"Disclaimer: Please note that this review is not meant for traders based in India. Trading currencies as CFDs is not legal in this region, and you must not trade forex with any unlicensed broker. Please check the legality of forex trading in your region before trading. This review is general for audience in regulated regions."

AvaTrade is a 17-year-old broker founded in 2006 by Emanuel Kronitz. AvaTrade offers their trading account in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD & ZAR base currencies and the minimum deposit at AvaTrade is $100. Trading fees are moderate, but inactivity fees are high.

AvaTrade in numbers

Year founded

2006

Regulators

8

Account types

1

Base currencies

5

Minimum deposit

$100

Retail CFD traders that lose money

76%

Payment methods

3

Instruments

1,250

Leverage

1:400

Platforms

6

Customer support channels

4

Country specific trading websites

22

Inactivity fee

$50

How good is AvaTrade?

Looking at AvaTrade's score sheet their major strengths come in the areas of Education, Market instruments, & Platform technology.

However, traders in some locations may not have local deposit & withdrawal methods for their region accepted by AvaTrade, but bank Wire, cards, & eWallets are generally accepted.

Also, AvaTrade does not accept US clients as well as clients from North Korea & Russia.

Pros & cons

👍 Pros

👎 Cons

Safety: Regulated by 8 respectable regulatory bodies

US clients not accepted

Platforms: A collection of various trading platforms plus external automated trading collaboration with ZuluTrade & DupliTrade

In the UK, AvaTrade is not a member of the FSCS compensation scheme because AvaTrade EU is located outside the UK

Range of markets: spread betting (UK) and CFD trading on instruments from 8 different asset classes.

Limited account base currencies

Good education: AvaTrade academy plus video tutorials for beginner intermediate, & expert traders.

Limited funding methods: E-payment not allowed in Europe & Australia; Crypto funding not allowed globally

AvaProtect: get reimbursed for losses but this service requires a subscription

No zero spread account types: AvaTrade spreads start from 0.9 pips, so you don't get those raw spreads that start from 0.0 pips

Guardian Angel MT4 companion: new & experienced traders can download this plugin which works as a risk detector for MT4

Social trading

Account Opening – 4.5/5

Account safety: AvaTrade is licensed to open your trading account & hold your funds & is overseen by 8 regulatory bodies in multiple jurisdictions. However, AvaTrade is not a publicly traded company on any stock exchange.

The most notable regulators overseeing AvaTrade are the ASIC from Australia & Central Bank of Ireland. Here is a complete list of AvaTrade regulators:

• Australian Securities & Investment Commission (oversees AvaTrade activities in Australia)

• Central Bank of Ireland (oversees AvaTrade activities in the European Union)

• FSC, British Virgin Islands

• FSCA, South Africa (oversees AvaTrade activities in all South Africa)

• FSA, Japan

• Abu Dhabi Global Markets FRSA (oversees AvaTrade activities in the Middle East)

• CySEC, Cyprus

• Israel Securities Authority

Account base currency: AvaTrade lets you open only one account which is a spread-only type of account (commissions are not charged on this account).

This account can be either USD, EUR, GBP, AUD or ZAR base currency. The AUD (Australian Dollar) base currency is only for Australian traders.

The ZAR (South African Rand) base currency is only for South African traders, while the GBP (British Pound) base currency is only for British traders.

Traders from other parts of the world (not mentioned above) can open USD & EUR base currency trading accounts.

Account minimum deposit: AvaTrade minimum deposit is $100 or equivalent in EUR, GBP, AUD, or ZAR. However, for copy trading the minimum deposits differ.

See table of AvaTrade minimum deposit:

Platform

Minimum deposit

All AvaTrade Platforms

$100

MT4 & MT5

$100

ZuluTrade Copy Trading

$200

DupliTrade Copy Trading

$2,000

Account opening can be started & finished from the AvaTrade website www.avatrade.com  or AvaTradeGO Mobile App. All documents can be uploaded electronically and once approved your account will be active.

A demo account is available for you to practice and creating one is speedy. You can create an AvaTrade demo account on the AvaTrade website, or AvaTrade Mobile App.

Customer support: should you encounter any difficulties you can reach AvaTrade through telephone, live chat, Whatsapp, or email. Support is not available on weekends, but the AvaTrade help centre is.

Once your trading account is opened it is linked to your whatsapp number, so you get updates via whatsapp.

Although AvaTrade support is only available on weekdays, the response time is good and the personalized customer service from a dedicated account manager is also good.

AvaTrade websites: When visiting the AvaTrade website always check that you are visiting the right one for your region.

