Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of ActivTrades vs ACY Securities, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, range of investments, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 51% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
When comparing ActivTrades and ACY Securities, both online brokers offer distinct features and regulatory standings. ActivTrades, founded in 2001, holds two Tier-1 licenses and one Tier-2 license, reflecting a high level of trust and reliability. It boasts a Trust Score of 81 out of 99 on ForexBrokers.com, placing it in the 'trusted' category. In contrast, ACY Securities, established a decade later in 2011, holds one Tier-1 license and no Tier-2 licenses. It has a ForexBrokers.com Trust Score of 75, which suggests an average risk level.
Neither ActivTrades nor ACY Securities is a publicly traded company or operates as a bank, aligning them closely in these aspects. The licenses held by these brokers are vital indicators of their regulatory standing, with Tier-1 licenses being highly trusted. While both brokers serve their clients' trading needs, ActivTrades' higher Trust Score and more extensive regulatory coverage may offer greater assurance to those prioritizing regulatory trust and stability.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
When comparing the commissions and fees of online brokers ActivTrades and ACY Securities, both platforms offer competitive pricing structures, although there are some key differences. ActivTrades provides average spreads that are slightly better than industry norms, with their EUR/USD spreads averaging 0.98 pips. While they offer various account types such as the Individual, Professional, and Islamic Accounts, they lack specific pricing for high-volume traders. The absence of active trader pricing might not appeal to those executing large volumes, as commissions and costs will rely heavily on the chosen assets.
On the other hand, ACY Securities presents a more tailored approach with both low-deposit and commission-based accounts. Their Standard account, though commission-free, has slightly higher spreads at 1.2 pips for EUR/USD. Conversely, the commission-based ProZero and Bespoke accounts boast lower spreads of 0.25 pips with the ProZero account requiring a minimum deposit of $200 and the Bespoke account $10,000. Australian residents can benefit from reduced commissions on the ProZero account. In addition, ACY Securities offers an active trader program that further reduces costs with increased trading volumes, positioning them favorably against market leaders.
In terms of ratings, ACY Securities edges out with a 4.5-star rating, ranked #21 out of 62 brokers for commissions and fees by ForexBrokers.com. ActivTrades, although also well-regarded with a 4-star rating, is ranked slightly lower at #27. This reflects ACY Securities' slightly better value proposition for traders seeking cost efficiencies through varied account options and potential discounts for trading at scale.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | 0 | $50 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.98 | 1.2 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | 0.85 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | Yes |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
When comparing the range of investments available at ActivTrades and ACY Securities, both brokers offer forex trading as a CFD or spot contract. However, ACY Securities leads the way with 2,200 tradeable symbols, compared to ActivTrades' 1,267. In terms of tradeable forex pairs, ACY again has an edge with 66 pairs, while ActivTrades offers 49. For those interested in exchange traded securities, only ActivTrades provides access to international exchanges, allowing clients to invest in companies like Vodafone on the London Stock Exchange, whereas neither broker offers trading on U.S. exchanges such as Apple.
Furthermore, both ActivTrades and ACY Securities support copy trading and offer cryptocurrency derivatives, though neither permits the purchase of actual cryptocurrency. In terms of overall range of investments, both brokers have earned a commendable rating of four out of five stars. According to ForexBrokers.com, ActivTrades holds the 31st position out of 62 brokers, just behind ACY Securities at 30th, suggesting a competitive landscape between these two platforms for investors seeking diverse trading opportunities.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1267 | 2200 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 49 | 66 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | 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). | 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). |
Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.
Both ActivTrades and ACY Securities offer a comprehensive selection of trading platforms and tools suitable for users at all levels. Traders can experience both broker's proprietary platforms along with industry favorites like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 for desktop and browser use. For those interested in trying a new approach without financial risk, both brokers provide virtual demo accounts for simulated trading. Additionally, each broker allows trading directly from stock charts and offers copy trading features, making it easier for users to replicate strategies from more experienced traders. However, neither ActivTrades nor ACY Securities supports automated trading platforms like DupliTrade or ZuluTrade. When it comes to charting, both brokers offer 15 drawing tools, with ActivTrades providing 11 columns for watch lists compared to ACY Securities' 7.
ActivTrades and ACY Securities each score 4 out of 5 stars for their trading platforms and tools, reflecting their commitment to user-friendly and effective trading experiences. Nonetheless, ActivTrades holds a higher ranking at 29th place compared to ACY Securities' 41st out of 62 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, suggesting a slightly stronger reputation among peers. This evaluation may be due to certain features like the number of watch list columns available on ActivTrades, which may offer a bit more flexibility in portfolio management.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 11 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
ActivTrades and ACY Securities both deliver comprehensive mobile trading experiences across iPhone and Android platforms. Each broker provides a smooth trading interface with features like stock and forex price alerts, real-time quote watchlists, and the ability to explore multiple time frames including daily, weekly, or intraday. Users can also enjoy drawing trendlines on charts and benefit from auto-saving of these drawings. With 30 technical studies available for chart analysis, traders have the tools they need to make informed decisions. While both brokers offer the flexibility and convenience of mobile trading, neither enables watchlist symbol syncing between mobile and online accounts, meaning that any changes made do not automatically reflect across devices.
