OctaFX Review

OctaFX offers traders a mostly vanilla MetaTrader and cTrader trading platforms experience. Beyond its European license in Cyprus, OctaFX lacks regulation in major jurisdictions, which puts it at a severe disadvantage compared to other trusted forex brokers.

Top Takeaways for 2020

Here are our top findings on OctaFX:

• Founded in 2011, OctaFX is regulated in only one tier-2 jurisdiction (Cyprus), making it a high-risk broker for forex and CFD trading. Customers are also served by the broker’s non-regulated offshore entity in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). ForexBrokers.com doesn’t include this jurisdiction in our Trust Score calculation due to the extremely low regulatory requirements required to operate in SVG.
• From among its account offerings, including MetaTrader and cTrader platforms, the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) Pro account stands out but still trails industry leaders in terms of low-cost forex trading and range of markets. In total, OctaFX offers less than 50 tradeable symbols.
• Pricing and product offering aside, compared to leading multi-asset brokers, OctaFX also struggles to compete in areas such as research and education.

Overall Summary

Is OctaFX Safe?

OctaFX is considered high-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 63 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.

Regulations Comparison

Offering of Investments

OctaFX offers less than 50 tradeable instruments. By comparison, industry leaders Saxo Bank, IG, and CMC Markets all offer over 10,000 tradeable instruments.

Commissions & Fees

OctaFX’s commission and fees vary depending on one of the three available account types chosen: MT4 Micro, MT5 Pro, or the cTrader ECN account. All in all, when it comes to pricing, OctaFX struggles to compete against the lowest cost MetaTrader brokers.

MetaTrader: Spreads are lowest in the MT4 Micro account where the broker offers only 39 tradeable instruments; the EUR/USD typical spread is listed as 0.7 pips, whereas the MT5 Pro account provides the full range of 45 tradeable products, and spreads are slightly higher at 1.1 pips.

cTrader: Compared to its other account types, the cTrader ECN account at OctaFX is more limited in terms of the product range, with only 28 forex pairs and two metals. It uses a $6 per round-turn standard lot ($3 per side) commission-based fee structure, which is added to typical spreads of 0.4 pips, bringing the all-in cost to 1 pip.

MetaTrader vs cTrader: The MT5 Pro account offering stands out as it is similarly priced with the cTrader ECN account offering, but offers nearly double the range of tradeable instruments.

Platforms & Tools

OctaFX is primarily a MetaTrader broker, offering the suite of platforms from MetaQuotes Software Corporation, including MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). cTrader, including the cAlgo platform, is also available.

Copy Trading: OctaFX offers a web interface for copy trading (providers are known as Masters) that connects to its MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform offering. Overall, OctaFX’s copy trading experience lacks a community-feel, which is an attribute the best copy trading brokers all share.

From over 3340 systems available on OctaFX’s copy trading offering, 630 providers were profitable in the last three months or about 18% of all strategies. Overall, I found the layout useful, although I would like to see more performance statistics incorporated to help traders differentiate from among the Masters (providers of each strategy).

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Research

OctaFX has a decent basis for its research offering as it provides a little of all essential content types, including that from third parties. However, when compared to research leaders IG, Saxo Bank, and CMC Markets, OctaFX has room to enhance its research offering.

OctaFX provides a range of research content under its Traders’ Tools section, including an economic calendar, market insights, and daily analysis posts, as well as trading signals from AutoChartist. OctaFX also produces video content such as its regular Market in a Minute post on YouTube alongside several archived webinars and some educational content.

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Education

OctaFX provides a section on its site dedicated to forex education, which contains 19 primary articles. However, there are mostly platform tutorials and user manuals in terms of both materials and video content. Beyond the trading glossary and dozens of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), there isn’t much educational content in terms of understanding market dynamics and how to trade. It's worth mentioning the broker does have a blog and YouTube channel, yet I was still left wanting more.

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Mobile Trading

Since OctaFX is a MetaTrader and cTrader-only broker, it provides both the standard iOS and Android versions of the MT4 and cTrader mobile apps. No proprietary mobile app is offered.

Final Thoughts

While OctaFX offers MetaTrader and cTrader, there is a limited offering of tradeable instruments and pricing is not competitive. No question, OctaFX needs to improve its product, pricing, and tools offering if it wants to compete with the best MetaTrader brokers.

Beyond its latest 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 to earning the trust of prospect customers.

About OctaFX

Founded in 2011, OctaFX is part of a group of global entities, which include Arlear Inc OU (based in Estonia), Octa Markets Incorporated (based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), and Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd (based in Cyprus).

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.