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PepperstoneAvaTrade Review
Written by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by John Bringans
Fact-checked by Blain Reinkensmeyer
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
AvaTrade is a trusted global brand best known for offering an extensive selection of trading platforms for forex and CFD traders. I’ve found the broker excels for both its educational and copy trading offerings, earning Best in Class honors for Education, Beginners, and Copy Trading in 2024. However, while AvaTrade offers competitive spreads for professional traders, its retail pricing and research offerings still lag behind industry leaders.
AvaTrade’s platform variety is impressive, with MetaTrader, AvaOptions, and AvaFutures providing something for every type of trader. That said, AvaTrade's proprietary platforms could benefit from more advanced features and better research integration. Overall, it's a great choice for traders seeking comprehensive platforms and strong educational support, but those looking for the most competitive pricing and research tools might find better options elsewhere.
-
Minimum Deposit:
$100 -
Trust Score:
94 -
Tradeable Symbols (Total):
1260
Can I open an account with this broker?
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AvaTrade pros & cons
Pros
- Founded in 2006, AvaTrade is regulated in four Tier-1 jurisdictions, three Tier-2 jurisdictions, and one Tier-4 jurisdiction.
- Alongside MetaTrader, AvaTrade offers its proprietary platforms AvaTrade WebTrader and AvaTradeGO, with innovative features such as AvaProtect.
- The AvaOptions app, powered by Sentry Derivatives, provides AvaTrade clients with an excellent forex options mobile trading platform.
- AvaTrade offers 44 forex options, in addition to over 1,200 CFDs, and recently added futures trading to its product offering via the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform.
- The Guardian Angel plugin - for risk-management purposes - is offered at AvaTrade for MetaTrader clients and enhances the default MetaTrader experience.
- AvaTrade offers AvaSocial, along with ZuluTrade and DupliTrade for social copy trading, and finished Best in Class for Copy Trading in our 2024 Annual Awards.
- Recent launch of AvaFutures expands AvaTrade's platform range and offering of investments by adding exchange-traded futures on the CME.
Cons
- Pricing for retail accounts is in line with the industry average, but trails industry leaders.
- The AvaOptions desktop platform is slow to load, and has an outdated design that doesn’t match up with the sleek responsive design of its mobile counterpart.
- Out of 1,260 available symbols, at least 351 are on hold for both the MetaTrader and WebTrader platforms at AvaTrade.
- Research remains limited to Trading Central modules, and market analysis videos posted to the AvaTrade YouTube and Vimeo channels, with a lack of in-house research articles.
- AvaTrade charges the equivalent of 50 units (GBP/EUR/USD) per quarter, after 3 months of account inactivity (and 100 units per year, if your account is inactive for 12 months).
Overall Summary
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Trust Score | 94 |
| Offering of Investments |
|
| Commissions & Fees |
|
| Platform & Tools |
|
| Research |
|
| Mobile Trading |
|
| Education |
|
ForexBrokers.com has been reviewing online forex brokers for over eight years, and our reviews are the most cited in the industry. Each year, we collect thousands of data points and publish tens of thousands of words of research. Here's how we test.
Is AvaTrade safe?
AvaTrade is considered Highly Trusted, with an overall Trust Score of 94 out of 99. AvaTrade is not publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by four Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), three Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), one Tier-3 regulator (Average Risk), and one Tier-4 regulators (High Risk). AvaTrade is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), and in the European Union via MiFID . Learn more about Trust Score or see where the different AvaTrade entities are regulated.
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2006 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
| Bank | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 3 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 1 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 1 |
Offering of investments
The range of markets available at AvaTrade will depend on which trading platform you choose, and which of the brand's global entities holds your account. AvaTrade offers 1,260 symbols in MT5 and nearly the same number in WebTrader, though a few hundred of those symbols have been put on hold. In addition to forex, CFDs, and OTC options, AvaTrade also offers futures trading via the CME (and EUREX via the MT5 platform).
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to AvaTrade clients.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrency trading is available at AvaTrade through CFDs, but not available through trading the underlying asset (e.g. buying Bitcoin). Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents.
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1260 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 53 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | 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). |
Commissions and fees
AvaTrade's spreads are close to the industry average at just under one pip (0.9 pips as of June 2024), yet are slightly higher than the spreads available on the entry-level accounts offered by CMC Markets and Tickmill.
Professional traders: If you qualify as an elected professional trader, spreads on AvaTrade’s Professional account are competitive at 0.6 pips and comparable to FP Markets.
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $100 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.93 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.61 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Mobile trading apps
AvaTrade's proprietary apps provide a mobile experience that will satisfy most traders (including beginners), though they aren’t quite as advanced as the best mobile trading apps provided by category leaders such as Saxo, CMC Markets, or Charles Schwab Review (U.S. residents only). That said, AvaTrade continues to make incremental improvements in this category, and provides a generally well-rounded suite of apps.
Apps overview: AvaTrade provides its own proprietary mobile platforms, AvaTradeGO and AvaOptions, as well as the full MetaTrader suite (MT4 and MT5) for Android and iOS devices.
