Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Interactive Brokers 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.
Interactive Brokers, established in 1977, stands as a highly trusted online broker with a perfect Trust Score of 99 from ForexBrokers.com. It is publicly traded and holds an impressive nine Tier-1 licenses, reflecting its credibility and compliance with top regulators. Additionally, Interactive Brokers has two Tier-2 licenses, further bolstering its reputation as a premier broker in the industry. Though not a bank, its long-standing history and excellent regulatory record make it a go-to choice for many investors seeking a reliable trading platform.
In contrast, Octa, founded in 2011, offers a different trading environment with a Trust Score of 72, placing it in the average risk category. Unlike Interactive Brokers, Octa is not publicly traded. It holds one Tier-1 license and one Tier-2 license, which indicates a moderate level of regulatory oversight. While it is not a bank, Octa may appeal to traders who prioritize other factors, but individuals should consider its regulatory rating and relative youth in the financial markets before making a decision.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1977 | 2011 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 9 | 1 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 1 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
Interactive Brokers stands out with competitive pricing, earning a 5-star rating and ranking #2 out of 62 brokers for commissions and fees. Although they don’t publicly disclose average forex spreads, data from Q3 2024 shows an average spread of 0.19 pips for the EUR/USD, equating to an effective all-in spread of 0.59 pips after commission. For forex trades, commissions per side start at 0.00002 (0.2 basis points) of the U.S. dollar trade value, with a minimum of $2 per order, which can reduce to 0.08 basis points for highly active traders. The range for commission-based trading is from $16 to $40 per million for a round turn, which becomes more economical for those meeting high monthly volume thresholds.
Octa, with a 4-star rating and ranked #28, has made strides in pricing, keeping up with some of the lowest-cost MetaTrader brokers. Spreads vary by the entity regulating your account; their EU entity offers a competitive average spread of 0.5 pips for the EUR/USD. While Octa does not offer exact date ranges for its spreads, it claims significant improvements and no slippage for 97.5% of its orders with no overnight fees. Account types and fees at Octa depend largely on which branch (EU, South Africa, or Mwali) manages the account, with different options available based on location and platform preferences (MT4, MT5, OctaTrader).
In summary, while Interactive Brokers may offer more transparent and highly competitive commission structures for forex enthusiasts focused on interbank rates, Octa provides a more accessible yet somewhat variable cost model with improving spreads. Both brokers cater to different trader profiles, offering benefits that reflect their targeted service strategies and geographical market reach.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.59 | 0.9 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.59 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | No | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
When comparing Interactive Brokers and Octa based on their range of investments, it's evident that Interactive Brokers offers a more extensive selection. With 8,500 tradeable symbols, including 90 forex pairs, it is a versatile choice for traders. Meanwhile, Octa provides 257 tradeable symbols, with 35 forex pairs, which may suit those seeking a simpler offering. Interactive Brokers stands out with its access to U.S. exchange-traded securities like Apple, while Octa does not currently offer this feature. Both brokers facilitate international securities trading, allowing investors to buy shares from global markets like the London Stock Exchange.
Interactive Brokers also delivers diverse cryptocurrency options, enabling clients to purchase actual cryptocurrencies and their derivatives. In contrast, Octa only offers derivatives, not the actual digital currencies. For those interested in copy trading, Octa is the platform to choose as Interactive Brokers does not support this feature. With an impressive 5-star rating for its investment range and a first-place ranking among 62 brokers, Interactive Brokers appeals to comprehensive investors. Octa, rated 3.5 stars and ranked 52nd, may better fit investors with a focus on selected areas, particularly those interested in copy trading.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8500 | 257 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 90 | 35 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | Yes | 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.
Interactive Brokers and Octa both offer traders comprehensive platforms, starting with free simulated trading options, allowing users to practice without risk. Each broker provides a proprietary platform, accessible through Windows-based desktop downloads and via web browsers. While both companies support in-depth trading from stock charts, Interactive Brokers offers an expansive set of 85 drawing tools and an impressive 659 options for watch list customization, contrasting with Octa's 15 drawing tools and 7 watch list fields. Despite these differences, both companies enable engaging trading experiences, albeit through different strengths.
