Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of BlackBull Markets vs ATFX, 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.
BlackBull Markets and ATFX are well-regarded online brokers, each offering their own strengths when it comes to reliability. Founded in 2014, BlackBull Markets holds a single Tier-1 license, placing it within the average risk category with a ForexBrokers.com Trust Score of 78. In contrast, ATFX, established in 2017, enjoys a higher degree of trust, boasting four Tier-1 licenses and two Tier-2 licenses. ATFX's Trust Score of 85 signifies a strong standing, highlighting their credibility in the trading world.
Neither BlackBull Markets nor ATFX is publicly traded or operates as a bank, showcasing their dedicated focus on brokerage services. Despite these similarities, ATFX sets itself apart with a heavier regulatory presence, which can be a deciding factor for traders looking for a trusted platform. This distinction is reflected in their respective trust scores, with ATFX positioned higher in trusted rankings, offering traders a sense of security and confidence in their platform choice.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2014 | 2017 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
Comparing commissions and fees, BlackBull Markets stands out with a 4.5-star rating and a #19 ranking out of 63 brokers for this category on ForexBrokers.com, while ATFX holds 3 stars and ranks #61. BlackBull’s trading costs are about average overall, but its pricing is transparent across multiple account types. ATFX does not publish average spread data, which makes direct, apples-to-apples cost comparisons harder.
BlackBull Markets offers three accounts. The Standard account is commission-free with no minimum deposit, but has higher spreads. The Prime account targets lower spreads, requires a $2,000 minimum deposit, and charges a $3 per side ($6 round turn) commission per lot; in March 2024, the average EUR/USD spread on Prime was 0.16 pips with an all-in cost of 0.76 pips after commission. The ECN Institutional account caters to active traders depositing at least $20,000, with commissions of $2 per side ($4 round turn) per lot.
ATFX provides limited visibility on typical trading costs because average spread data is not available. With a 3-star commissions-and-fees rating and a #61/63 ranking from ForexBrokers.com, it trails BlackBull Markets (4.5 stars, #19/63) in this category. Traders who prioritize clear pricing and the option to trade lower spreads for a set commission may find BlackBull’s Prime or Institutional tiers more appealing, while cost-focused beginners may consider BlackBull’s commission-free Standard account.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $500 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 0.71 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.71 | N/A |
| Non-wire bank transfer | No | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
BlackBull Markets offers a far wider range of investments than ATFX. BlackBull lists about 26,000 tradable symbols and 72 forex pairs, and it lets clients buy exchange-traded stocks on both U.S. and international exchanges. ATFX provides around 150 instruments and 44 currency pairs, and it does not offer real share dealing. Both brokers support forex trading as CFDs/spot, provide copy trading, and offer cryptocurrency CFDs, but neither allows you to buy actual crypto.
Independent ratings reflect this gap in market coverage: BlackBull Markets earns 5 stars and ranks #6 out of 63 brokers for Range of Investments on ForexBrokers.com, while ATFX receives 3.5 stars and ranks #58. If you want the broadest selection of markets, BlackBull Markets is the more comprehensive choice; if you need a smaller lineup focused on core CFDs and forex, ATFX may suffice.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 26000 | 150 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 72 | 44 |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | Yes | No |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | Yes | No |
| 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.
BlackBull Markets and ATFX both offer paper (demo) accounts, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), a Windows desktop download, and a web-based platform. Neither broker has a proprietary, in-house platform. Each supports copy trading and lets you place trades directly from charts, making it easy to test ideas and manage positions.
For trading platforms and tools, ForexBrokers.com rates BlackBull Markets at 4 stars (ranked #31 of 63) and ATFX at 3.5 stars (ranked #63 of 63), giving BlackBull a modest edge. The exact counts for chart indicators and watchlist columns aren’t specified here. If you want a slightly higher-rated toolkit, consider BlackBull; if you prefer a familiar MetaTrader setup with web and desktop access plus copy trading, either broker fits the bill.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | No | No |
| 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) | 109 | 30 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
BlackBull Markets and ATFX both offer mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android, with price alerts to help you track forex and CFD markets on the go. Each app lets you draw trendlines on charts and will auto-save your drawings, so your annotations stay put between sessions.
