AxiTrader Review 2019

AxiTrader was founded in 2007 and it is an Australia-based FX broker. It is regulated by multiple financial authorities worldwide, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

AxiTrader is considered safe because it has a long track record and is regulated by multiple top-tier authorities.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68.5% 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.

Recommended for forex traders familiar with MetaTrader 4 platform.

AxiTrader pros and cons

AxiTrader has low trading fees and doesn't charge any inactivity fee. The deposit and withdrawal are free of charge as well. The account opening process is smooth and fully digital.

The product portfolio is limited, only forex and some CFDs are offered. Research options are limited as there are no fundamental data and recommendations. The customer support is only 24/5 and through e-mail, they give slow answers.

Compare to other brokers

AxiTrader review
Fees 4 stars

AxiTrader has low trading fees. It doesn't charge an inacitvity fee and withdrawal fee. On the other hand, the financing costs are not the lowest.

We ranked AxiTrader'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 relating to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, financing rates, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions or spreads.
• Financing rates or overnight rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. A leveraged position means that you borrow money from the broker to trade.
• Non-trading fees include things like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

We also compared AxiTrader's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Pepperstone and IC Markets. This selection is based on factors like products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc.

Let's start with the trading fees.

Trading fees

AxiTrader trading fees are low. There are different cost structures at different account types. We tested the Pro account which charges low spread and a commission.

It is super hard to compare trading fees for forex brokers. What did we do at Brokerchooser? Instead of quoting long fee tables, we compare brokers by calculating all fees of a typical trade for two popular currency pairs:

• EURUSD
• EURGBP

A typical trade means that you buy for $20,000 using 30:1 leverage and sell it after a week.

This super catch-all benchmark includes spreads and financing costs for all brokers.

Here is the verdict. AxiTrader fees float between IC Markets and Pepperstone.

If you see only the spread and commission costs, you can see that AxiTrader has the lowest fees. Therefore AxiTrader could be a great choice if you don't plan to hold your positions long in time.

Financing rates

AxiTrader financing rates are generally average. 

Financing rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.

The financing rates are calculated as of 2019.07.09.

Non-trading fees

AxiTrader has low non-trading fees. It charges no account, inactivity, and withdrawal fees.

AxiTrader review
Account opening 4 stars

The account opening at AxiTrader is user-friendly and fully digital. It took ~2-3 business days until our account was approved.

Can you open an account?

AxiTrader accepts clients from almost all countries. There are some exceptions, e. g. you can not open an account if you reside in the US, Iran, Iraq, Japan, etc.

AxiTrader is no longer available for clients in New Zealand because the local regulator suspended AxiTrader's license.

What is the minimum deposit at AxiTrader?

There is no minimum deposit at AxiTrader.

Account types

There are three account types based on the ownership:

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

There are also three account types which differ in the fee structure:

• Standard account - no commission fees, generally higher spreads 
• Pro account - $7 round trip commission, generally lower spreads
• Spread betting account - it's a tax-free account, but available only for UK clients

How to open your account

Creating an account is easy and fully digital, however, it took 2-3 business days until my account was approved.

The steps of AxiTrader account opening::

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

AxiTrader review
Deposit and withdrawal 4 stars

AxiTrader charges neither withdrawal nor deposit fees. For deposit, you can use bank transfer, credit/debit cards, and electronic wallets. However, for withdrawal only bank transfer is available.

Account base currencies

AxiTrader offers a lot of base currencies: EUR, GBP, USD, PLN, CHF, AUD, CAD, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD.

AxiTrader has better base currency offer than Pepperstone or IC Markets.

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

AxiTrader charges no deposit fees.

Besides bank transfer, you can use credit/debit cards and the following electronic wallets:

• Neteller
• Skrill
• Fasapay

We tested the credit card deposit and it was instant. A bank transfer can take several business days.

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

Withdrawal fees and options

AxiTrader charges no withdrawal fees, however, you can use only bank transfer. This is limited if you compare with the competitors.

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

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

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

• Login to the Client Portal
• Select "Withdraw Funds"
• Choose the withdrawal method
• Add your bank accounts' details, like IBAN or Swift code (if haven't done  before)
• Select the amount you wish to withdraw
• Initiate the withdrawal

Compare to other brokers

AxiTrader review
Web trading platform 3 stars

AxiTrader offers MetaTrader's web trading platform. It is highly customizable, available in a lot of languages, and has a clear fee report. On the negative side, it lacks a two-step login and the design is outdated.

AxiTrader doesn't have an in-house developed trading platform, it uses MetaTrader 4, a third-party platform. 

The platform can be opened in a tricky way. We couldn't open the platform through the "Client Portal", only through AxiTrader's website: Trading Platforms > MT4 for PC, Web, Mac & Mobile.

It is available in exceptionally of languages.

Look and feel

AxiTrader's MetaTrader4 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 time until we found how we can add an asset to the watchlist.

Login and security

AxiTrader provides a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure and welcome.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. You can find the assets in the Symbols section. However, categorization is a bit confusing because there are more categories for each asset type.

We missed the classical magnifying search function when you can type the assets' names manually.

Placing orders

You can use the basic order types. You will not find very sophisticated orders like the "one cancels the other" order.

