AvaTrade is part of the AVA Group of companies and was founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 2006.

They have 5 offices around the world including Ireland, Australia, Japan, Abu Dhabi, and the British Virgin Islands.

AvaTrade is an internationally recognized Forex and CFD broker that offers commission–free trading.

Are you still looking for a Forex broker to settle down with?

Whether you are new to Forex, trading in between the lines, or just dissatisfied with your current broker. This is for you.

Read to the end to find out if AvaTrade meets your requirements of an ideal broker.

Can I shock you?

You might as well be a trader well satisfied with your broker but trust me you may realize things about AvaTrade which may blow your mind.

Such things may even make you wanna shift from your broker to AvaTrade.

You just never know, so pay attention to AvaTrade’s review for 2024.

Here are the parameters against which we shall review AvaTrade in 2024:

• Account Types.
• Minimum Deposit.
• Deposits and Withdrawals.
• Trading Cost.
• Client Support.
• Broker Regulation.
• Trading Platforms.
• Markets Offered.
• Risk Management.
• Trader Education.

1. Account Types.

AvaTrade offers a variety of account types. Here are the various account types that the broker offers:

• Retail/Standard Account.
• Professional Account.
• Islamic Account.
• Options Account.

Standard/Retail Account.

The Standard and Retail accounts are just the same account type.

The difference is in where the trader resides or their country of origin.

If the client is from the UK, Europe, or UAE, then they will have the “Retail” account available at their disposal.

If however, you want to trade from outside the UK, UAE, and Europe (in countries such as Australia, South Africa, Japan, and the rest of the world), then you can open a “Standard” account.

These accounts are the same in that they are a market maker/dealing desk type of account with no commissions.

But why are there different account types for clients from different countries though?

AvaTrade needs to comply with ESMA MiFID requirements for its European clients and FSRA requirements set by the Abu Dhabi Global Market for UAE clients.

These countries allow two types of trading conditions, one for retail traders and one for professional traders.

The Standard/Retail accounts allow commission-free trading because if no commissions are charged, spreads will be wider than STP or ECN brokers.

AvaTrade Professional Account.

This account type is available to traders in the UK, Europe, and UAE.

Traders in the mentioned regions who work in the finance industry, manage a financial portfolio or make regular huge trades can apply for a professional account.

With this account, professional traders can access leverage in line with that available to traders with a standard account.

AvaTrade does not take advantage of giving these professional traders huge leverage to exploit them. Rather, it is to help them manage huge amounts of trading capital easily.

On the brighter side, AvaTrade professional accounts still offer negative balance protection to professional traders, just as they would any other trader.

Features of the professional account in summary are:

• It is only available to clients in the UK, Europe, and the United Arab Emirates.
• Guaranteed Negative Balance Protection.
• Margin Call – when equity falls below 10% of the required margin.
• Maximum leverage of 1:400.

Islamic Account.

This is a swap-free account.

It is available for Islamic traders that follow sharia law.

With this account, there are no interests paid or received.

Features of the AvaTrade Islamic account include:

• It is only available to Islamic traders. Note that traders must verify their eligibility to get this account type.
• No daily swap fees or overnight fees.
• 1 pip on top of normal spread is charged to open a position.
• TRY, ZAR, MXN, and RUB pairs are not available for trading under this account type.
• It offers all CFDs except for cryptocurrency.
• If you keep your position open for 10 or more days, you will lose Islamic privileges.

Options Account.

AvaTrade offers European-style options for 42 Forex pairs, spot gold, and spot silver.

Options trading gives you the right to buy (call) or sell (put) a specified amount for Forex, gold, or silver at a certain price at an agreed-upon time in the future.

Options are available for a day, a week, one or more months, and up to one year.

Note that a premium is paid for the right to the options.

The amount of premium depends on the current price of the instrument and how long the option will take before expiry.

Features of the Options account in summary are:

• Call and put options—European style.
• AvaTrade offers 42 Forex pairs, Spot Gold and Spot Silver under this arrangement.
• A premium is charged.

2. Minimum Deposit.

Are you there thinking you need a lump sum of money before you can start trading with AvaTrade?

Well, you don’t.

