AxiTrader Review 2020

AxiTrader has low forex and CFD fees. There is no withdrawal fee and the inactivity fee is low.

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 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.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of AxiTrader for each asset class.

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

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

AxiTrader trading fees

AxiTrader trading fees are low. The different account types have different cost structures. We tested the Pro account, which has low spreads and commission fees.

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

We have chosen popular instruments in each asset class usually provided by forex brokers:

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

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

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

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

Forex fees

AxiTrader forex fees are low. As you can see below, they are very similar to the forex fees of its main competitors, Pepperstone and IC Markets.

CFD fees

AxiTrader has low CFD trading fees. It offers slightly lower CFD fees than its main competitors.

Non-trading fees

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

Account opening at AxiTrader is user-friendly and fully digital but it takes a bit longer than at similar online brokers.

Can you open an account?

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What is the minimum deposit at AxiTrader?

AxiTrader doesn't require a minimum deposit.

Account types

AxiTrader 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
• Spread betting account - a tax-free account available only for UK clients

We tested the individual Pro account for this review. 

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 AxiTrader account opening:

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 understanding of trading.
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.

AxiTrader charges neither deposit nor withdrawal fees. For depositing, you can use bank transfer, credit/debit cards and electronic wallets. Nevertheless, credit/debit card withdrawal is not possible.

Account base currencies

At AxiTrader, you can choose from 11 base currencies. The available base currencies are EUR, GBP, USD, PLN, CHF, AUD, CAD, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD.

AxiTrader has a good base currency selection compared to Pepperstone and IC Markets.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. First, if you fund your account in the same currency as your bank account, you are not charged a currency conversion fee. Second, if you trade assets in the same currency as your 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. Revolut or Transferwise both 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.

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Deposit fees and options

AxiTrader charges no deposit fees. 

Besides bank transfer, you can use credit/debit cards, broker-to-broker transfer and several electronic wallets, including:

• Neteller
• Skrill/Moneybookers
• Global Collect and BPAY (for Australian clients)

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.

AxiTrader withdrawal fees and options

AxiTrader charges no withdrawal fees and has several withdrawal options. However, if you deposited with a debit/credit card you can only withdraw funds to your bank account and in the case of electronic wallets, you can only withdraw to the wallet you used for depositing. While the $0 withdrawal fee is definitely a big plus, withdrawal options are a bit more limited compared to some competitors like Pepperstone or IC Markets.

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

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

Compare to other brokers

The web trading platform of AxiTrader is provided by MetaTrader. It is highly customizable, available in a lot of languages, and has a clear fee report. On the other hand, it lacks a two-step login, price alerts, and the design is outdated.

AxiTrader doesn't have its own self-developed trading platform, it uses MetaTrader 4, a third-party platform.

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

Look and feel

AxiTrader'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

AxiTrader 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 OK. You can find the assets in categories. However, we missed the usual search function when you can type 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 canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on the AxiTrader 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 under the 'History' tab. We didn't find a way to download them. 

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AxiTrader has a great mobile trading platform, offered by MetaTrader 4. It is well-designed and user-friendly. However, it lacks a safe two-step login and order confirmations.

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

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 can do it only if you change the default language of your mobile.

Look and feel

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

Login and security

Similarly to the web trading platform, AxiTrader 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 on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications, although you can do it only on the the desktop trading platform. It would be much easier if you could set these notifications on the mobile trading platform as well.

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AxiTrader uses MetaTrader 4 as a desktop interface. In design and functionality, 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 as the AxiTrader desktop trading platform. 

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 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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AxiTrader offers only forex and CFD trading.

AxiTrader has a great selection of forex products. The stock index, commodity, and crypto CFD selection is average, while stock and ETF CFDs are not available.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 67.7% 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 can change leverage levels, which is great.

Changing the leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. For example, instead of trading with 5:1 leverage, only trade with 2:1 leverage in case of stock CFDs. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as the preset leverage levels are high.

AxiTrader offers charting tools, news feed and an economic calendar through the MetaTrader 4 platform. On the other hand, it lacks trading ideas and fundamental data.

AxiTrader's research tools have two sources:

• The MetaTrader trading platform
• 'Market News & Blog' on its 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, such as trendlines or Fibonacci retracement.

On the negative side, 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

AxiTrader offers news through the MetaTrader 4 platform. This is great, as many other brokers using the MT4 platform don't offer news. On the negative side, the news lacks charts and other visual elements.

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

There is also an economic calendar available that has a lot of filters, such as for country or category, which is a great feature.

AxiTrader also offers news through its website. 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.

Compare research pros and cons

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 emailing is slow.

You can contact AxiTrader via:

• Live chat
• Phone
• Email

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

AxiTrader phone support was average-speed and we got relevant answers.

In email, we got slow but relevant answers.

We missed 24/7 availability. AxiTrader's customer support is only a 24/5 service.

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AxiTrader does a great job at education. You can use a demo account, watch high-quality educational videos and read great ebooks. On the negative side, it doesn't hold any webinars.

At AxiTrader you can learn in the following ways:

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

You can find the primary educational tools under the 'Traders' tab, by clicking on 'Education.' There are educational articles in 'Market News & Blog' 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.

There is a 'Free Webinars' section for UK and Australian visitors, but no webinars were scheduled at the time of our review.

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AxiTrader is regulated by a number of top-tier financial authorities. It is a well-established brand but it is not listed on any exchange and it doesn't hold a banking license.

Is AxiTrader regulated?

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

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

Being regulated by a top-tier financial authority is a great sign for AxiTrader's safety. On the other hand, note that AxiTrader's license has been suspended in New Zealand by the country's regulator, the Financial Markets Authority, since July 29, 2019. You can read more about the suspension here.

AxiTrader is based in Australia and was founded in 2007. 

Is AxiTrader safe?

To be certain, 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.

AxiTrader 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 with any negative balance protection.

Background

AxiTrader was established 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

AxiTrader is regulated by multiple authorities globally, like the UK's FCA and ASIC in Australia.

On the plus side, trading fees are low and no inactivity fee is charged. Depositing and withdrawals are also free of charge. Account opening is easy and fully digital, without any minimum deposit, which is also great.

AxiTrader has some drawbacks, though. Its product range is limited to FX and CFDs, and its research tools lack recommendations and fundamental data. In addition, customer support is only 24/5 and email support is slow. 

Feel free to try AxiTrader, as the trading fees are low and there are no deposit, withdrawal or inactivity fees.
 

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67.7% of retail CFD accounts lose money