Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Trade Nation vs Alpari, 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 online brokers Trade Nation and Alpari, their trustworthiness plays a significant role. Trade Nation, established in 2014, boasts a ForexBrokers.com Trust Score of 85, indicating it is a trusted platform. It holds two Tier-1 licenses, which are highly trusted, and one Tier-2 license. In contrast, Alpari, founded in 1998, has a Trust Score of 68, putting it in the high-risk category. Alpari lacks Tier-1 and Tier-2 licenses, which might be a consideration for those prioritizing regulatory reassurance.
Both brokers are not publicly traded and do not operate as banks. While Trade Nation shines with its regulatory compliance and higher trust score, Alpari's longer presence in the market might attract those looking for a broker with a lengthy track record. However, for investors looking for more secure regulatory credentials, Trade Nation seems to have the upper hand based on licensing and trust ratings.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2014 | 1998 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 0 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
Trade Nation stands out for its competitive fixed-spread pricing, offering a distinct edge over most brokers with its consistent pricing method. On its proprietary platform, Trade Nation provides a fixed spread of 0.6 pips for the EUR/USD pair, which only widens to a maximum of 1.4 pips during a brief daily rollover period. This approach gives clients a clearer view of pricing without needing complex calculations, with the true average spread generally around 1 pip. Trade Nation presents three account types: a commission-free account and a commission-based Raw Spread account on MetaTrader, and a TN Trader account on its proprietary web platform, which typically offers the lowest spreads among the accounts when considering all costs. As a testament to its pricing efficiency, Trade Nation has achieved a 5-star rating and ranks #7 out of 62 brokers for commissions and fees.
In contrast, Alpari does not provide average spread data, leaving potential clients without detailed insights into its pricing structure. This lack of transparency may be a factor in its lower positioning compared to Trade Nation. Alpari has earned a 4-star rating in the commissions and fees category, placing it at #41 out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $20 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.6 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.6 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No | No |
| 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 offered by Trade Nation and Alpari, you'll find some notable differences and similarities. Both brokers provide forex trading as CFDs, with each offering 46 tradeable forex pairs. However, Trade Nation edges out Alpari significantly in the overall number of tradeable symbols, presenting 1000 compared to Alpari's 105. Neither broker allows clients to buy actual exchange-traded securities on U.S. exchanges, but Alpari distinguishes itself by providing access to international exchange-traded securities, such as Vodafone shares on the London Stock Exchange. Both platforms support copy trading and offer cryptocurrency derivatives rather than actual cryptocurrencies.
In terms of their rankings and ratings for the range of investments, users have rated Trade Nation at 3.5 stars, slightly higher than Alpari's 3-star rating. According to ForexBrokers.com, a comprehensive industry ranking shows Trade Nation placed at #38, highlighting a wider variety of available investments compared to Alpari’s placement at #62 out of 62 brokers. These distinctions make Trade Nation a more attractive option for traders looking for a broader selection of tradeable assets, while Alpari may appeal to those interested in international securities alongside CFD trading.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1000 | 105 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 46 | 46 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes |
| 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.
When it comes to trading platforms and tools, both Trade Nation and Alpari stand out by offering comprehensive features to meet traders’ needs. They both provide free virtual demo accounts, allowing users to practice trading without financial risk. Each broker has developed its proprietary platform and includes a Windows-based desktop option, ensuring users have access to the latest technology tailored to their services. Their web-based platforms further enhance convenience, allowing trading from any browser. Both Trade Nation and Alpari support copy trading, catering to those who prefer mimicking successful strategies from other traders. The widely-used MetaTrader 4 is accessible through both brokers, though only Alpari extends this versatility with access to MetaTrader 5, providing an edge to those seeking the platform's advanced features.
In charting capabilities, Trade Nation excels with 39 drawing tools, compared to Alpari's 15. Additionally, Alpari allows trading directly from stock charts, a feature Trade Nation does not offer. When it comes to organizing market data, Trade Nation leads again by providing 14 columns for building watchlists, compared to Alpari’s seven. Despite both brokers receiving a four-star rating for their trading platforms and tools, Trade Nation is ranked higher at #45 out of 62 brokers, while Alpari sits at #55. Thus, while both offer a variety of tools to accommodate different trading styles, Trade Nation provides a slightly broader scope in certain areas, which may appeal to traders seeking more customization in their trading operations.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| 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) | No | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 99 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 39 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | No | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 14 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Trade Nation and Alpari both provide comprehensive mobile trading apps available for iPhone and Android users. Both platforms allow users to receive stock or forex price alerts and create watchlists with real-time quotes. However, Trade Nation's app includes the added benefit of watchlist symbol syncing, ensuring that any changes made to watchlists are reflected both on the app and the user's online account. In comparison, Alpari does not offer this feature. When it comes to charting capabilities, Trade Nation stands out by offering a far more extensive selection of 99 technical studies, while Alpari provides 30 studies. Additionally, both apps facilitate the drawing of trendlines on charts and enable viewing across multiple time frames, but only Trade Nation automatically saves these drawings for future reference.
