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TickmillPepperstone Review
Written by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by John Bringans
Fact-checked by Blain Reinkensmeyer
Pepperstone offers a growing range of tradeable markets, good-quality research, and support for multiple social copy trading platforms.
It offers TradingView, cTrader and MetaTrader (finishing Best in Class for MetaTrader brokers in 2023), and its wide range of available third-party tools and plugins enhances its already-impressive suite of available platforms.
-
Minimum Deposit:
$200 -
Trust Score:
93 -
Tradeable Symbols (Total):
2342
Pepperstone pros & cons
Pros
- Founded in 2010, Pepperstone is regulated in two tier-1 jurisdictions, making it a safe broker (low-risk) for trading forex and CFDs.
- Pepperstone’s dual offering of MetaTrader and cTrader is a great fit for algorithmic traders and copy traders.
- Pepperstone provides multiple platform add-ons that enhance the MetaTrader experience.
- Research at Pepperstone is better than the industry average – though it still trails leaders such as IG or Saxo Bank.
- Pepperstone offers a growing selection of tradeable markets.
- Pricing is competitive for active traders on Pepperstone's Razor accounts, though trading costs for retail traders are just average.
- Multiple social copy trading platforms are available.
Cons
- The range of educational materials at Pepperstone is close to the industry average – but not as good as category leaders.
- Does not provide interactive courses, progress tracking, or educational quizzes.
Overall summary
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Trust Score | 93 |
| Offering of Investments |
|
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| Platform & Tools |
|
| Research |
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
| Education |
|
ForexBrokers.com has been reviewing online forex brokers for over six 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 Pepperstone safe?
Pepperstone is considered highly trusted, with an overall Trust Score of 93 out of 99. Pepperstone is not publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by two tier-1 regulators (high trust), two tier-2 regulators (average trust), and one tier-3 regulator (low trust). Pepperstone is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Learn more about Trust Score.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| Year Founded | 2010 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
| Bank | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 1 |
Offering of investments
While there are 2,342 symbols shown in Pepperstone’s MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform, some of these are actually duplicates. That being said, there are more than 1,000 distinct markets available for trading – including forex and CFDs.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading is available at Pepperstone through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlying asset (e.g. buying Bitcoin). Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except for professional clients).
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to Pepperstone clients.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 2342 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 62 |
| 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). |
Commissions and fees
Pepperstone is an agency-execution broker that offers excellent pricing on its Razor account when combined with its Active Trader program for high-volume traders. Meanwhile, its Standard account is not as impressive, and features comparably higher spreads.
Razor account: The Razor account can be used with the TradingView platform, MetaTrader (MT4 or MT5) platforms or cTrader platforms, and follows a commission-based pricing structure (in addition to prevailing spreads). Pepperstone listed an average spread of 0.17 pips for the EUR/USD on its Razor account (as of September 2022). When including the commission-equivalent of 0.70 pips, the all-in cost jumps to 0.87 pips – which is slightly higher than the industry average.
Standard account: Pepperstone’s Standard account is commission-free, and has listed an average spread of 0.77 pips on the EUR/USD (as of September 2022). When considering the Razor’s all-in cost of 0.87 pips (including commission), the Standard account stands out as a more affordable option.
Active traders: Pepperstone's Active Trader program will rebate a portion of the spread, depending on your monthly trading volume and the applicable tier.
United Kingdom and EU: Professional clients that trade at least $10 million per month (100 standard lots) of any commodity can be eligible for the Tier One rebate of 5% per lot (rates vary for forex and indices). Tier Four rebates can be negotiated for those who do more than 500 lots monthly.
Australia: For Professional clients, a minimum of 100 lots is required (over a three month period) to qualify for the lowest tier in Pepperstone's Active Trader program. Tier One provides a discount of 5% per standard lot, which reduces the effective spread. Tier Three – available to those who trade more than 200 lots monthly – provides a 15% spread reduction.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| Minimum Deposit | $200 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.77 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.87 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Mobile trading apps
There are multiple third-party platform options for mobile trading at Pepperstone. While these apps provide a reliable trading experience, our testing has found that proprietary apps are a factor that can set the highest-ranked brokers apart from the competition.
Apps overview: Traders have access to the TradingView app, along with the MetaTrader suite of mobile apps (MT4 and MT5), as well as the cTrader mobile app – all of which are available directly from their respective developers on Google Play (for Android) and Apple App Store (for iOS).
Ease of use: While these third-party apps reliably deliver a good trading experience, our testing has found that the highest-ranked brokers offer proprietary mobile apps.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 15 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | No |
| Forex Calendar | Yes |
Other trading platforms
Though Pepperstone lacks a proprietary platform, it offers nearly every third-party platform available on the market. Overall, we were impressed and Pepperstone finished Best in Class for MetaTrader in the ForexBrokers.com 2023 Annual Awards.
Platforms overview: Pepperstone offers the full MetaTrader suite (MT4 and MT5) developed by MetaQuotes Software Corporation, as well as the cTrader platform developed by Spotware Systems – both available for desktop and web, along with the popular TradingView platform. cAlgo is available for algorithmic trading, and traders can use both of Pepperstone’s account types (Standard or Razor) with any platform.
If you’d like to learn more about algo trading and the best trading platforms for high-frequency traders, check out our high-frequency trading guide.
