Axi Review 2023

Axi has low trading fees. There are two account types, with different cost structures. We tested the Pro account in this review, which has low spreads and charges a commission for trading. 

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

Forex fees

Forex fees at Axi are low. For Pro accounts, there's a commission of $3.50 per trade and a low spread cost.

We used the Pro account's fees to generate the table below. For Standard accounts, spreads are much wider.

Stock index CFD and stock CFD fees

Axi has low fees for trading index CFDs, while stock CFD fees are average. 

Non-trading fees

Axi charges no withdrawal, account, or deposit fees. However, Axi applies a $/€10 monthly fee on inactive accounts. "Inactive" means that you had no open trades for a period of at least 12 months. 

There is a 3% fee for card payments and other payment methods where deposits exceed a monthly limit of $50,000. Withdrawals are free if they are above $50 or for the full balance of your account. Otherwise an administration fee of $25 may apply.

How we ranked fees

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

First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are 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.

Can you open an account?

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73.9% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Axi accepts clients from most countries in the world, a notable exception is the US. 

What is the minimum deposit at Axi?

Axi doesn't require a minimum deposit.

Account types

Axi differentiates its accounts based on two things: who owns them and what fee structure is applied.

Based on ownership, there are three types of accounts:

• Individual - account is owned by an individual
• Joint - account is owned by multiple individuals
• Corporate - account is owned by a legal entity

Accounts can differ in fee structure, too:

• Standard account - no commission fees, generally higher spreads 
• Pro account - $7 round trip commission, generally lower spreads
• Elite account - $3.50 round trip commission, generally lower spreads. For Wholesale & Professional clients only.

Clients can open Islamic accounts as well.

In this review, we tested the individual Pro account. 

How to open your account

Creating an account is easy and fully digital, but it took 2 business days until our account was approved.

The steps of account opening at Axi are the following:

1. Provide personal information, like your email address and country of residence.
2. Select the account type.
3. Answer a couple of questions that assess your level of trading experience.
4. Verify your identity and residency by uploading either a copy of your ID card, driver's license or passport, and uploading a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement.

Account base currencies

At Axi, you can choose from 11 base currencies. These are the following:

Axi's base currency selection is great compared to competing brokers.

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 don'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.

Compare digital banks

Deposit fees and options

Axi charges no deposit fees. However, if monthly deposits via methods other than bank transfer (e.g. Neteller, credit card) exceed $50,000, Axi may charge a 3% fee.

In addition to bank transfer, you can use credit/debit cards, broker-to-broker transfer and several electronic wallets, as well as cryptocurrencies. See the details in the table below. 

Not all methods and currencies may be available for everyone; options may differ based on the client's residency. 

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payments with a credit/debit card or electronic wallets are instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Axi withdrawal fees and options

Axi charges no withdrawal fees and offers several method options for withdrawal. However, if you withdraw less than $50, Axi charges a $25 administration fee (except if the withdrawal amount is your full balance). 

Note that if you want to withdraw funds to a debit/credit card, you can only withdraw to the same card you made the deposit from, and in the case of credit cards, may be able to withdraw only up to the original deposited amount. The withdrawal method must be the same as your deposit method, except for deposit via bank card to withdraw to your bank account. 

How long does it take to withdraw money from Axi? We tested the bank transfer withdrawal and it took 2 business days.

How do you withdraw money from Axi? Just follow these steps:

• Log in to the Client Portal.
• Select 'Withdraw Funds'.
• Choose the withdrawal method.
• Add your bank account details, like IBAN and Swift code (if you haven't done it before).
• Enter the amount you wish to withdraw.
• Initiate the withdrawal.

Axi does not have its own self-developed trading platform, it uses MetaTrader 4, a third-party platform. To access it, first you have to log in to a client platform. Although its layout is great, it can be really slow. There were times in our experience when accessing certain menus took ages, with the whole page frozen while loading.

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

Look and feel

Axi's web trading platform 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

Axi provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure.

You can't use a biometric login. Providing this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

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

Placing orders

You can use basic order types, but will not find more sophisticated ones, like 'one-cancels-the-other'. The following order types are available:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Trailing stop (available only in the MT4 desktop platform)

If you are not familiar with order types, read this overview.

There are also order time limits you can use:

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

Alerts and notifications

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

Portfolio and fee reports

Axi 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. However, all your monthly financial statements are available to download at the Client Portal. You should click on 'Financial Statements' within the 'Trading Accounts' menu.

Axi sends your monthly financial statements automatically via email, too. 

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73.9% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Similarly to the web trading platform, Axi offers MetaTrader 4 as a mobile trading platform. MetaTrader 4 is available for both iOS and Android. We tested it on iOS.

After you download the MT4 mobile trading platform, you have to access the Axi-Live server. 

Just like at the web trading platform, you can choose from a lot of languages on the mobile trading platform too. Changing the language is a bit tricky on Android devices: you have to change the default language of your mobile.

Look and feel

Axi has a great mobile trading platform, we really liked its design and user-friendliness. You will easily find all the features.

Login and security

Similarly to the web trading platform, Axi provides only a one-step login. A two-step login would be safer.

You can't use fingerprint or Face ID authentication. Providing this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

The search functions are good. You can search for products easily by typing the name of the product or by navigating the category folders.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order time limits as the ones on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications to be received via mobile, but only on the desktop trading platform. It would be much easier if you could set these notifications on the mobile trading platform itself.

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Axi offers MetaTrader 4 as a desktop trading platform.

