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FXCM vs AvaTrade - 2024 Comparison | FxScouts
AuthorAuthor: Björn MichelsPublished: October 21, 2020
EditorEditor: Chris CammackUpdated: November 15, 2023

Last Updated On November 15, 2023

Björn Michels

Trading with a reputable online broker is a crucial factor for success in the international markets. At FxScouts, we help you find the broker that suits your trading needs.

Each year we spend thousands of hours testing brokers by opening accounts, testing their platforms, and rating them according to a set of over 200 metrics. We deposit real money with the brokers to ensure that the products and user experience they advertise are consistent with reality.

We have found that the best way for traders to choose a broker is to compare brokers side-by-side. The comparison tool below allows you to compare two brokers based on their ratings and features.

Select brokers to compare

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Broker Score
Risk Statement
Min. Deposit
Regulation
Trading Desk Type
Trading Instruments
Forex Pairs
Crypto Pairs
Pros
Cons
Regulation
Trading Conditions
Trading Platforms
Deposit & Withdrawal
Education & Research
Assets Available
Customer Service
% Lose with this broker
Leverage
Spread
Hedging
Scalping
Account Types
Islamic Acct
Trading Platforms
Funding Methods
Trading Commission
11110.54.28/ 5 67% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyGBP 50FCA Regulated Forex BrokersASIC Regulated BrokersFinancial Services Conduct AuthorityCySEC Regulated BrokersFinancial Services Authority – St. Vincent & the GrenadinesMarket MakerBonds, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Energies, Stock CFDs, Forex, Indices, Metals457
  • Well regulated
  • Great platform choice
  • Excellent education
  • Innovative trading tools
  • Limited demo account
Read Review 111115/ 5 111104/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111003/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111104/ 5 76.31%30:11.30 pips Active Trader, Standard MT4, TradeStationVisa, Mastercard, Unionpay, Bank Transfer, Skrill, NetellerNone
11110.54.59/ 5 76% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyGBP 100ASIC Regulated BrokersFinancial Services Conduct AuthorityCySEC Regulated BrokersFinancial Services AgencyCentral Bank of IrelandFinancial Regulatory Services AuthorityMarket MakerBonds, Commodities, Stock CFDs, ETFs, Forex, Indices, Vanilla Options5520
  • Top-tier regulation and security with licenses from ASIC and CBI among others
  • Accessible trading with a low minimum deposit of 100 USD
  • Award-winning mobile trading with the AvaTradeGO app with social trading features
  • Wide range of assets including unique instruments like vanilla options
  • Educational material to support trader development and strategy enhancement
  • Market analysis could be more extensive
  • Poor regulatory oversight outside of the UK and EU
  • Avatrade is a Market Maker and operate a dealing desk which might not align with all trading preferences
Read Review 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111115/ 5 111115/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 76%30:10.90 pips Islamic, Professional, Retail MT4, MT5, Avatrade Social, AvaOptionsBank Transfer, Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, Klarna, PaypalFees Included in Spread

How do AvaTrade and FXCM stack up against each other?

The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.

AvaTrade

FXCM

At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.

To compare AvaTrade and FXCM, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.

Does AvaTrade or FXCM have a better trust and regulation rating?

Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.

In our comparison, we found that FXCM holds three Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences, and AvaTrade holds three Tier 1 and two Tier 2 licences.

 

Is FXCM financially regulated?

Yes FXCM was founded in 2015 and is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, FCA, FSA-St-Vincent and FSCA.

 

Is AvaTrade financially regulated?

Yes AvaTrade was founded in 2006 and is regulated by ASIC, CBI, CySEC, FRSA, FSA-Japan and FSCA.

 

Based on these findings, FXCM earned a higher trust rating than AvaTrade.

Does AvaTrade or FXCM have lower costs?

Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged. 

Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that AvaTrade has overall lower trading costs than FXCM. 

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Broker
Trading Conditions
Base Currencies
EURUSD (Standard)
Trading Cost (Standard)
EURUSD (Best)
GBPUSD (Best)
USDJPY (Best)
Commission
FXCM
111104/ 5
USD, GBP, EUR
1.30 pips
USD 13
1.30 pips
0.60 pips
0.30 pips
USD 0
AvaTrade
11110.54.5/ 5
USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, ZAR, CHF
0.90 pips
USD 9
0.90 pips
1.60 pips
1.10 pips
USD 0

 

Does AvaTrade or FXCM offer a better choice of trading platforms?

Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms. 

In this case, 0 offers support for and 0 offers support for . 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

In this case both AvaTrade and FXCM offer copy trading.

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Broker
Platform Choice
Copy Trading
Platforms
FXCM
11110.54.5/ 5
TradeStation
AvaTrade
11110.54.5/ 5
Avatrade Social
AvaOptions

 

Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?

A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that AvaTrade offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than FXCM. AvaTrade offers 55 Forex pairs to trade and FXCM offers 45 Forex pairs to trade.

Toplist Forex Pairs

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, AvaTrade offers 20 cryptocurrencies while FXCM offers 7 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with AvaTrade.

Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?

Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals. 

We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that FXCM charges a withdrawal fee and AvaTrade does not. Overall, AvaTrade has better deposit and withdrawal processes than FXCM. 

Which broker offers better educational support?

We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas. 

AvaTrade has better educational support than FXCM. Both AvaTrade and FXCM offer educational support for more experienced traders.

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Broker
Beginner Course
Advanced Course
FXCM
AvaTrade

 

Which broker offers better market analysis materials?

To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field. 

We found that 0 offers better research analysis than 0 and that both AvaTrade and FXCM offer frequent webinars.

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Broker
Economic Calendar
Autochartist
Trading Central
Trading View
Free VPS
FXCM
AvaTrade

 

Our overall Verdict on AvaTrade

Considered one of the best all-round brokers, Avatrade will be an attractive choice for most traders. In our review, we found that Avatrade has a wide range of tradable assets, low trading fees, and a choice of four different trading platforms. In addition, Avatrade offers some of the best trading tools in the industry, alongside a world-class selection of educational and market analysis materials, providing traders with everything they need to make trading decisions.

Avatrade is also popular for its award-winning mobile app, AvatradeGO, which has excellent risk management tools and a direct connection to AvaSocial, AvaTrade’s popular social trading system.

British traders will also be pleased to find that Avatrade provides local customer support via a local telephone number.

Our overall Verdict on FXCM

FXCM may appeal to high-volume traders who appreciate a wide platform choice and an extensive suite of advanced trading tools. However, its fixed leverage, high trading costs, high currency conversion fees, and high interest rates may deter some traders. 

A well-regulated broker, FXCM offers an average number of financial instruments compared to other brokers, including Forex, commodities, indices, share CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. FXCM's single account has a minimum deposit of 50 USD and average spreads of 1.30 pips (EUR/USD), which is wider than other brokers. Clients with a notional trading volume of more than 10 million USD per month are eligible for rebates, dedicated customer support, free VPS services, and free access to multiple APIs. 

FXCM 's range of trading platforms includes MT4, various advanced specialty platforms, and FXCM's award-winning proprietary platform, Trading Station. It also offers numerous trading tools, including various API tools, TradingView, Zulutrade, and a host of FXCM apps. 

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

AvaTrade has an overall rating of 4.59 and FXCM has an overall rating of 4.28. For more detail please read our reviews of AvaTrade and FXCM.

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