Charles Schwab vs AvaTrade 2024

Charles Schwab is publicly-traded, does operate a bank, and is authorised by five Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), zero Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and zero Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). Schwab is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Securities Futures Commission (SFC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

AvaTrade is not publicly-traded and does not operate a bank. AvaTrade is authorised by four Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), three Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and one Tier-4 regulator (High Risk). AvaTrade is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), the Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) via Friedberg Direct, and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.

Charles Schwab is a highly trusted financial institution and multi-asset broker catering to U.S.-based and international forex traders. Schwab's award-winning thinkorswim platform offers over 70 tradeable currency pairs alongside impressive tools, research, and education. That said, the broker’s forex offering is still largely limited to what is available on thinkorswim.

AvaTrade is a trusted global brand best known for offering an extensive selection of trading platforms for forex and CFD traders, as well as exceptional educational content that helped it nab Best in Class honors for Beginners in the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards.

To open a trading account with Charles Schwab, you'll need to make an initial minimum deposit of $0.

AvaTrade requires a minimum deposit of $100 before you can open an account and start trading.

It's important to make sure that your forex broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. Charles Schwab offers Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) for banking, whereas AvaTrade provides Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw), Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) and Neteller (Deposit/Withdraw).

Comparing the trading costs of forex and CFDs is not easy. Not every broker publishes average spread data, and pricing structures vary. Based on our thorough, data-driven testing of each broker's commissions and fees, we found that AvaTrade offers better pricing overall for traders.

Methodology: When testing each broker's commissions, fees, and pricing, we analyze multiple trade scenarios and award points based on the expansiveness (or inexpensiveness) of the broker's spreads. We then run multiple scenarios for different investor types, incorporating any miscellaneous fees, to determine an "all-in" cost per trade. Learn more about how we test.

At ForexBrokers.com, we track over 110 international regulatory agencies and sort them by tiers (Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, Tier-4, and Tier-5) to help you choose well-regulated, highly trusted forex brokers. Learn more about our proprietary Trust Score rating system. Based on our research on the regulatory status of over 60 brokers, we've found that Charles Schwab holds 5 global Tier-1 licenses, while AvaTrade holds 4. AvaTrade holds 3 global Tier-2 licenses, while Charles Schwab holds 0.

After evaluating each broker based on their number of held licenses, years in business, and a range of other data-driven variables, we've determined that Charles Schwab (99) earned a higher Trust Score than AvaTrade (94).

To compare the trading platforms of both Charles Schwab and AvaTrade, we tested each broker's trading tools, research capabilities, and mobile apps. For trading tools, Charles Schwab offers a better experience. With research, Charles Schwab offers superior market research. Finally, we found Charles Schwab to provide better mobile trading apps.

Here’s what trading platforms are available at Charles Schwab:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - No
• MT4 - No
• MT5 - No
• ZuluTrade - No
• TradingView - No

Here’s what trading platforms are available at AvaTrade:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - Yes
• MT4 - Yes
• MT5 - Yes
• ZuluTrade - Yes
• TradingView - No

The MetaTrader trading platform suite is wildly popular among forex and CFD traders across the globe. AvaTrade offers MetaTrader 4 (MT4), while Charles Schwab does not. Forex traders also appreciate the ability to engage in social copy trading. While AvaTrade offers copy trading, Charles Schwab does not.

Charles Schwab provides traders 73 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to AvaTrade's 53 available pairs. If you are interested in trading a full range of securities, Charles Schwab offers traders access to 40000 tradeable symbols, while AvaTrade offers access to 1260 tradeable symbols; so Charles Schwab offers 38740 more tradeable symbols than AvaTrade.

We found in our testing that Charles Schwab offers a more diverse selection of investment options than AvaTrade, allowing you to trade Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) and Cryptocurrency (Derivative). Neither have Cryptocurrency (Physical).