ActivTrades review

Our Review Method

• Our financial experts at 55Brokers with over 10 years of experience in Forex Market checked out trading offerings including fees, spreads, platforms, and regulations. Also, contacted customer service and placed trades to evaluate trading conditions and give an expert opinion on ActivTrades

What is ActivTrades?

ActivTrades is Forex and Trading Broker founded in 2001 in Switzerland as a small stockbroker that now has developed into a global brokerage firm providing services for retail and institutional traders. There are nuumerous benefits include access to diverse financial instruments, awarded platforms, full trading solutions and exceptional trading tools.

In 2005 company moved its headquarters to London and extended its market range by adding CFD products to indices and commodities while showing rapid growth across Europe and became a market leader in Italy, Germany and France, then followed across Australia, South America, Russia, and South East Asia. Recently, ActivTrades serves also an office in Dubai to cover Middle East trading needs.

Is ActivTrades good broker?

ActivTrades offer a wide range of benefits that make trading the financial markets smooth and pleasant while giving traders the opportunities they need to be successful in both the short and long terms.

• With ActivTrades clients can trade more than 50 currency pairs, cryptocurrencies, metals, indices, commodities, shares, and ETFs, also UK clients can access spread betting.
• ActivTrades has earned numerous accolades and affirmations throughout its years of success; official figures in the financial industry have repeatedly pointed out the broker’s distinctiveness and integrity. The latest survey – which showed 95% Customer Satisfaction – revealed that 9 out of 10 customers had a good or excellent experience with ActivTrades.

Is ActivTrades an ECN broker?

No, ActivTrades is not an ECN broker, but a market maker meaning that it takes the opposite side of your trades and provides two-sided quotes while at the same time playing the role of a liquidity provider.

ActivTrades Pros and Cons

Based on our expert opinion, ActivTrades is a reliable broker with a great trading environment and favorable conditions providing best practices in FX and CFD trading powered up by top-notch technology while offering one of the lowest fixed spreads with no hidden feeds. The broker has a good range of trading platforms with numerous add-ons and sophisticated tools suitable for technical trading.

For the Cons, conditions for trading including fees and spreads may vary according to regulation and entity, the instrument range is traded only on FX and CFD basis and support isn’t 24/7. Another disadvantage is that the broker operates an offshore entity and there are limitations on currency types allowing only major currency funding.

Overall ActivTrades Ranking

Based on our expert findings and review, ActivTrades is considered a food and reliable broker with excellent trading conditions and state-of-the-art services including support and education. The broker is well-known as one of the best in the market with high score in customer satisfaction, also offering the lowest spreads on almost all asset classes while fees are relatively low or 0.

• ActivTrades Overall Ranking is 9 out of 10 based on our testing and compared to over 500 brokers, see Our Ranking below compared to other industry Leading Brokers.

ActivTrades Alternative Brokers

However, we couldn’t pass by the obvious disadvantages that this broker has. First of all, the broker instruments range is limited to Forex and CFD trading, also the minimum deposit is quite low compared to other brokers which might be a major drawback for beginner traders. Overall, conditions and offerings may vary based on the jurisdiction. So it is advised to check out other brokers too:

• Interactive Broker – Best Broker for Real Stock Trading
• CMC Markets – Low Minimum Deposit Broker
• FP Markets – Low Liquidity Broker

Awards

Throughout 20 years of operation, ActivTrades has proven its integrity by working with millions of clients across the globe earning multiple awards and positive reviews from both clients and financial specialists. We also want to highlight the recent survey done by the broker showing that almost 95% of clients had either good or excellent experiences with the broker. Here are some of the most noted awards the broker has won for its state-of-the-art conditions and quality customer service:

• Agence IAT Grand Prize Excellence: “Best Customer Broker”
• International Investor Business Award: “Safest Global Broker”
• Le Fonti: “Best FOrex Broker”

Is ActivTrades safe or scam?

No, ActivTrades is not scam. Our experts found out that the broker has fully regulated status by the reputable FCA, so traders can be assured their investments are safe and considered low-risk Forex trading. The broker has been actively improving its services through the years and has been able to establish a reputation as a trusted and reliable company to cooperate with.

