Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Octa vs IronFX, 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 the online brokers Octa and IronFX, it's clear both companies hold a strong presence in the trading world. Octa, founded in 2011, is a non-bank entity that is not publicly traded. It holds one Tier-1 license and one Tier-2 license, earning it a Trust Score rating of 72 out of 99 according to ForexBrokers.com, placing it in the average risk category.
IronFX, established a year earlier in 2010, shares the distinction of not being a bank or publicly listed. However, it distinguishes itself with three Tier-1 licenses, contributing to its higher Trust Score of 83 out of 99, placing it in the trusted category. This indicates a more reassuring level of trustworthiness, especially for those concerned with regulatory oversight.
| Feature |
Octa
|
IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2011 | 2010 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 3 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
When comparing the commissions and fees of online brokers Octa and IronFX, Octa has made significant improvements in recent years and is now closing in on some of the lowest-cost MetaTrader brokers. Octa offers no slippage on 97.5% of its executed orders and has removed overnight carry costs, although there are restrictions that may affect high-frequency traders. The fees you encounter with Octa depend on your chosen account type and the entity regulating it—European clients use its EU entity while international clients can choose between South Africa and Mwali. Notably, Octa's EU entity offers slightly better spread pricing on popular pairs like EUR/USD at 0.5 pips versus 0.9 pips for its foreign counterparts. Despite this progress, it’s worth mentioning that Octa doesn’t provide a date range for its spread data, which makes precise comparisons challenging. Overall, Octa holds a 4-star rating and ranks #28 out of 62 brokers in the Commissions and Fees category on ForexBrokers.com.
Meanwhile, IronFX's pricing still leaves room for improvement as their spreads are above the industry average. Their Standard variable spread account shows a typical spread of 1.8 pips, although details on date ranges for these figures are absent, and spreads can vary significantly across different account types. Their zero fixed-spread account starts at zero pips but adds an $18 per lot commission, with overnight spreads widening to 3 pips. Like Octa, IronFX garners a 4-star rating for commissions and fees yet ranks lower at #47 out of 62 brokers according to ForexBrokers.com.
To summarize, Octa has made strides in improving their pricing structure, making them competitive among low-cost MetaTrader brokers. In contrast, IronFX's higher spreads suggest that there's still work to be done to match the industry standard. Both brokers hold a comparable rating of 4 stars for commissions and fees, though Octa is more favorably ranked at #28 compared to IronFX's #47 in the same category. Potential traders should weigh these factors alongside their own trading needs to make an informed decision.
| Feature |
Octa
|
IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $25 | $50 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.9 | 1.2 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | 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 evaluating the range of investments available, both Octa and IronFX cater to traders interested in forex trading through CFDs or spot contracts. IronFX stands slightly ahead with 340 tradeable symbols compared to Octa's 257. Specifically focusing on forex pairs, IronFX offers a more extensive selection with 83 pairs in contrast to Octa's 35. Neither of the platforms allows trading of exchange-traded securities on U.S. exchanges, so options like buying Apple shares directly aren't possible. However, Octa enables investments in international exchange-traded securities like Vodafone shares, a feature that IronFX lacks.
Both Octa and IronFX support copy trading, which can be appealing for those looking to mirror experienced traders. While actual cryptocurrencies can't be purchased directly on either platform, both offer cryptocurrency derivatives. In terms of expert ratings, both brokers score 3.5 stars for the range of investments, reflecting a moderate offering in the industry. According to ForexBrokers.com rankings, IronFX slightly edges out Octa, positioned at #51 compared to Octa's #52 among 62 brokers. Overall, each platform has its unique strengths, allowing traders to choose based on their specific investment interests and needs.
| Feature |
Octa
|
IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 257 | 340 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 35 | 83 |
| 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.
When comparing Octa and IronFX in terms of their trading platforms and tools, both brokers offer a range of options for traders. Octa stands out with its proprietary platform, in addition to offering the widely-used MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platforms, giving traders a versatile experience. IronFX, on the other hand, provides MT4 but does not offer MT5 or a proprietary platform. Both brokers support a Windows-based desktop download trading platform and a web-based trading platform, ensuring accessibility across different devices. They also provide copy trading and simulated trading through free virtual demo accounts, catering to various trading preferences and experience levels.
