How do BDSwiss and Skilling 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.

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 BDSwiss and Skilling, 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 BDSwiss or Skilling 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 Skilling holds one Tier 1 and two Tier 2 licences, and BDSwiss holds no Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.

 

Can I trust Skilling?

Yes as Skilling was founded in 2018 and is regulated by BaFin, CySEC, Fi and FSA-Seychelles.

 

Can I trust BDSwiss?

Yes as BDSwiss was founded in 2012 and is regulated by FSC and FSA-Seychelles.

 

Based on these findings, Skilling earned a higher trust rating than BDSwiss.

Does BDSwiss or Skilling 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 Skilling has overall lower trading costs than BDSwiss. 

 

Does BDSwiss or Skilling 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, Skilling offers support for MT4 and MT5 and BDSwiss offers support for MT4, cTrader and Skilling Trader. 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

Copy trading is a great option for beginner traders who can’t trade full-time or lack experience with Forex trading. In this case both BDSwiss and Skilling offer copy trading.

 

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 Skilling offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than BDSwiss. Skilling offers 73 Forex pairs to trade and BDSwiss offers 50 Forex pairs to trade.

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, Skilling offers 57 cryptocurrencies while BDSwiss offers 27 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with Skilling.

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 BDSwiss charges a withdrawal fee and Skilling does not. Overall, BDSwiss has better deposit and withdrawal processes than Skilling. 

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. 

BDSwiss has better educational support than Skilling. Both BDSwiss and Skilling offer educational support for more experienced traders.

 

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 BDSwiss offers better research analysis than Skilling and that both BDSwiss and Skilling offer frequent webinars.

 

Our overall Verdict on BDSwiss

BDSwiss does not accept clients from the UK.  This review is for informational purposes only.  

Founded in 2012, BDSwiss is a responsible and well-regulated broker with a large international customer base.  It offers trading on multiple instruments, including Forex, commodities, shares, indices, and over 26 cryptocurrencies, a much wider range than other brokers.  

BDSwiss’s entry-level account offers relatively poor trading conditions compared to other market makers/STPs, with average spreads as wide as 1.5 pips (EUR/USD).  Trading costs improve on the VIP and Raw accounts, down to 1.1 pips and 0.3 pips (EUR/USD), respectively, but this is in exchange for a 500 USD minimum deposit and a round turn commission of 5 USD on the Raw Account. 

With full support for MT4, MT5, and its own proprietary trading platforms, traders can access various trading tools, including Autochartist and built-in trend analysis tools.  Additionally, its award-winning educational and analytical materials cater to traders of all experience levels, and BDSwiss allows all trading strategies, including hedging, scalping, and algorithmic trading.

Our overall Verdict on Skilling

With a wide range of tradable assets and good trading conditions on three live accounts, Skilling may appeal to traders familiar with the MT4 or cTrader platforms.

Skilling's commission-free Standard accounts have a minimum deposit requirement of 100 EUR and spreads that start at 0.8 pips (EUR/USD), which is tighter than the spreads on other brokers' entry-level accounts. Spreads tighten to 0.1 pips (EUR/USD) with a commission of 6 USD (round turn), but this is in exchange for a minimum deposit requirement of 5000 USD on its Premium Account. 

Skilling's financial instrument offering is impressive, with 73 forex pairs, over 700 share CFDs, 5 commodities, and 17 indices available for trading. MT4, cTrader, and Skilling’s proprietary trading platform are all supported, with seamless integration provided between cTrader and Skilling’s own platform – an industry first. Beginner traders will be disappointed to know that Skilling’s Forex education and market analysis are almost completely absent.  

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

BDSwiss has an overall rating of 4.32 and Skilling has an overall rating of 4.07. For more detail please read our reviews of BDSwiss and Skilling.