Is ActivTrades regulated?

ActivTrades PLC is authorized and regulated under Financial Conduct Authority (UK) and is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Moreover, the broker serves an office in Dubai and holds an additional offshore regulation in the Bahamas.

In addition, to ensure advanced trading safety, ActivTrades provides protection from a negative account balance, storage of the funds in segregated accounts, and additional insurance to up to 1,000,000$ (which is a quite rare state among brokers).

See our conclusion on ActivTrades Reliability:

• Our Ranked ActivTrades Trust Score is 9.2 out 0f 10 for good reputation and excellent service over the years, the broker is highly regulated by a top-tier financial regulator and backed by several client protection programs. The only gap is the international trading execution through an offshore entity

Leverage

ActivTrades allows leverage trading too, while available leverage up to 1:400 is possible however depending on the entity and account you open with. Besides leverage ratios based on the instrument you trade,

• Leverage of 1:400 is available through the Bahamas entity
• The main offering of ActivTrades complies with FCA regulation, which strictly restricts leverage to a maximum of 1:30 for major currency pairs.  

ActivTrades Account types

From what we found, the ActivTrades accounts are diversified only by the trader type meaning the broker offers either an Individual Account (allows to trade mini and micro lots) or a Professional Account (which involves some rules for opening, alike significantly large transactions, the size of the financial portfolio must exceed 500,000$).

Of course, for the beginner traders’ convenience, there is an opportunity to try the platform and generally see the broker’s operation through a Free Demo Account. Respectively, Islamic Account or Swap-Free Accounts are also available for those who comply with Sharia laws.

ActivTrades Instruments

Among widely offered Trading instruments with a choice to trade Forex, Cryptocurrencies, Indices, Shares, Commodities, and Spread Betting for UK residents, you may also access the most important Fixed Income contracts such as the US T-Note and the German Bund.

• ActivTrades Markets Range Score is 8.4 out 0f 10 for wide trading instrument selection, yet the only disadvantage is that the broker offers mainly CFDs and Forex Instruments, also the selection of markets differs based on the entity

Fees

ActivTrades fees depend on the account type you use but are mainly built into a spread. The broker doesn’t charge commissions for deposit and withdrawal fees and has low non-trading fees.

• ActivTrades Fees are ranked with an overall rating of 8.1 out of 10 based on our testing and compared to over 500 other brokers. The broker has low CFD fees mainly built into spreads with no Deposit/Withdrawal commissions. It does have low non-trading fees. See the fee table below with funding fees and non-trading fees to be considered.

ActivTrades Spreads

Based on our expert findings, ActivTrades offers fixed spread for currencies starting from 0.5 pips, on indices and financial CFDs the spreads are set to 0.5 pips too, which eventually are considered low compared to other brokers.

What is more, there is no overnight adjustment (the underlying Futures price already accounts for the adjustment). On CFDs, shares commissions are starting from €1 per side, while spread betting on shares is commission free, with 0.10% of the transaction value.

• ActivTrades Spreads are ranked with an overall rating of 8.9 out of 10 based on our testing comparison to other brokers. We found Forex spread much lower than the industry average of 1.2 pips for EURUSD, and spreads for other instruments are very attractive too. See below table of spreads compared to other popular brokers in the industry

Methods of Payment

Based on our research, deposits or withdrawal requests on ActivTrades platforms can be done from an online Personal Area, which makes the process seamless and easy. The broker allows to choose major currency types like USD, GBP, and EUR, however, doesn’t support minor currencies. 

• ActivTrades Funding Methods we ranked Good with an overall rating of 7.9 out of 10. The broker doesn’t charge deposit/withdrawal fees in most cases while non-trading fees are rather low. The broker supports major currency types, however, doesn’t support minor currencies. Another disadvantage is that the minimum deposit is rather high compared to other brokers in the industry

Here are some good and negative points for AtcivTrades funding methods found:

Deposit options

ActivTrades supports various payment options to fund the account including bank transfer, credit/debit card, Neteller, Skrill, and Sofort. In addition, the firm offers ActivTrades Prepaid Card, which is provided for free to the clients with no monthly administrative fee, which gives the same benefits of usage as Mastercard.

