Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Trade Nation 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.
Founded in 2014, Trade Nation offers investors a sense of security, holding two Tier-1 licenses and one Tier-2 license. Although not publicly traded or a bank, Trade Nation's regulatory prowess contributes to its respectable Trust Score of 85 out of 99, as assessed by ForexBrokers.com. This score places them comfortably in the "trusted" category, reflecting their reliable standing among online brokers.
In comparison, Octa, established in 2011, has a slightly different regulatory landscape. It holds one Tier-1 and one Tier-2 license, supporting a Trust Score of 72. While also not publicly listed or a bank, Octa's score aligns it with the "average risk" category, suggesting a cautious approach for prospective investors. Both brokers offer secure environments, but Trade Nation edges out when considering regulatory trustworthiness and scores.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2014 | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
For commissions and fees, Trade Nation earns 5 stars and ranks #7 out of 63 brokers at ForexBrokers.com, while Octa scores 4 stars and ranks #30. Trade Nation stands out for predictable, fixed spreads on its TN Trader platform, whereas Octa’s pricing has improved and can be sharp in some regions, though details vary by entity and account type.
Trade Nation offers fixed spreads across most markets on TN Trader—EUR/USD is listed at 0.6 pips, briefly widening during the daily rollover (up to about 1.4 pips), which brings the typical average closer to 1 pip over time. On MetaTrader, you can choose a commission-free account (higher spreads) or a Raw Spread account that adds a $3.50 commission per side per standard lot ($7 round-trip). When you factor in all-in costs, TN Trader generally comes out as Trade Nation’s lowest-cost option, and the fixed-spread model makes pricing easy to understand.
Octa’s fees depend on your location and platform. EU clients use an MT5 account with an advertised average spread of 0.5 pips on EUR/USD, while international entities list about 0.9 pips; however, Octa does not provide a date range for these averages. Octa also highlights no slippage on 97.5% of orders and no overnight carry costs, though it has rules that can limit high-frequency strategies. Outside the EU, Octa offers MT4, MT5, and OctaTrader accounts, and any commissions or fees vary by the specific entity and account you choose.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.6 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | No |
| 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.
Trade Nation vs Octa: both brokers let you trade forex as CFDs or spot, support copy trading, and offer cryptocurrency derivatives (but not actual crypto). The key difference is breadth. Trade Nation lists about 1,000 tradeable symbols and 46 forex pairs, while Octa offers around 300 symbols and 35 forex pairs. If you want more markets to browse within a CFD-style setup, Trade Nation has the wider catalog.
Stock access also differs. Neither broker lets you buy U.S.-listed shares outright (non-CFD), but Octa does provide access to select international exchange-traded securities, whereas Trade Nation does not. For Range of Investments, both earn 3.5 out of 5 stars from ForexBrokers.com; however, Trade Nation ranks higher overall (#39 of 63) than Octa (#53 of 63).
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1000 | 300 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 46 | 35 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | 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.
Trade Nation and Octa both cover the basics well: each offers a free demo account, an in-house trading platform, Windows desktop and web platforms, copy trading, and MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Only Octa adds MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Neither supports DupliTrade or ZuluTrade. For charting, the number of technical indicators wasn’t disclosed for either broker, but Trade Nation lists 39 drawing tools versus Octa’s 15. Octa also lets you place trades directly from charts, while Trade Nation does not. Watchlists are deeper on Trade Nation (14 columns) than on Octa (7 columns).
Both brokers earn 4 stars for Trading Platforms and Tools, with Octa ranked #38 and Trade Nation #45 out of 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com. Choose Trade Nation if you value more drawing tools and richer watchlist fields; pick Octa if MT5 and trading from charts matter most. In both cases, try the free demo to see which platform and toolset fit your trading style.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 115 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 39 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | No | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 14 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Trade Nation and Octa both deliver mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android with real-time watchlists and price alerts. Charting is strong on both: you can draw trendlines, switch between intraday, daily, and weekly time frames, and your drawings auto-save. Where they differ is the depth of indicators—Trade Nation offers 99 technical studies versus Octa’s 30—appealing to traders who want a wider set of signals.
