Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Pepperstone vs Octa, 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.
Pepperstone and Octa are both well-known players in the online trading industry, having been established in 2010 and 2011, respectively. While neither is publicly traded or operates as a bank, there are significant differences in their regulatory standings. Pepperstone holds three Tier-1 licenses, which is a sign of high trust according to ForexBrokers.com. In comparison, Octa has just one Tier-1 license. Additionally, Pepperstone possesses two Tier-2 licenses, reflecting its trustworthy status further, whereas Octa maintains only one Tier-2 license.
The ForexBrokers.com Trust Score highlights these differences clearly. Pepperstone scores an impressive 95 out of 99, categorizing it as highly trusted. On the other hand, Octa has a Trust Score of 72, placing it in the average risk category. This information reflects the strong regulatory framework supporting Pepperstone, making it a more trusted choice among online brokers when compared to Octa.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2010 | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 3 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
Pepperstone and Octa both target low trading costs, but they take different paths. Pepperstone earns 4.5 out of 5 stars for commissions and fees and ranks #6 out of 63 brokers at ForexBrokers.com, while Octa earns 4 out of 5 stars and ranks #26. Pepperstone’s best pricing comes via its Razor account and Active Trader program, which can cut costs for high-volume traders. Octa has improved its pricing and advertises strong execution stats and no overnight carry costs, though its exact spread data lacks a published date range.
Pepperstone’s Razor account is commission-based and available on TradingView, MetaTrader (MT4/MT5), and cTrader. As of July 2024, the EUR/USD averaged 0.10 pips before commission; adding the commission-equivalent of 0.70 pips brings the all-in cost to about 0.80 pips, near the industry average. The Standard account is commission-free but pricier, with a 1.1-pip average on EUR/USD. Active Trader rebates can reduce costs further: in the UK/EU, professional clients trading at least £20 million per month can receive a 15% spread rebate per lot, scaling up to 25% beyond £200 million. In Australia, professional clients get tiered spread reductions from 10% (100+ lots in three months) up to 30% (3001+ lots monthly).
Octa’s fees depend on your account type and the entity that regulates your account. In the EU (MT5 only), Octa lists an average EUR/USD spread of 0.5 pips; outside the EU (MT4/MT5 and OctaTrader), it lists about 0.9 pips. Because Octa doesn’t publish a date range for these averages, precise comparisons are harder. Still, Octa highlights no slippage on 97.5% of orders and no overnight carry costs, with some rules that may limit high-frequency trading. Overall, Octa has improved and is competitive among MetaTrader brokers, but Pepperstone’s Razor plus Active Trader program can deliver lower effective costs for active and professional traders.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 1.1 | 0.9 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.8 | N/A |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
Pepperstone vs Octa: which broker offers the wider range of investments? Pepperstone lists 1,726 tradeable symbols and 65 forex pairs, while Octa provides 300 symbols and 35 pairs. Both brokers offer forex trading available as CFDs or spot contracts.
For shares, Pepperstone does not offer exchange-traded securities on U.S. or international exchanges. Octa does not offer U.S.-listed shares but does provide access to exchange-traded securities on certain international markets. Both brokers support copy trading. For crypto, neither sells actual coins; each offers cryptocurrency trading through CFDs. For Range of Investments, Pepperstone is rated 4 stars and ranked 23rd out of 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, while Octa is rated 3.5 stars and ranked 33rd.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1726 | 300 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 65 | 35 |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | No | No |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | No | Yes |
| 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.
Pepperstone and Octa both check the key boxes for trading platforms and tools. Each broker offers a free demo account for paper trading, a proprietary platform, Windows desktop software, and a web-based platform. You’ll also find MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), copy trading options, and the ability to place trades directly from charts. Specific counts for built-in technical indicators and watch list fields weren’t provided.