Ease of use: The AvaTradeGo app closely resembles its web counterpart, and features a robust default set of syncing watchlists as well as a volatility protection feature called AvaProtect. AvaProtect allows a trader to reduce the risk on an open trade by partially hedging their position with a forex option – for an added cost.
Charting: Charts in the AvaTradeGo app come with 93 indicators – though I found that it took multiple steps to access them. However, there are no drawing tools and only three selectable chart types. Trading Central provides integrated research and related tools, mirroring what’s available within the web platform. Overall, mobile charts at AvaTrade are good, but have room to improve.
AvaOptions: The AvaOptions app is well-designed, and takes a unique approach to displaying option-chain data. AvaTrade overlays strike prices onto a chart, allowing traders to change the strike price simply by dragging it higher or lower – a feature I found to be incredibly helpful. There are also 14 default options-trading strategies available, and selecting an option plan will automatically populate the order ticket with the related options contracts. One notable annoyance: the entire app experience was displayed in landscape mode, forcing me to hold my phone like a gaming controller.
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 80 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 13 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes |
Other trading platforms
Thanks to AvaTrade's extensive offering of copy trading platform options, AvaTrade once again finished Best in Class for Copy Trading in 2024.
Platforms overview: AvaTrade offers three proprietary platforms (AvaTrade WebTrader, AvaOptions, and AvaFutures), the full MetaTrader suite, ZuluTrade, and DupliTrade.
Charting: Charts on AvaTrade’s WebTrader platform come with 90 indicators, 13 drawing tools, 10 ten time frames, and three chart types. That said, WebTrader still has a ways to go if it wants to compete with the depth and rich quality of features found on proprietary platforms from industry leaders such as IG, Saxo, and CMC Markets.
Trading tools: I found AvaTrade’s proprietary WebTrader platform to have a well-designed responsive layout. I was also pleased to find a suite of trading tools from Trading Central directly integrated within the platform. Though alerts are only found in the mobile version, the AvaProtect feature is included in both platforms.
Copy trading: AvaTrade's steady progress in expanding and enhancing its copy trading offering has helped it compete with industry leaders such as eToro and Pepperstone. AvaTrade offers ZuluTrade, DupliTrade, and the native Signals market in MetaTrader. In addition, AvaTrade launched AvaSocial in the U.K., as part of its partnership with Pelican Exchange.
AvaOptions: For options traders that deposit at least $1,000, AvaTrade provides AvaOptions – its forex options platform for desktop and mobile. The desktop version is for Windows only, and requires that users install Microsoft's .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. As a seasoned trader, even I found the platform layout to be complex. Clearly suited for professionals, the platform needs a design overhaul. Read my guide to forex options to learn more about the pros and cons of trading forex options.
AvaFutures: AvaTrade recently expanded its product offering with the addition of exchange-traded futures contracts via the CME. As part of this offering, AvaTrade offers a dedicated futures trading platform called AvaFutures, where you can trade forex futures and futures of other asset classes offered by the CME, including different contract sizes such as Standard, e-mini, and even micro contracts. While we didn't focus on this platform for the purpose of this review, the move aligns with recent trends towards greater adoption of futures by forex traders, with more brokers beginning to offer futures products.
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| DupliTrade | Yes |
| ZuluTrade | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 80 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 13 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 7 |
Research
AvaTrade produces daily in-house research content in video and article format, and grants access to Trading Central research modules. While AvaTrade has made improvements in this category, its research offering can’t stack up against what the best forex brokers offer. For instance, many of the articles on the AvaTrade blog are educational, even if labeled under the market analysis section, such as its “5 ways to capitalize on market volatility” article.
Research overview: Beyond AvaTrade’s support for ZuluTrade, AvaSocial, and DupliTrade for copy trading, the main highlight from AvaTrade's research offering is Trading Central. Trading Central is directly integrated within the AvaTrade web platform and includes a variety of TC-powered features, such as its Market Buzz, Analyst Views, and Featured Ideas tools, as well as an economic calendar and streaming news (available in MT5). Trading signals are also nicely integrated into the AvaTrade web experience.
Market news and analysis: AvaTrade provides daily market analysis in the form of videos published to its Vimeo and YouTube channels, while written articles are few and far between in terms of actual research content (evergreen educational articles don't count). I found the "Mapping out your week ahead" video series at AvaTrade is nicely produced, in terms of market analysis and research. Overall, I would like to see AvaTrade add more written articles to fill the void in its otherwise balanced research offering in order to be comparable to the best brokers in this category.
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | No |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
| Autochartist | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes |
Education
AvaTrade provides a rich array of educational content from its in-house staff and its AvaAcademy, as well as from third-party providers such as Trading Central. AvaTrade earned Best in Class honors for our Education category in our 2024 Annual Awards.
Learning center: AvaTrade’s website features 103 comprehensive articles that cover beginner and advanced topics. As part of its AvaAcademy offering, AvaTrade provides in-depth courses that are organized by experience level. These courses include both video and written content, and feature progress tracking and integrated quizzes. Year over year, the interface has been redesigned with a more modern look and feel, and I enjoyed taking a few courses on AvaTrade Academy, which include good quality video and article content for traders, including short quizzes.