Despite both platforms receiving a 4-star rating for their mobile apps, Trade Nation holds a higher rank of 45 out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com, whereas Alpari is ranked 56. This suggests that Trade Nation's mobile trading app may provide a slight edge in features that enhance user experience and functionality. Whether you value comprehensive charting tools or synchronized watchlists, it's clear that both Trade Nation and Alpari offer viable options for mobile trading, although Trade Nation seems to offer a bit more in terms of features and app performance.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 99 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | No |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When comparing Trade Nation and Alpari in terms of market research offerings, both brokers provide forex news from leading sources such as Bloomberg and Reuters. However, their overall tools and resources diverge in several areas. Trade Nation stands out with a sentiment-based trading tool that illustrates the ratio of long and short positions across currency pairs, which Alpari does not offer. Additionally, Trade Nation provides research tools from Acuity Trading, such as Signal Centre, while Alpari lacks this feature.
On the other hand, Alpari has an economic calendar to keep traders informed of current and upcoming global news events, a tool that Trade Nation does not provide. Alpari also utilizes Autochartist for technical and fundamental research, which is absent in Trade Nation's offerings. When rated for research out of five stars, Trade Nation scores slightly higher with 3.5 stars compared to Alpari's 3 stars. According to ForexBrokers.com, Trade Nation ranks 42nd out of 62 brokers in the Research category, while Alpari ranks 57th, highlighting a modest edge for Trade Nation in terms of research capabilities.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | No | No |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | Yes | No |
| Economic Calendar | No | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When it comes to educational resources for beginners, Trade Nation and Alpari both provide a similar foundation with at least ten educational pieces focusing on forex or CFDs. This includes content like articles and videos suitable for those starting. Both brokers fall short by not offering monthly webinars or an archive of past sessions, which could enhance the learning experience by providing regular, interactive educational opportunities.
Trade Nation stands out slightly with its video offerings, presenting ten educational videos specifically aimed at beginners to help them get started with trading. In contrast, Alpari falls behind in this area. However, Alpari compensates by offering an investor dictionary with over 50 investing terms, serving as a handy resource for newcomers to familiarize themselves with essential terminology. In terms of overall education quality, users have rated Trade Nation at 3.5 stars compared to Alpari's 3 stars, placing them at ranks 42 and 48 respectively, out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
|
Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | No | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | No |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | No | No |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | No | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 62 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that Trade Nation is better than Alpari. Trade Nation finished with an overall rank of #34, while Alpari finished with an overall rank of #57.
Trade Nation’s well-designed, easy-to-use trading app is an innovative trading platform that’s great for beginner forex and CFD traders. However, if you’re a seasoned trader, you may find that Trade Nation lacks advanced features compared to the best trading platforms.
| Feature |
Trade Nation
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Alpari
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 85 | 68 |
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Both Trade Nation and Alpari do not provide the option to purchase actual delivered cryptocurrency, but they do offer the ability to buy cryptocurrency derivatives.
Both Trade Nation and Alpari do not support ACH or SEPA transfers and PayPal for account deposits or withdrawals, but they both allow users to transact via Skrill, Visa or Mastercard, and bank wires.
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 | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 85 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Trade Nation Review |
| Broker Screenshots | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
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| Regulation | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 85 | 68 | |
| Year Founded | 2014 | 1998 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | No | No | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 0 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| 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) | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1000 | 105 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 46 | 46 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes | |
| 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 | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.6 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.6 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | No | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $20 | |
| 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 | No |
| Trading Platforms | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) | No | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 14 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 99 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 39 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | No | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | No | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 99 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | No | Yes |
| Research | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | No | No | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | No | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | No | Yes |
| Education | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | No | No | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | No | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | No | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | No | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Trade Nation Review |
| Overall | Trade Nation | Alpari | |
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| Trust Score | 85 | 68 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Trade Nation Review |
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