In independent testing by ForexBrokers.com, both brokers earned 4 out of 5 stars for Trading Platforms and Tools. Pepperstone ranks higher at #21 out of 63 brokers, while Octa sits at #30. If you’re choosing between them, try their demo accounts to see which platform lineup and workflow feels better for your style.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | Yes |
| 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) | 15 | 30 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Pepperstone and Octa both deliver full-featured mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android. Each app supports stock and forex price alerts, offers 30 technical studies for charting, lets you draw trendlines, and auto-saves your drawings. The key difference is watchlists: Pepperstone syncs your watchlist symbols with your online account so changes carry over across platforms, while Octa does not offer watchlist syncing.
Both brokers earn 4 out of 5 stars for Mobile Trading Apps. That said, ForexBrokers.com ranks Pepperstone higher in this category (#19 out of 63) compared with Octa (#29 out of 63). If synced watchlists and a stronger category ranking matter to you, Pepperstone has the edge. If you just need solid charting, alerts, and trading on the go, either app can fit the bill.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
Pepperstone and Octa both deliver helpful market research for traders. Each broker provides daily market commentary, forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones, Autochartist tools for technical and fundamental ideas, and an economic calendar. Neither broker includes Trading Central, TipRanks, or Acuity Trading integrations.
The key difference is sentiment data: Pepperstone offers a tool that shows long/short positioning across instruments, while Octa does not. That edge helps explain Pepperstone’s higher Research score of 4.5 stars and its #12 ranking out of 63 brokers on ForexBrokers.com, compared with Octa’s 4-star score and #24 ranking. Choose Pepperstone if you want sentiment insights alongside news and analysis; Octa remains a good pick for traders who mainly need daily commentary, premium news, Autochartist, and an economic calendar.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Central | No | No |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Acuity Trading | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
Pepperstone and Octa both provide forex and CFD education that meets the benchmark of at least ten learning pieces. For beginners, each broker offers 10+ introductory videos that explain trading basics in simple terms, plus ongoing client webinars held at least once a month to help you keep learning in real time.
When it comes to overall quality, Pepperstone stands out: it’s rated 4.5/5 for Education and ranks #15 out of 63 brokers on ForexBrokers.com, while Octa is rated 4/5 and ranks #32. Both also supply 10+ advanced videos for growing your skills, but Pepperstone’s higher score and ranking suggest a smoother learning path from beginner to more advanced topics.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that Pepperstone is better than Octa. Pepperstone finished with an overall rank of #17, while Octa finished with an overall rank of #34.
Pepperstone offers a growing range of tradeable markets, good-quality research, and support for multiple social copy trading platforms.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
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Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 95 | 72 |
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Pepperstone vs Octa: neither broker allows you to buy actual (delivered) cryptocurrency, but both offer cryptocurrency CFD trading.
Comparing online brokers Pepperstone vs Octa: Pepperstone supports ACH/SEPA, PayPal, and bank wire transfers but not Skrill, while Octa supports Skrill and bank wires but not ACH/SEPA or PayPal; Visa/Mastercard availability is not specified for either.
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 | Pepperstone | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 95 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Pepperstone Review | Octa Review |
| Broker Screenshots | Pepperstone | Octa | |
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| Regulation | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 95 | 72 | |
| Year Founded | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 3 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 1 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (FSA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | |||
| 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 | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or SCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) |
| Investments | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1726 | 300 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 65 | 35 | |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | No | No | |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | No | Yes | |
| 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 | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 1.1 | 0.9 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.8 | N/A | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Order execution: Agency | Yes | Yes | |
| Order execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Non-wire bank transfer | Yes | No |
| Trading Platforms | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| 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 | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 15 | 30 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes | |
| Trading Central | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Pepperstone | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD [DELETED] | |||
| USD/JPY [DELETED] | |||
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF [DELETED] | |||
| USD/CAD [DELETED] | |||
| NZD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| AUD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| Review | Pepperstone Review | Octa Review |
| Overall | Pepperstone | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 95 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Pepperstone Review | Octa Review |
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