AvaTrade Review

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.

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
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	1260
Forex Pairs (Total)	55
U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD)	No
Int’l Stock Trading (Non CFD)	No
Social Trading / Copy Trading	Yes
Cryptocurrency (Physical)	No
Cryptocurrency (CFD)	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), 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
Minimum Initial Deposit	$100
Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard	0.91 (Aug 2020)
All-in Cost EUR/USD – Active	0.61 (Aug 2020)
Active Trader or VIP Discounts	Yes
Execution: Agency Broker	No
Execution: Market Maker	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 mobile apps provided by category leaders such as Saxo Bank, CMC Markets or TD Ameritrade (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.

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Feature
Android App	Yes
Apple iOS App	Yes
Mobile Alerts – Basic Fields	Yes
Watchlists – Total Fields	6
Watchlist Syncing	Yes
Charting – Indicators / Studies (Total)	90
Charting – Drawing Tools (Total)	13
Mobile Charting – Draw Trendlines	Yes
Charting – Multiple Time Frames	No
Forex 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 2022.

Platforms overview: AvaTrade offers two proprietary platforms (AvaTrade WebTrader and AvaOptions), the full MetaTrader suite, ZuluTrade, and DupliTrade (accessible via WebTrader).

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 Bank, and CMC Markets. For example, I discovered a platform bug that caused chart data to appear compressed. As a result, I constantly found myself having to constantly zoom out by dragging up or down to decompress the prices.

Trading tools: I found AvaTrade’s proprietary WebTrader platform to have a well-designed responsive layout. AvaTrade won our award for #1 Innovation in 2021, due to the speed of its evolution as a new platform. 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.

Feature
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)	90
Charting – Drawing Tools (Total)	13
Charting – Trade From Chart	Yes
Watchlists – Total Fields	6

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.

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).

Market news and analysis: AvaTrade provides daily market analysis articles on its blog, along with daily market video updates published to its Vimeo and YouTube channels.

Feature
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
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 SharpTrader brand, as well as from third-party providers such as Trading Central. AvaTrade finished Best in Class in our 2022 review, taking second place for Education.

Learning center: AvaTrade’s website features 103 comprehensive articles that cover beginner and advanced topics. As part of its SharpTrader 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.

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.

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Feature
Has 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 – categories where it finished Best in Class. 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.

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2022 Review Methodology

For our 2022 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 39 international forex brokers over a three-month time period resulting in over 50,000 words of published research.

Each broker was graded on 113 different variables, including our proprietary Trust Score algorithm. This innovative scoring system ranks the level of trustworthiness for each broker based on factors such as licenses, regulation and corporate structure. Read about Trust Score here.

As part of our annual review process, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy.

Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.