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FP MarketsOctaFX Review
Written by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by John Bringans
Fact-checked by Blain Reinkensmeyer
OctaFX offers a basic, low-cost MetaTrader platform experience alongside its social copy-trading platform.
It has made great strides with its pricing options for traders, but suffers from a limited range of tradeable instruments and a lack of variety in its educational content. OctaFX also holds just one regulatory license.
-
Minimum Initial Deposit:
$25 -
Trust Score:
67 -
Tradeable Symbols (Total):
80
OctaFX pros & cons
Pros
- Founded in 2011, OctaFX is regulated in only one tier-2 jurisdiction (Cyprus), making it a high-risk broker for forex and CFD trading.
- Maintains a growing array of well-organized research, with trading ideas, daily updates, weekly forecasts, and third-party content.
- OctaFX offers a new proprietary platform for social copy-trading.
Cons
- Customers served by the broker’s non-regulated offshore entity in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) are not afforded any regulatory protection.
- OctaFX appears to offer competitive trading costs, but its listed spreads do not have corresponding date ranges, and are paired with a narrow selection of just over 50 tradeable symbols.
- OctaFX struggles to compete with the leading multi-asset brokers in areas such as education.
- cTrader’s platform is no longer available with OctaFX.
Overall summary
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Overall Rating |
|
| Trust Score | 67 |
| Offering of Investments |
|
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| Platform & Tools |
|
| Research |
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
| Education |
|
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Is OctaFX Safe?
OctaFX is considered high-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 67 out of 99. OctaFX is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. OctaFX is authorised by zero tier-1 regulators (high trust), one tier-2 regulator (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). Learn more about Trust Score.
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Year Founded | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
| Bank | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 |
Investment Products
OctaFX offers fewer than 50 tradeable instruments. By comparison, industry leaders Saxo Bank, IG, and CMC Markets all offer over 10,000 tradeable instruments.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading at OctaFX is available 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.
The following table summarizes the products available to OctaFX clients.
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 80 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 40 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No |
| Cryptocurrency (CFD) | 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). |
Fees
OctaFX has struggled with pricing in the past, but has vastly improved in this category and is now gaining on the lowest-cost MetaTrader brokers.
Account types: Any commissions or fees you pay at OctaFX will depend on your chosen account type and the OctaFX entity under which your account is regulated. European clients will choose the broker’s EU entity, whereas international clients are served from OctaFX’s offshore entity in Saint Vincent and The Grenadines (SVG). In the EU, only MT5 is promoted and thus a single account is available, whereas the SVG entity offers accounts for both MT4 and MT5.
Spreads: OctaFX’s spread pricing varies depending on which of its entities regulates your account. For example, its EU entity is slightly better for the EUR/USD pair at 0.5 pips, compared to 0.7 pips for the SVG entity. It’s worth noting that OctaFX did not provide a date range for its average spread data, and thus the values don’t carry as much weight as spreads that have a corresponding date reference. All in all, OctaFX has improved its pricing and appears to keep pace with the lowest-cost MetaTrader brokers, but with no date range available for its average spread claim, we were unable to make an exact comparison.
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $25 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.6 (August 2021) |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes |
Mobile trading apps
OctaFX does have a proprietary app for social copy trading (the OctaFX Copytrading app), yet it still trails behind industry leaders such as IG and Saxo Bank. For our top picks among trading apps, read our guide to Best Forex Trading Apps.
Apps overview: Since OctaFX is a MetaTrader-only broker, iOS and Android versions of the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) app come standard and are both available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, respectively. OctaFX also offers its proprietary OctaFX Copytrading app for social copy trading – which I was unable to install or test due to geolocational restrictions I encountered on Google Play.
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
| Watchlist Syncing | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | No |
| Forex Calendar | Yes |
Other trading platforms
OctaFX is primarily a MetaTrader broker, offering MetaQuotes Software Corporation’s suite of platforms that include MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5).
Copy trading: OctaFX offers a web interface for copy trading (providers are known as Masters) that connects to its MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform offering. OctaFX’s copy trading offering has grown, and I found that it merits inclusion alongside the best copy trading brokers – though it still has room to improve.
From over 6,201 systems available on OctaFX’s Copytrading app, 2,432 were found to either break even or achieve profitability in the last three months – about 39% of all strategies. I found the layout useful, although I would like to see more performance statistics that would help traders differentiate from among the Masters (providers of each strategy).