What is the minimum deposit?

ActivTrades minimum deposit requirement is 500$, which allows you to start live trading immediately.

Withdrawals

ActivTrades doesn’t charge clients for the deposits made via bank transfers or e-wallets, however, the investor should calculate above 0.75% for deposits via credit card in the UK & EEA or 1.5% of non UK&EEA cards.

For withdrawal fees, transfers to the ActivTrades Prepaid Mastercard or e-wallets are free, bank transfers of USD will be charged 12.50$.

Trading Platforms

Another strong offering from ActivTrades we want to mark is their choice of platforms, which include proprietary ActivTrades platform and well-known MT4 and MT5 Platforms with an exclusive offering of Add-On tools available.

• ActivTrades Platforms are ranked Excellent with an overall rating of 9 out of 10 compared to over 500 other brokers. We evaluated the broker’s platform choice and marked it as excellent being one of the best proposals offering industry-standard MT4 and MT5 platforms with multiple add-ons and great tools, also the broker offers its proprietary platform with over 90 technical indicators

Web Trading

The ActivTrades trading platform is a web-based platform that allows trade straight from the browser, and also possesses a loyal application for iPhone or iPad. The platform features an intuitive interface, yet provides cutting-edge functionalities for experienced traders of all trading styles with access to more than 90 technical analysis indicators.

Desktop platform

However, the traders who feel more comfortable and convenient with a user-friendly platform MT4 are also welcomed by ActivTrades, which is available through desktop trading. Moreover, technology has been enhanced with the company standards of security and advanced charts also enable automation of the strategies with EAs.

With MetaTrader5 you will find updated, extended characteristics, bringing online trading to the deepest level. The platform enables to trade of more markets like shares and ETFs, more than 450 CFDs on stocks with wide characteristics and availability to auto trade, with integrated trading statements.

Trading tools

In addition to the powerful platform, numerous utility extensions are offered to enlarge trade functionalities and automation features, while bringing tools designed for both decision-making and indicating purpose. These include trading tools, decision-making tools, and numerous indicators.

Customer Support

Another good word should go to the ActivTrades support service. Since client service won numerous awards and the main aim of the offered education system is to keep traders up to date with new features, technology developments, and market trends.

On ActivTrades, 24h support center is available through Live chat and email with an average of an amazing 27 min response, which is definitely good for you as a trader.

• Customer Support in ActivTrades is ranked Excellent with an overall rating of 9 out of 10 based on our testing. We got some of the fastest and most knowledgeable responses compared too other brokers,  the only point is that it is not available on weekends

See our find and Ranking on Customer Service Quality:

Education

From what we have found, with ActivTrades you can access detailed education materials with key elements, analysis, courses, webinars, and e-books defined by the topic. In addition, a Demo account is at your offering, together with powerful analytical, and technical analysis inbuilt into the platforms and exclusive add-ons allowing you better learning and trading as well.

• ActivTrades Education ranked with an overall rating of 9 out of 10 based on our research. The broker provides state-of-the-art education materials along with excellent research tools and provides free Webinars, Excellent Trading videos, and Analysis

ActivTrades Review Conclusion

In conclusion, we find ActivTrades an excellent broker with a good reputation with an FCA license, and 20 years of successful operation and experience with short-term and long-term professionals. The offering is of good quality, well-maintained backed up with exceptional educational material suitable for both beginners and experts.

We found it quite satisfying to see such trading conditions with the lowest spreads, and no dealing desk intervention in the trading process. The broker’s price model is rather competitive with fees mainly built into spreads while spreads are fixed, the range of the market is quite wide including all popular markets, also spread betting is available for UK traders.

Based on Our findings and Financial Expert Opinion ActivTrades is Good for:

• Beginning Traders
• Professional Traders
• EAs running
• Technical Trading
• Copy Trading
• Scalping / Hedging Startegies
• Traders who prefer MT4 or MT5 platform
• Market Making trading
• Currency Trading and CFD Trading
• CFD Shares and Commodities Trading
• Trading with various strategies
• MAM/PAMM Trading
• High Leverage Trading
• Fixed Spread Trading