AvaTrade Review 2020

AvaTrade has average trading fees and average non-trading fees. Withdrawal is free of charge but there is an inactivity fee.

We ranked AvaTrade's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on trading fees, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

Below you will find the most relevant fees of AvaTrade for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading spreads, commissions and financing rates are the most important fees.

We also compared AvaTrade's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, XM and Plus500. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of AvaTrade alternatives.

To have a clear overview of AvaTrade, let's start with the trading fees.

AvaTrade trading fees

AvaTrade trading fees are average. The fee structure is transparent and easy to calculate.

We know it is hard to compare trading fees for CFD brokers. So how did we approach the problem of making their fees clear and comparable? We compare brokers by calculating all fees of a typical trade for selected products.

We have chosen popular instruments within each asset class:

• Stock index CFDs: SPX and EUSTX50
• Stock CFDs: Apple and Vodafone
• Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF and EURGBP

A typical trade means buying a leveraged position, holding it for one week and then selling. For the volume, we chose a $2,000 position for the stock index and stock CFDs and $20,000 for the forex transactions. The leverage we used is

• 20:1 for stock index CFDs
• 5:1 for stock CFDs
• 30:1 for forex

These catch-all benchmark fees include spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers. Let's see the verdict for AvaTrade fees.

CFD fees

AvaTrade has generally average CFD trading fees.

AvaTrade index CFD fees are very competitive after checking their competitors, XM and Plus500. In the same time, the stock CFD trading fees are at the average level.

Forex fees

AvaTrade forex fees are average.

For all major currency pairs we compared above, AvaTrade fees are average benchmarked with their competition. Forex trading fees are built in the spreads.

Forex fees are transparent and predictable. AvaTrade supports the clarity with Forex Calculator that allows you to calculate your next forex position in 5 simple steps:

1. Enter the instrument you wish to trade

2. Set your account currency

3. Insert the leverage level

4. Decide whether to buy or sell

5. Select the trading platform (MetaTrader4 or AvaTradeGO)

Non-trading fees

AvaTrade has average non-trading fees.

AvaTrade doesn't charge any account fees and deposits and withdrawals are free of charge. On the negative side, AvaTrade has an inactivity fee of $50 per quarter after 3 consecutive months of inactivity - this is in line with some of its competitors. On top of that, after 12 consecutive months of non-use, an administration fee of $100 will be deducted from the value of the account.

Account opening at AvaTrade is seamless and fully digital. You can start trading literally in minutes.

Can you open an account?

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Almost all countries are accepted AvaTrade with some exceptions like the U.S., Belgium, Iran, Israel, and some others.

What is the minimum deposit at AvaTrade?

The required AvaTrade minimum deposit is $100 for credit/debit cards, but $500 for bank transfers. As usual, you deposit this amount after the account creation so you can test all platforms to make sure it fits your needs.

Account types

The types of accounts available at AvaTrade are

• Standard account - account is owned by an individual
• Corporate account - account is owned by a legal entity
• Islamic account - swap-free account which means that it doesn't charge swaps for the account

If you are an experienced trader, you can request AvaTrade to open a Professional Trading account for you, where the leverage is higher than the Standard account. This requires that you have relevant experience in the financial sector, sufficient trading activity in the past 12 months and hold at least €500k portfolio value.

As an additional account type, they also provide a demo account. It is ideal to test and simulate your trading strategy.

How to open your account

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

1. Input some of your basic personal data (you can use one of your social profiles like Facebook or Google, too)
2. Answer a couple of questions that assess your level of understanding in trading
3. Verify your identity and residency by uploading either a copy of your ID card, driving license or passport and uploading a copy of your recent utility bill or bank statement.

AvaTrade deposit and withdrawal are free and can be done by using several methods. On the flip side, the withdrawal took us more than 3 business days.

Account base currencies

At AvaTrade, you can choose from these base currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, and AUD. AUD is only available for Australian clients, GBP is only available for clients from the UK.

This base currency offer floats between XM and Plus500.

Why does this matter? Two things. First, if you fund your account in the same currency as your bank account, you won't be charged a currency conversion fee. Second, if you trade assets in the same currency as your account base currency, you will not have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on the currency conversion fees can be to open a multi-currency bank account. Revolut or Transferwise both offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. The account opening only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

AvaTrade charges no deposit fees. Besides the bank transfer and credit/debit cards, you can use a lot of electronic wallets:

• Neteller
• Skrill
• POLi for Australians

The minimum amount you can deposit is $100 or equivalent in other currencies.

