Our ForexBrokers.com team spent seven months and hundreds of hours assessing 43 different
forex broker accounts for trading FX. In total, over 6,000 data points were collected. For this review, we will compare AvaTrade vs CMC Markets.
To start this comparison, first, we will take a look at the fees charged for trading forex. It's important to note this is no easy task. Not every broker shares their average spreads, spreads can be fixed or variable (floating), execution policies differ, and brokers can act as market makers (dealers) or act as agents for execution. To simplify things, we analyzed everything for you and provide a single star rating for cost. CMC Markets received a rating of 5 stars over AvaTrade's 3.5 stars.
Cost aside, we can now turn our focus to regulation alongside currency availability. For regulation, it's very important to select a broker you can trust with your money. AvaTrade alongside CMC Markets are regulated in a major hub. CMC Markets is a publicly traded company while AvaTrade is not. How many currency pairs are available to trade? AvaTrade trails CMC Markets by 123 total currency pairs (for example, EUR/USD), with CMC Markets offering 183 and AvaTrade offering 60.
To round out our comparison, let's look at the popular tools and features forex traders prefer. For platforms, some FX traders prefer MetaTrader. AvaTrade has Meta Trader, CMC Markets doesn't. Within the trading platform, charting should be robust, so we counted the number of drawing tools and total technical indicators made available. CMC Markets trails AvaTrade by 7 total charting tools, with AvaTrade offering 31 and CMC Markets offering 24. AvaTrade trails CMC Markets by 30 total different indicators (for example, moving averages), with CMC Markets offering 81 and AvaTrade offering 51.
Overall, CMC Markets takes the upper hand with 4.5 stars over AvaTrade's 3 stars. And, when it comes to individual category awards, unfortunately, neither AvaTrade nor CMC Markets received awards Best in Class - Platforms & Tools, Best in Class - Research, Best in Class - Customer Service, Best in Class - Active Trading, Best in Class - Mobile Trading and Best in Class - Investor Education.