The minimum deposit to open an account and start trading with AvaTrade is $100 only.

What about those whose AvaTrade accounts are maintained in non-USD currencies?

When making deposits, the minimum deposit requirement is 100 units, no matter the currency in which your account is managed – AUD/USD/EUR 100.

3. Deposits and Withdrawals.

Deposit payment methods vary depending on the country the trader resides.

Different countries, therefore, have access to different payment methods for their deposits. Below is the breakdown:

• Credit Card/ Debit Cards including both Visa and MasterCard are available to all nations where AvaTrade is available.
• WebMoney is accepted in Asia.
• Skrill and Neteller are accepted in Europe and the United Kingdom.
• Poli payment method is accepted in Australia.

Then how long do deposits take before they reflect on your AvaTrade account?

Transfer durations differ as follows:

• Credit Card / Debit Cards are instant.
• E-Payments are processed within 24 hours.
• Bank Transfer / Wire Transfer may take up to 7 days.

Withdrawals take 24-48 hours. Such withdrawals have conditions though.

Here are the withdrawal conditions:

• If you initially deposited using a credit or debit card, then 200% of the amount you deposited must first be withdrawn using the credit or debit card before you can withdrawal using other modes of payment.
• If you made your initial deposit with other methods, then 100% of the amount you deposited must first be withdrawn using that payment method before you can use other modes of payment to withdraw.

4. Trading Cost.

Usually, traders incur trading costs from commissions, spreads, and other charges meted upon them by the broker. Let us see the cost of trading with AvaTrade.

Commissions.

We have mentioned countless times that AvaTrade offers no–no-commission trading.

Therefore, no commissions are charged to any trader for whatever reason.

Spreads.

AvaTrade offers fixed spread accounts for retail traders.

That means all trading costs are included in the spread, instead of being quoted separately.

What do you expect in such a scenario where every cost is included in the spread?

Spreads will of course be wider than ECN pricing.

That then goes without saying that AvaTrade spreads might be higher than those for most brokers.

That does not, however, mean that AvaTrade spreads are the worst because AvaTrade spreads are competitive but will never be the best compared to those of other brokers.

If you are after the lowest possible spreads, then you may be best suited to consider ECN brokers.

Other Costs.

AvaTrade charges an inactivity fee of $25 when there is no trading activity on the account for 3 months.

Beware to trade frequently lest you risk incurring this cost.

5. Client Support.

AvaTrade client support team is available via:

• Live chat.
• Webmail (via contact us page).
• Phone available 24/5.

The client support team is multi-lingual via Phone. It has a local phone number for phone support available in different regions as follows:

Europe.

• Austria‎ +(43)720022655
• Cyprus: ‎+(35)725030235
• Denmark: +(45)78755456
• Finland:+(35)8942723482
• France: +(33)170702052
• Germany: +(49)8006644879
• Greece: +(30)2111984889
• Hungary: +(36)19989828
• Ireland: +(353)766705834
• Italy: +(39)0289038621
• Netherlands:+(31)858887467
• Norway: +(47)21031397
• Poland:+(48)122518098
• Portugal: +(351)308800273
• Romania: +(40)312297018
• Russia:+(7)4950493908
• Slovenia: +(38)617778294
• Spain: +(34)911876460
• Sweden: +(46)844687023
• Switzerland: + (41)225510054
• United Kingdom: +(44)2039661934

Australia and New Zealand.

• Australia: +(61)272018721

Africa.

• South Africa: +(27)105941353
• Nigeria: +(234)12278891

Asia.

• China:86 400 050 7282
• Hong Kong: 86 400 050 7282
• Malaysia: +(60) 378903866
• Korea: 8200798148007895
• Singapore: +(65)8001205170
• Taiwan: 86 400 050 7282
• Mongolia: +97676090909

South America.

• Argentina‎: +(54)1152460420
• Brazil‎: +(55)6140427290
• Chile‎: +56 2 2820 4212
• Colombia‎: +(57)15800498

The Middle East.

• Bahrain: ‎97316199033
• Kuwait: 96522069115

North America.

• Mexico: +(52)5585250780

6. Broker Regulation.

Are you concerned about the legitimacy of the AvaTrade broker?

