Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of BDSwiss vs Alpari, 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.
BDSwiss and Alpari are both online brokers catering to forex traders, yet they differ significantly in their trust ratings and regulatory standards. BDSwiss, established in 2012, holds a Tier-1 license, marking it as a more reliable option with a Trust Score of 73 out of 99. In contrast, Alpari, founded in 1998, lacks a Tier-1 license and has a lower Trust Score of 68, indicating a slightly higher risk. Neither of these brokers is publicly traded or operates as a bank.
According to ForexBrokers.com, the Trust Score serves as an essential measure of safety, with scores above 70 deemed average or better. BDSwiss’s single Tier-1 license underscores its relative compliance and security in financial dealings. Conversely, Alpari’s absence of Tier-1 licenses might urge potential traders to consider this when assessing their investment options.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2012 | 1998 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 0 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
When comparing the commission and fee structures of BDSwiss and Alpari, there are distinct differences to consider. BDSwiss, known for its reliable order execution, offers several account options with varying spreads. The Classic account has a spread of 1.5 pips on EUR/USD, which is on the higher side compared to many in the industry. However, the Raw account offers a more competitive model with a spread of 0.3 pips plus a $5 commission per trade side, resulting in an effective total spread of 1.3 pips. The VIP account further improves the spread to 1.2 pips. Overall, BDSwiss's commission and fee structure earns it a rating of 4 stars and positions it at #30 out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com.
Alpari, on the other hand, does not provide average spread data, which may make it a bit more challenging for potential users to gauge its cost structure. Despite this lack of specific spread information, Alpari shares a similar 4-star rating with BDSwiss for commissions and fees. However, it ranks slightly lower at #41 out of 62 brokers in the same category, indicating that while it is a credible choice, it may not be the most cost-effective among its peers.
Ultimately, both BDSwiss and Alpari offer viable options for online investors, but BDSwiss seems to provide more transparent pricing details, which may help traders in making informed decisions. The choice may come down to preferences regarding transparency, spread details, and specific trading strategies.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $10-$5000 | $20 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.6 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.3 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| 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 BDSwiss and Alpari for their range of investments, BDSwiss emerges as the more versatile choice, offering a total of 1081 tradeable symbols compared to Alpari's 105. Both platforms support forex trading as CFDs or spot contracts, but BDSwiss provides access to 53 forex pairs while Alpari lists 46. Both brokers do not offer exchange-traded securities on U.S. exchanges, nor do they allow the purchase of actual cryptocurrency; however, they both offer cryptocurrency derivatives and copy trading services.
In terms of international exchange opportunities, Alpari has the upper hand, allowing clients to invest in companies like Vodafone listed on the London Stock Exchange, whereas BDSwiss does not. Despite this, BDSwiss is rated 4 stars for its range of investments, ranking 34th out of 62 brokers, while Alpari holds 3 stars, ranking at the bottom of the list. This indicates that BDSwiss offers a broader and more diverse portfolio for investors seeking a wider array of trading options.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1081 | 105 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 53 | 46 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes |
| 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 offered by BDSwiss and Alpari, both brokers stand out in providing a variety of features to accommodate traders. They each offer a free virtual demo account, making it easy for beginners or those wanting to test strategies in a risk-free environment. Both companies also have their own proprietary platforms and support MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), which are popular among experienced traders for their extensive capabilities. Windows-based desktop downloads and web-based platforms are available from both BDSwiss and Alpari, ensuring accessible trading options for users. Additionally, each broker supports copy trading, enabling traders to mimic successful strategies from others.
In terms of specific tools, BDSwiss and Alpari both offer 15 drawing tools for charting and allow trading directly from a stock chart, offering flexibility and efficiency for technical analysis. Their watch lists are also comprehensive, with seven fields for organizing trading options. Despite similarities, BDSwiss edges out Alpari in their rankings for trading platforms and tools, holding the 24th spot out of 62 brokers, compared to Alpari's 55th position. However, both brokers are well-regarded, each receiving a solid 4-star rating for their trading platforms and tools, emphasizing their effectiveness in serving various trading needs.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 7 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
BDSwiss and Alpari both offer trading apps for iPhone and Android users, giving mobile traders handy tools at their fingertips. They each provide vital features like stock or forex price alerts and the ability to draw trendlines on charts. Users can access multiple time frames, which include daily, weekly, and intraday views on both platforms. However, one notable difference is that only BDSwiss automatically saves chart drawings. Both apps allow users to create watchlists with real-time quotes. Yet, neither offers watchlist symbol syncing, meaning changes made on mobile won't reflect in your online account and vice versa.
