AvaTrade Review 2025

Is AvaTrade regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by numerous authorities across the world, including some top-tier ones:

• the Central Bank of Ireland
• the B.V.I Financial Services Commission on the British Virgin Islands
• the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa
• the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA)
• the Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFAJ)
• the Abu Dhabi Global Market Authorities Financial Services Regulatory Authority (ADGM – FSRA)
• Israel Securities Authority (ISA)

Also, AVA Trade EU Ltd operates a Polish Branch under the AvaTrade EU authorization, which has been approved by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.
AvaTrade is based in Ireland and was founded in 2006.

Is AvaTrade safe?

To be certain that a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• the background of the broker.

How you are protected

AvaTrade operates several subsidiaries; which one of these will serve you depends on your residency. This is important for you because the investor protection amount and the regulator differ from entity to entity.

AvaTrade provides negative balance protection for retail clients.

Our brokerage experts put together a comprehensive guide on the safety profile of AvaTrade.

Background

AvaTrade was established in 2006. The longer the track record of a broker, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.
Having a long track record and being regulated by several authorities, including some top-tier ones, are all great signs for AvaTrade's safety.

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Account base currencies

At AvaTrade, you can choose from the following 7 base currencies:

AUD is only available to Australian clients, CHF is only for Swiss clients, JPY only for Japanese clients and ZAR is only for South African clients.

This selection falls behind competing brokers. Both XM and Admirals (Admiral Markets) offer more base currencies.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you won't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Deposit fees and options

AvaTrade charges no deposit fees.

The minimum amount you can deposit is $100 or 100 units in any of the other base currencies.

Here's all you need to know about minimum deposit requirements and depositing money at AvaTrade.

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

AvaTrade supports the following electronic wallets:

Please note that although depositing with credit/debit cards is usually instant, your first such transaction may take up to 1 business day to go through (it took us about 4-5 hours). This is because AvaTrade carries out a security verification for each card when it is used for the first time.

AvaTrade withdrawal fees and options

AvaTrade doesn't charge any withdrawal fees. You can use the same options for withdrawal as for deposits.

Read our guide containing all key info on available withdrawal methods and related fees at AvaTrade.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

As a general rule, withdrawals can only be sent via payment methods by which you funded your account with. For example, if you have earlier deposited $1,000 by credit card, the first $1,000 you withdraw must go to your credit card before you can use any other method (such as bank transfer) to withdraw additional funds. This is a quite common rule among similar brokers, required by anti-money laundering regulations.

How long does it take to withdraw money from AvaTrade? We tested debit card withdrawal and it took 3 business days.

How do you withdraw money from AvaTrade?
Follow these easy steps:

• Log in to your AvaTrade account
• Go to 'Withdraw' in the main menu that opens from the top left corner
• Select the withdrawal method
• Add the amount you wish to withdraw

Can you open an account?

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63% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Clients from almost all countries are accepted by AvaTrade, with some exceptions including the US, Canada, Belgium or Iran. AvaTrade operates under a different brand, Atrade in Israel, and we have not tested their services in that country.

Read our separate article on how to get your account started with AvaTrade.

What is the minimum deposit at AvaTrade?

The required AvaTrade minimum deposit is $100.

Account types

The types of accounts available at AvaTrade are the following:

• Retail account (EU) / Standard account (Rest of the world) - account is owned by an individual
• Corporate account - account is owned by a legal entity
• AvaOptions account - to trade FX options
• Spread betting account - offered only in the UK and Ireland
• Islamic account - a swap-free account to meet Sharia requirements

If you are an experienced trader, you can request AvaTrade to open a Professional Trading account for you, where the leverage is higher than in the Standard account. This requires that you have relevant experience in the financial sector and sufficient trading activity in the past 12 months, and hold at least €500,000 portfolio value.
A demo account is also offered.
In this review, we tested the EU retail account.

