AvaTrade is an esteemed international broker that has garnered recognition and accolades for its offerings in CFDs, cryptocurrencies, and forex.
First established in 2006, it has now solidified an extensive customer base of over 200k users.
The platform’s selection of customisable trading platforms is awe-inspiring. It boasts a range of five distinct options suitable for individuals of various skill levels, from novices to advanced traders.
Currently, AvaTrade has hit an impressive milestone of over 2 million trades per month. It has successfully handled a staggering traded value of more than $1.47 trillion since its inception.
If you want a deeper insight into this platform, stick with me to the end. I have tested the platform and have extensive experience with it.
Table of Contents
How to Open an Account on AvaTrade?
Opening an account is pretty easy. It requires an initial investment of only $100 to get started.
Follow these three easy steps to open your account:
Step 1: Provide your personal details, including your name and residence.
Step 2: Answer some questions related to trading.
Step 3: Verify your account by uploading legal documentation, such as a passport or driver’s license.
After the $100 investment has been paid, you can choose from seven accounts.
Account options:
- Islamic account
- Corporate account
- Demo account
- Professional account
- Retail account
- Options account
- Spread betting account
Additionally, you have the flexibility to choose your preferred base currency from the following options:
- AUD
- CHF
- USD
- GBP
- EUR
Important Note: Opt for a currency that matches your trading assets to minimise currency conversion charges. If that option isn’t feasible for you, I advise opening a multi-currency bank account to minimise such fees.
Wide Variety of Financial Products
After registration into your desired account, AvaTrade provides its users access to an extensive range of over 250 financial instruments.
These instruments encompass forex trading, CFDs, ETFs, cryptocurrency indices, commodities, stocks, bonds, vanilla options, copy trading, and spread betting.
AvaTrade’s primary focus is on Forex trading and offers 55 currency pairs for trading.
Here are some other products that AvaTrade offers:
| Number of Stock CFDs | Number of Bond CFDs | Number of ETF CFDs | Number of Stock Index CFDs | Number of Commodity CFDs |
| 625 | 2 | 59 | 32 | 27 |
This range of offerings aligns with industry standards, ensuring a comprehensive selection for traders.
However, it is crucial to note that not all trading instruments may be accessible on every platform. For example, Stock trading options are typically limited to the MT5 platform.
Quality of Customer Service: The Good & The Bad
Customer service is pivotal to ensuring an excellent experience.
Regardless of whether you are a novice investor or a seasoned trader, it is essential to seek prompt and genuinely supportive customer service.
The effectiveness of such assistance is contingent upon the availability of various communication channels and the quality of their responses.
You can contact AvaTrade support through the following mediums:
- Phone
- Live Chat
Let’s go through the good and the bad of customer service.
The Good
One thing I liked was their live chat. It was super fast: There were no long queues. Additionally, they were able to provide me with detailed and relevant answers.
Worried about language barriers? Their customer support facilitates multiple languages, including Chinese, French, Arabic, Russian, German, Italian, etc.
The Bad
AvaTrade lacks 24/7 continuous support. Their customer support is only operational on weekdays.
While it’s fast to communicate with them through email, the answers provided are not always relevant. I once received an invalid response to a question and was just provided with a link.
Fee Structure
AvaTrade prioritises complete transparency regarding trading costs. The platform offers competitive fees for CFD traders, but the forex fees are on par with industry standards.
If forex trading is your primary focus and cost-effectiveness matters to you, alternative platforms with lower fees are available.
The available Forex calculator is also easy to use. It accurately determines the cost of your Forex positions. The spreads for the popular EUR/USD pair are slightly below one pip, specifically at 0.9 pips. Seasoned traders may experience even lower spreads around 0.6 pips.
Another thing that I liked was that there are no non-trading fees such as withdrawal fees, account fees, etc.
However, beware that AvaTrade charges you $50 / quarter if you are not using the platform after three months.
