plus a $5 commission per side (about 1.3 pips all-in) are generally higher than Admirals’ headline pricing.
Admirals: Competitive pricing with a typical 0.8-pip spread on the Trade account, and similar overall costs on the Zero account. This structure can help active traders keep trading costs predictable and low.
BDSwiss: While it reports good order execution stats, its spreads tend to run higher than the cheapest providers. The Classic account sits at 1.5 pips on EUR/USD; the VIP account drops to 1.2 pips; and the Raw account charges 0.3 pips plus a $5 commission per side, for an estimated total cost near 1.3 pips.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $100 | $10-$5000 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.8 | 1.3 |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes | Yes |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
Admirals offers a wider range of investments than BDSwiss, with 8,702 tradeable symbols and 82 forex pairs versus BDSwiss’s 1,081 symbols and 53 pairs. Both brokers let you trade forex either as CFDs or spot. A key difference is stock access: Admirals lets clients buy exchange-traded shares on U.S. and international markets (for example, Apple on NASDAQ and Vodafone in London), while BDSwiss does not offer exchange-traded securities. Both support copy trading. For crypto, neither broker lets you buy actual coins, but both provide cryptocurrency derivatives.
On range of investments, Admirals is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars and ranks #20 of 63 brokers at ForexBrokers.com, while BDSwiss earns 4 out of 5 stars and ranks #35. In short, choose Admirals if you want the largest selection and access to real shares alongside CFDs; BDSwiss covers core markets with forex, CFDs, copy trading, and crypto derivatives.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8702 | 1081 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 82 | 53 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | 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.
Admirals and BDSwiss both check the key boxes for traders who want flexible, modern platforms. Each online broker offers a free demo (paper) account, a proprietary platform, and full MetaTrader support with MT4 and MT5. You can trade on Windows desktop or in your browser with both brokers, use copy trading, and place orders directly from charts—making it easy to test ideas and act quickly without switching screens.
For Trading Platforms and Tools, both Admirals and BDSwiss earn 4 stars from ForexBrokers.com. Admirals ranks #19 out of 63 brokers, while BDSwiss comes in at #24. If you’re comparing the two, the feature sets are closely matched; the best next step is to try their free demos to see which platform layout and tools you prefer.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading 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 |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Admirals and BDSwiss both offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android. Each app supports stock or forex price alerts and lets you build watchlists with real-time quotes. For charting, both include 30 technical studies, the ability to draw trendlines, and auto-save for drawings. Note that neither app syncs watchlist symbols with your web account, so changes made on mobile won’t carry over automatically.
Both apps earn 4 out of 5 stars for Mobile Trading Apps. In ForexBrokers.com’s rankings out of 63 brokers, Admirals sits at #23 while BDSwiss is close behind at #24. If a slight ranking edge matters, Admirals gets the nod; otherwise, mobile features are largely comparable between the two.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When it comes to market research offerings, both Admirals and BDSwiss provide daily market commentaries, keeping traders informed with regular insights. While both brokers ensure access to Trading Central's technical analysis tools, Admirals stands out by delivering forex news from top-notch sources such as Bloomberg and Reuters, which BDSwiss does not offer. Admirals also provides a sentiment-based trading tool, which BDSwiss lacks, giving traders additional insight into market positions. Admirals enhances its research suite by including market research from TipRanks and tools from Acuity Trading like Signal Centre, whereas these features are absent from BDSwiss's offerings.
Both brokers offer an economic calendar to keep traders updated on global news events. Despite notable differences in specific tools, Admirals and BDSwiss share a consistent overall research rating of four stars. However, ForexBrokers.com ranks Admirals higher at number 15 for research excellence out of 63 brokers, compared to BDSwiss, which holds the 24th spot. This distinction highlights the more comprehensive market research services offered by Admirals.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No |
| Autochartist | No | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | Yes |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | Yes | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | Yes | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
For beginners, both Admirals and BDSwiss make it straightforward to start learning. Each hosts at least one client webinar every month and offers 10+ beginner videos that explain trading basics, platform tips, and common strategies. As your skills grow, both also provide 10+ advanced videos so you can keep learning without changing brokers.
Looking at third‑party ratings, both earn 4 out of 5 stars for Education, yet Admirals ranks higher overall (#12 of 63) compared with BDSwiss (#22 of 63). Details about any forex/CFD‑specific libraries, searchable webinar archives, or an investor dictionary weren’t provided, so it’s worth checking each broker’s site for those extras. In short, beginners will find structured videos and regular webinars at both brokers, with Admirals holding a slight edge in rankings.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| 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 Admirals is better than BDSwiss. Admirals finished with an overall rank of #18, while BDSwiss finished with an overall rank of #36.
Traders choose Admirals for its excellent investor education and advanced MetaTrader features – such as the Supreme add-ons – alongside an extensive range of shares, forex and CFD markets, and premium research content.
| Feature |
Admirals
|
BDSwiss
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
|
| Trust Score | 93 | 73 |
| Range of Investments |
|
|
| Commissions & Fees |
|
|
| Platforms & Tools |
|
|
| Research |
|
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
|
| Education |
|
|
Both Admirals and BDSwiss do not provide the capability to purchase actual (delivered) cryptocurrencies, but they each offer the option to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
Admirals and BDSwiss both support ACH/SEPA transfers, Skrill, and bank wire deposits and withdrawals, but only Admirals also offers PayPal, giving it a broader range of funding options.
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.
Select Brokers
↓×Compare
0 of 5| Overall Rating | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| |
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| |
| Range of Investments |
|
| |
| Platforms & Tools |
|
| |
| Mobile Trading |
|
| |
| Research |
|
| |
| Education |
|
| |
| Trust Score | 93 | 73 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Admirals Review | BDSwiss Review |
| Broker Screenshots | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broker Gallery (click to expand) |
|
|
| Regulation | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 93 | 73 | |
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2012 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 4 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 3 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 2 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | |||
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or SCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | Yes |
| Investments | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8702 | 1081 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 82 | 53 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | 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 | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.8 | 1.6 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.8 | 1.3 | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | Yes | |
| Order execution: Agency | Yes | Yes | |
| Order execution: Market Maker | Yes | No |
| Funding | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $100 | $10-$5000 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Platforms | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Desktop Trading 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 |
| Trading Tools | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | 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 | |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No | |
| Autochartist | No | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | Yes | |
| TipRanks | Yes | No | |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD [DELETED] | |||
| USD/JPY | Yes | Yes | |
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CAD | Yes | Yes | |
| NZD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| AUD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| Review | Admirals Review | BDSwiss Review |
| Overall | Admirals | BDSwiss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| |
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| |
| Range of Investments |
|
| |
| Platforms & Tools |
|
| |
| Mobile Trading |
|
| |
| Research |
|
| |
| Education |
|
| |
| Trust Score | 93 | 73 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Admirals Review | BDSwiss Review |
IG
CMC Markets
FOREX.com
XTB
eToro
AvaTrade
Plus500
Pepperstone
FP Markets
Tickmill