The ForexBrokers.com annual review is among the most cited in the industry. With over 60,000 words of research across the site, we spend hundreds of hours testing forex brokers each year. Industry leaders trust us because our rigorous testing is totally independent and 100% unbiased.
The ascent of copy trading – also known as social trading, mirror trading, or auto trading – has been ongoing for over a decade. Thanks to social media and an increasingly faster web, financial news and market analysis are shared at lightning speed.
The idea of copy trading is simple: use technology to copy the real-time forex trades (forex signals) of other live investors (forex trading system providers) you want to follow, so every time they trade you can automatically replicate (copy) their trades in your own account.
Best Forex Brokers for Social Copy Trading
Based on over 81 different variables, here are the best forex brokers for copy trading.
- eToro - 5 Stars, Best Overall
- Pepperstone - 4.5 Stars
- Darwinex - 4.5 Stars
- FXCM - 4 Stars
- Dukascopy Bank - 4 Stars
- FXDD - 3.5 Stars
- FXOpen - 3.5 Stars
5 Stars, Best Overall
eToro is popular for its powerful copy-trading platform on which traders harness the results of the crowd to find opportunities and copy the trades of other real-time users across over 1,400 instruments, including CFDs on popular cryptocurrencies. Read full review
4 Stars
Pepperstone offers a narrow selection of tradable products but provides forex and CFD traders with competitive pricing and one of the largest selections of third-party platforms, including social copy trading, all under a trusted global brand. Read full review
4 Stars
While not known for its self-directed forex offering, Darwinex, through its Darwin Exchange, provides forex traders a unique social copy trading community that enables investors to buy and sell trader-developed strategies. Read full review
4 Stars
While its range of tradeable markets is narrow, FXCM caters well to high-volume traders, algorithmic traders, and traders that appreciate robust charting tools and quality market research. Read full review
4 Stars
Thanks to its JForex platform suite, Dukascopy provides forex traders industry leading trading tools and market research, which includes our favorite mobile app for 2019. Customer service and a narrow offering are the only weak spots in an otherwise great offering. Read full review
Copy Trading History
Without social trading technology, the act of copy trading would be considered a managed account and require a power of attorney, or in other cases, require a trader to constantly monitor when a signal is generated in order to manually copy it. However, thanks to careful language and ever-evolving technology, many regulators consider social trading self-directed, as the client must decide who to copy, even if the copying happens automatically thereafter (whenever a signal is generated). It’s important to note that not all trading platforms with social features provide copy trading.
Many of the early pioneers in social trading technology started out first as third-party platform developers, such as Tradency, ZuluTrade, and eToro. While some of these firms are still independent service providers (ISPs), eToro became its own broker, for example.
Best Copy Trading Platforms
From the 28 international forex brokers we reviewed for copy trading, eToro is our top pick for 2019, as it has continued to innovate with the latest launch of its next generation eToro platform, which delivers an impressive user experience packed in a modern web-based user interface.
eToro continued to evolve its offering with additional specialized CopyFunds, in addition to expanding its crypto-related offering, such as the Crypto CopyFunds, which caters to cryptocurrency investors. Launched in 2017, CopyFunds groups together the best forex traders for other investors to follow by copying each CopyFund, helping to solve the challenge traders face in selecting which traders to copy. Also, with performance and portfolio data available for each CopyFund, filtering CopyFunds is a user-friendly experience.
Overall, the eToro platform experience sets the bar high for social trading and is again the clear winner in 2019, leading the industry forward as a broker that is almost exclusively focused on social copy trading.
Pepperstone took second place this year as it offers a comprehensive range of third-party social copy-trading platforms, in addition to the native forex signals market available in MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and Spotware Systems’ cMirror platform. The firm also offers the ZuluTrade platform, AutoTrade by Myfxbook, Tradency’s MirrorTrader platform, in addition to the developer’s RoboX solution.
Darwinex, our third-place finisher, provides traders access to nearly 1,200 trader-developed strategies that are traded like securities (ticker symbols) on the Darwinex platform. The best performing strategies on the platform receive funding from the broker itself, which allocates $4.5 million among the most successful traders, during each competition period.
FXCM followed in fourth place with several options available for social copy trading, including the web-based ZuluTrade platform, and the native signals market available in the MT4 platform.
Dukascopy Bank, FXDD, and FXOpen round out the top seven finishers for social copy trading in 2019. Dukascopy is a Swiss broker that offers manual and algorithmic-based copy trading. FXDD is MFSA-Regulated in Europe (Malta) and offers its Forexware and MetaTrader platforms in addition to social copy trading on the ZuluTrade platform. Lastly, FXOpen provides a Percentage Allocation Money Management (PAMM) system connected to its MetaTrader offering, where investors can copy top-performing strategy providers. A final noteworthy mention is AvaTrade, which added DupliTrade to several of its existing social copy-trading platforms.
Closing Thoughts
Understanding how social copy trading networks calculate trading performance is an essential aspect as it affects the ordering of trader rankings. The method used to measure and track profit and loss also influences trade copiers.
Instant backfill bias is just one example of the challenges social trading technology developers face if they permit traders to instantly upload their entire trading history at the click of a button.
Such challenges have been known for years, and thanks to broker procedures, regulation, and robust technology, these concerns are mostly non-issues, especially for top-rated fx brokers. Nonetheless, if in doubt, it’s always prudent to check and ask questions.
Bottom line, for 2019, the above forex brokers provide traders the tools and capabilities they need to confidently copy trade.