AvaTrade has a general website www.avatrade.com (you can open an account on this website) and has country specific websites for 22 countries & languages including United Kingdom, South Africa, Nigeria, & Australia.

The country specific websites simply show trading information unique to that location.

• For example, on the AvaTrade UK website, leverage does not exceed 1:30 because of regulator restrictions, while on the South African website leverage is 1:400.

• On the UK website spread betting is offered while on other websites it isn't.

AvaTrade Deposits & Withdrawals – 3.9/5

The 3 major payment methods accepted by AvaTrade are:

1. Bank Wire

2. Credit & Debit Cards

3. E-Payment (Google Pay, Skrill, Neteller, & Perfect Money)

Payment method

Deposit

Withdrawal

Fees

Availability

Bank Wire

7 days

10 days

Yes

Everywhere

Cards

Instant

2 days

No

Everywhere

E-Payment

1 day

2 days

No

Unavailable in Europe & Australia

Local Bank EFT

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Crypto funding

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Bank Wire is available to all clients, but it attracts a fee and deposit processing time can reach one week (7 days). AvaTrade withdrawals by bank Wire take up to 10 working days.

If you live in the Europe, or Australia; you may have to transact via bank Wire because e-payment is not accepted in these locations.

Credit & Debit Cards (MasterCard & Visa cards) are available to everyone, and processing time is instant plus there are no fees charged by AvaTrade. AvaTrade withdrawals by cards take at least 48 hours.

E-Payment (Neteller, Skrill, Google Pay & WebMoney) are not accepted in Europe, & Australia. However, AvaTrade clients in other regions can use eWallets. Deposit processing via e-Payment takes one day. AvaTrade withdrawals by e-payment take at least 48 hours.

AvaTrade minimum deposit for all payment methods is $100 but they recommend you start with at least $1,000 so you can trade even those products with high margin requirements such as Crypto & Stock CFDs.

Education for beginners – 4.8/5

AvaTrade education is split into two categories with each one containing different courses.

1. AvaTrade Academy

2. AvaTrade Education Centre

The AvaTrade Academy: here you get video crash courses on trading each asset class: Stocks, Forex, Commodities, Crypto, Bonds & Indices; but you need to register with AvaTrade before you can watch the videos.

The AvaTrade Academy is ideal for traders who already have an idea of financial markets workings.

Video course

Screen time

All Assets Trading course

68 minutes

Trading platforms crash course

205 minutes

Advanced trading techniques

33 minutes

Intro to technical analysis

46 minutes

Online trading strategies

15 minutes

Trading risk management

51 minutes

You also get lots of trading guides such as Understanding Trading Terms, 7 ways to build a trading plan, 8 online indicators to use, etc. and you can read these to add knowledge.

The AvaTrade Education Centre: does not focus on crash courses, instead it has tutorials for all trader levels such as beginner, intermediate, & advanced. The Education centre is best for beginners with no prior trading experience.

Beginners get 53 trading courses, 26 platform usage courses, 26 technical analysis courses, 10 trading strategy/rules courses, 13 central bank courses, 7 fundamental indicator courses, etc.

Markets – 4.8/5

You can trade AvaTrade markets through two ways:

1. Contract for Difference (CFD)

2. Spread Betting (available in the United Kingdom only)

CFDs & spread bets are leveraged instruments, so AvaTrade leverage is up to 1:400 but differs according to your region.

Market

Quantity

Leverage in UK

Leverage in other locations

Forex CFD

55

1:30

1:400

FX Option CFD

55

1:30

1:400

Stock CFD

71

1:5

1:10

Commodity CFD

18

1:20

1:200

Crypto CFD

17

Unavailable in UK

1:25

Indices CFD

26

1:20

1:200

ETF CFD

14

1:5

1:20

Bond CFD

2

1:5

1:100

Spread Betting Stocks

49

1:5

Unavailable

Spread Betting Forex

52

1:20

Unavailable

Spread betting Indices

18

1:20

Unavailable

Spread Betting commodities

17

1:20

Unavailable

Platforms – 4.8/5

1. AvaTrade Web Terminal

2. AvaTradeGO Mobile App

3. AvaSocial Mobile App

4. AvaOptions Mobile App

5. MT4 & MT5

6. ZuluTrade Copy Trading Terminal

7. DupliTrade Copy Trading Terminal

Before you can use any AvaTrade trading platform, you must register with your email & create a profile first. Let us discuss each platform:

AvaTrade Web terminal

Above is a screenshot of the AvaTrade Web terminal which you can launch from the AvaTrade website as it needs no installation.

The side panel on the left contains useful tabs such as Trade, Position, orders, History, Deposit, Signals, News, Discovery, Additional platforms, Education, & Live Chat.

