Between 54-87% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Based on 69 brokers who display this data.
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BrokerDNA™
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
IronFX
8.6
/10
VISIT IRONFX
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
Pepperstone
9.3
/10
VISIT PEPPERSTONE
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
AvaTrade
9.7
/10
VISIT AVATRADE
The BROKERDNA™ score tells you, overall, how reputable, suitable, and affordable a broker is compared to other brokers. This score is algorithmically-generated based on 31 factors. Neither our team, nor the brokers featured on our site, are able to change this without changing their service offering. Learn more here. |
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About |
IronFX is regulated by CySEC. IronFX have provided Forex trading services since 2010. |
Pepperstone is regulated by ASIC. Pepperstone have provided Forex trading services since 2010. |
AvaTrade is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, ASIC (Australia), FSA (Japan), FSB (South Africa) and BVI. AvaTrade have provided Forex trading services since 2006. |
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Why choose them? |
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Headquarters | Limassol, Cyprus | Melbourne, Australia | Dublin, Ireland | |
TRADING SERVICES OFFERED |
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Spot Forex | ||||
Forex (CFD) | ||||
CFD | ||||
Spread Betting | ||||
Social Trading | ||||
MARKETS & INSTRUMENTS | ||||
Forex (currency pairs) | 120 | 61 | 59 | |
Commodities Offered | 0 | 12 | 16 | |
Stocks Offered | 101 | 60 | 99 | |
Bitcoin | ||||
Majors | ||||
Indices | ||||
US Stocks | ||||
Penny stocks | ||||
Energies | ||||
Metals | ||||
Agriculturals | ||||
FTSE | ||||
Dow Jones | ||||
Dax | ||||
Nikkei | ||||
ETFs | ||||
IPO | ||||
See all instruments
73.26% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See all instruments
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
See all instruments
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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PLATFORM & FEATURES |
See the platforms and features offered by each broker |
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Screenshot |
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MT4 | ||||
MT5 | ||||
MT4 Mac | ||||
WebTrader | ||||
Mirror Trader | ||||
ZuluTrade | ||||
Sirix | ||||
cTrader | ||||
PAMM | ||||
Custom Platforms | No | No | AvaTradeAct, AVAOptions | |
APPS |
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iOS |
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Android |
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Windows |
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Available Languages |
English, Bulgarian, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Arabic, Bengali, Urdu, Czech, Farsi, and Slovak |
English, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Arabic |
English, Italian, German, French, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, Malay, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch |
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See platform & features
73.26% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See platform & features
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
See platform & features
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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ACCOUNT INFORMATION |
From micro accounts to ECN accounts, compare the accounts offered by IronFX and Pepperstone |
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Demo account | ||||
Mini account | ||||
Micro account | ||||
Standard account | ||||
ECN Account | ||||
Islamic account | ||||
Zero spread account | ||||
VIP account | ||||
Fixed spreads | ||||
Variable spreads | ||||
See account options
73.26% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See account options
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
See account options
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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TRADING CONDITIONS |
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Scalping | ||||
Hedging | ||||
Expert advisors (EAs) | ||||
Virtual private server | ||||
Direct market access | ||||
STP broker | ||||
Market maker | ||||
Min trade | 0.01 Lot | 0.01 Lot | 0.01 Lot | |
Max trade | None | None | None | |
Min deposit | $500 | $200 | $100 | |
RISK MANAGEMENT |
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Stop losses | ||||
Limit orders | ||||
One-click trading | ||||
Trailing stops | ||||
Price alerts | ||||
Signal trading | ||||
FUNDING METHODS |
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Credit card | ||||
Bank transfer | ||||
Standard account | ||||
Paypal | ||||
Neteller | ||||
Skrill | ||||
Payment processing time | Varies | Varies | Varies | |
Withdrawal processing time | Varies | Varies | Varies | |
See all funding options
73.26% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
