AvaTrade Review
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Founded in 2006, AvaTrade has offices in 11 countries and provides multiple trading platforms for web, desktop, and mobile devices, offering spot forex and forex options and CFDs on multiple asset classes, including cryptocurrencies.
With its headquarters in Ireland, AvaTrade is regulated in major regulatory hubs across the globe.
Review Summary
AvaTrade provides multiple platforms for automated and social copy trading. It also offers forex options, in addition to spot CFDs (cryptocurrency included) across multiple markets via its entities regulated in major and emerging financial hubs.
Benefits
- Regulated in the EU, Japan, Australia, BVI, and South Africa.
- Provides off-exchange forex options on 40 currency pairs.
- Supports cryptocurrency CFD trading on eight crypto pairs.
- Offers multiple platforms including a social copy-trading platform.
Considerations
- No proprietary desktop or web platform.
- AvaTradeGo Mobile app is not compatible with most phones; use the MT4 app instead.
Special Offer:
- High Bonuses, Now with Extra-Low Spreads! Learn More
Is AvaTrade Safe?
AvaTrade is considered average-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 82 out of 99. AvaTrade is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. AvaTrade is authorised by two tier-1 regulators (high trust), one tier-2 regulator (average trust), and two tier-3 regulators (low trust). AvaTrade is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) and the Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA). Learn more about Trust Score.
Regulations Comparison
| Feature | AvaTrade | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2006 | 1974 | 1992 | 1989 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Bank | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trust Score | 82 | 99 | 98 | 98 |
Commissions & Fees
Overall, AvaTrade’s spreads are not its most competitive feature, as the average spreads on its variable pricing are higher than those of its top competitors.
Benefits
- With variable pricing, AvaTrade offers typical floating spreads of 0.7 pips (median value derived from spreads during trading hours – 7:00-18:00 GMT – over prior quarter).
- Compared to our 2018 review, the broker’s spreads have improved.
- AvaTrade also offers AvaSelect, which is comparable to an active trader program – with tailored trading terms – for those who deposit over 100,000 (EUR, GBP, or AUD equivalent) or who trade 100 million in volume (1000 standard lots) per quarter.
Considerations
- The trading costs for forex at AvaTrade consist of floating (variable) spreads, as the broker discontinued its fixed spread offering in 2018.
Gallery
Further Reading
Fees Comparison
| Feature | AvaTrade | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $100.00 | £250.00 | $2,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.700 | 0.750 | 0.900 | 0.744 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | 0.363 | 0.600 | 0.744 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees |
Platforms & Tools
AvaTrade offers multiple third-party trading platforms such as ZuluTrade, DupliTrade, as well as the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) web and desktop platform from MetaQuotes Software Corporation.
Benefits
- The ZuluTrade and Tradency platforms are primarily for social copy trading.
Considerations
- A major change for the broker in 2017 was the shift away from the AvaTraderAct desktop, which was discontinued in 2018, making the firm primarily an MT4-broker, although multiple social copy-trading platforms help elevate its offering.
Gallery
Further Reading
- Best Forex Trading Platforms 2019
- Best FX Brokers for Copy Trading 2019
- Best MetaTrader Brokers 2019
Tools Comparison
| Feature | AvaTrade | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | No | No | No |
| cTrader | No | No | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 51 | 22 | 47 | 81 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 31 | 17 | 17 | 24 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| Order Type - Trailing Stop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools |
Customer Service
To score Customer Service, ForexBrokers.com partnered with customer experience research group Customerwise to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the UK. For our 2019 Review, 229 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks.
Results
- Average Connection Time: >5 minutes
- Average Net Promoter Score: 1 / 10
- Average Professionalism Score: 0 / 10
- Overall Score: 0.8 / 10
- Ranking: 23rd (23 brokers)
- View Infographic
Research
AvaTrader has a good balance of research solutions across multiple channels, helping to round out its offering in this category.
Benefits
- AvaTrade combines in-house research tools and resources with content from third parties. On SharpTrader, users can find daily and weekly technical and fundamental analysis articles published daily from a team of analysts, along with integrated tools from external providers.
- For finding trading opportunities, AvaTrade offers several social copy-trading platforms, including ZuluTrade, in addition to Dupli Trade and the Signals market on MT4.
- AvaTrade also offers AutoChartist – a popular set of pattern-recognition tools for technical and fundamental analysis for live account holders who deposit at least $500.
Considerations
- None.
Further Reading
Research Comparison
| Feature | AvaTrade | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly Webinars | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AutoChartist | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | No | Yes |
| Delkos Research | No | No | No | No |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Research |
Mobile Trading
For traders encountering any challenges with AvaTradeGO, the broker’s MT4 mobile app remains a viable alternative.
Benefits
- AvaTrade offers multiple third-party trading platforms for mobile, including the AvaTradeAct mobile app developed by ActTrader Technologies Inc, and the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) mobile app from MetaQuotes Software Corporation, as well as the AvaTradeGO mobile app that syncs with MT4.
Considerations
- For this review, I focused on using the AvaTradeGO mobile app for Android. Unfortunately, I was unable to run the AvaTradeGO mobile app as it was not compatible with any of my mobile devices, and logging into the older version of the AvaTradeAct mobile app did not work either.
Gallery
Further Reading
Mobile Apps Comparison
| Feature | AvaTrade | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - Forex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - CFDs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List Syncing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 26 | 41 | 23 |
| Charting - Draw Trend Lines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Trend Lines Moveable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Drawings Autosave | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex Calendar | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading |
Offering of Investments
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to AvaTrade clients.
Offering Comparison
| Feature | AvaTrade | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 60 | 91 | 182 | 183 |
| CFDs - Total Offered | 171 | 15000 | 32999 | 9959 |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No | No | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Offering of Investments |
Final Thoughts
AvaTrade offers traders multiple platforms through its regulated brands, providing clients with a wide range of options for using trading tools across a good range of markets, including spot forex on 59 currency pairs and 37 currency pairs for forex options trading.
For our 2019 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 28 international forex brokers. Each FX broker was graded on 81 variables. How we test.
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.