How to open your account

Creating an account is quick and easy, just like with most other CFD/Forex brokers:

1. Enter some basic personal data (you can use your existing profiles on Facebook or Google as a shortcut)
2. Fill in information on your employment, savings and income status
3. Answer a few questions assessing your trading experience, knowledge and goals
4. Verify your identity and residency by uploading a copy of your ID card, driver's license or passport; as well as a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement

AvaTrade offers three mobile trading platforms:

• AvaTradeGO, AvaTrade's own mobile app
• AvaOptions, AvaTrade's own mobile app for trading forex options
• MetaTrader 4, a well-established third-party trading platform.

In this review, we tested AvaTradeGO, the platform used by most clients. It is available for both Android and iOS. We tested it on Android.

Unlike the MetaTrader trading platforms, AvaTradeGO is available only in English.

Look and feel

The AvaTrade mobile trading platform looks nice and is user-friendly.
Beyond the usual mobile functions such as search or alerts, even education videos and customer support chat are available right inside the app.

Login and security

AvaTrade provides only a one-step login for its mobile platform. A two-step authentication would be more secure and adding this feature should be high on any company's list of security changes.

You can log in using biometric authentication, which is a convenient feature.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

When you search by typing an asset's name, a list of relevant results appears. Another way is to browse the various asset categories.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types on the mobile trading platform:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• AvaProtect

A unique feature offered by AvaTrade is AvaProtect: it's basically a hedge/insurance you can buy, for a pre-determined fee depending on how long you want your trade to be insured (1 hour, 1 day, etc). Should you have any losses on that trade, AvaTrade will reimburse your losses. Note that you can't use this feature on limit orders, only on market orders.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications on the AvaTrade mobile platform.

The price alerts will send you push notifications. Additionally, you can also set expiration criteria to these alerts and notifications.

AvaOptions Mobile

AvaTrade's AvaOptions is available for mobile devices as well. It has the same functionalities as the browser version, However, sometimes it can feel clunky.

Look and feel

AvaOptions is exactly the same as on the web. The platform is well designed and has lots of functionalities despite being a mobile platform, but can be hard to navigate on a mobile device. For starters, you can view the platform only in horizontal mode.

Login and security

Just like the WebTrader platform, AvaOptions provides only one-step login. Two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

The platform's search function is hard to find. You have to tap on the pencil icon on the top left, under the Ava logo.

Placing orders

The AvaOptions mobile provides the same options strategies and trade details as the web platform.

Alerts and notifications

Unfortunately, you can't set price alerts and notifications.

Portfolio and fee reports

AvaOptions provides clear portfolio and fee reports. You can find them under the 'My Account' and 'History' sections. Also, if you click on your positions, you can see the swaps charged.

Our analysts personally tested AvaTrade's mobile trading platform; read the AvaTrade mobile app review for a detailed verdict on its performance and features.

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63% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AvaTrade offers several trading platforms to choose from:

• WebTrader, AvaTrade's own trading platform
• MetaTrader 4, a third-party trading platform
• MetaTrader 5, a third-party trading platform
• AvaOptions, AvaTrade's own trading platform for CFD options

In this review, we tested WebTrader, MetaTrader 4 and AvaOptions, as these are the most popular among customers. Our scoring and Pro/Con list are based on our assessment of the WebTrader platform.
Note that most ETF CFDs and individual stock CFDs can be traded only on the MT5 platform and not on MT4 or the WebTrader platform.

Webtrader

The web trading platform is available in several languages.

Look and feel

Webtrader is user-friendly and well designed. Even first-timers can easily handle the platform. However, it's not customizable; for example, you can't change the size and position of the tabs.

Login and security

AvaTrade provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure and adding this feature should be high on any company’s list of security changes.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

You can search by starting to type an asset's name or by clicking one of the asset categories.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop

A unique feature offered by AvaTrade is AvaProtect: it's basically a hedge/insurance you can buy, for a pre-determined fee depending on how long you want your trade to be insured (1 hour, 1 day, etc). Should you have any losses on that trade, AvaTrade will reimburse your losses. Note that you can't use this feature on limit orders, only on market orders.