In terms of trading tools, Octa and IronFX both offer the ability to trade directly from a stock chart and furnish traders with 15 drawing tools for charting. Octa and IronFX also offer identical watch list customization with seven available columns. While technical indicators are not specified for either broker, Octa boasts a slightly higher rating of 4 stars compared to IronFX’s 3.5 stars in the trading platforms and tools category. Furthermore, Octa is ranked #37 by ForexBrokers.com, significantly higher than IronFX's ranking of #60 out of 62 brokers, indicating a more favorable reception for Octa's offerings in this area.
| Feature |
Octa
|
IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | No |
| 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.
When it comes to mobile trading apps, both Octa and IronFX offer iPhone and Android apps designed to keep traders connected on the go. They provide key features like stock and forex price alerts, the ability to draw trendlines, and the option to view different time frames on charts, such as daily, weekly, or intraday. Additionally, both apps allow users to create watchlists with real-time quotes. However, neither Octa nor IronFX offer the convenience of watchlist symbol syncing between the mobile app and online account, meaning traders will need to update watchlists separately in each location.
While both platforms support 30 technical studies for charting and auto-save chart drawings, the user experience and satisfaction seem to lean more towards Octa. With a mobile trading app rating of 4 stars compared to IronFX's 3.5 stars, Octa ranks higher at #36 in ForexBrokers.com's evaluation of 62 broker apps, whereas IronFX trails at #61. Overall, while both apps share similar capabilities, Octa's higher rating and rank suggest a slightly more favorable user experience.
| Feature |
Octa
|
IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| 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 Octa and IronFX for market research offerings, both stand out for providing essential insights to traders. Both brokers deliver daily market commentary and access to forex news from elite sources like Bloomberg and Reuters, ensuring traders stay informed with high-quality information. Octa excels by offering tools from Autochartist, which IronFX lacks, aiding traders in technical and fundamental analysis. However, IronFX complements this by including resources from Trading Central, a feature not present in Octa's offerings. While neither platform provides a sentiment-based trading tool or uses resources from TipRanks or Acuity Trading, they both feature an economic calendar, allowing users to track global economic events efficiently.
In terms of research ratings, both Octa and IronFX scored a commendable 4 out of 5 stars. Despite this equal star rating for research, Octa holds a slightly higher rank at number 26 in the category by ForexBrokers.com, compared to IronFX's position at number 28 out of 62 brokers. This subtle difference might reflect the slight edge Octa has with its technical analysis tools from Autochartist. Overall, traders must consider their preference for specific research tools when choosing between these two well-regarded brokers.
| Feature |
Octa
|
IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | Yes |
| 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 considering online broker options like Octa and IronFX, beginners will find that both brokers provide valuable educational resources on forex and CFDs, including at least 10 educational pieces such as articles, videos, and archived webinars. Octa stands out by offering monthly live educational webinars, which IronFX does not. Both brokers maintain searchable archives of past webinars, ensuring users have access to a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips.
For those just starting out, Octa and IronFX each provide over 10 beginner videos covering a variety of trading topics. However, Octa further caters to more experienced traders with over 10 advanced educational videos, an area where IronFX falls short. Both brokers also offer investor dictionaries with more than 50 investing term definitions, aiding in a comprehensive learning experience. Despite their differences, each broker holds a 4-star rating for education, with Octa ranked slightly higher at #41 compared to IronFX at #44 in ForexBrokers.com's educational category rankings.
| Feature |
Octa
|
IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| 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 Octa is better than IronFX. Octa finished with an overall rank of #47, while IronFX finished with an overall rank of #48.
Octa offers a basic, low-cost MetaTrader platform experience alongside its social copy-trading platform.
| Feature |
Octa
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IronFX
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 72 | 83 |
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Both Octa and IronFX do not offer the ability to buy actual delivered cryptocurrency but provide options for trading cryptocurrency derivatives.
Both Octa and IronFX do not support ACH or SEPA transfers or PayPal for deposits and withdrawals, but they offer Skrill, Visa or Mastercard, and bank wire options for these transactions.
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 | Octa | IronFX | |
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| Trust Score | 72 | 83 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Octa Review |
| Broker Screenshots | Octa | IronFX | |
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| Regulation | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 72 | 83 | |
| Year Founded | 2011 | 2010 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 1 | 3 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) | No | Yes | |
| 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) | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 257 | 340 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 35 | 83 | |
| 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 | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.9 | 1.2 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | No | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | No | No | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $25 | $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 | No |
| Trading Platforms | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | No | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | No | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | No | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | Yes | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | No | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Octa | IronFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Octa Review |
| Overall | Octa | IronFX | |
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| Trust Score | 72 | 83 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Octa Review |
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