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss

If you are not familiar with the 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 AxiTradir web trading platform. This feature is available only on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

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

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68.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AxiTrader review
Mobile trading platform 4 stars

AxiTrader has a great mobile trading platform, offered by MetaTrader 4. It is well designed and user-friendly. On the flip side, it lacks the two-step login.

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

After you downloaded the MT4 mobile trading platform, you have to access the relevant AxiTrader server, e.g. AxiTrader-US02 Live. 

The mobile trading platform supports 21 languages. You can't set the language in the application, but if you change your mobile language to one of the supported languages, the app will automatically use that.

Look and feel

AxiTrader's mobile trading platform is great, the design is simple, user-friendly, and you can find all features with ease. 

Login and security

Similarly to its the web trading platform, AxiTrader provides only a one-step login.

Search functions

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

Similarly to the web trading platform, the categorization is a bit confusing first, because there are more categories per asset.

Placing orders

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

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on the AxiTrader mobile platform. However, you can set mobile push notifications on the desktop trading platform. It would be much easier if you could set these notifications on the mobile trading platform.

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68.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AxiTrader review
Desktop trading platform 3 stars

AxiTrader uses MetaTrader 4 a desktop interface. In design and functionalities, it is almost the same as the web trading platform. One major difference is that you can set price alerts on the desktop trading platform.

Similarly to the web trading platform, you can use MetaTrader 4 and as a desktop trading platform. 

It has the same design, it's 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 platform.

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

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68.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AxiTrader review
Markets and products 1 stars

AxiTrader offers only forex, CFDs, and cryptos. It lacks real stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, options, and futures.

AxiTrader has a great forex and crypto offers. The stock index and commodity CFD offers are average, while the stock and ETF CFDs are missing.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68.5% 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.

You cannot change the leverage at AxiTrader. We think you should be in control of this.

AxiTrader review
Research 3 stars

AxiTrader offers charting tools, news through its MetaTrader 4 platforms, and a great economic calendar. However, it lacks analyst recommendations and fundamental data.

AxiTrader's research tools have two sources:

• MetaTrader trading platform
• "Market News and Blogs" on their website

MetaTrader tools are available in multiple languages.

Trading ideas

AxiTrader does not provide trading ideas.

Fundamental data

AxiTrader does not offer fundamental data.

Charting

AxiTrader has OK charting tools. These charting tools can be found on the MetaTrader trading platforms. You can use 31 technical indicators and other editor tools, like trendlines or Fibonacci retracement.

On the negative side, the design is outdated and some features are hard to use. For example, we hardly found how we could remove an indicator from the chart.

News feed

AxiTrader offers news through the MetaTrader 4 platform. It's great as many other brokers offering MT4 platforms don't offer news. On the negative side, the news lack charts and other visual elements.

We liked the market analysis which can be found on the website, under the "Market News & Blog".

There is an economic calendar too. It's great that you can use a lot of filters, such as country or category filters.

Compare research pros and cons

AxiTrader review
Customer service 4 stars

You can contact AxiTrade in a lot of ways and you'll get relevant answers. On the negative side, customer support is only available 24/5, and e-mailing is slow.

You can contact AxiTrader via:

• live chat
• telephone
• email

You can contact them only in English.

AxiTrader has a great live chat. An agent is connected almost immediately and the relevancy of the answers was satisfactory.

We got relevant answers from AxiTrader phone support. The speed was average, there were times when waiting took longer than expected.

On email, we got slow but relevant answers. There were cases where we didn't get a response at all.

We missed 24/7 availability as well.

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68.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AxiTrader review
Education 4 stars

AxiTrader does a great job in education. You can use a demo account, watch high-quality educational videos, and read great ebooks. On the negative side, it doesn't have scheduled webinars and the educational materials not always well-structured.

At AxiTrader you can learn in the following ways:

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

You can find educational tools under Traders > Education, but there are educational materials in Market News and Blogs as well. The educational tools below Market News and Blogs are not up-to-date and well-structured.

The general educational videos have great quality and cover a lot of topics, like trading psychology or forex trading. You can use many Ebooks which have great quality as well.

 There is a "Free Webinars" section, but there was no webinar scheduled.

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68.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money

AxiTrader review
Safety

AxiTrader is regulated by a number of regulators. It is a well-established brand but it is not listed on any exchange and does not have a bank parent.

Is AxiTrader regulated? Yes, it is regulated by a number of authorities and bodies throughout the world:

• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)

AxiTrader is based in Australia and was founded in 2007. Is AxiTrader 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

This is important for you because the investor protection amount and the regulator differ from entity to entity.

AxiTrader provides negative balance protection for clients under the Financial Conduct Authority.

Background

AxiTrader was established in 2007. 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 being and regulated by a top-tier regulator are all great signs for AxiTrader's safety.

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AxiTrader review
Bottom line

AxiTrader is regulated by multiple authorities globally, like the UK FCA or the Australian ASIC.

On the plus side, trading fees are low and no inactivity fee is charged. The deposit and withdrawals are also free of charge. Account opening is easy, and all digital. There is no minimum deposit which is also great.

AxiTrader has some drawbacks though. The product range is limited to FX, CFD, and cryptos. The research tools lack recommendations and fundamental data. Customer support is only 24/5 and the e-mail support is slow. 

As the trading fees are low and there are no deposit, withdrawal, and inactivity fees, feel free to try AxiTrader.

AxiTrader main features and highlights

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68.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money