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ActivTrades Review
ActivTrades provides currency trading services. They provide traders with access to key markets such as currencies, indexes, commodities, and stocks.
Pros
- Regulated by Financial Conduct Authority
- Established in 2001
- Segregates client funds
- Min. deposit from $100
Cons
- Not ASIC Regulated (See alternatives)
A minimum deposit of $100 is required to establish a live account. Alternatively, ActivTrades provides a demo account that you may use to experiment and become acquainted with their platform.
Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom (FRN: 434413).
ActivTrades keeps all customer funds in a separate bank account and works with tier-1 institutions to do so. ActivTrades has been in business since 2001 and has its headquarters in the United Kingdom.
While we’re in the specifics of ActivTrades’ spreads, fees, platforms, and trading features, you may want to open their website in a new tab by clicking the button below to get the most up-to-date information directly from them.
Full disclosure: If you join up with a broker through one of our links, we may get a commission.
What are the spreads and costs at ActivTrades?
ActivTrades, like most brokers, charges a fee based on the spread, which is the difference between the purchase and sell price of an asset.
The commissions and spreads shown here are based on the ActivTrades website’s minimum spreads.
| Forex | ActivTrades | City Index | XTB |
| EUR/USD(Average: 0.7 pips) | 0.5 pips | 0.7 pips | 0.1 pips |
| GBP/USD(Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.8 pips | 1.7 pips | 0.1 pips |
| USD/JPY(Average: 1.1 pips) | 0.5 pips | 0.6 pips | 0.1 pips |
| AUD/USD(Average: 0.8 pips) | 0.6 pips | 0.6 pips | 0.2 pips |
| USD/CHF(Average: 2.3 pips) | 1.0 pips | 2.3 pips | 0.2 pips |
| USD/CAD(Average: 2.9 pips) | 1.0 pips | 0.5 pips | 0.3 pips |
| NZD/USD(Average: 3.6 pips) | 1.0 pips | 2.8 pips | 0.3 pips |
| EUR/GBP(Average: 2.4 pips) | 0.8 pips | 0.5 pips | 0.1 pips |
Spreads are changeable and are provided solely for informative reasons.
As you can see, the minimum spread for trading EUR/USD at ActivTrades is 0.5 pips, which is relatively low when compared to the average EUR/USD spread of 0.70 pips. The table below summarizes how much it would cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD with ActivTrades vs other providers.
How much does it cost to trade 1 lot of EUR/USD with ActivTrades?
If you bought one standard lot of EUR/USD (100,000 units) with ActivTrades at an exchange rate of 1.1719 and sold it the next day at the same rate, you would most likely pay $12.1. Here is a general breakdown of the fees and how they compare to IG and XTB.
| ActivTrades | IG | XTB | |
| Spread from: | $ 5.00 | $ 6.00 | $ 2.00 |
| Commission: | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total cost of a 100k trade: | $ 5.00 | $ 6.00 | $ 2.00 |
| $1 more | $3 less | ||
| VISIT ACTIVTRADES | VISIT IG | VISIT XTB |
All fees/prices are for informational purposes and are subject to change.
ActivTrades allows you to trade a variety of products.
ActivTrades provides over 612 different trading products, including over 47 currency pairings. We’ve reviewed all of the different types of instruments offered by ActivTrades below, along with comparative products from IG and XTB.
| FX / Currencies | ActivTrades | IG | XTB |
| # of forex pairs offered | 47 | 90 | 48 |
| Major forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Minor forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Exotic forex pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrencies* | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commodity CFDs | ActivTrades | IG | XTB |
| # of commodities offered | 12 | 34 | 21 |
| Metals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Energies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Agricultural | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Index & Stock CFDs | ActivTrades | IG | XTB |
| # of stocks offered | 532 | 8000 | 1606 |
| UK shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| US shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| German shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Japanese shares | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SEE ACTIVTRADES’S INSTRUMENTS | SEE IG’S INSTRUMENTS | SEE XTB’S INSTRUMENTS |
What’s the ActivTrades trading experience like?
1) Platforms and apps
ActivTrades is among the few brokers that supports both the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms. To discover how the two systems differ, check out our MT4 versus MT5 comparison.
They now provide mobile apps for Android and iOS, making it simpler to monitor and execute transactions while on the go.
Still unsure?
Open a practise account and begin learning to trade.
2) Executing Trades
You may conduct a minimum trade of 0.01 Lot with ActivTrades. This may differ based on the type of account you establish. You may conduct a maximum deal of £100/point with ActivTrades. Because ActivTrades provides STP execution, you may anticipate narrower spreads and greater transparency into the price you pay to execute your transactions.
ActivTrades, as a market maker, may have lower entrance criteria than an ECN broker, who benefits from a higher number of transactions and usually has higher capital and minimum trading requirements. Market makers generally have a lower minimum deposit, lower minimum trade requirements, and no trading commission.
Margin requirements vary based on the trader, account, and instrument. The most recent margin requirements may be seen on their website.
ActivTrades also includes a variety of risk management tools, including as stop losses (with trailing stops), limit orders, negative balance protection, and much more. You may view all of ActivTrades’ account features here.
Finally, we’ve included a list of some of the most popular financing options available to ActivTrades traders below.
Trading Features:
- Offers STP
- Low min deposit
- Offers Negative Balance
- ProtectionAllows scalping
- Allows hedging
Accounts offered:
- Standard account
- Zero spread account
- Islamic account
- Micro account
- Mini account
Funding methods:
- Credit cards
- Bank Transfer
- Neteller
3) Client support
ActivTrades gets a CompareBroker support score of double AA since it provides live chat, phone, and email assistance in less than three languages.
4) What you’ll need to open an account with ActivTrades
Because ActivTrades is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, every new customer must pass a few simple compliance tests to verify that you understand the risks of trading and that you are eligible to trade. When you establish an account, you will most likely be asked for the following information, so keep it handy:
- A colour scanned copy of your passport, driver’s licence, or national ID
- A utility bill or bank statement from the previous three months that shows your address
You’ll also need to answer a few basic compliance questions to prove your trading expertise, so allow at least 10 minutes to finish the account opening procedure.
While you may be able to browse their site immediately, it is essential to note that you will not be able to execute any transactions until you pass compliance, which might take several days depending on your circumstances.
To begin the process of creating an account with ActivTrades, go to their website.
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
