IG
CMC Markets
FOREX.com
XTB
eToro
AvaTrade
Plus500
Tickmill
FP Markets
PepperstoneEightcap Review
Written by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by John Bringans
Fact-checked by Blain Reinkensmeyer
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Eightcap is more than just a MetaTrader broker. It also offers the popular TradingView platform, Capitalise.ai’s award-winning algorithmic trading platform, and other third-party resources.
Though Eightcap’s crypto offering continues to impress me, the broker’s narrow range of overall markets, lack of standout educational content, and limited research materials leave it struggling to keep up with the best forex brokers in the industry.
-
Minimum Deposit:
$100 -
Trust Score:
85 -
Tradeable Symbols (Total):
736
Can I open an account with this broker?
Use our country selector tool to view available brokers in your country.
Eightcap pros & cons
Pros
- Eightcap (also known as “8cap”) was founded in 2009 and is regulated in three Tier-1 jurisdictions and two Tier-4 jurisdictions.
- Educational content has improved slightly with the launch of the Eightcap Labs section which contains a good variety of articles.
- Offers a vast selection of over 200 cryptocurrency CFDs and won our 2024 Annual Award for #1 Most Cryptos.
- Eightcap offers the award-winning TradingView platform (TradingView is the sole platform option for Eightcap's U.K.-based clients).
- Has launched an AI-powered economic calendar from Acuity Trading.
- Offers the FlashTrader EA to enhance the default MetaTrader 5 (MT5) experience, and has integrated Capitalise.ai with MT4 for simplified coding of trading bots and indicators with natural language.
Cons
- Narrow range of just over 900 CFD symbols, and only 56 forex pairs available (803 on MT5).
- Eightcap’s research content had improved with the launch of "Trading week ahead" and Trading outlook videos, but new content appears paused since February with no new videos in the last two months (besides promotional ones).
- Eightcap does not offer the MetaTrader suite to investors in the U.K.
- Educational resources lack the ability to filter content by experience level, and would benefit from the inclusion courses, and a progress-tracking feature, and quizzes, for example.
- Educational videos are sparse compared to what the best forex brokers for beginners offer.
- The range of markets, accounts, and execution methods available at Eightcap simply can’t compete with the best MetaTrader brokers.
Overall Summary
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Trust Score | 85 |
| Offering of Investments |
|
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| Platform & Tools |
|
| Research |
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
| Education |
|
ForexBrokers.com has been reviewing online forex brokers for over eight years, and our reviews are the most cited in the industry. Each year, we collect thousands of data points and publish tens of thousands of words of research. Here's how we test.
Is Eightcap safe?
Eightcap is considered Trusted, with an overall Trust Score of 85 out of 99. Eightcap is not publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by three Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), zero Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and one Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). Eightcap is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system. Learn more about Trust Score or see where the different Eightcap entities are regulated.
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2009 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
| Bank | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 3 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 |
Offering of investments
Eightcap’s 56 forex pairs and roughly 800 CFDs put its offering of investments in line with the industry average. Eightcap offers various asset classes, including shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The range of markets available at Eightcap will depend on the platform you use, your country of residence, and the Eightcap entity that holds your account. The following table summarizes the different forex and CFD investment products available to Eightcap clients.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading is available at Eightcap through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlying asset (e.g. buying Bitcoin). Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents.
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 736 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 56 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | 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). |
Commissions and fees
Eightcap offers two account types across its global entities, including those in Australia, and the Bahamas. The commissions and fees you pay will depend on whether you choose the commission-based Raw account or the spread-only Standard account.
Eightcap lists an average spread of 0.06 pips for its commission-based Raw account. However, after factoring in the per-side commission of $3.50 per trade, the all-in cost amounts to roughly 0.76 pips – coming in just under the industry average of 0.8 pips.
Overall, Eightcap is slightly more expensive than the lowest-cost forex brokers.
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $100 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.0 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.76 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Mobile trading apps
With no proprietary mobile app available, Eightcap simply can’t compete with industry leaders like IG and Saxo. For our top picks among trading apps, read our guide to best forex trading apps.
Apps overview: Eightcap offers the MetaTrader platform suite; iOS and Android versions of the MT4 and MT5 app are both available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, respectively. In addition, the popular TradingView mobile app, widely known for its powerful charting capabilities, is available at Eightcap. Learn more by checking out our TradingView guide.
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes |
Other trading platforms
Eightcap offers the full MetaTrader platform suite (both MetaTrader 4 and the newer MetaTrader 5), as well as the FlashTrader EA to enhance the default MT5 experience. It also supports Capitalise.ai, allowing the integration of algo trading software within your MetaTrader 4 (MT4) account.
With a variety of extra features that enhance the standard MetaTrader experience, Eightcap has inched closer towards offering what the best MetaTrader brokers provide.
Trading tools: In addition to resources from its in-house Eightcap Labs initiatives, Eightcap also provides access to Capitalise.ai, a third-party platform for coding automated trading strategies in plain English – without the need to program any code.
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No |
| ZuluTrade | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
Market research
Eightcap produces a modest variety of research content that includes daily updates in both written and video format – however, its research offering doesn’t stack up against what the best brokers offer. For example, content on its YouTube channel related to research has not been updated recently with the last research video in May 2024, or at least two months around the time of this update.