When it comes to user ratings, ActivTrades and ACY Securities are on par with a 4-star rating for their mobile trading apps, demonstrating solid user satisfaction. However, a notable distinction lies in their rankings by ForexBrokers.com, where ActivTrades is positioned at #19 out of 62 brokers, compared to ACY Securities, which ranks at #40. This difference might reflect subtle nuances in user experience or additional features that set ActivTrades slightly apart in the highly competitive mobile trading market.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
ActivTrades and ACY Securities both cater to traders seeking insightful market commentary, delivering daily updates to keep clients informed. While both firms provide an economic calendar to track significant global events, their approach to news coverage diverges. ActivTrades distinguishes itself by offering forex news sourced from premium outlets like Bloomberg and Reuters, whereas ACY Securities does not provide such comprehensive news coverage. Both brokers lack certain advanced analysis tools, such as those from Autochartist and Trading Central, yet ActivTrades offers a unique sentiment-based tool to gauge market positioning, which ACY Securities does not.
For overall research capabilities, ActivTrades rates higher with four out of five stars, standing at rank #30 among 62 brokers, compared to ACY Securities' 3.5-star rating and rank #44. This reflects ActivTrades' slightly broader range of market research tools and more extensive information sources, which can be crucial for traders who prioritize rich data and insightful analysis in their trading strategies.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No |
| Autochartist | No | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
ActivTrades and ACY Securities both provide extensive educational resources for beginners interested in forex and CFDs trading. They each offer a substantial library of more than ten educational materials, such as articles, videos, and archived webinars, primarily focused on forex or CFDs. Beginner traders can benefit from at least ten educational videos crafted specifically for newcomers on each platform. Furthermore, both brokers provide online client webinars each month, and have searchable archives of these recordings, ensuring that users can access past content at their convenience. However, ActivTrades goes a step further by offering advanced trading videos suitable for experienced traders, whereas ACY Securities does not include this in their offerings.
While neither broker provides an investor dictionary with at least 50 defined investing terms, ActivTrades is rated slightly higher with 4 stars for its educational offerings compared to ACY Securities' 3.5 stars. According to ForexBrokers.com's rankings, ActivTrades is positioned at #38 out of 62 brokers in the Education category, whereas ACY Securities is listed at #43. This suggests that ActivTrades may offer a more comprehensive education experience, particularly for those traders looking to expand their expertise beyond the beginner resources available.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | No | No |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 62 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that ActivTrades is better than ACY Securities. ActivTrades finished with an overall rank of #33, while ACY Securities finished with an overall rank of #42.
ActivTrades is a long-standing brand that offers a proprietary trading platform, ActivTrader, and support for the award-winning TradingView and MetaTrader (MT4 and MT5) platforms. ActivTrades also delivers a selection of custom add-ons, indicators, and trading tools for traders who prefer to use MetaTrader. Drawbacks for trading with ActivTrades include a smaller selection of tradeable symbols and fewer educational resources than what’s available from the best forex brokers.
| Feature |
ActivTrades
|
ACY Securities
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 81 | 75 |
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Both ActivTrades and ACY Securities do not provide the option to purchase actual (delivered) cryptocurrencies, but they do offer the ability to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
ActivTrades and ACY Securities both support Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, and bank wire transactions for funding and withdrawing account funds, but differ in that ACY Securities additionally offers ACH and SEPA transfers, whereas neither broker provides PayPal as a payment option.
Please note:
We review each broker’s overall global offering – a “Yes” checkmark in our Compare Tool does not guarantee the availability of any specific features in your country of residence. To verify the availability of any features within your country of residence, please contact the broker directly.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
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| Trust Score | 81 | 75 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | ActivTrades Review | ACY Securities Review |
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| Regulation | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 81 | 75 | |
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2011 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | No | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | No |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1267 | 2200 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 49 | 66 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | 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). | 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). |
| Cost | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.98 | 1.2 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | 0.85 | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | No | No | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | No |
| Funding | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | 0 | $50 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | Yes |
| Trading Platforms | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 11 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 30 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 15 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | No |
| Research | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No | |
| Autochartist | No | No | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | No | No |
| Major Forex Pairs | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/JPY | Yes | Yes | |
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CAD | Yes | Yes | |
| NZD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| AUD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| Review | ActivTrades Review | ACY Securities Review |
| Overall | ActivTrades | ACY Securities | |
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| Trust Score | 81 | 75 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | ActivTrades Review | ACY Securities Review |
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