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
| 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
OctaFX’s market research is well organized and varied in its content. Rather than specializing in any one field, OctaFX provides a wide assortment of content types. However, when compared to research leaders IG, Saxo Bank, and CMC Markets, OctaFX has room to enhance its research offering.
Research overview: OctaFX’s research content lives in its Market Insights section, which features an economic calendar, daily analysis posts, as well as automated technical analysis by way of MetaTrader’s Autochartist plugin. My favorite features were the interest rates tracker, daily and weekly forecast articles, and the economic calendar – which was useful for keeping track of national holidays and global trading hours.
Market news and analysis: OctaFX produces daily articles that cover technical and fundamental analysis across popular trading symbols including forex and CFDs. It also offers its OC LiveTrader series, which consists of video content that is live-streamed on its YouTube channel. The quality of OctaFX’s research material is on par with what you’d typically find with the average broker, but lacks the rich content offered by the best brokers in this category.
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No |
Education
While OctaFX has improved its educational offering with webinars and live trading session recordings, its educational articles and videos suffer from a lack of variety.
Learning center: OctaFX’s website has a dedicated forex education section with roughly 20 articles for beginners. The OctaFX Youtube channel has archived webinars, and also hosts its Forex Basic Course video series that spans 11 parts.
Features like its trading glossary, platform tutorials, and dozens of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) help to flesh out OctaFX’s educational offering. That being said, there isn’t much educational content for learning how to trade or understand market dynamics. It's worth mentioning that the broker does have a blog and a YouTube channel, yet I was still left wanting more.
Room for improvement: OctaFX’s educational offering would benefit from an overall expansion of its articles and videos, and an increase in the range of topics covered. Arranging the educational content by experience level would strengthen its ease-of-use, and balance the overall experience.
| Feature |
OctaFX |
| Has Education - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes |
Final thoughts
OctaFX offers the full MetaTrader suite, albeit with a fairly limited offering of tradeable instruments. There’s no question – if OctaFX wants to compete with the best MetaTrader brokers, it needs to make improvements in its range of products and its research and education.
Though it has been granted regulatory status in Cyprus, OctaFX’s lack of additional reputable licenses heavily weighs down its Trust Score. Becoming regulated in more jurisdictions – especially tier-1 jurisdictions – will go a long way towards building trust with existing and prospective customers.
About OctaFX
Founded in 2011, OctaFX is part of a group of global entities, which include Octa Markets Incorporated (based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) and Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd (based in Cyprus).
Is OctaFX a good broker?
OctaFX is an up-and-coming broker that has been in operation for nearly 10 years. Its growth has enabled OctaFX to continue to expand its products and services. Adding additional regulatory licenses in tier-1 jurisdictions would be a step toward winning more client trust.
Is my money safe with OctaFX?
As OctaFX is only regulated in Cyprus, we consider the broker to be a higher risk than those firms that are regulated in numerous tier-1 jurisdictions.
Founded in 2011, OctaFX holds regulatory licenses primarily in Europe through its Cyprus-based entity – Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd – which is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). Your account may be eligible for certain CySEC protections – in the extraordinary event of Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd.’s bankruptcy, for example, you’ll be protected for up to 20,000 euros from the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF).
The brand’s international entity, Octa Markets Incorporated, is the brand’s international entity. It is based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), and it provides little to no regulatory protection. The security of your funds – in terms of regulatory protection – will depend on which OctaFX entity holds your account, and which –if any – relevant regulations provide customer protections.
What is the minimum deposit for OctaFX?
Minimum deposits at OctaFX will vary depending on your country of residence and your chosen payment method. They can go as low as $25 (USD) when funding with Visa/Mastercard, to 50 euros (EUR) when using Skrill/Neteller to as much as 500,000 Indian rupees (INR). It’s important to note that minimum deposits and trading costs will also depend on which OctaFX entity you choose for establishing your trading account.
OctaFX has over 50 different payment options, such as Visa, Neteller, Fasapay and bitcoin, as well as a large variety of local bank transfers. The availability of these payment methods may also depend on your country of residence.
2022 Review Methodology
For our 2022 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 39 international forex brokers over a three-month time period resulting in over 50,000 words of published research.
Each broker was graded on 113 different variables, including our proprietary Trust Score algorithm. This innovative scoring system ranks the level of trustworthiness for each broker based on factors such as licenses, regulation and corporate structure. Read about Trust Score here.
As part of our annual review process, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy.
Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. 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.
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About the Author
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. 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 Senior Editor of ForexBrokers.com. An experienced media professional, John has close to 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.