Compare AvaTrade and Libertex, which is the best broker for you? We’ll consider the features that impact your trading experience and give you the information you need to help you decide which broker is best. Both AvaTrade and Libertex are reputable, regulated CFD brokers, but is AvaTrade better than Libertex? Or vice versa?
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.
Trading CFDs involves substantial risk of loss and may not be suitable for all investors. Trading such high-risk financial contracts may result in the loss of all the client's invested capital. 77.7% of retail investors lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
AvaTrade offers clients a no-commission trading model with tight spreads – on the EURUSD, for example, the spread is 0.9 pips on average. There are no deposit and withdrawal fees, but after 12 months without trading, an inactivity fee of $50 per quarter is levied, along with an admin fee of $100 annually. There are swap fees applied to positions held open overnight.
Libertex charges a small commission alongside very tight spreads on forex trading. There are no commissions on stocks. Spreads vary across instruments but are generally competitive. There is no admin fee, but an inactivity fee of $5 a month is charged on dormant accounts. While some withdrawal methods are free, there are small charges on others, including bank wires and credit or debit cards. Deposits are free. Swap fees apply to most instruments, but not to cryptocurrencies.
AvaTrade is a multi-asset broker that facilitates trading using leverage by providing contract for difference (CFD) trading across a wide range of asset classes. Instruments available include forex, stocks, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies. The broker allows CFD trading in more than 50 forex pairs and a number of cryptocurrencies, including some of the less popular altcoins.
Libertex offers around 250 CFDs on stocks, precious metals, oil and gas, indices, ETFs and cryptocurrencies. You can trade stocks and cryptocurrencies with 0% commission, with the only cost being the spread. Most CFDs are traded with a commission plus spread fee model.
AvaTrade offers a user-friendly website and a choice of platforms, including MT4 and MT5, WebTrader, or the broker’s proprietary AvaTradeGO platform instead. Account opening is easy and almost instant, though it can take up to one business day to verify your documents and get everything up and running. AvaTrade offers good training and education, social and automated trading, and a low minimum deposit, all of which means that the broker will certainly appeal to less experienced traders.
At Libertex, account opening is also very straightforward, and again the website is well laid out, though it is a little ‘busy’ and therefore not quite as easy to navigate as AvaTrade. It is obvious from the layout of the website that the broker prefers you to use the Libertex trading platform, and this is the default option offered. If you want to access MT4 and MT5 trading at Libertex, scroll to the bottom of the homepage and you will find a link in the footer, on the right-hand side under ‘Platforms’ if you are on a desktop or laptop. From there, you can access the MetaTrader options.
AvaTrade is an international brokerage and is fully regulated by the relevant authorities in the different jurisdictions in which it operates. The regulatory bodies overseeing the firm’s activities include the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus (and throughout the EU), and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia. The firm is also regulated in other parts of the world, including the Middle East, South Africa and the British Virgin Islands.
Libertex is a trading platform used by Indication Investments Ltd, a Cyprus Investment Firm, which is regulated by CySEC to provide investment services to the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. The broker is also authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, where the firm operates under the Financial Services Contracts Regime, which allows EEA-based firms to continue to operate in the UK for a limited period, following the country’s departure from the EU.
New clients at AvaTrade are given the option to open either a live account or a demo account. Opening a demo account can be done by simply submitting your name, phone number and email, or even by signing up via Facebook or Google. The AvaTrade demo account comes with virtual funds of up to $100,000, and it is easy to upgrade to a real-money account when you are ready, though you should allow up to a day for your information to be verified when changing to a live account.
At Libertex, you can also try out the platform with a demo account, and again the process is simple as you will just need to provide some very basic information and agree to the privacy policy and terms and conditions. The Libertex demo account comes with up to $50,000 of virtual funds.
We would like to point out that while demo accounts attempt to mimic real market conditions, they cannot replicate them perfectly. Live trading is characterised by real-time market liquidity, pricing delays, and potential slippage and re-quotes, which are not usually simulated when using a demo account.
As our broker comparison shows, both AvaTrade and Libertex are reputable and regulated brokers offering forex, crypto and other instruments as CFDs. There is a wider choice of platforms, and more social and automated trading options, at AvaTrade, and beginner traders may find it more user-friendly. Libertex is well-liked by many of its clients, however, and has won several awards. Remember, you can try out each broker with a demo account to see which suits you best.