This section should help clear the air.

AvaTrade is a regulated broker with a number of tier-1 regulators worldwide. These include the following regulators:

• Central Bank of Ireland in Europe. AvaTrade is registered as AVA Trade EU Ltd under license #C53877.
• Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) in Poland. AvaTrade is registered as AVA Trade EU Ltd.
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia. AvaTrade is registered as Ava Capital Markets Australia Pty Ltd under license #406684.
• AvaTrade is registered as Ava Trade Japan K.K by FSA under license #1662 and the FFA under license #1574, all in Japan.
• Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa. AvaTrade is registered as Ava Capital Markets Pty Ltd under license #45984.
• AvaTrade is registered as Ava Trade Ltd by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (No. SIBA/L/13/1049).
• Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authorities (ADGM FSRA) Category 31A license (No. 190018). AvaTrade is registered as AvaTrade Middle East Ltd.

Did you know that AvaTrade has restrictions on clients from certain countries?

Well, AvaTrade does not accept clients from the following countries:

• Belgium.
• Brazil.
• Canada.
• Iran.
• New Zealand.
• North Korea.
• Singapore.
• Turkey.
• The United States.

7. Trading Platforms.

So which trading platforms does AvaTrade support?

Is your favorite trading platform supported by AvaTrade? Let us see.

Here are the trading platforms that AvaTrade supports:

• MetaTrader 4.
• MetaTrader 5.
• AvaTrade Go – Mobile Trading.
• AvaTrade Options.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4).

The most popular trading platform since time immemorial is still king in the world of trading platforms. This is none other than MetaTrader 4 (MT4).

MT4 is used by so many traders than any other and that gives it a strong reputation and a large community of traders who can help each other.

With MT4, the community of traders can help each other in ways such as social trading, sharing ideas, and provision of signals and Expert Advisors among other ways.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is slowly succeeding MT4.

MT5 may not be as popular and reputable as MT4 but with it comes more powerful processing capability, a greater range of analysis tools, and the ability to trade exchange-traded derivatives such as stocks and ETFs.

Are you new to trading and spoiled for choice between MT4 and MT5?

Then I would say that MT5 can be a better choice for you.

Come to think of it, MT5 offers a longer-term solution to trading because MT4 is phasing out.

Mark you, MetaQuotes no longer offers new developments for MT4 since the inception of MT5.

AvaTrade Go.

AvaTradeGo is a mobile app that allows you to manage your MetaTrader 4 trading account.

It has the ability to trade using the MetaTrader underlying platform.

In a way, it is not actually a true platform but one which rides on another platform such as MT4.

AvaTrade Go is available on the Apple App Store for iOS and on Google Play Store for Android.

So what exactly does the AvaTrade Go App enable a trader to do? The platform allows you to:

• Easily see your trades.
• Create watch lists.
• Analyze charts.
• Obtain live feeds and prices.

All the above are meant to help a trader make better trading decisions.

That the AvaTrade Go is not actually a true platform doesn’t mean that we ignore it. It actually has several useful custom resources. These include:

• Market Trends – this feature allows you to monitor social trends happening in the AvaTrade community.
• AvaProtect – an order type that protects you against any losses for a period of time at a small fee.
• Step-by-step guidance on opening trades.
• Easy switching between a demo account and a live account for practice before real trading.

AvaTrade Options.

AvaOption is AvaTrade’s platform build for Options trading.

Just like AvaTrade GO, AvaOption is built on the MetaTrader 4 platform to manage one’s MT4 account.

What makes AvaOption different from AvaTrade Go is the fact that AvaOption offers features essential for trading options.

Options trading can get complex at times, so AvaTrade brings forth solutions to Options trading packed in the AvaOption platform.

So what are these solutions to Options trading which are contained in AvaOption?

They include the following:

• 14 in-built trading strategies for options.
• Special pages that summarize portfolio risks, such as Delta, Theta, and Vega.
• Graphical tools to demonstrate the risks and potential rewards.

8. Markets Offered.

AvaTrade offers a wide range of trading instruments. These include the following:

Forex.

