Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of BDSwiss vs Octa, 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.
BDSwiss, founded in 2012, and Octa, established in 2011, are both well-known online brokers, neither of which is publicly traded or operates as a bank. When it comes to regulatory standing, each holds one Tier-1 license, signifying a high level of trust, according to ForexBrokers.com. While BDSwiss does not hold any Tier-2 licenses, Octa holds one, adding a layer of trust to its regulatory credentials.
Comparing trust scores, BDSwiss has an edge with a score of 73 out of 99, indicating an average risk, while Octa follows closely with a score of 72. Both brokers offer competitive trading experiences, but their regulatory nuances might influence a trader's choice based on their individual risk tolerance and regulatory priorities.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2012 | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
When comparing the commissions and fees of BDSwiss and Octa, both brokers demonstrate unique strengths and challenges. BDSwiss is recognized for its good order execution statistics, though it does tend to have higher spreads compared to top industry contenders. Specifically, the Classic account has a spread of 1.5 pips for EUR/USD, which is on the expensive side. The Raw account offers a more competitive pricing with a spread of 0.3 pips plus a $5 commission per side, culminating in an effective 1.3 spread. The VIP account slightly reduces the spread to 1.2 pips. In ForexBrokers.com's evaluation, BDSwiss receives a commendable rating of 4 stars for commissions and fees, ranking it number 30 out of 62 brokers.
On the other hand, Octa has notably improved its pricing strategies, moving closer to the cost-effectiveness of leading MetaTrader brokers. A key advantage is Octa’s lack of slippage on 97.5% of executed orders and the absence of overnight carry costs, though it enforces restrictions that might affect high-frequency traders. Octa’s pricing varies by its regulatory entity, with the EU entity offering a more favorable spread of 0.5 pips for the EUR/USD pair, compared to 0.9 pips for its foreign entities. Despite these favorable figures, Octa does not specify a date range for its typical spread data, which may impact the reliability of these claims. Like BDSwiss, Octa garners a 4-star rating for commissions and fees and ranks slightly higher at number 29 out of 62 brokers.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $10-$5000 | $25 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.6 | 0.9 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.3 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | 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 it comes to the variety of investment choices, BDSwiss and Octa offer unique advantages. BDSwiss stands out with a wider selection of tradeable symbols, providing access to 1,081 options compared to Octa's 300. In terms of forex trading, both platforms support CFDs, but BDSwiss offers a greater number of forex pairs, featuring 53 pairs against Octa's 35. Neither broker provides the ability to buy exchange-traded securities on U.S. exchanges, yet Octa allows investment in international shares, while BDSwiss does not offer this feature. Both brokers support copy trading and cryptocurrency derivatives but don't enable purchasing actual cryptocurrencies.
For range of investments, BDSwiss receives a commendable rating of 4 stars, ranking 34th among 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com. In comparison, Octa earns a slightly lower rating of 3.5 stars, ranking 52nd on the same list. While each platform has its strengths, BDSwiss offers a broader selection for those looking to diversify their trading portfolio, whereas Octa appeals to those interested in international exchange-traded securities.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1081 | 300 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 53 | 35 |
| 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 comparing the trading platforms and tools offered by BDSwiss and Octa, both brokers provide a comprehensive suite of features for traders. For those new to trading or wanting to test strategies without financial risk, each broker offers a free virtual demo account. BDSwiss and Octa have developed proprietary platforms that include access to Windows-based desktop and web-based trading. MetaTrader fans will find both MT4 and MT5 available with either broker, and there's support for popular trading practices like copy trading. However, additional third-party tools such as DupliTrade and ZuluTrade are not available with BDSwiss or Octa.
Both brokers offer 15 drawing tools for charting and allow trading directly from stock charts, while providing seven columns for watch lists. BDSwiss and Octa rate similarly at 4 stars out of 5 for their trading platforms and tools, highlighting their competitive offerings in the market. However, BDSwiss holds a higher ranking at 24th among 62 brokers reviewed by ForexBrokers.com, whereas Octa comes in at 37th. Despite these differences in ranking, both platforms help facilitate trader success with their strong array of features.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 7 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
BDSwiss and Octa offer similar mobile trading experiences, accommodating both iPhone and Android users with dedicated apps. Both platforms provide price alerts for stock and forex, along with the tools to create a watchlist featuring real-time quotes. They each support drawing trendlines on charts and allow users to view multiple time frames. Chart drawings on both apps are automatically saved, adding convenience for active traders. With each platform offering 30 technical studies for charting, traders have access to an extensive range of analytical tools.
