HFM vs ActivTrades 2024

HotForex is not publicly traded and does not operate a bank. HotForex is authorised by two Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), Three tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and one Tier-4 regulator (High Risk). HotForex is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulator: Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.

Alongside its enhanced MetaTrader offering and quality research, HFM (HF Markets), previously known as HotForex, offers a proprietary copy trading platform, HFcopy, a proprietary HF mobile app, and a decent selection of over 1,000 CFDs and 47 forex pairs. Still, trading costs at HFM are slightly above the industry average.

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.

To open a trading account with HFM, you'll need to make an initial minimum deposit of $0.

ActivTrades requires a minimum deposit of 0 before you can open an account and start trading.

It's important to make sure that your forex broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. Both HFM and ActivTrades offer Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) and Neteller (Deposit/Withdraw). Neither have PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw).

Comparing the trading costs of forex and CFDs is not easy. Not every broker publishes average spread data, and pricing structures vary. Based on our thorough, data-driven testing of each broker's commissions and fees, we found that ActivTrades offers better pricing overall for traders.

Methodology: When testing each broker's commissions, fees, and pricing, we analyze multiple trade scenarios and award points based on the expansiveness (or inexpensiveness) of the broker's spreads. We then run multiple scenarios for different investor types, incorporating any miscellaneous fees, to determine an "all-in" cost per trade. Learn more about how we test.

At ForexBrokers.com, we track over 110 international regulatory agencies and sort them by tiers (Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, Tier-4, and Tier-5) to help you choose well-regulated, highly trusted forex brokers. Learn more about our proprietary Trust Score rating system. Based on our research on the regulatory status of over 60 brokers, we've found that Both HFM and ActivTrades hold 2 global Tier-1 licenses. HFM holds 3 global Tier-2 licenses, while ActivTrades holds 1.

After evaluating each broker based on their number of held licenses, years in business, and a range of other data-driven variables, we've determined that HFM (86) earned a higher Trust Score than ActivTrades (81).

To compare the trading platforms of both HFM and ActivTrades, we tested each broker's trading tools, research capabilities, and mobile apps. For trading tools, ActivTrades offers a better experience. With research, HFM offers superior market research. Finally, we found ActivTrades to provide better mobile trading apps.

Here’s what trading platforms are available at HFM:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - No
• MT4 - Yes
• MT5 - Yes
• ZuluTrade - No
• TradingView - No

Here’s what trading platforms are available at ActivTrades:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - No
• MT4 - Yes
• MT5 - Yes
• ZuluTrade - No
• TradingView - Yes

The MetaTrader trading platform suite is wildly popular among forex and CFD traders across the globe. Both HFM and ActivTrades offer MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Forex traders also appreciate the ability to engage in social copy trading. HFM and ActivTrades both offer copy trading.

HFM provides traders 102 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to ActivTrades's 49 available pairs. If you are interested in trading a full range of securities, ActivTrades offers traders access to 1267 tradeable symbols, while HFM offers access to 500 tradeable symbols; so ActivTrades offers 767 more tradeable symbols than HFM.

We found in our testing that ActivTrades offers a more diverse selection of investment options than HFM, allowing you to trade Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), U.S. Stocks (CFD), Cryptocurrency (Derivative) and Social Trading / Copy Trading. Neither have Cryptocurrency (Physical).