The advantages of the web terminal are that it needs no installation, and it enables you trade on a bigger screen.

AvaTradeGO Mobile App: This is the most popular AvaTrade trading platform and is designed for android and iOS phones. It was released in 2017 and works on android 7.0 and above. It features biometric login, custom charts, and lets you use the AvaProtect insurance tool.

MetaTrader platforms: MT4 & MT5 are available to AvaTrade users but sufficient upgrade kits are not provided for MT4. However, AvaTrade provides a non-trading Expert Advisor called the 'Guardian Angel' for MT4.

The Guardian Angel MT4 plugin serves as an adviser to new traders as it points out volatility and high-risk trades so they can avoid it. Traders who qualify for the AvaTrade VIP package also get the advanced version of the Guarding Angel MT4 companion.

AvaSocial Mobile App: is for social trading and it brings together the community of AvaTrade traders and integrates whatsapp and other social media for better interaction. On the app you can not only copy trades of others, but you can benefit from the wisdom of the crowd through social interaction.

AvaOptions Mobile App: is for trading CFDs on option contracts. It is available on Android & Apple phones. Options are risky instruments, so AvaTrade has a video course on options trading on their website to educate beginners.

ZuluTrade: this is an external platform so AvaTrade only collaborates with them so you can use the platform to copy trades of other Zulu Traders. The minimum deposit for ZuluTrade copy trading is $200.

DupliTrade: this is also an external platform, but you can access it because AvaTrade has collaborated with them. It is meant for copy trading and the minimum deposit for DupliTrade copy trading is $2,000.

AvaTrade Fees – 4/5

1. Fixed Spread
2. Overnight interest daily
3. AvaProtect subscription (avoidable)
4. Inactivity fees (on dormant accounts)
5. Annual admin fee (on dormant accounts)

Fixed spreads: AvaTrade is a market maker & its spreads are pegged at a certain amount. AvaTrade makes most of its money from spreads, so it doesn't charge commissions.

This fixed spread pricing style has the advantage of predictability, but also has a disadvantage of you not being able to access raw spreads.

Examples of AvaTrade fixed spreads on some instruments are shown below:

• Forex spread: EUR/USD spread is fixed at 0.9 pips, USD/JPY is fixed at 1.3 pips, AUD/USD is fixed at 1.1 pips, and these are just some examples.
• Indices spread: NASDAQ is fixed at 1.00 over market, US 500 & UK 100 are fixed at 0.25 over market, etc.
• Crypto spread: Bitcoin/USD is fixed at 0.10% over market, Ethereum is fixed at 0.15% over market, Litecoin is fixed at 0.50% over market etc.

Overnight interest daily

AvaTrade charges you a fee for overnight trading when you leave CFD positions open till the next day. Day traders can avoid this by closing positions before the next day.

For example, for a EUR/USD trade left overnight, the overnight interest paid daily is -0.007% on a Buy position.

If you had opened a EUR/USD sell position, you would earn a swap of +0.0009% instead due to the interest rate differentials between the EUR & USD which will be credited to your position.

Traders who opt for the AvaTrade VIP package will earn interest on unused funds sitting in their AvaTrade wallet. To become a VIP trader, you must make lots of deposits to qualify.

See below a list of benefits that VIP traders get:

• Interest on free margin for VIP clients
• Live chat instant response for VIP clients (no queuing)
• Faster deposit & withdrawals for VIP clients
• Direct phone number of AvaTrade support manager
• Advanced Guardian Angel Trading companion for VIP clients
• Newsletters & events

AvaProtect subscription: AvaProtect is a risk management tool that reimburses you for losses sustained while trading Forex & Gold instruments. To qualify for this protection, you must subscribe by paying a fee. Of course, this is optional as you can choose not to activate AvaProtect.

Inactivity fees: accounts that have been inactive for 3 months in a row, will be charged a 50 USD/EUR/GBP monthly inactivity fee.

Annual admin fee: accounts that remain dormant for one year will be charged $100 annual fee.

Closing statement

If you intend to take trading seriously and be in it for the long run, you need sufficient education and guidance which AvaTrade provides.

Yes, AvaTrade doesn't provide zero spread accounts, but AvaTrade provides you with a good understanding of trading and the spreads are moderate.

76% of CFD retailers lose money on AvaTrade but in terms of trading standards, this is rather low. We recommend AvaTrade for beginners, and traders looking to trade long-term or as a career (not trading regularly attracts huge inactivity fees)

If you are into short-term automated trading strategies, day trading, and scalping then we would not recommend AvaTrade because of the absence of ECN styled spreads/accounts.