Despite these similarities, the brokerage firms diverge in their market rankings. BDSwiss holds a slightly higher position, coming in at #24 out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com, while Octa is ranked #35. Both apps receive a solid four-star rating, indicating a generally positive experience from users. However, neither app currently offers watchlist symbol syncing, a feature that could enhance the user experience by allowing seamless integration between mobile and online platforms. Overall, both BDSwiss and Octa provide competent mobile trading solutions, with BDSwiss edging ahead in terms of industry rank.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| 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.
When comparing market research offerings, both BDSwiss and Octa provide daily market commentary to keep traders informed on current conditions. While Octa enhances its service by delivering forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg and Reuters, BDSwiss does not offer this feature. Both platforms include tools from Autochartist, which aids in technical and fundamental analysis, but BDSwiss also offers Trading Central's respected Technical Analytics, a service not available on Octa.
Neither BDSwiss nor Octa includes a sentiment-based trading tool or research support from TipRanks and Acuity Trading within their arsenal. However, they both provide an economic calendar to track global news events. In terms of quality and ranking, both brokers have a solid four-star rating for research, although BDSwiss slightly edges out Octa, being ranked 24th compared to Octa's 26th among 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com. This difference reflects minor advantages offered by BDSwiss in terms of available research tools.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | No |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When it comes to educational resources for beginners, both BDSwiss and Octa provide a comprehensive array of tools to help aspiring traders. They each offer a minimum of ten educational pieces focused on forex or CFDs, which can include articles, videos, and archived webinars. This ensures that beginners have a solid foundation from which to start their trading journey. Both platforms also host regular online webinars, at least once a month, catering to client education and interaction. Additionally, they offer a searchable archive of these webinars for further study and review. Beginners can also benefit from each broker's collection of at least ten videos tailored for those just starting out in trading.
For more advanced traders looking to deepen their knowledge, BDSwiss and Octa both provide ten educational videos at an advanced level. These resources cover complex trading topics, catering specifically to experienced traders wanting to refine their strategies. Each broker also offers an investor dictionary with over 50 investing terms, helping traders understand the terminology crucial for success in the market. While both brokers are rated four stars for education, BDSwiss stands out slightly with its higher ranking at #19 compared to Octa's #41, according to ForexBrokers.com's rankings of 62 brokers in the Education category.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yes |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 62 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that BDSwiss is better than Octa. BDSwiss finished with an overall rank of #36, while Octa finished with an overall rank of #47.
The BDSwiss brand caters to over 1.6 million registered forex and CFD traders, and offers the full MetaTrader platform suite alongside its own proprietary mobile app. BDSwiss demonstrates good order execution statistics and provides access to over 1,000 tradable symbols – though its spreads are higher than industry leaders.
| Feature |
BDSwiss
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Octa
|
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| Trust Score | 73 | 72 |
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Both BDSwiss and Octa provide the opportunity to trade cryptocurrency derivatives but do not offer the ability to purchase actual delivered cryptocurrency.
When comparing online brokers BDSwiss and Octa, both offer Skrill, Visa/Mastercard, and bank wire transfers for deposits and withdrawals, but only BDSwiss provides ACH or SEPA transfers, while neither supports PayPal.
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 | BDSwiss | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 73 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | BDSwiss Review | Octa Review |
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| Regulation | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 73 | 72 | |
| Year Founded | 2012 | 2011 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 1 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | No | 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). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | No | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1081 | 300 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 53 | 35 | |
| 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 | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.6 | 0.9 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.3 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | No | Yes |
| Funding | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $10-$5000 | $25 | |
| 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 | Yes | No |
| Trading Platforms | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 | 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 | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yes |
| Research | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yes | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | BDSwiss | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | BDSwiss Review | Octa Review |
| Overall | BDSwiss | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 73 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | BDSwiss Review | Octa Review |
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