When we deposited our account by using a debit card, it took 4-5 hours until the money arrived. Credit/debit cards transfer money should be instant and it was due AvaTrade verifying the deposit slowly.

If you prefer bank transfer, it can take several business days. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Withdrawal fees and options

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

For credit/debit cards, you can withdraw up to 200% of the amount you have deposited before. It means if you make a profit more than twice of the deposited amount and want to withdraw the whole amount, you have to use bank transfer.

How long does it take to withdraw money from AvaTrade? We tested the debit card withdrawal and it took 1 business day.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from AvaTrade? You can withdraw money from AvaTrade by following these steps:

• Log into your AvaTrade account
• Go to Withdraw Funds
• Select the withdrawal method you want to use
• Add the amount you wish to withdraw

Compare to other brokers

AvaTrade's Webtrading platform is user-friendly and well-designed. The search functions and the portfolio/fee reports are great. On the negative side, it lacks customizability, two-step login, and price alerts.

AvaTrade provides a lot of trading platforms you can 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 forex options

MetaTrader 5 is only available in certain countries, but it is not clear where. In this review, we tested Webtrader and MetaTrader 4 as they're popular among customers.

Webtrader 

Webtrader is available in a couple of languages: English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian.

Look and feel

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

Login and security

Ther is only a one-step login on Webtrader. A two-step login would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions work well. You can search if you start typing the asset's name or click on the asset categories.

Placing orders

You can use only basic order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop

To get a better understanding of these terms, read this overview of order types.

There is also a Good 'til time (GTT) order time limits you can use.

Alerts and notifications

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

Portfolio and fee reports

There are clear portfolio and fee reports. You can find them under 'History' section. Also, if you click on your position, 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 some time until we found how to add an asset to the watchlist.

Login and security

Just like at the Webtrader, MetaTrader 4 provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

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

Placing orders

You can use the 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 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.

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AvaTradeGo is a contemporary-looking, easy to use mobile application with a decent set of features. There is also a unique order type, AvaProtect, which protects you for any losses in exchange for a fee. On the other hand, the order types are limited and it's available only in English.

AvaTrade offers two trading platforms:

• AvaTradeGO, AvaTrade's own mobile trading platform
• AvaOptions, AvaTrade's own mobile trading platform for trading with forex options.

In this review, we tested AvaTradeGO as most clients would use that trading platform. It is available for both Android and iOS. We tested on Android. 

In contrast with MetaTrader trading platforms, it is available only in English.

Look and feel

The AvaTrade mobile trading platform looks nice and it's user-friendly.

Beyond the usual mobile functions like search function or alerts, even education videos and the customer support chat are available right within the app. It's a nice and useful detail. 

Login and security

AvaTrade provides a one-step login.  As a plus, you can set a fingerprint login as well.

Search functions

The search functions are good. When you can search by typing the assets name, a relevant result list categorized appears.

Besides the classical magnifying search function, you can also find the assets through categories.

Placing orders

Similarly to the web trading platform, you can use only basic order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• AvaProtect

AvaProtect is a unique feature, where you can pay a small fee, and AvaTrade protects your losses in that trade. It means that if you have any losses, AvaTrade will reimburse that amount.

There are also order time limits you can use:

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

Alerts and notifications

You can set price alerts that can send you push notifications. Additionally, you can also set an expiration to these alerts and notifications.

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In design and functionalities, AvaTrade's MetaTrader 4 desktop platform is almost the same as MetaTrader 4 web trading platform. One major difference is that you can set price alerts on the desktop trading platform.

You can use MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and AvaOptions as desktop trading platforms. The latter is only for trading with forex options.

In this review, we tested the MetaTrader 4 desktop trading platform as it offers more assets to trade, not just forex options.

It has the same design, is available in the same languages, offers the same order types, has the same search functions, and offers the same portfolio and fee reports as the web trading platform.

The major difference is that you can set alerts and notifications in the form of mobile push and email notifications on the desktop trading platform. To set email or mobile notifications, you have to add your email address and mobile MetaQuotes ID (you can find it in the MT4 app's settings). You can add them if you go to 'Tools' and then 'Options.'

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AvaTrade gives access only to CFDs, such as forex CFD or stock CFD. It doesn't offer popular asset classes, such as real stocks, bonds, or mutual funds.

AvaTrade has a great product lineup in crypto, stock index CFDs, commodity CFDs, and forex.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 79% 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.

