Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of OANDA vs Plus500, 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 trading platforms OANDA and Plus500, it's clear that both companies offer strong regulatory frameworks, but with some distinctions. Founded in 1996, OANDA is a well-established entity but is not publicly traded. It holds seven Tier-1 licenses and has a ForexBrokers.com Trust Score of 93, signifying a high level of trust. On the other hand, Plus500 entered the market in 2008, is publicly traded, and possesses six Tier-1 licenses alongside three Tier-2 licenses, earning it an impressive Trust Score of 99 from ForexBrokers.com, indicating one of the highest levels of trust according to their standards.
Neither OANDA nor Plus500 operates as a bank, but both have built reputations as reliable brokers. OANDA's regulatory structure is limited to Tier-1 licenses, while Plus500 extends beyond Tier-1, incorporating a handful of Tier-2 licenses as well. This expanded regulatory coverage contributes to Plus500's slightly higher trust rating. While both brokers are generally viewed as safe and reputable options for trading, Plus500's status as a publicly listed company might give it added credibility in the eyes of some investors.
| Feature |
OANDA
|
Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1996 | 2008 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | Yes |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 7 | 6 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 3 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
When comparing online brokers OANDA and Plus500 on commissions and fees, both firms offer unique pricing structures but don't quite reach the industry's top tier for affordability. OANDA is recognized for its automated execution, but its forex trading costs are generally considered high. The firm's bid/ask spreads, particularly for the EUR/USD pair, averaged 1.61 pips in July 2024, which is slightly elevated compared to some competitors. OANDA's core pricing option, which involves a $5 per-side commission per $100,000 traded, may offer better value if you have a $10,000 minimum deposit. This pricing results in a total cost of 1.4 pips for the EUR/USD when the commission is included, just under its default price.
Plus500, on the other hand, presents pricing that hovers slightly above the industry average. With spreads averaging 1.5 pips on the EUR/USD for April 2024, Plus500's cost structure does not offer discounts to retail traders. However, Professional clients who fulfill certain criteria can benefit from a cash rebate program. Despite offering slightly higher than average spreads, Plus500 has managed to secure a slightly better ranking than OANDA on ForexBrokers.com.
In terms of their comparative ranking, OANDA earns a four-star rating for commissions and fees and lands at #34 among 62 brokers evaluated by ForexBrokers.com. Conversely, Plus500 also garners a four-star rating but is ranked higher at #25, reflecting somewhat more favorable pricing strategies even though both firms have room for improvement in competitive pricing for active traders. Both brokers provide services that may appeal to specific trading needs, but cost-conscious traders might benefit from exploring other options.
| Feature |
OANDA
|
Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | €100 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.61 | 1.5 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.61 | 1.5 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| 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 investment offerings of OANDA and Plus500, both brokers provide opportunities for trading forex as CFDs or spot contracts. OANDA presents traders with 3,928 tradeable symbols, including 68 forex pairs, whereas Plus500 surpasses this with 5,500 symbols and 65 forex pairs. One distinct difference lies in their handling of actual securities; Plus500 offers direct trading on both U.S. and international exchanges, allowing clients to acquire actual shares like Apple or Vodafone. In contrast, OANDA does not provide this service, focusing instead on CFDs.
In terms of cryptocurrency, OANDA permits the purchase of actual, delivered cryptocurrencies, alongside offering cryptocurrency derivatives. Plus500, however, only provides access to cryptocurrency derivatives. OANDA includes copy trading as part of its offerings, something that is not available with Plus500. This variety gives OANDA a rating of 4 stars for its range of investments, ranking them 27th out of 62 brokers as per ForexBrokers.com. Meanwhile, Plus500's broader catalog earns it a slightly higher rating of 4.5 stars and a 24th place ranking, highlighting a more expansive investment selection for potential traders.
| Feature |
OANDA
|
Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 3928 | 5500 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 68 | 65 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | No |
| 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). Non-CFD share trading at Plus500 is only available through the Plus500 Invest account. |
Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.
Both OANDA and Plus500 provide simulated trading options with free virtual demo accounts, making them accessible for traders who want to practice without risking real money. Each broker offers its own proprietary platforms, ensuring customized experiences tailored to their user needs. OANDA supports a Windows-based desktop download trading platform, while Plus500 does not. However, both brokers offer web-based trading platforms for convenient access via a browser. While OANDA supports popular third-party platforms like MetaTrader 4 and 5, Plus500 does not, which may influence traders looking for these specific tools.
OANDA allows copy trading, a feature missing from Plus500, appealing to those interested in mimicking successful trades. In terms of charting, OANDA provides an extensive selection with 431 drawing tools, far more than Plus500's 22. However, Plus500 shines with its 10 columns for watch lists, compared to OANDA's 6. Both brokers share a solid rating for trading platforms and tools, with Plus500 slightly ahead at 4.5 stars versus OANDA's 4 stars. On ForexBrokers.com, Plus500 holds a marginally higher rank at #14 compared to OANDA's #15, reflecting close competition in the trading platforms and tools category.
| Feature |
OANDA
|
Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | No |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | No |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | No |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | No |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 81 | 114 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 431 | 22 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | No |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 6 | 10 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
When comparing the mobile trading apps of OANDA and Plus500, both platforms are available on iPhone and Android devices, providing essential features like stock and forex price alerts. OANDA garners attention with a five-star rating for its mobile app, ranked 7th out of 62 brokers by ForexBrokers.com. While both apps support drawing trend lines and viewing multiple time frames, OANDA allows automatic saving of chart drawings, a feature not available in Plus500.