AvaTrade avails over 55 currency pairs. Among them are the majors, minors, and exotic pairs.

Stocks.

AvaTrade has a good collection of stocks compiled from NYSE, NASDAQ, and London Stock Exchange.

Commodities.

AvaTrade offers over 26 commodities. Among them are the following notable commodities:

• Oil (Brent, Crude, Heating)
• Gas.
• Gasoline.
• Gold.
• Silver.
• Copper.
• Palladium.
• Platinum.
• Soft Commodities.

Indices.

AvaTrade offers over 23 indices. Among them are the following major indices:

• MSCI.
• Dow Jones.
• ProShares.
• Direxion Daily.
• S&P 500.

ETFs.

AvaTrade offers over 31 ETF products. They include ETFs based on the following indices:

• MSCI.
• Dow Jones.
• ProShares.
• Direxion Daily.
• S&P 500.

Bonds.

AvaTrade offers 2 bonds namely:

• EURO-Bond.
• Japan Govt Bond.

Cryptocurrencies.

AvaTrade offers over 14 cryptocurrency products. These include:

• 10 Cryptocurrencies.
• 3 Cryptocurrency crosses.
• 1 crypto index.

Options.

AvaTrader offers over 44 options derivatives. They include the following:

• 42 – Forex Options.
• 1 Gold Option.
• 1 Silver Option.

9. Risk Management.

Trading is a risky affair, no matter the instrument you are trading.

With the incorporation of leverage, it becomes even riskier because the leverage amplifies both profits and losses.

That said, a broker may seek to help traders mitigate their risks by providing them with certain features on the trading platform.

So which features does AvaTrade offer to mitigate trading risks?

Here are some of them:

a. Negative Balance Protection.

AvaTrade offers guaranteed negative balance protection to all clients, with exception of none.

This also includes professional traders who would not be offered such by other brokers for the sole reason of having bigger leverage advantages.

It means that if your positions go against you and your losses exceed your deposit, AvaTrade will close your positions and pay any negative balances.

b. Margin Call/Stop Out.

AvaTrade will close your positions when your equity falls below the margin requirements.

The conditions under which the margin call is effected are:

• When equity falls below 50% of the required margin in Retail Accounts.
• Whenever equity falls below 10% of the required margin in a Standard Account or Professional Account.
• When Net Liquidation Value drops below 25% of Required Margin in AvaOption.

c. AvaProtect.

This is a unique feature that AvaTrade offers on its AvaTrade Go mobile trading platform.

AvaProtect is an order type that protects you against any losses for a period of time for a small fee.

This feature has not been in use for long.

It was introduced in January 2020 and allows you to buy guaranteed protection for a pre-determined timeframe.

If your trade goes against you during this defined period, AvaTrade will refund you in liquid cash.

So to what extent can you be reimbursed for your losses?

Protection of up to 1 million is available for retail, standard, and professional accounts.

Note that this tool is only tied to the AvaTrader Go platform.

As such, if you are using MT4 or 5, you will not be able to access the tool.

10. Trader Education.

AvaTrade offers a variety of educational resources to help traders develop their trading skills.

These are for all levels of traders whether beginner traders, intermediate traders, or experienced traders.

Beginner traders can have a free ebook called “Forex First Steps” emailed to them after completing the registration form.

Beginner traders are also offered the “Trading for Beginners” education resource.

These 59 chapters are divided into 3 sections namely:

• What is – What is forex, what are options?
• Banks – European Central Bank, Bank of England.
• How to – How to trade stocks, how to trade online.

Once a beginner has completed the beginner resource, they can move onto the Professional Trading strategies resource.

Here, you find 27 topics including those on every type of technical indicator which you should know.

Other resources offered by AvaTrade are videos and webinars. Some of the video topics include:

• Beginner (9 videos).
• Assets and tools (12 videos).
• Trading strategies (10 videos).
• Advanced trading tools (14 videos).
• Trading platforms (7 videos).
• Trading safely (3 videos).

Wrapping Up.

What haven’t I mentioned?

What else do you wish to know about AvaTrade?

This review has touched on everything. 

If you wish to know more about the AvaTrade Platform, go ahead and visit their site.

Happy Trading!