Octa sets itself apart by providing MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, popular platforms favored for their user-friendly interfaces and community features like copy trading, which is not available with Interactive Brokers. While Octa leverages these platforms, Interactive Brokers focuses on its wide array of tools and high customizability, earning it a five-star rating versus Octa's four stars in trading tools. ForexBrokers.com ranks Interactive Brokers at third among 62 brokers, underscoring its strength in trading tools, while Octa holds the 37th position, reflecting solid but less diverse offerings.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | Yes |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 155 | 30 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 85 | 15 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 659 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
Both Interactive Brokers and Octa provide convenient mobile trading options with apps available for iPhone and Android devices. They offer stock and forex price alerts and permit drawing trendlines and viewing multiple time frames on charts. However, Interactive Brokers stands out with 97 technical studies for charting compared to Octa's 30. While the Interactive Brokers app doesn’t auto-save chart drawings, Octa's app does. Furthermore, both apps allow creating watchlists with real-time quotes, but only Interactive Brokers syncs watchlist symbols with your online account.
Interactive Brokers enjoys a 5-star rating for its mobile app, ranking #4 out of 62 brokers on ForexBrokers.com, while Octa holds a 4-star rating, placing at #36. Ultimately, both apps deliver strong trading experiences but Interactive Brokers provides more advanced charting capabilities and watchlist syncing, making it a more sophisticated choice for mobile traders.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 97 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | No | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
Interactive Brokers and Octa both offer valuable resources for market research, including daily market commentary and forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg and Reuters. However, they diverge in their offerings beyond these basics. Interactive Brokers stands out with its extensive suite of research tools, such as advanced technical analysis from Trading Central, sentiment-based trading tools, and market insights from TipRanks and Acuity Trading. Additionally, it provides a detailed economic calendar, covering global events that could impact various economies. These features contribute significantly to its top-tier rating of 5 out of 5 stars for research, helping it secure the #3 ranking out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com.
On the other hand, while Octa also supplies daily market commentary and an economic calendar, it specializes in providing technical analysis tools from Autochartist. However, it lacks other advanced features like tools from Trading Central or sentiment analysis, which are available through Interactive Brokers. This narrower focus results in Octa receiving a research rating of 4 out of 5 stars and a #26 ranking in the same research category comparison on ForexBrokers.com. These differences highlight how choosing between these brokers for market research support may depend on the specific tools and insights you prioritize for trading success.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Octa
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | No | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | Yes | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | Yes | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
Interactive Brokers and Octa both cater to beginners looking to understand forex and CFDs trading by offering a wealth of educational materials. Each platform provides over ten articles, videos, and archived webinars focused on these topics. Furthermore, they both host live educational webinars monthly and maintain a searchable archive of past webinars, making it easy for users to access information at their convenience.
For beginners, both Interactive Brokers and Octa offer more than ten educational videos covering trading basics. However, where Interactive Brokers sets itself apart is the breadth of its educational offerings, as reflected in its higher user rating of five stars compared to Octa's four stars. This superiority is supported by ForexBrokers.com, which ranks Interactive Brokers third among 62 brokers for education, while Octa is ranked 41st. Both brokers also provide an investor dictionary with over 50 investment terms, reinforcing their commitment to comprehensive educational resources for traders of all levels.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
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 Interactive Brokers is better than Octa. Interactive Brokers finished with an overall rank of #2, while Octa finished with an overall rank of #47.
Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted multi-asset broker with an extensive offering of tradeable global markets. It delivers competitive fees and high-quality research and education, as well as a modern, institutional-grade trading platform suite.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
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Octa
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| Trust Score | 99 | 72 |
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Interactive Brokers allows users to buy both actual delivered cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency derivatives, while Octa only provides the option to buy cryptocurrency derivatives.
Interactive Brokers supports ACH and SEPA transfers along with bank wires for funding and withdrawing account funds, whereas Octa offers funding options via Skrill, Visa, Mastercard, and bank wires but lacks ACH and SEPA transfer support, with neither platform providing PayPal as an 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 | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Octa Review |
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| Regulation | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 99 | 72 | |
| Year Founded | 1977 | 2011 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 9 | 1 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 2 | 1 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | Yes | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8500 | 257 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 90 | 35 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | Yes | 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 | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.59 | 0.9 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.59 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | No | Yes |
| Funding | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $25 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | Yes | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | No | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| Trading Platforms | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | No | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 659 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 155 | 30 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 85 | 15 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 97 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | No | Yes | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | No | Yes | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No | |
| TipRanks | Yes | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Interactive Brokers | 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 | Interactive Brokers | 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 | Interactive Brokers Review | Octa Review |
| Overall | Interactive Brokers | Octa | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 72 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Octa Review |
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