Read Next
Forex Risk Disclaimer
"There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses." Learn more.
Best Copy Trading Brokers
Steven Hatzakis | June 13th, 2019
The ForexBrokers.com annual review is among the most cited in the industry. With over 60,000 words of research across the site, we spend hundreds of hours testing forex brokers each year. Industry leaders trust us because our rigorous testing is totally independent and 100% unbiased.
The ascent of copy trading – also known as social trading, mirror trading, or auto trading – has been ongoing for over a decade. Thanks to social media and an increasingly faster web, financial news and market analysis are shared at lightning speed.
The idea of copy trading is simple: use technology to copy the real-time forex trades (forex signals) of other live investors (forex trading system providers) you want to follow, so every time they trade you can automatically replicate (copy) their trades in your own account.
Best Forex Brokers for Social Copy Trading
Based on over 81 different variables, here are the best forex brokers for copy trading.
5 Stars, Best Overall
eToro is popular for its powerful copy-trading platform on which traders harness the results of the crowd to find opportunities and copy the trades of other real-time users across over 1,400 instruments, including CFDs on popular cryptocurrencies. Read full review
4 Stars
Pepperstone offers a narrow selection of tradable products but provides forex and CFD traders with competitive pricing and one of the largest selections of third-party platforms, including social copy trading, all under a trusted global brand. Read full review
4 Stars
While not known for its self-directed forex offering, Darwinex, through its Darwin Exchange, provides forex traders a unique social copy trading community that enables investors to buy and sell trader-developed strategies. Read full review
4 Stars
While its range of tradeable markets is narrow, FXCM caters well to high-volume traders, algorithmic traders, and traders that appreciate robust charting tools and quality market research. Read full review
4 Stars
Thanks to its JForex platform suite, Dukascopy provides forex traders industry leading trading tools and market research, which includes our favorite mobile app for 2019. Customer service and a narrow offering are the only weak spots in an otherwise great offering. Read full review
Copy Trading History
Without social trading technology, the act of copy trading would be considered a managed account and require a power of attorney, or in other cases, require a trader to constantly monitor when a signal is generated in order to manually copy it. However, thanks to careful language and ever-evolving technology, many regulators consider social trading self-directed, as the client must decide who to copy, even if the copying happens automatically thereafter (whenever a signal is generated). It’s important to note that not all trading platforms with social features provide copy trading.
Many of the early pioneers in social trading technology started out first as third-party platform developers, such as Tradency, ZuluTrade, and eToro. While some of these firms are still independent service providers (ISPs), eToro became its own broker, for example.
Best Copy Trading Platforms
From the 28 international forex brokers we reviewed for copy trading, eToro is our top pick for 2019, as it has continued to innovate with the latest launch of its next generation eToro platform, which delivers an impressive user experience packed in a modern web-based user interface.
eToro continued to evolve its offering with additional specialized CopyFunds, in addition to expanding its crypto-related offering, such as the Crypto CopyFunds, which caters to cryptocurrency investors. Launched in 2017, CopyFunds groups together the best forex traders for other investors to follow by copying each CopyFund, helping to solve the challenge traders face in selecting which traders to copy. Also, with performance and portfolio data available for each CopyFund, filtering CopyFunds is a user-friendly experience.
Overall, the eToro platform experience sets the bar high for social trading and is again the clear winner in 2019, leading the industry forward as a broker that is almost exclusively focused on social copy trading.
Pepperstone took second place this year as it offers a comprehensive range of third-party social copy-trading platforms, in addition to the native forex signals market available in MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and Spotware Systems’ cMirror platform. The firm also offers the ZuluTrade platform, AutoTrade by Myfxbook, Tradency’s MirrorTrader platform, in addition to the developer’s RoboX solution.
Darwinex, our third-place finisher, provides traders access to nearly 1,200 trader-developed strategies that are traded like securities (ticker symbols) on the Darwinex platform. The best performing strategies on the platform receive funding from the broker itself, which allocates $4.5 million among the most successful traders, during each competition period.
FXCM followed in fourth place with several options available for social copy trading, including the web-based ZuluTrade platform, and the native signals market available in the MT4 platform.
Dukascopy Bank, FXDD, and FXOpen round out the top seven finishers for social copy trading in 2019. Dukascopy is a Swiss broker that offers manual and algorithmic-based copy trading. FXDD is MFSA-Regulated in Europe (Malta) and offers its Forexware and MetaTrader platforms in addition to social copy trading on the ZuluTrade platform. Lastly, FXOpen provides a Percentage Allocation Money Management (PAMM) system connected to its MetaTrader offering, where investors can copy top-performing strategy providers. A final noteworthy mention is AvaTrade, which added DupliTrade to several of its existing social copy-trading platforms.
Closing Thoughts
Understanding how social copy trading networks calculate trading performance is an essential aspect as it affects the ordering of trader rankings. The method used to measure and track profit and loss also influences trade copiers.
Instant backfill bias is just one example of the challenges social trading technology developers face if they permit traders to instantly upload their entire trading history at the click of a button.
Such challenges have been known for years, and thanks to broker procedures, regulation, and robust technology, these concerns are mostly non-issues, especially for top-rated fx brokers. Nonetheless, if in doubt, it’s always prudent to check and ask questions.
Bottom line, for 2019, the above forex brokers provide traders the tools and capabilities they need to confidently copy trade.
Read Next
Forex Risk Disclaimer
"There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses." Learn more.
About the author: Steven Hatzakis Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.