It has the same design, is available in the same languages, offers the same order types (plus Trailing stop), 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 alerts, you have to add your email address and mobile MetaQuotes ID (you can find it in the MT4 app's settings), by going to the 'Tools' menu and then 'Options'.

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Axi has a great selection of forex products. The stock index, commodity, crypto and stock CFD selection is average, although it is constantly expanding. Meanwhile, other products, such as stocks, ETFs and bond CFDs are not available. 

It is important to note that certain products are only available from specific live servers on the MetaTrader trading platform. 

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.9% 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.

As of January 6, 2021, the FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives to UK retail consumers.

You cannot change leverage levels if you are under the jurisdiction of the UK's FCA, which here means all UK and European clients. For them, leverage is fixed at 30:1. For clients under other entities, leverage can be changed. 

Changing the leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. We think this is something you should be in control of. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as the preset leverage levels may be too high.

Copy Trading

Axi offers a social trading service via Forex Trading Signals on the MT4 platform.

You can also use Copy Trading, another social trading feature. This allows you to identify successful traders and follow their trades, which are then translated into real trades in your own broker account. To access this feature, you have to download the Axi Copy Trading platform, then link your MT4 account to it. After these steps you can start searching for traders to copy.

Axi's research tools are available on:

• the MetaTrader trading platform
• the 'Markets Blog' section on its website

MetaTrader tools are available in multiple languages.

Trading ideas

Axi does not provide any trading ideas.

Fundamental data

Axi does not offer fundamental data on assets.

Charting

Axi has average charting tools. These tools can be found on the MetaTrader trading platform. You can use 31 technical indicators and other technical tools, such as trendlines or Fibonacci retracement.

On the other hand, the design is outdated and some features are hard to use. For example, we had difficulty finding how to remove an indicator from the chart.

News feed

Axi has a news feed on its MetaTrader 4 platform. This is a great addition compared to similar CFD brokers. However, the news section lacks charts and other visual elements.

We liked the market analysis section, which can be found on the website under 'Markets Blog'.

An economic calendar is also provided with multiple filters, such as 'Country' or event 'Category'. All in all, a nice touch. 

News are structured best on Axi's own site. The articles are of good quality and they are updated daily. 

Unfortunately, some articles are available only through the Australian and UK websites. If you are on the international website, you will only be able to access forex market analysis news and educational pieces. Also, the quantity of news differ from language to language - for example, news in Spanish only seems to be updated once a month.

PsyQuation

Axi clients are provided free access to PsyQuation Premium, an AI-driven analytics platform to help you discover strategies for MT4. Below, you can see some of the many tools that are available, along with their short descriptions.

• OFSI chart: shows the order flow sentiment indicator for multiple symbols
• Intraday moves: you can check how closely related symbols are in their movements
• Lot sizing & risk calculator: helps you to calculate the probability of reaching a particular stop-loss or take-profit value
• Account benchmark: scores your trading account based on numerous criteria
• Lead lag: you can explore the lead/lag relationship visually between symbols
• Twitter vs. rates: you can see how Twitter news affect symbol price changes
• Yield curve analysis: you can examine the yield curve and spreads of different countries over time

Compare research pros and cons

You can contact Axi via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

Axi has a fast live chat, with an agent connected almost immediately. However, we had mixed experiences with the relevancy of the answers: in one case our operator spoke about another issue not relating to our main question, while another time they gave wrong information on CFD index fees. On other occasions, though, we received relevant and accurate answers.

Axi's phone support was average-speed and we got relevant answers. In all our tests, the operator was really helpful and gave a broader context in response to our questions.

Via email, we received relevant answers relatively quickly.

On the negative side, we missed 24/7 availability. Axi's customer support is only a 24/5 service.

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At Axi you can learn in the following ways:

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

You can find the main educational tools under the 'Learn to Trade' menu at top of the page. There are educational articles in the 'Markets Blog' section as well, which are up-to-date and well-written.

The general educational videos have great quality and cover a lot of topics, like trading psychology and forex trading. You can download multiple high-quality ebooks as well.

Under 'Learn to Trade', you can find seminars and webinars to watch. However, we found that these are only scheduled for certain language pages, with many of them indicating loading errors at the time of the review.

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Is Axi regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by a number of authorities throughout the world:

• the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)
• the Financial Service Authority of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (FSA)

Being regulated by several top-tier financial authorities is a great sign for Axi's safety.

On the other hand, note that Axi's license was suspended in New Zealand from July 2019 to December 2021 by the country's regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). You can read more about the suspension on the FMA website. 

Is Axi safe?

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

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

How you are protected

Protection matters for you because the investor protection amount and the regulator differ from entity to entity.

Axi provides negative balance protection for forex spot and CFD trading, but only for retail clients from the European Union. Professional and non-EU clients are not covered by negative balance protection.

Axi holds a comprehensive Client Money Insurance policy that provides retail clients with protection up to US$1,000,000. This insurance coverage comes at no additional cost and automatically applies to all retail accounts with balances above US$20,000.

Background

Axi is based in Australia and was founded in 2007. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Find your safe broker

We recommend Axi for forex traders familiar with the MetaTrader 4 platform.

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

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Axi fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

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

How to start your Axi account?

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

How's their trading app?

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

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Axi customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Axi 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 Axi is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Axi good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Axi?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Axi guide

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

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

What is the minimum account balance at Axi?

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

Looking for commission and fees data for Axi?

We collected them in Axi commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from Axi?

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