See all funding options
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
See all funding options
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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DETAILED INFO |
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Excluded countries | KR,IR,IQ,SY,JP,US,ES | KR,IR,IQ,SY,JP,US,ES | BE,BR,NZ,US,KE,IN,GH | |
Contact email | Send Email | Send Email | Send Email | |
Phone number | 44(0) 203 282 7777 | 61 3 9020 0155 | (44) (0) 8005200423 | |
Live Chat | ||||
Website | www.ironfx.com | https://pepperstone.com/ | http://www.avatrade.com/ | |
Spreads: | ||||
EUR/USD (Average: 0.7 pips) | Not offered | 0.09 pips + $5.00 | 0.9 pips | |
GBP/USD (Average: 1.1 pips) | Not offered | 0.59 pips + $5.00 | 1.6 pips | |
USD/JPY (Average: 1.1 pips) | Not offered | 0.25 pips + $5.00 | 1.1 pips | |
AUD/USD (Average: 0.8 pips) | Not offered | 0.17 pips + $5.00 | 1.1 pips | |
USD/CHF (Average: 2.3 pips) | Not offered | 0.35 pips + $5.00 | 1.6 pips | |
USD/CAD (Average: 2.9 pips) | Not offered | 0.31 pips + $5.00 | 2.0 pips | |
NZD/USD (Average: 3.6 pips) | Not offered | 1.1 pips + $5.00 | 1.8 pips | |
EUR/GBP (Average: 2.4 pips) | Not offered | 1.0 pips + $5.00 | 1.5 pips | |
View all spreads
73.26% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
View all spreads
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
View all spreads
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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FEES |
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Inactivity Fee | No | No | No | |
Commission | No | Yes | No | |
Deposit Fee | No | No | No | |
Withdrawal Fee | Varies | No | No | |
View All Fees
73.26% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
View All Fees
CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. |
View All Fees
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. |
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Featured In | Best 5 Digit BrokersBest Brokers With VPSBest Brokers For IndicesBest FCA Regulated BrokersBest CySEC Regulated Brokers | Best cTrader BrokersBest Brokers For CocoaBest Brokers For MetalsBest Dow Jones BrokersBest DAX Brokers | Best MT4 BrokersBest Bitcoin BrokersBest Ethereum BrokersBest Ripple BrokersBest Litecoin Brokers | |
Last update |
All information collected from www.ironfx.com. Last updated on 01/03/2021. |
All information collected from https://pepperstone.com/. Last updated on 01/03/2021. |
All information collected from http://www.avatrade.com/. Last updated on 01/03/2021. |
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Company |
Founded in 2010, IronFX is considered to be one of the leading online Forex trading platforms. The first primary benefit of this firm is that more than 60 offices are located around the world and 45 different languages are spoken. IronFX is seen as one of the most versatile Forex portals, arising from the fact that numerous trading platforms are available. These include their own proprietary Web Trader system, the respected Meta Trader 4, A Personal Multiple Account manager (PMAM) and a multiple terminal system for those who wish to oversee several trading accounts within a single screen. |
Pepperstone provide a trading platform for retail and institutional investors looking for a broker that provides fast execution, reliable technology, award winning customer service all at superior competitive pricing. |
Since 2006, Avatrade have attracted over 20,000 traders to their platform. While their spreads are not the most competitive, they do offer traders a range of great features, such as guaranteed stop losses, the ability to hedge / scalp, and low margins. |
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Popular comparisons |
Popular comparisons feat. IronFX
ETX Capital vs IronFX |
Popular comparisons feat. Pepperstone
Pepperstone vs IC Markets |
Popular comparisons feat. AvaTrade
Avatrade vs LCG |
If you’re a trader looking for a broker that offers ECN execution (as opposed to a market maker), IronFX is likely the better choice. However, if you want a broker with lower spreads on currency pairs like EUR/USD, Pepperstone may be more appropriate.
You can determine a broker’s reliability & trustworthiness by looking at eight factors:
Based on these eight factors, we consider IronFX to be the more reliable broker. We’ve broken down why below:
IronFX is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority, CySEC and ASIC, while Pepperstone is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority,UK and ASIC.
AvaTrade are regulated by Central Bank of Ireland, ASIC, IIROC, FSA, FSB, UAE and BVI
If a broker has been around for a long period of time, they’re likely to be more reliable (in comparison, most scam brokers only exist for several years before they disappear).
This also suggests that a broker has good risk management processes that have prevented them being caught out by major financial events, as was the case with Alpari UK going bust when they were there was a policy reversal of capping the Swiss Franc against the Euro.
