Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of VT Markets 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.
In the world of online trading, choosing a reliable broker can be daunting. Comparing VT Markets and Alpari offers a clear perspective on their regulatory standards and trustworthiness. VT Markets, founded in 2016, possesses a higher regulatory standing with one Tier-1 license, considered highly trusted, and one Tier-2 license, which is trusted. This grants them a Trust Score of 70, classified as average risk by ForexBrokers.com. Although VT Markets is not publicly traded nor a bank, its regulatory licenses contribute to its level of trust.
Meanwhile, Alpari, established in 1998, does not carry any Tier-1 or Tier-2 licenses. ForexBrokers.com gives Alpari a Trust Score of 68, also placing it in the average risk category. Like VT Markets, Alpari is neither publicly traded nor operates as a bank. These factors highlight the disparities in trust and regulatory compliance between the two brokers, offering important insights for individuals exploring their options in online trading platforms.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2016 | 1998 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 0 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
Comparing commissions and fees, VT Markets earns 4.5 out of 5 stars and ranks #21 of 63 brokers at ForexBrokers.com, while Alpari holds 4 out of 5 stars and ranks #42 of 63. This suggests VT Markets generally offers sharper pricing overall.
VT Markets offers two account types with a $100 minimum deposit. The Standard STP account is commission-free but carries wider spreads, with EUR/USD typically around 1.2 pips. The Raw ECN account charges a small commission but offers tighter pricing; its effective EUR/USD cost was 0.83 pips (0.23-pip average spread plus a 0.6-pip round-turn commission, based on September 2021). In short, the Raw ECN setup can deliver lower trading costs than the Standard STP option.
Alpari does not publish average spread data, making direct comparisons harder. Even so, its 4-star rating and #42 ranking point to decent—though not leading—pricing. If transparent, published spreads and a choice between commission-free and commission-based pricing matter to you, VT Markets provides clearer cost details, whereas Alpari leaves less to go on.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $100 | $20 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.2 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.8 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | 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 the range of investments, VT Markets offers far more choice overall with about 1,000 tradable symbols, while Alpari lists 105. VT Markets earns 3.5 stars and ranks #40 in ForexBrokers.com’s Range of Investments, whereas Alpari holds 3 stars and ranks #64. If you want the widest overall selection, VT Markets is the larger catalog; if your focus is strictly currencies, Alpari actually lists more forex pairs (46) than VT Markets (39). Both brokers support forex trading as CFDs and/or spot contracts.
Outside of forex, neither broker lets you buy U.S.-listed shares directly, but both do offer exchange-traded securities on select international exchanges. Copy trading is available with both. For crypto, you can’t purchase actual coins at either broker, though each offers cryptocurrency derivatives. In short, VT Markets suits traders seeking more instruments overall, while Alpari appeals if you want a few extra currency pairs.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1000 | 105 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 39 | 46 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | 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.
VT Markets and Alpari both make it easy to get started with a free demo account and support popular platforms like MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Each offers a Windows desktop download and a web-based platform, plus copy trading, trading directly from charts, and watchlists with seven columns. A key difference: Alpari also provides its own proprietary platform, while VT Markets does not. Neither broker supports ZuluTrade or DupliTrade. For charting, VT Markets lists 30 drawing tools compared to Alpari’s 15, while indicator counts were not provided for either broker.
In independent ratings for trading platforms and tools, both VT Markets and Alpari earned 4 out of 5 stars from ForexBrokers.com; VT Markets ranked #48 out of 63 brokers, while Alpari ranked #56. If you want more drawing tools within MT4/MT5 and don’t need a proprietary platform, VT Markets could appeal. If having an in-house platform matters to you alongside MT4/MT5 access, Alpari may fit better. Either way, both brokers offer demo trading, web and desktop access, chart trading, and copy trading capabilities.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No | 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) | 15 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 30 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
VT Markets and Alpari both offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android, with price alerts and the ability to build watchlists with real-time quotes. Their charting tools are nearly identical: each provides 30 technical studies, lets you draw trendlines, and switch among multiple time frames (intraday, daily, weekly, and more). Neither app syncs watchlist symbols with your online account, and drawings on charts do not auto-save.
In terms of quality, both earn 4 stars for Mobile Trading Apps. However, VT Markets holds a higher spot in ForexBrokers.com’s rankings, placed 45th out of 63 brokers, while Alpari is 57th. If you want slightly better-rated mobile trading, VT Markets edges ahead, but feature-wise these apps are closely matched.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
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 | No | No |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When comparing market research at VT Markets and Alpari, VT Markets stands out for offering daily market commentary, while Alpari does not. Both brokers stream forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones and provide an economic calendar to track upcoming events. This means traders at either broker can follow key headlines and scheduled releases, but only VT Markets adds a day-to-day view to help put the news in context.
Their research tools differ: Alpari includes Autochartist, while VT Markets features Trading Central and a sentiment tool that shows the ratio of long and short positions—features Alpari does not offer. There’s no clear mention of TipRanks or Acuity Trading tools for either broker. According to ForexBrokers.com, VT Markets earns 3.5 out of 5 stars for research and ranks 37th out of 63 brokers, whereas Alpari scores 3 stars and ranks 58th. In simple terms, VT Markets offers a more complete in-house research suite, while Alpari leans on Autochartist for pattern-based insights.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | No |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | ||
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | ||
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
VT Markets vs Alpari for beginner education: both brokers provide forex and CFD education with at least 10 learning pieces, plus a library of 10+ beginner-friendly trading videos. Each also offers an investor dictionary with 50+ terms to help new traders understand key concepts. Neither broker hosts monthly client webinars, and neither provides a searchable archive of past sessions. Advanced learners may find limits too, since both fall short of offering 10 advanced trading videos.
Looking at quality signals, VT Markets holds a 3.5-star Education rating, while Alpari sits at 3 stars. However, in ForexBrokers.com’s Education category rankings out of 63 brokers, Alpari places higher at #48 versus VT Markets at #56. In short, both are solid for beginners who want videos and a handy glossary; choose VT Markets if you value the slightly higher star rating, or Alpari if an overall category ranking matters more to you.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | No | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | No |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | No | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that VT Markets is better than Alpari. VT Markets finished with an overall rank of #44, while Alpari finished with an overall rank of #58.
VT Markets benefits from being part of the Vantage Group of companies, and provides access to the MetaTrader suite of platforms as well as its own VT Pro trading app.
| Feature |
VT Markets
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 70 | 68 |
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Both VT Markets and Alpari do not offer the option to purchase actual (delivered) cryptocurrency, but they do provide the opportunity to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
Both VT Markets and Alpari do not offer ACH or SEPA transfers or PayPal for deposit and withdrawal, but they do support Skrill, Visa or Mastercard, and bank wire 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.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | VT Markets | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 70 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | VT Markets Review |
| Broker Screenshots | VT Markets | Alpari | |
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| Broker Gallery (click to expand) |
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| Regulation | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 70 | 68 | |
| Year Founded | 2016 | 1998 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | No | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 0 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | 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) | |||
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | No |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | |||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) |
| Investments | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1000 | 105 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 39 | 46 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | 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 | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.2 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.8 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | No | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $100 | $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 | No | No |
| Trading Platforms | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | No | 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 | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 15 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 30 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | VT Markets | 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 | No | No | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | No | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | No | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No | |
| TipRanks | |||
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | VT Markets | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | No | No | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | No | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | No | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | VT Markets | 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 | VT Markets Review |
| Overall | VT Markets | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 70 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | VT Markets Review |
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