When it comes to technical charting, both apps are quite capable, offering 30 technical studies. They share a four-star rating for mobile trading and offer a solid user experience. However, BDSwiss edges ahead in rankings by ForexBrokers.com, sitting at #24, compared to Alpari's ranking of #56 out of 62 brokers. For traders who prioritize the auto-saving of chart annotations and slightly higher industry recognition, BDSwiss may present a slight edge over Alpari in the mobile trading landscape.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | No |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When comparing market research offerings between BDSwiss and Alpari, BDSwiss stands out with its commitment to providing daily market commentary, while Alpari does not offer this feature. However, Alpari compensates with access to forex news sourced from top-tier providers like Bloomberg and Reuters, whereas BDSwiss lacks this advantage. Both brokers offer technical analysis tools from Autochartist, giving traders aid in identifying market patterns, but only BDSwiss extends its research capabilities with additional tools from Trading Central.
Regarding tools related to market sentiments and additional research platforms like TipRanks and Acuity Trading, neither BDSwiss nor Alpari provides these features. Both platforms do equip traders with an economic calendar, helping them stay updated on global news events. Evaluating overall research quality, BDSwiss receives a higher rating of 4 stars compared to Alpari's 3 stars, reinforcing its stronger research position with a #24 rank among 62 brokers as opposed to Alpari's #57 ranking according to ForexBrokers.com.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | No |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When it comes to educational resources for beginner traders, BDSwiss and Alpari both provide valuable tools, but BDSwiss pulls ahead in several aspects. Both platforms offer at least ten educational pieces such as articles, videos, and webinars focused on forex or CFDs. However, BDSwiss excels by providing monthly online educational webinars, while Alpari does not offer this feature. Additionally, BDSwiss maintains a searchable archive of previously recorded webinars, giving traders more flexibility in accessing learning materials. In terms of video content, both brokers offer educational videos targeting beginners, but BDSwiss stands out by also offering advanced videos for experienced traders.
In addition to their video offerings, both BDSwiss and Alpari provide an investor dictionary with definitions for at least 50 investing terms, which is helpful for clarity on terminologies. However, BDSwiss ranks higher in educational prowess, receiving a 4-star rating compared to Alpari’s 3-star rating. This distinction is further highlighted by their rankings on ForexBrokers.com, where BDSwiss places 19th out of 62 brokers for education, while Alpari ranks 48th. For beginners looking for comprehensive educational support, BDSwiss seems to be the more advantageous choice.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | No |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 62 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that BDSwiss is better than Alpari. BDSwiss finished with an overall rank of #36, while Alpari finished with an overall rank of #57.
The BDSwiss brand caters to over 1.6 million registered forex and CFD traders, and offers the full MetaTrader platform suite alongside its own proprietary mobile app. BDSwiss demonstrates good order execution statistics and provides access to over 1,000 tradable symbols – though its spreads are higher than industry leaders.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
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Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 73 | 68 |
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Both BDSwiss and Alpari do not offer the ability to purchase actual delivered cryptocurrency, but they do provide the option to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
In comparing the online brokers BDSwiss and Alpari, both offer Skrill, Visa or Mastercard, and bank wire options for depositing and withdrawing account funds, while BDSwiss also supports ACH or SEPA transfers, which Alpari does not, and neither broker provides PayPal as a financial transaction method.
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 | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 73 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | BDSwiss Review |
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| Regulation | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 73 | 68 | |
| Year Founded | 2012 | 1998 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | No | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 0 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | 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) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | No |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1081 | 105 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 53 | 46 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes | |
| 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 | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.6 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.3 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | No | Yes |
| Funding | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $10-$5000 | $20 | |
| 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 | Yes | No |
| Trading Platforms | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 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 | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 30 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | No | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | No | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | BDSwiss Review |
| Overall | BDSwiss | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 73 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | BDSwiss Review |
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