IronFX has been around for 11 years, while Pepperstone have been around for 11 years. Our third alternative broker, AvaTrade, have been around for 15 years.
You wouldn’t want your broker paying their staff out of the same bank account account that you’re depositing your trading funds into, would you?
Fortunately, all regulated brokers must use segregated bank accounts to hold client money. This is one of the reasons why we only feature regulated brokers here on BrokerNotes.
All three brokers above will hold your money in a separate bank account.
Most tier-1 banks like Barclays and HSBC have been around for over 100 years and manage trillions of dollars of assets, proving that they have stood the test of time.
Both IronFX and Pepperstone use tier one banks, but we are not sure of which bank specifically.
If a broker has been penalised by a regulator in the past five years, it may mean that they were caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing - which may be of concern to you as an end client.
We’re not aware of any penalties or fines imposed by regulators on IronFX or Pepperstone in the past five years.
While not always the case, the number of traders a broker has can be a good metric for understanding how reputable a brokers is.
Companies that are publicly listed on a stock exchange tend to be considered more reputable as they will be required to disclose their financials, and aspects of their operations, to the public.
Both IronFX and Pepperstone are privately owned companies.
Most reputable brokers tend to be headquartered in a major capital city or a financial hub such as Cyprus.
IronFX are based in Limassol, Cyprus, while Pepperstone are based in Melbourne, Australia .
Assuming the brokers you’re choosing between are reputable, the next point to consider is whether they offer all of the features you require to trade.
This can be broken down into three categories:
If you’re looking to trade currency pairs, both IronFX and Pepperstone offer forex trading. IronFX have a slightly larger variety of currency pairs with 120 pairs, compared to 61 offered by Pepperstone. Also, if you’re looking to trade cryptocurrencies, IronFX offers a handful of cryptocurrency CFDs to trade, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.
Both IronFX and Pepperstone allow you to trade commodities like gold, silver and crude oil.
IronFX and Pepperstone both offer social trading, which is a modern approach to trading that allows you to follow like-minded traders, copy their trading activity, and engage in discussion around trading strategies.
If you trade forex, there’s a good chance you might want a broker that offers the popular MT4 trading platform. If that’s the case, both IronFX and Pepperstone offer this. Pepperstone also offer the new & improved MT5 platform. Our alternative broker, AvaTrade, also offers MT4 and MT5.
In addition to the platform, you’ll also want to ensure that the broker you choose offers the account type best suited to your needs. IronFX, for example, offer a mini account, standard account and VIP account.
If you have a certain trading style (e.g. scalping, hedging, or using EAs), you’ll want to double check that the broker you choose allows this, as not all of them do.
IronFX does allow scalping and hedging. While Pepperstone also allows scalping and hedging. You can trade with EAs (expert advisors) on both IronFX and Pepperstone.
In terms of risk management tools, both brokers offer negative balance protection to prevent you owing your broker more than you’ve deposited.
IronFX also offer stop losses, limit orders, and price alerts to help you automate aspects of your trading strategy.
IronFX accept Neteller while Pepperstone accept Paypal.
Comparing the fee structures of different brokers can be a minefield at times. The important thing to consider is what the spreads & fees are on the specific instruments and account type that you will be using.
For trading EUR/USD, IronFX charges 1.00 points, while Pepperstone charges 0.00 points. Therefore, Pepperstone is the more affordable for this instrument. If you want to compare their spreads across more instruments, You can jump back up to our comparison of their currency pair & indice spreads above.
Another consideration is whether or not your broker charges inactivity, deposit/withdrawal fees, or commissions on trades. If you’re a frequent trader, inactivity fees are unlikely to be an issue.
There’s no such thing as a perfect broker, but some are going to be a better fit for you than others.
Objectively, IronFX is more reliable based on our criteria above. IronFX has a wider range of instruments to trade. IronFX offer lower spreads on popular forex instruments like EUR/USD and are used by more traders.
Both brokers offer demo accounts, allowing you to test their platforms to see which is suitable for you. You can test drive their demos using the links below:
Finally, if you’re really not sure you can always use our free tool (takes 15 seconds) that will help you find a suitable broker based on your precise requirements here.