Research overview: Eightcap’s research primarily takes the form of daily written updates from its in-house staff – such as its Trading Week Ahead series – accompanied by the occasional video posted to the firm’s YouTube channel, which hosts its Market Update and Trade Zone video series, along with content from Eightcap Labs.
Market news and analysis: Expanding the range of research by integrating third-party research tools and content (such as Autochartist and Trading Central) would help lift Eightcap’s ranking in this category.
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No |
| Autochartist | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes |
Education
Eightcap’s educational offering delivers a wide variety of written articles, but only a limited selection of videos. Some of the best brokers in this category offer lesson programs, complete with quizzes and progress tracking – features that are absent at Eightcap.
Learning center: Eightcap offers just a dozen educational videos, and a handful of archived webinars, such as its TraderFest series which covers CFDs and forex. These videos are archived on its YouTube channel and organized by playlist. The selection of written educational content articles has improved, and includes at least 74 articles covering fundamentals and trading strategies, following the launch of Eightcap Labs.
Room for improvement: While its new Eightcap Labs section is a nicely re-designed interface, expanding the selection of educational videos and organizing articles by experience level would help balance Eightcap’s overall educational offering, in addition to adding organized educational courses, quizzes and progress-tracking.
| Feature |
Eightcap
|
|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
| Client Webinars | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes |
Final thoughts
By offering various platform plug-ins and granting access to third-party tools like Capitalise.ai, Eightcap has taken strides to improve on the standard MetaTrader platform suite. Eightcap also offers more cryptocurrency pairs than nearly every other broker we reviewed, helping it win our 2024 Annual Award for #1 Most Cryptos.
Significant hurdles remain for Eightcap to become a top MetaTrader broker, such as its narrow range of available markets and lack of a proprietary mobile app.
About Eightcap
Eightcap was established in 2009 in Melbourne, Australia, and holds an Australian Financial Service License (AFSL) with the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC). Eightcap's U.K. entity, Eightcap Group Ltd, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and its EU entity is authorised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). Finally, in the offshore island nation of the Bahamas, Eightcap Global Pty Ltd holds regulatory status with the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB).
ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards
For the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards, brokers were evaluated against ForexBrokers.com’s 8 Primary Categories: Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Mobile Trading Apps, Research, Education, Trust Score, and Overall.
Best in Class honors were awarded to the Top 7 forex brokers in each of the following areas: Beginners, Social Copy Trading, Ease of Use, MetaTrader, Algo Trading, Crypto Trading, and Professional Trading.
ForexBrokers.com also recognized brokers that demonstrated excellence and innovation with our exclusive Industry Awards.
Category awards
|
Eightcap
|
Crypto Trading |
| Rank #1 | |
| Streak #1 | |
| Best in Class | |
| Best in Class Streak | 3 |
Industry awards
|
Eightcap
|
#1 Most Cryptos |
|---|---|
| Rank #1 | |
| Streak | 1 |
2024 Review Methodology
At ForexBrokers.com, our reviews of online forex brokers and their products and services are based on our collected data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research on the top forex brokers and monitor dozens of international regulator agencies (read more about how we calculate Trust Score here).
Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools (collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process). We test all available trading platforms for each broker – whether they are proprietary or come from third-party providers – and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables.
We also take an in-depth look at each broker’s commissions and fees, such as bid/ask spreads – including the average spread data for some of the most popular forex currency pairs. We research other trading costs, such as inactivity or custody fees, minimum deposit requirements, VIP rebates and/or discounts, and a range of other important fee-based data points.
Some of the other important research categories that are factored into our testing include mobile trading accessibility and capability, availability of market research and educational content, and each broker’s overall Trust Score.
All content on ForexBrokers.com is handwritten by a writer, fact-checked by a member of our research team, and edited and published by an editor. Our ratings, rankings, and opinions are entirely our own, and the result of our extensive research and decades of collective experience covering the forex industry.
Read our full explanation and accounting of our research and testing process to learn more about 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. Read more on forex trading risks.
Article Resources
Eightcap Regulation Eightcap Education, Eightcap YouTube channel
Popular Forex Guides
- Best MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Brokers for 2024
- Best Low Spread Forex Brokers for 2024
- Compare Forex Brokers
- Best Forex Trading Apps for 2024
- Best Brokers for TradingView of 2024
- International Forex Brokers Search
- Best Forex Brokers for Beginners of 2024
- Best Forex Brokers for 2024
- Best Copy Trading Platforms for 2024
More Forex Guides
Popular Forex Broker Reviews
Compare Eightcap Competitors
Select one or more of these brokers to compare against Eightcap.
Show allAbout the Editorial Team
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker 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. A forex industry expert and an active fintech and crypto researcher, Steven advises blockchain companies at the board level and holds a Series III license in the U.S. as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
John Bringans is the Managing Editor at ForexBrokers.com. An experienced media professional, John has a decade of editorial experience with a background that includes key leadership roles at global newsroom outlets. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University, and conducts research on forex and the financial services industry while assisting in the production of content.
Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.