Is XM better than AvaTrade? This depends on your individual needs as a trader. While XM offers a low minimum deposit and a good range of account types, AvaTrade has transparent pricing and a strong international presence, with regulatory oversight in several different regions.
When you compare XM vs AvaTrade, both brokers are reliable and well respected, so which is the best broker for you?
Risk Warning: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74.89% 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.
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.
Comparing broker fees is never easy, as they all have a range of fees that may or may not apply to you, depending on your trading activities. Some of the cheaper brokers actually have lots of hidden fees, while those with more expensive trading fees may have no hidden extras at all.
AvaTrade has average fees compared to other retail traders, with the tightest spreads only available to its professional clients. The fact that there is only one main retail trading account, however, does tend to make pricing transparent. At XM, fees vary according to the account type, so you will have to take a close look at the terms and conditions for the type of account you need. Neither of these brokers charges any account opening, deposit, or withdrawal fees, but they do both charge an inactivity fee on dormant accounts.
At AvaTrade, spreads on USD/EUR are generally less than one pip, but spreads on less frequently traded pairs can be much higher. It is generally easy to see what the spreads are on each instrument, as they are the same for all retail traders. At XM, clients who hold the XM Zero account can benefit from spreads as low as 0.0 pips on USD/EUR trades. However, they will pay a standard commission of £3.50 per $100,000 traded.
When deciding whether to trade with AvaTrade or XM, you will be governed by the laws and regulations placed on leverage according to the region you live in. Both brokers offer leverage of up to 30:1 to UK and EU clients, which is the standard maximum leverage that European regulators allow brokers to offer. As AvaTrade has a number of international offices governed by different local regulators, international clients may be able to access higher leverage with this broker.
Opening an account with either AvaTrade or XM is quick and easy, with the initial registration process taking just minutes. XM will generally have your account live within one business day, while at AvaTrade, it will take one to two business days. At both brokers, delays can occur if there are problems with verifying your identity or address, so make sure that you complete your details accurately and follow all instructions carefully.
Both AvaTrade and XM offer a demo account so that you can try out the system before committing to investing real money. It is worth noting that AvaTrade enables existing customers to set up demo accounts from inside their dashboard in WebTrader. This makes it easy for those who are already trading to test out new trading strategies using virtual funds.
AvaTrade offers its own proprietary WebTrader platform, but MT4 or MT5 are also available to forex traders, along with the AvaOptions platform, which is for those trading forex CFDs. The broker also offers the ZuluTrade copy trading platform for those traders who are already familiar with it, alongside its own copy trading platform, DupliTrade.
XM offers MT4 and MT5 trading, as well as copy trading via XM Mirror Trader. This means that both brokers will be of interest to you if you are into copy trading, or indeed MT4/MT5 trading.
XM has a very low minimum deposit, allowing traders to get started with a deposit of as little as $5. With AvaTrade, the minimum deposit requirement is higher, but it is still very affordable at just $100 (or £/€100, depending on your region).
XM provides trading in more than 55 currency pairs and offers a total of more than 1,000 instruments, including forex, CFDs, stocks, commodities, energies, precious metals and indices. AvaTrade also offers around 1,000 instruments, including more than 60 currency pairs and some cryptocurrencies. Multi-asset traders with AvaTrade can access bonds, ETFs, commodities, indices and stocks, as well as spot forex, forex options and CFDs.
When comparing XM vs AvaTrade, both brokers are a solid choice, but which one you choose will depend on your own requirements. Depending on the type of trading you do, you may find that either XM or AvaTrade is cheaper overall. Those with a very low amount to invest can benefit from the low deposit requirement at XM. However, international traders, or those who want to trade crypto alongside other assets, will prefer AvaTrade.