Where they differ is in power and convenience. BlackBull Markets syncs your watchlists between mobile and web, while ATFX does not. For charting, BlackBull Markets includes 30 technical studies compared with ATFX’s 7. These strengths show up in ratings: BlackBull Markets earns 4 stars and is ranked 33rd by ForexBrokers.com for Mobile Trading Apps, while ATFX scores 3.5 stars and ranks 64th. If you value deeper charting and synced watchlists, BlackBull Markets is the stronger pick; if you just need the essentials, ATFX covers the basics.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 7 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
Both BlackBull Markets and ATFX publish daily market commentary and provide an economic calendar. Neither streams premium forex news from top-tier wires like Bloomberg, Reuters, or Dow Jones. Each broker includes Autochartist for technical analysis ideas. ATFX also integrates Trading Central, which BlackBull Markets does not. BlackBull Markets offers a sentiment tool that shows the ratio of long vs. short positions across instruments, while ATFX does not. BlackBull Markets does not include TipRanks or Acuity Trading; ATFX’s access to TipRanks and Acuity Trading was not specified.
For overall market research, BlackBull Markets is rated 4 out of 5 stars and ranks 18th out of 63 brokers at ForexBrokers.com, while ATFX earns 3 stars and ranks 55th. If you want sentiment data alongside Autochartist, BlackBull Markets is a strong pick. If you prefer Autochartist paired with Trading Central’s research, ATFX may be the better fit. Keep in mind that neither broker provides news from premium wire services.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | No |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Central | No | Yes |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | |
| Acuity Trading | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
For newcomers to trading, both BlackBull Markets and ATFX provide plenty of beginner-friendly video lessons (10 or more), making it easy to learn the basics of forex and CFDs at your own pace. One clear difference is live education: BlackBull Markets runs client webinars at least once a month, giving beginners a chance to ask questions and learn in real time, while ATFX does not offer monthly educational webinars.
If you plan to grow beyond the basics, BlackBull Markets also supplies 10+ advanced trading videos, whereas ATFX falls short on advanced video depth. Reflecting this, BlackBull Markets holds a 4 out of 5 education rating versus ATFX’s 3 out of 5. That said, in ForexBrokers.com’s Education category, ATFX ranks slightly higher at #28 compared with BlackBull Markets at #29 out of 63 brokers. In short, choose BlackBull Markets for live sessions and deeper video content, or pick ATFX if you mainly want beginner videos and value its slightly higher category placement.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | No |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that BlackBull Markets is better than ATFX. BlackBull Markets finished with an overall rank of #24, while ATFX finished with an overall rank of #51.
BlackBull Markets is a plain-vanilla MetaTrader broker with a growing range of products and support for a handful of third-party social copy trading platforms.
| Feature |
BlackBull Markets
|
ATFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
|
| Trust Score | 78 | 85 |
| Range of Investments |
|
|
| Commissions & Fees |
|
|
| Platforms & Tools |
|
|
| Research |
|
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
|
| Education |
|
|
Online brokers BlackBull Markets and ATFX do not allow buying actual (delivered) cryptocurrencies, but both provide access to trading cryptocurrency CFDs.
BlackBull Markets and ATFX both do not offer ACH or SEPA transfers for deposits or withdrawals; BlackBull Markets also does not support PayPal but does support Skrill and bank wire transfers, while ATFX’s support for PayPal, Skrill, and bank wires is not specified, and Visa/Mastercard availability is not specified for either broker.
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 | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| |
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| |
| Range of Investments |
|
| |
| Platforms & Tools |
|
| |
| Mobile Trading |
|
| |
| Research |
|
| |
| Education |
|
| |
| Trust Score | 78 | 85 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | BlackBull Markets Review |
| Broker Screenshots | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broker Gallery (click to expand) |
|
| Regulation | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 78 | 85 | |
| Year Founded | 2014 | 2017 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 4 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 2 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | |||
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | |||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or SCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No |
| Investments | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 26000 | 150 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 72 | 44 | |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | Yes | No | |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | Yes | No | |
| 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 | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 0.71 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.71 | N/A | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Order execution: Agency | No | No | |
| Order execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $500 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | ||
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | ||
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | ||
| Non-wire bank transfer | No | No |
| Trading Platforms | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | No | No | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes | |
| cTrader | Yes | No |
| Trading Tools | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 109 | 30 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist [DELETED] | |||
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 7 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | No | |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes | |
| Trading Central | No | Yes | |
| TipRanks | No | ||
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | No | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| Major Forex Pairs | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD [DELETED] | |||
| USD/JPY [DELETED] | |||
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF [DELETED] | |||
| USD/CAD [DELETED] | |||
| NZD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| AUD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| Review | BlackBull Markets Review |
| Overall | BlackBull Markets | ATFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| |
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| |
| Range of Investments |
|
| |
| Platforms & Tools |
|
| |
| Mobile Trading |
|
| |
| Research |
|
| |
| Education |
|
| |
| Trust Score | 78 | 85 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | BlackBull Markets Review |
IG
CMC Markets
FOREX.com
XTB
eToro
AvaTrade
Plus500
Pepperstone
FP Markets
Tickmill