Additionally, your account is charged a $100 administration fee yearly, starting from the end of the current year of signup.
AvaTrade’s Special Trading Platforms
AvaTrade offers a diverse range of trading platforms. These include their two trademark platforms, ZuluTrade, DupliTrade, and MetaTrader suite.
One thing I particularly liked was their overall design. It’s pretty straightforward to use.
Their platform design and wide range of platforms provide ease to traders.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned trader, AvaTrade will facilitate all your unique needs and cut down on potential losses.
Webtrader
Webtrader is among AvaTrade’s proprietary trading platforms. While it falls short of extensive personalisation and customisations, it stands out primarily due to its user-friendly interface.
Likewise, its intuitive navigation makes it convenient for traders to access the different features.
It incorporates pretty handy search algorithms which allow you to filter out the results based on asset types. Furthermore, the platform also facilitates filters based on essential order types. These include Market, Limit, and Stop to facilitate efficient trading activities.
I particularly loved AvaTrade’s exclusive feature, “AvaProtect.” It’s a safety mechanism that protects your valuable funds – up to $1 million.
The company will refund any losses incurred during the covered period on a specific trade. However, bear in mind that this feature isn’t free to use.
Webtrader also has in-built Charting capabilities, which allow traders to utilise 90 indicators for technical analysis.
One thing that I disliked was the lack of setting price alerts or receiving notifications. Additionally, it only has a limited selection of tradable symbols – 200, to be precise.
MetaTrader 4
As a leading third-party trading platform globally, MetaTrader 4 allows traders to personalise their trading experience fully.
Some of its notable features include Advanced charting functionality, order management tools, and easy position monitoring.
While asset search is categorised, searching by asset name is not available.
MetaTrader 4 is most suitable for forex trading. However, it’s also open to trading with other financial instruments.
Like Webtrader, there’s an absence of price alerts and notifications on the web module. However, the mobile version supports these features.
AvaSocial
AvaSocial is another prominent platform where traders can easily text fellow traders and follow up with their trades.
Launched as a mobile app, AvaSocial strictly complies with FCA regulations. Within the app, you get a deeper insight into the trading practices of other traders. For instance, you can check out their trading history and set limits.
You also get exclusive access to automated trading / algorithmic trading, which promises speed.
If social trading is your thing, AvaSocial has two more third-party trading platforms, namely DupliTrade and ZuluTrade.
ZuluTrade requires a minimum deposit of $500, while DupliTrade necessitates a $2,000 minimum deposit to initiate social trading.
AvaOptions
AvaOptions allows users to buy and sell assets at predetermined prices at a later date.
This platform may not be best for beginners due to the complex-looking terms and interface.
It’s an excellent platform for professionals. One of its key features includes the expected risk and profit analysis. Its algorithm predicts an estimated analysis based on past Gold, Silver, and FX Options outcomes. Moreover, it has a robust search function, and it’s relatively easy to place orders.
You can access AvaOption on either a desktop or on mobile, which makes it a versatile platform. However, it still falls short of customisation options like the other platforms.
AvaTradeGo
AvaTradeGo is the top 1 mobile trading platform offered by AvaTrade. It is well-known for its ease of use and intuitive design.
They include news updates, charting tools equipped with 93 indicators for technical analysis, customisable watchlists, and risk management tools.
Traders can use stop-loss and limit orders to manage their positions effectively. Likewise, it also includes my favourite feature – AvaProtect.
AvaTrade’s Useful Tools
AvaTrade offers a bunch of practical tools to make your trading experience more valuable.
Its two broad categories include research tools and tools for education.
Let’s take a look at each one of them.
Research Tools
Trading Central is an external research provider that offers valuable trading insights based on technical analysis. Their reports cover a range of financial instruments, including specific commodities, stock indices, and currency pairs in the FX market.
What I primarily liked was AvaTrade’s economic calendar. It’s a powerful tool that provides valuable information to traders, such as recent trends.