If you are unfamiliar with some of these terms or want to learn more, read our overview of order types.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set price alerts and notifications on the AvaTrade web trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

AvaTrade has clear fee reports.

You can find them under the 'History' section. Also, if you click on your positions, you can see the swaps charged.

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 is available in an exceptionally large number of languages.

Look and feel

MetaTrader 4 has great customizability. You can easily change the size and the position of the tabs.
However, the platform feels outdated and some features are hard to find. For example, it took us a while to figure out how to add an asset to the watchlist.

Login and security

Just like the WebTrader platform, MetaTrader 4 provides only one-step login. Two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. You can find assets grouped into categories. However, we missed the usual search function where you can type an asset's name manually.

Placing orders

You can use only basic order types. You will not find very sophisticated orders like the 'one cancels the other' order. The following order types are available:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop

If you are not familiar with order types, read this overview.
There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til cancelled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on MetaTrader 4 web trading platform. This feature is available only on the mobile app and on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

MetaTrader 4 has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can easily see your profit-loss balance and the commissions you paid. These reports can be found under the 'History' tab. We didn't find a way to download them, though.

AvaOptions

AvaOptions is AvaTrade's own options-focused platform. The platform is available only in English.

Look and feel

AvaOptions is an intuitive and well-designed platform. You can easily set the underlying asset and the strategy you would like to trade. However, it's not customizable; for example, you can't change the size and layout of the various sections.

Login and security

Just like the WebTrader platform, AvaOptions provides only one-step login. Two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

The platform's search function works well. You can search by simply starting to type an asset's name.

Placing orders

First, you can select from a list of option trading strategies.

After that, you can set all the details of the trade on an easy-to-use graphical interface.

Alerts and notifications

Unfortunately, you can't set price alerts and notifications.

Portfolio and fee reports

AvaTrade provides clear portfolio and fee reports. You can find them under the 'History' section. Also, if you click on your positions, you can see the swaps charged.

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63% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AvaTrade's currency pair selection is OK, in the same ballpark as its closest competitors. CFD coverage of individual stocks and ETFs is rather average. Most of these stocks can only be traded on the MT5 platform and not on the MT4 or WebTrader platforms.
Bond CFDs include Japanese and European government bonds. Unlike at many brokers, at AvaTrade you can also trade the VIX index.
Additionally, FX options are available through the AvaOptions platform. At AvaOptions, you can trade more than 40 different instruments. For this, you'll need a separate account from the main account.
Similarly, futures are available through the AvaFutures platform. You can trade 38 different futures contracts for indicies, commodities, currencies, treasuries, cryptocurrencies and metals. You'll need a seperate account from your main account for this as well.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 63% 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.

Automated Trading

AvaTrade offers automated trading through platforms like AvaSocial, DupliTrade, and ZuluTrade. To gain access to the DupliTrade platform, the minimum deposit is $2,000.

We recommend AvaTrade for forex and cfd traders looking for an option to use metatrader platforms.

Below you can find links to all aspects of AvaTrade in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our AvaTrade fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the AvaTrade minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your AvaTrade account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the AvaTrade account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the AvaTrade trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the AvaTrade customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is AvaTrade legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether AvaTrade is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is AvaTrade good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on AvaTrade?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on AvaTrade guide

I want to trade options, are they available at AvaTrade?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on AvaTrade?

What is the minimum account balance at AvaTrade?

Check out the current account balance requirements at AvaTrade in our What is the minimum account balance at AvaTrade article.

Looking for commission and fees data for AvaTrade?

We collected them in AvaTrade commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from AvaTrade?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on AvaTrade.

How to use AvaTrade?

All you need to know about using the broker in How to use AvaTrade?