Convenience also sets them apart: Trade Nation syncs watchlist symbols between mobile and web, while Octa does not. Although both earn 4 out of 5 stars for mobile trading apps, ForexBrokers.com ranks Octa higher (#37 of 63) than Trade Nation (#46 of 63). If you value seamless watchlist syncing and more indicators, Trade Nation’s app stands out; if rankings matter more and you’re comfortable with a simpler set of studies, Octa is a solid alternative.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 99 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
Trade Nation and Octa both cover the basics well for market research: each offers daily market commentary and forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, or Dow Jones. Octa stands out with Autochartist for technical analysis and includes an economic calendar to track upcoming events. Trade Nation counters with a sentiment tool that shows the ratio of long and short positions across instruments, plus research from Acuity Trading (Signal Centre). Neither broker offers Trading Central or TipRanks.
For overall research quality, Octa earns 4 stars and ranks #27 out of 63 brokers on ForexBrokers.com, while Trade Nation holds 3.5 stars and ranks #43. Choose Octa if you want Autochartist insights and a built-in economic calendar. Pick Trade Nation if you value sentiment data and trade ideas powered by Acuity Trading.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | Yes | No |
| Economic Calendar | No | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When comparing the educational offerings for beginners from online brokers Trade Nation and Octa, both platforms provide a strong selection of resources with at least ten educational pieces focusing on forex and CFDs. Each broker ensures that newcomers have access to a sizable collection of beginner-focused educational videos and advanced trading content. These include a variety of articles, videos, and archived webinars to aid in different learning preferences. Additionally, both Trade Nation and Octa offer an investor dictionary with over fifty defining terms, valuable for demystifying trading language for new investors.
Where Octa differentiates itself is through comprehensive online client webinars offered monthly, which go beyond the static content to engage learners in an interactive setting. Octa also provides a searchable archive of these webinars, enabling users to revisit past sessions. Trade Nation, in contrast, doesn't offer regular online webinars, nor do they maintain an archive of recorded sessions. While Octa edges out slightly with a higher educational rating of 4 stars compared to Trade Nation's 3.5 stars, Trade Nation is ranked just above Octa in the education category by ForexBrokers.com, highlighting the competitiveness between the platforms in educational offerings.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | No | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| 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 Trade Nation is better than Octa. Trade Nation finished with an overall rank of #34, while Octa finished with an overall rank of #47.
Trade Nation’s well-designed, easy-to-use trading app is an innovative trading platform that’s great for beginner forex and CFD traders. However, if you’re a seasoned trader, you may find that Trade Nation lacks advanced features compared to the best trading platforms.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
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Octa
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| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 85 | 72 |
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Both Trade Nation and Octa do not offer the option to purchase actual (delivered) cryptocurrency, but they do provide opportunities to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
Both Trade Nation and Octa provide deposit and withdrawal options such as Skrill, Visa or Mastercard, and bank wires, but neither offers ACH, SEPA, or PayPal services.
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 | Trade Nation | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 85 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Trade Nation Review | Octa Review |
| Broker Screenshots | Trade Nation | Octa | |
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| Regulation | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 85 | 72 | |
| Year Founded | 2014 | 2011 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 1 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) | Yes | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | |||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or SCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) |
| Investments | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1000 | 300 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 46 | 35 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | 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 | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.6 | 0.9 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.6 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | No | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | No | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 | |
| 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 | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 14 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 115 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 39 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | No | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | No | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 99 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | No | Yes |
| Research | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | No | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | No | Yes |
| Education | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | No | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Trade Nation | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Trade Nation Review | Octa Review |
| Overall | Trade Nation | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 85 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Trade Nation Review | Octa Review |
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