AvaTrade’s 48 educational videos cover a wide range of topics, and explore niche subjects like Donchian Channels (what they are, and how traders can use them). AvaTrade also uploads and archives video webinars on its YouTube and Vimeo channel, which help to round out its offering.
Room for improvement: Platform tutorials notwithstanding, the WebTrader and AvaTraderGo web and mobile platforms would benefit from an expansion of integrated video content.
| Feature |
AvaTrade
|
|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes |
Final thoughts
AvaTrade stands out for its rich selection of trading platform options, and for its educational content for beginners (AvaTrade earned Best in Class honors for our Beginners category in our 2024 Annual Awards). Its range of tradeable markets has nearly doubled year-over-year, and spreads for clients designated as Professional traders in the EU are quite competitive.
About AvaTrade
Founded in 2006, AvaTrade has offices in 11 countries and provides multiple trading platforms for web, desktop, and mobile devices, offering spot forex and forex options and CFDs on numerous asset classes, including cryptocurrencies. AvaTrade has 300,000 registered traders who place more than 3 million trades each month and has executed more than $1.47 trillion in traded value since inception.
AvaTrade holds regulatory licenses in multiple financial hubs across the globe. AvaTrade's headquarters is in Ireland, where its regulator is the Central Bank of Ireland and is a member of the Investor Compensation Company DAC (ICCL), which provides eligible clients up to EUR 20,000 of maximum reimbursement in the extraordinary event of their broker's insolvency. While not directly regulated in Canada, AvaTrade caters to clients in the country through its partnership with Friedberg Direct, which required regulatory approval.
ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards
For the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards, brokers were evaluated against ForexBrokers.com’s 8 Primary Categories: Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Mobile Trading Apps, Research, Education, Trust Score, and Overall.
Best in Class honors were awarded to the Top 7 forex brokers in each of the following areas: Beginners, Social Copy Trading, Ease of Use, MetaTrader, Algo Trading, Crypto Trading, and Professional Trading.
For more information, see how we test.
Category awards
|
AvaTrade
|
Education | Beginners | Social Copy Trading |
| Rank #1 | |||
| Streak #1 | |||
| Best in Class | |||
| Best in Class Streak | 4 | 4 | 5 |
How long do AvaTrade withdrawals take?
Withdrawals at AvaTrade take one to two business days, which is comparable to nearly every forex broker. The withdrawal time can also vary depending on your chosen withdrawal method. It’s important that your account is up to date; even though you may have been verified upon opening your account, your broker may ask you to provide an updated proof of ID and proof of address to process your request if considerable time has passed.
What is the minimum deposit at AvaTrade?
The minimum deposit at AvaTrade is generally 100 units of currency, depending on the denomination of your account balance. For example, a USD account will have a $100 minimum deposit whether you fund via wire or credit card. That said, AvaTrade recommends you start with one to two thousand of your preferred base currency, with the EUR, GBP, AUD all supported as available options, for traders looking for the full experience across its products.
Is my money safe in AvaTrade?
Yes, your money is as safe with AvaTrade as it would be with any online broker that is globally regulated in top-tier jurisdictions and authorized to hold its client’s funds. AvaTrade is trusted by over 400,000 customers with millions of dollars in deposits. There is always counterparty risk, which is why you should only choose brokers that are well-capitalized, in addition to being highly regulated.
The Central Bank of Ireland is one of AvaTrade’s many regulators, and AvaTrade segregates all client money from its own business funds. AvaTrade is also WebTrust compliant, and follows best practices to secure client information in terms of cybersecurity.
2024 Review Methodology
At ForexBrokers.com, our reviews of online forex brokers and their products and services are based on our collected data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research on the top forex brokers and monitor dozens of international regulator agencies (read more about how we calculate Trust Score here).
Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools (collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process). We test all available trading platforms for each broker – whether they are proprietary or come from third-party providers – and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables.
We also take an in-depth look at each broker’s commissions and fees, such as bid/ask spreads – including the average spread data for some of the most popular forex currency pairs. We research other trading costs, such as inactivity or custody fees, minimum deposit requirements, VIP rebates and/or discounts, and a range of other important fee-based data points.
Some of the other important research categories that are factored into our testing include mobile trading accessibility and capability, availability of market research and educational content, and each broker’s overall Trust Score.
All content on ForexBrokers.com is handwritten by a writer, fact-checked by a member of our research team, and edited and published by an editor. Our ratings, rankings, and opinions are entirely our own, and the result of our extensive research and decades of collective experience covering the forex industry.
Read our full explanation and accounting of our research and testing process to learn more about how we test.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses. Read more on forex trading risks.
Article Resources
AvaTrade Regulation, AvaTrade Education, YouTube
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Show allAbout the Editorial Team
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. A forex industry expert and an active fintech and crypto researcher, Steven advises blockchain companies at the board level and holds a Series III license in the U.S. as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
John Bringans is the Managing Editor at ForexBrokers.com. An experienced media professional, John has a decade of editorial experience with a background that includes key leadership roles at global newsroom outlets. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University, and conducts research on forex and the financial services industry while assisting in the production of content.
Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.