Plus500, which boasts a 4.5-star rating, offers a standout feature with the ability to sync watchlists across devices, unlike OANDA. The charting tools in Plus500's app offer 110 technical studies, significantly more than the 30 studies available in OANDA's app. Both apps provide real-time quotes with watchlist creation, ensuring traders stay informed on the go. While each app has its strengths, your decision may rest on the advanced charting of Plus500 or the convenience of OANDA’s auto-save feature for your trading needs.
| Feature |
OANDA
|
Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 110 |
| 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 it comes to market research offerings, OANDA stands out with its daily market commentary and comprehensive forex news updates from prestigious sources like Bloomberg and Reuters. It further enhances its appeal with tools from Autochartist, offering traders technical and fundamental analysis. OANDA also features a sentiment-based trading tool that provides insights into long and short positions, as well as a detailed economic calendar. With a 5-star research rating and a commendable rank of #5 out of 62 brokers on ForexBrokers.com, OANDA provides a well-rounded research platform for traders.
Plus500, on the other hand, matches OANDA in offering daily market commentary and a sentiment-based trading tool, but falls short in providing forex news from major outlets like Bloomberg and Reuters. However, Plus500 compensates with the inclusion of Trading Central tools such as Technical Analytics, enriching its research capabilities. Like OANDA, Plus500 offers an economic calendar for tracking important global news events. While Plus500 holds a 4.0-star research rating and ranks #19 out of 62 brokers on ForexBrokers.com, it presents a solid choice for those who prioritize access to Trading Central tools.
| Feature |
OANDA
|
Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No |
| Autochartist | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
Both OANDA and Plus500 provide valuable educational resources for those new to trading forex or CFDs. They each offer a selection of over 10 educational pieces, including articles, videos, and archived webinars, which cater to beginners. Each platform also hosts educational webinars on a monthly basis, accessible to online visitors, with both brokers maintaining a searchable archive of these sessions for convenience. When it comes to video content aimed at beginners, both OANDA and Plus500 have extensive offerings of at least 10 videos each, making it easy for newcomers to grasp trading fundamentals. Additionally, they both provide videos for experienced traders, sharing advanced strategies to enhance trading skills.
However, there is a distinct difference when it comes to additional educational tools. OANDA offers an investor dictionary with definitions of more than 50 investing terms, providing an extra learning layer that Plus500 does not. Reflecting this difference, OANDA has a higher educational rating of 5 out of 5 stars, compared to Plus500's 4.0 stars. In a ranking of 62 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, OANDA places at number 22, which is higher than Plus500's rank at number 31. This suggests that while both brokers deliver substantial educational resources, OANDA goes a step further in supporting an investor's journey with comprehensive learning tools.
| Feature |
OANDA
|
Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| 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 | No |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 62 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that OANDA is better than Plus500. OANDA finished with an overall rank of #12, while Plus500 finished with an overall rank of #14.
A trusted global brand, OANDA stands out for its reputation and quality market research. Its regulatory track record is strong, and its support for third-party features bolsters its overall offering.
| Feature |
OANDA
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Plus500
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 93 | 99 |
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OANDA allows investors to buy actual delivered cryptocurrency as well as cryptocurrency derivatives, whereas Plus500 only provides the option to trade cryptocurrency derivatives and does not offer the purchase of actual delivered cryptocurrency.
Both OANDA and Plus500 support Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, and bank wire transactions for depositing and withdrawing funds, but OANDA uniquely offers ACH and SEPA transfers, which are not available with Plus500.
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 | OANDA | Plus500 | |
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| Trust Score | 93 | 99 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | OANDA Review | Plus500 Review |
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| Regulation | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 93 | 99 | |
| Year Founded | 1996 | 2008 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | Yes | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 7 | 6 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 3 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | Yes | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | No | Yes | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 3928 | 5500 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 68 | 65 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | No | |
| 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). Non-CFD share trading at Plus500 is only available through the Plus500 Invest account. |
| Cost | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.61 | 1.5 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.61 | 1.5 | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | No | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | No | No | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | €100 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| 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 | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | No | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | No | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | No | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | No | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 6 | 10 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 81 | 114 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 431 | 22 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | No | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | No | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 110 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | No | |
| Autochartist | Yes | No | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | Yes | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | No |
| Major Forex Pairs | OANDA | Plus500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | OANDA Review | Plus500 Review |
| Overall | OANDA | Plus500 | |
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| Trust Score | 93 | 99 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | OANDA Review | Plus500 Review |
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