- Minimum Deposit: $10
- Products: Forex, Shares, Indices, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs, Commodities, Bonds
84% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Founded in Switzerland, ActivTrades has been around since 2001, which means it has more than two decades of experience in the fintech industry. The independent brokerage house started as a small firm, but it is now a global retail and institutional broker. In 2005, ActivTrades moved its HQ to London, and it began growing rapidly through Europe.
ActivTrades offers a lot of benefits to its clients, including educational tools, rewards programs, competitive spreads, and the use of MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, two industry-leading platforms. Here are some of the awards that this broker has won for its high quality:
- ADVFN International Financial Awards: “Best Online Trading Services”
- Le Fonti: “Best Forex Broker”
- Agence IAT Grand Prize Excellence: “Best Execution Broker”
- Agence IAT Grand Prize Excellence: “Best Customer Support”
- MENA Forex Show: “Most Trusted Forex Broker”
- DKI & Euro am Sonntag: “Best Customer Service”
Pros
- Free stock and ETF trading
- Excellent account opening
- Free and fast deposit and withdrawal
Cons
- Slim product portfolio
- Conversion fee
ActivTrades main highlights
| Country of regulation | UK, Luxembourg, The Bahamas |
| Trading fees class | Low |
| Inactivity fee charged | Yes |
| Withdrawal fee amount | $0 |
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Time to open an account | 1 day |
| Deposit with bank card | Available |
| With electronic wallet | Available |
| Number of base currencies | 4 |
| Demo account provided | Yes |
| Products offered | Forex, Shares, Indices, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs, Commodities, Bonds |
Fees
ActivTrades has low CFD fees and average non-trading fees. As a plus, it charges no deposit and withdrawal fees in most cases.
Pros
- Low CFD fees
- Low FX fees
- No withdrawal fee
Cons
- Inactivity fee
- Conversion fee
ActivTrades fees snapshot
| Assets | Fees Level | Fees Terms |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 CFD | Low | Individual Account: The fees are built into the spread, 0.23 points is the spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| Europe 50 CFD | Low | Individual Account: The fees are built into the spread, 0.9 points is the spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| EURUSD | Low | The fees are built into the spread, 0.8 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| Inactivity fee | Low | If the account is not used for over 1 year and there is a remaining balance, a fee of £10 per month will be charged |
Markets and products
At ActivTrades, you can only trade forex and other CFDs, including crypto. Other popular asset classes such as real stocks, bonds, funds or options are not available.
ActivTrades has a limited product portfolio. You can trade mainly CFDs and forex products. Cryptocurrency CFDs are also available, but only for those under the Bahamas-regulated entity.
ActivTrades product portfolio:
- selection of stock and ETF CFDs is relatively high
- range of stock index and commodity CFDs is average
- ActivTrades offers fewer currency pairs than some of its competitors and there is also a limited number of stock CFDs
- futures CFDs are not available
- crypto CFDs are available only for international clients falling under Bahamas regulation
ActivTrades products list
- Currency pairs – 49
- Stock index CFD – 27
- Stock CFDs – 660
- ETF CFDs – 500
- Commodity CFDs – 22
- Bond CFDs – 7
- Cryptos – 16
Disclaimer: (CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 84% 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)
Research
ActivTrades’s selection of research tools is average, but they are user-friendly. Charting and other technical tools, like APIs, are great. However, there are no trading ideas or fundamental data.
Pros
- Good interactive chart
- User-friendly
- Good set of analytical tools
Cons
- No trading ideas
Education
ActivTrades has great educational content, including webinars, manuals, a demo account to test your skills, and one-on-one training where you can chat with an expert.
ActivTrades provides the following learning tools:
- Demo account
- One to one training
- Platform tutorial videos
- General educational videos
- Webinars and seminars
- Quality educational articles
We think that the demo accounts are the most useful because they allow you to become familiar with the platform and its features without any risks.
ActivTrades provide one to one training, where you can chat with an expert online. This is a personalized education session to help you understand the main features of the trading platform. This is a very special service, as individual coaching is not at all common at other brokers.