For an even more in-depth analysis, the sophisticated charts have got your back. They offer a wide selection of over 90 technical indicators.
The news feed tool ensures that you’re always up to date with the recent market. Traders can filter the news by specific assets and even access a sentiment score for each asset. This ensures that they always make well-informed decisions.
You can even analyse the trends through AvaTrade’s AI software to gauge potential asset movements.
Educational Tools
AvaTrade has some of the best educational tools. The platform has a wide array of internal resources as well as valuable content from reputable third-party providers such as SharpTrader.
If you’re new to trading and want to test out the platform, you can do so through the demo account. It’s free to use, and you are provided with virtual funds, so you don’t have anything to lose.
Moreover, there are numerous courses for all types of traders. For beginners, there are nearly 60 articles dedicated to providing foundational knowledge. More professional traders can access 29 articles tailored to their needs.
AvaTrade’s Safety & Security
AvaTrade prioritises safety for all its users. They are not part of any stock exchange and therefore restrict themselves from providing any financial information.
AvaTrade holds client funds in segregated accounts. This means client funds are kept separate from the company’s operational funds. This segregation of funds safeguards client funds from financial difficulties or insolvency faced by the platform.
It follows strict regulations in the following countries:
- The Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFAJ)
- The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
- The BVI Financial Services Commission on the British Virgin Islands
- The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa
- The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA)
- The Central Bank of Ireland
- The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF)
- The Abu Dhabi Global Markets Authorities Financial Regulatory Services Authority (ADGM – FSRA)
Pros & Cons of AvaTrade
Pros:
- Swift account opening process
- Equipped with impressive research tools
- Free deposits & withdrawals
Cons:
- Doesn’t contain popular asset classes such as real stocks
- High account inactivity fee
- Trading is limited to CFDs, forex, and crypto
Alternative Trading Platforms to AvaTrade
While AvaTrade is an excellent platform for trading, it might not be the best fit for everyone.
If you want to start trading on a similar platform, here are some top alternatives you should consider.
XM
XM is a UK-based trading platform. If you seek a swift and convenient account opening process, XM has got your back. Moreover, it has advanced MetaTrader platforms for professional forex and CFD traders.
Admirals (Admiral Markets)
Admiral Markets is a Global forex and CFD trading platform. This platform is ideal for seasoned traders who want to take advantage of robust MetaTrader trading platforms.
Tickmill
Tickmill is another global forex and CFD trading platform. It’s valuable for traders who are well-acquainted with MetaTrader 4 platform and want low forex fees.
FxPro
FxPro is a UK-based trading company. It’s regulated by the UK’s top-tier Financial Conduct Authority. If you’re a seasoned trader and want to maximise the benefits of the Metatrader platform, FxPro is a great choice.
AvaTrade Review – Final Thoughts
All in all, AvaTrade is a worthy trading platform for investors of all experience levels. There are plenty of educational resources for beginners, as well as research tools for more experienced traders to use.
However, there are limited trading options as you can only invest in Forex, crypto, and CFDs.
After reading through my AvaTrade review, I hope that you’re left with a better sense of what the platform has to offer.
FAQs
Is AvaTrade safe?
Yes, AvaTrade is generally considered safe. AvaTrade is a globally regulated online broker, authorised to hold client funds. With over 400,000 customers and millions of dollars in deposits, it is considered trustworthy and safe.
What’s the minimum deposit at AvaTrade?
The minimum deposit at AvaTrade is £100 for traders based in the United Kingdom.
How long do AvaTrade withdrawals take?
AvaTrade withdrawals typically take 1-2 business days.
Is AvaTrade regulated in the UK?
Yes, AvaTrade is regulated in the UK as a licensed broker. It is also regulated in the EU, Japan, Australia, South Africa, and the British Virgin Islands, ensuring compliance with strict requirements for handling client funds, security, and financial reporting.