AvaTrade is a forex broker but it also offers some CFDs to trade with. To learn more about CFDs read our CFD trading tips.

AvaTrade's currency pair selection is OK, in the same ballpark with its competitors, XM and Plus500. The stock CFD offering is average, the ETF CFD product range is far from its competitor Plus500.

At AvaTrade you cannot change the default leverage level of the products. We think this is something you should be in control of.

Social Trading

AvaTrade offers social trading through two third-parties, DupliTrade and ZuluTrade. Both services allow you to copy other traders' activities.

The minimum deposit for using ZuluTrade is $500, while $2,000 to start trading with DupliTrade.

AvaTrade has great research tools. From trading ideas to news feeds, you can use a lot of research tools. They're user-friendly and easy to use. The only thing we missed is fundamental data on stocks.

AvaTrade provides research tools in different places:

• Webtrader trading platform
• MetaTrader trading platform
• AvaOptions trading platform
• Website, under 

We tested AvaTrade's research tools available on Webtrader as they're the best ones in our opinion. The research tools are user-friendly and available in the same languages as the Webtrader trading platform. 

Trading ideas

AvaTrade provides trading ideas, which are based on technical tools. You can find them if you click on 'Trading Central' > 'Analysts Views' or 'Forex Featured Ideas'.

Fundamental data

You can use AvaTrade's economic calendar, where you can find historical economic data. We missed fundamental data on stocks.

Charting

AvaTrade has good charting tools. You can easily edit the chart and it has a great design. There are 90 technical indicators you can use, which is more than enough.

News feed

We really liked AvaTrade's news feeds. You can find them under 'Market Buzz' section.

You can not just read the news feeds for the specific asset, but you can check what topics are discussed the most and what is the vibe (positive/negative).

Compare research pros and cons

AvaTrade has great live chat customer support, they give relevant answers. You can also contact them in many local languages. On the negative side, the phone support could be better and it's not available 24/7.

You can contact AvaTrade via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

AvaTrade has a great live chat. No long waiting time in the queue, we reached the customer support agent almost immediately.

We got relevant answers in detail. Besides English, you can chat in a lot of other languages including Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Russian and more.

AvaTrade phone support can be improved. On the website, you can find a long list of telephone numbers for local countries. We tried to use the number there, but it didn't work. We tried to call the international phone number four times, but after 3+ minutes of waiting time, the phone call was ended.

On email, we received answers to our emails within a day which is quite fast. The response we received didn't answer our question, but referred to a link only.

We missed 24/7 availability as well.

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Beyond a demo account, AvaTrade is packed with a lot of quality materials to educate yourself.

The AvaTrade education section is great. The educational material offers several learning opportunities around trading basics, economic indicators, charting.

You can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Quality educational articles
• Webinars

Within the video library, you will find exceptionally lot of videos and they have great quality. They also provide webinars on a regular basis

It's a big plus that AvaTrade offers access to SharpTrader, where you can learn to trade with confidence. SharpTrader is an exceptionally good educational tool with its 40 educational units and 200 easy-to-follow video tutorials and articles.

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AvaTrade is regulated by a number of regulators. It is a well-established brand but it's not listed on any exchange, does not disclose financial information and does not have a bank parent.

Is AvaTrade regulated? Yes, it is regulated by numerous authorities and bodies across the world:

• 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)
• and the Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFAJ)
• Abu Dhabi Global Market Authorities Financial Services Regulatory Authority (ADGM – FSRA)

AvaTrade is based in Ireland and was founded in 2006. Is AvaTrade safe? To be certain, it is best to check two things: how you are protected if something goes wrong and what the background of the broker is.

How you are protected

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

AvaTrade provides negative balance protection if your account belongs to the European entity, Ava Trade EU Ltd for forex spot and CFD trading, but only for retail clients from the European Union. Professional and non-EU clients are not covered with any negative balance protection.

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 regulators including top-tier ones are all great signs for AvaTrade's safety.

Find your safe broker

AvaTrade is regulated by several authorities globally, including the top-tier Central Bank of Ireland and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) therefore it is considered safe.

We liked the seamless and hassle-free account opening. You can use a lot of deposit and withdrawal options and they are free of charge. We also liked that you can use many user-friendly tools for research. 

AvaTrade has some drawbacks though. The product range is limited to forex, CFDs, and cryptos, and there is a high fee charged for EURUSD trading and inactivity.

As there is only a small minimum deposit, and your account will be ready quickly, feel free to try AvaTrade.

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