Charting: Charts are robust on both cTrader and MetaTrader. Both platforms support algorithmic trading, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. cTrader’s web-based platform has an advantage with its broader range of trading tools, though it requires the standalone cAlgo platform to run in parallel, whereas MetaTrader's desktop version contains the algorithmic trading module.
Trading tools: Pepperstone offers a suite of Smart Trader Tools plugins available as an add-on for MetaTrader accounts, alongside access to Capitalise.ai, Autochartist, and API trading. For social copy trading, Pepperstone offers myFxbook for MetaTrader, and DupliTrade for cTrader (though it requires a $5,000 minimum balance required). Pepperstone finished Best in Class in the Social Copy Trading category for the fifth consecutive year for 2023.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| 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 | Yes |
| ZuluTrade | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 15 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 30 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
Market research
Pepperstone delivers a good balance of research content in both video and written format. The quality of Pepperstone’s research offering is a touch above the industry average, yet it’s not quite as robust as what’s offered by category leaders like IG and Saxo Bank.
Research overview: Pepperstone offers traders a combination of in-house content and access to third-party tools from providers like Autochartist (for pattern recognition and trading signals) and Delkos (for risk management). Pepperstone also provides access to a suite of MetaTrader add-ons called Smart Trader Tools, which is available to clients with an account balance of at least AUD 500, and includes useful features like sentiment indicators.
Market news and analysis: Pepperstone's in-house research consists of multiple daily articles and videos which cover technical and fundamental analysis. Content is synced across Pepperstone’s website and YouTube channel, and streaming news headlines can be found in the cTrader platform.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes |
Education
While Pepperstone has a respectable array of archived webinars and videos, it is light on written content compared to education leaders such as FXCM or CMC Markets.
Learning center: Pepperstone has a "trading guides" category that features 40 articles – though they aren’t organized by experience level. Pepperstone offers roughly a dozen platform tutorials, and conducts a handful of webinars each month that are then added to its catalog of archived webinars on its YouTube channel. In addition to its weekly webinars, Pepperstone recently launched a 150 minute online seminar called Pepperstone Talks, featuring industry experts such as John Bollinger, among other prominent industry persons. The webinars are archived which allows you to review them again if you missed the live event.
Room for improvement: Though I found Pepperstone’s educational content to be high-quality, the overall offering was in line with the industry average for this category. Adding interactive courses with progress tracking and quizzes, and organizing articles by experience level would be welcome enhancements.
| Feature |
Pepperstone
|
| Has Education - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes |
Final thoughts
Pepperstone has continued to increase its range of markets for forex and CFD traders (including spread-betting available in the U.K. and Ireland). It offers a rich platform experience for MetaTrader, cTrader, and TradingView – though its lack of a proprietary app holds Pepperstone back from competing with the best forex brokers.
Considering the low minimum deposit requirements, and its robust research and range of support for third-party platforms, Pepperstone is a great option for forex and CFDs traders – regardless of experience level.
What is the minimum deposit for Pepperstone?
Though Pepperstone lists a minimum deposit of $200, you can still begin trading if you deposit less than that recommended amount.
How much does Pepperstone cost?
Your trading costs at Pepperstone will mainly depend on what you trade and which type of account you set up. Using the EUR/USD as an example, after factoring in the per-trade commission of 0.7 pips, the effective spreads on the ECN Razor account were similar to the Standard account at 0.93 pips (using September 2021 data).
However, if you are an active trader, there are liquidity rebates available if you surpass certain monthly trading volume thresholds, which can further reduce your trading costs at Pepperstone.
Is my money safe with Pepperstone?
Pepperstone is a trusted broker thanks to its many years of operation, and its regulatory status in Tier 1 jurisdictions including in the U.K., EU, and Australia, in addition to Tier 2 and Tier 3 licenses.
These factors make Pepperstone a safe broker to hold your money, as it reliably processes more than $12.55 billion in daily trading volume and is trusted by more than 300,000 retail traders globally.
Choosing a broker that is well-capitalized - such as Pepperstone - is also important to reduce your counterparty risk, as any compensation fund may not suffice to cover all client losses in the extraordinary case of insolvency (depending on the size of your account balance).
About Pepperstone
Founded in 2010 in Melbourne, Pepperstone is regulated in Australia, the U.K., Cyprus, Germany, Kenya the UAE, and the Bahamas – locations that are also home to Pepperstone offices. Pepperstone processes, on average, $12.55 billion of trades daily for more than 300,000 retail trading accounts.
2023 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 and detailed forex guides, and we 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.
Read our full explanation and accounting of our research and testing process to learn more about how we test.
ForexBrokers.com 2023 Annual Awards
For the ForexBrokers.com 2023 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. To see the complete list of Industry Award winners (and to learn more about our Annual Awards from our Director of Online Broker Research, Steven Hatzakis), check out our ForexBrokers.com Annual Awards page.
Primary categories
|
Pepperstone
|
Overall Rating | Offering of Investments | Commissions & Fees | Platforms & Tools | Research | Education | Mobile Trading Apps | Trust Score |
| Rating |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
93 |
| Rank #1 | ||||||||
| Streak #1 | ||||||||
| Best in Class | ||||||||
| Best in Class Streak |
Secondary categories
|
Pepperstone
|
Social Copy Trading | MetaTrader | Crypto Trading | Ease of Use | Professional Trading | Beginners | Algo Trading |
| Rank #1 | |||||||
| Streak #1 | |||||||
| Best in Class | |||||||
| Best in Class Streak | 6 | 6 | 2 |
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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Show allAbout the Editorial Team
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.