Our broker comparison of AvaTrade and Spreadex will help you find the best broker for you, based on your needs as a trader. Both AvaTrade and Spreadex offer traders a straightforward and user-friendly trading experience, but which is best? Each broker has its own pros and cons, so read on to find out if AvaTrade is better than Spreadex, or vice versa, given your investing strategies.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% 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.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 64% of retail investors lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. For professional clients, spread betting and CFD trading can result in losses larger than your initial stake or deposit.
AvaTrade offers clients a zero-commission model, with fees taken from the spreads, which are pretty reasonable. On the EURUSD, for example, the average spread is 0.9 pips. There are no deposit and withdrawal fees, but if your account is dormant for a year, there is an inactivity fee of $50 per quarter, along with an admin fee of $100 annually. There are also swap fees charged on positions held open overnight.
Spreadex comes with no commissions and tight spreads, with the EURUSD forex pair trading at an average of 0.6 pips. The only other trading fees are the swap fees. There are no deposit and withdrawal fees, and there is no inactivity fee on dormant accounts.
At AvaTrade, you can trade forex, stocks, commodities, indices and a decent number of cryptocurrencies, with the majority of the instruments on offer available to trade via CFDs. AvaTrade offers over 50 forex pairs, along with various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and a fairly impressive range of other altcoins.
Spreadex is a specialist broker offering financial spread betting, forex and CFD trading, as well as a popular sports betting branch. The brokerage offers CFD trading and spread betting on thousands of global markets, with assets available across various categories, including forex, single shares, indices, commodities, ETFs, bonds and options. Cryptocurrencies are also available, but not to retail clients. You will need to apply for Professional Client status to access crypto trading with this broker.
There is no doubt that a major advantage of Spreadex for some clients is its focus on spread betting. Spread betting is a particularly popular type of investing in the UK as it is not only legal but also carries tax advantages. However, spread betting is illegal in some countries, including the US, so please be aware of this and check the legal position on spread betting in your country of residence if you have an interest in it.
Both brokers offer a high-quality user experience. However, there are some significant differences. AvaTrade offers a much better choice of trading platforms. It offers MT4 and MT5, WebTrader, and the AvaTradeGO platform, along with mobile apps for both iOS and Android devices, and automated social trading platforms, including the AvaSocial app, ZuluTrade and DupliTrade.
Spreadex does not support MT4 or MT5 trading. The broker does offer an excellent web platform, but it also has a strong focus on mobile trading, with apps available for most devices, including iPhone, iPad and Android. The apps are very robust and highly secure, complete with SSL encryption and Touch ID log-in (for iPhone and iPad) and Pin log-in for Android.
AvaTrade is an international brokerage with a presence in various countries around the world, and has full regulation by the relevant regulatory bodies in each jurisdiction in which it operates. These regulating bodies include the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), which oversees AvaTrade’s operations across the EU, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which regulates trading activities in Australia. The broker is also regulated to operate in the Middle East and the British Virgin Islands.
Spreadex is a UK-based firm that is fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Spreadex users who are classified as retail clients can be assured that all client funds are therefore held in a segregated account in accordance to FCA client money rules. The firm is listed in the Financial Times’ Europe’s fastest-growing 1000 list, and currently serves around 60,000 clients.
The AvaTrade demo account allows you to find your way around the platform and place risk-free practice trades to try out your trading strategies. It comes with up to $100,000 of virtual funds, and signing up is very quick and easy. To register for a demo account, you will need to provide some basic information such as your email and phone number, or you can simply sign up via your Facebook or Google account if that is more convenient. You will not have to verify your account or deposit any money. This can be done if and when you upgrade to a live account.
One big drawback of Spreadex is that it does not offer a demo account. This is not a deal breaker in itself, but it is a disadvantage, especially for new traders, and also given that the firm runs its own platform with no option for trading with third-party software such as MT4 and MT5.
When it comes to assessing AvaTrade vs Spreadex, both brokers have their advantages. Spreadex does not offer MT4 or MT5 trading, or a demo account, so if those things are very important to you, then AvaTrade is the best broker for you. AvaTrade also serves an international client base, whereas Spreadex focuses on UK clients.
Having highlighted the advantages of AvaTrade vs Spreadex, however, we do have to point out one very important advantage of Spreadex, which is its specialisation in spread betting. While this will not be of relevance to all traders, it means that Spreadex is the best broker for UK traders who want to take advantage of the many benefits of investing via a spread betting platform. Spreadex is fully regulated in the UK, and offers legal, tax-efficient financial spread betting. So, if this is your investment focus, then Spreadex may be the best broker for you.