Best Automated Trading Platforms In Australia

Our March 2024 list of the best automated trading software is:

Broker Our Rating Regulation Standard
EUR/USD Spread
Standard
GBP/USD Spread
Standard
AUD/USD Spread
Raw
EUR/USD Spread
Raw
GBP/USD Spread
Raw
AUD/USD Spread
Commissions
(USD Base)
MetaTrader 4 MetaTrader 5 cTrader Execution Speed Minimum Deposit Currency Pairs Crypto CFDs Retail Leverage Prof. Leverage
98 SCB, ASIC
FCA, CySEC
1.10 1.40 1.20 0.10 0.40 0.20 $3.50 77ms $0 62+ 12+ 30:1 500:1 Visit Site
85 ASIC, FSA-S
CySEC
0.62 0.83 0.77 0.02 0.23 0.17 $3.50 134ms $0 61+ 18+ 30:1 500:1 Visit Site
75 ASIC, SCB
FCA,CySEC
1.0 1.0 1.2 0.06 0.73 0.27 $3.50 143ms $250 (Raw)
$500 (Standard)
40+ 250+ 500:1 500:1 Visit Site
73 ASIC, CYSEC
FSC, FSA, SCA
1.0 1.3 1 0.2 0.5 0.2 $3.50 144ms $0 49+ 14+ 30:1 500:1 Visit Site
71 ASIC, FCA, BaFin
FINMA, NFA/CFTC, MAS
CySEC, DFSA, FMA
JFSA, BMA, FSCA
1.13 1.66 1.01 0.16 0.59 0.29 $6.00 174ms $450 100+ 12+ 30:1 200:1 Visit Site
43 ASIC, CySEC, MFSA
FCA, FSA, FINRA
GFSC
1.0 2.0 1.0 - - - - 130ms $200 (Australia), $50-$100 (EU) 49+ 46+ 30:1 400:1 Visit Site
 

What Are The Best Automated Trading Platforms In Australia?

The following list reviews the best automated trading platforms in Australia and the brokers that offer them. Each platform has a unique advantage for algorithmic trading and each broker specialises in one trading platform that stands apart from the rest of the field. We have also factored in other trading considerations such as fees and product range.

1. MetaTrader 4 with Pepperstone Best Forex Algorithmic

MetaTrader 4 with Pepperstone

Forex Panel Score

98

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.1
GBP/USD = 0.4
AUD/USD = 0.2

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView

Minimum Deposit

$0

Why We Recommend Pepperstone

Pepperstone is our top pick for forex algorithmic trading because of its automated trading capabilities when using Expert Advisors and tighter RAW spread. It averages 0.1 pips for EUR/USD currency pairs and 0.38 pips for our tests done by Ross Collins for the RAW spread account. The broker also achieved 100% zero spreads outside rollover in tests also done by Ross Collins.

Pepperstone’s zero deposit and withdrawal fee with free VPS services on its MT4 trading platform is advantageous for traders interested in capitalising on low-cost trading, and faster trade execution.

Broker Details

To test the MetaTrader 4 platform, we opened a Pepperstone account and downloaded the platform to our PC. We found that the MetaTrader 4 is a versatile trading platform offering a range of tools, including 30+ indicators, three chart types, nine timeframes, custom indicators, and automated trading bots.

What stood out for us was the ability to create your own Expert Advisors (EA) to automate your strategies. We tested MetaTrader 4’s algorithmic capabilities by downloading a free Expert Advisor from MetaQuotes and installing it on a demo account. This process was simple; you can do it all from within the MT4 platform.

We were impressed by how easy it was to get started with the EA. Once installed, you can simply drag and drop the EA onto the chart, and it will start to run based on the rules set.

We Recommend Pepperstone For MT4

In our opinion, Pepperstone pairs well with the MetaTrader 4 platform as they offer low spreads on both of their accounts, which is perfect for automated trading.

To better understand the spreads, we opened a Standard and a RAW spreads account. The Standard account is Pepperstone’s spread-only account with no commission and offers an average spread of 1.12 pips on EUR/USD. The RAW account has tighter spreads, averaging 0.1 pips on EUR/USD, but charges a commission of $3.50 per lot.

ECN Broker Spreads
0.40 0.60 0.10 0.40 0.20
0.50 0.60 0.30 0.50 0.50
0.30 N/A 0.30 0.50 0.40
0.20 0.83 0.44 0.40 0.42
0.24 N/A 0.17 0.54 0.30
0.30 0.70 0.20 0.50 0.40
0.30 1.10 0.10 0.60 0.50
n/a 0.30 n/a 0.60 0.50
0.77 1.41 0.44 1.13 1.23

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 03/01/2024

Another benefit of RAW spreads is that they can go as low as 0.0 pips, so we tested how frequently Pepperstone would offer the major pairs at zero pips. We were impressed that they had a 100% uptime of 0.0 pips on its major pairs, outperforming all other brokers apart from City Index.

Zero Spread Testing
Broker Time At Minimum Spread
Pepperstone 100%
City Index 100%
Fusion Markets 98.55%
ThinkMarkets 97.93%
IC Markets 97.83%
TMGM 97.83%
FP Markets 97.83%
Eightcap 97.83%
Admirals 95.60%
Blueberry Markets 94.20%
GO Markets 87.68%
BlackBull Markets 86.96%
GO Markets 87.68%
Axi 82.61%
CMC Markets 81.88%

If the spreads are this low on the RAW account, this makes it a prime choice when it comes to automating your trades with MetaTrader 4, as you’ll only pay the fixed commission of $3.50 for each trade, helping you keep your trading costs low and predictable.

pepperstone accounts and products australia 1 pips

Pepperstone ReviewVisit Pepperstone

Broker Screenshots

2. MetaTrader 5 with IC Markets Best CFD Share Trading

MetaTrader 5 with IC Markets

Forex Panel Score

85

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.02
GBP/USD = 0.23
AUD/USD = 0.17

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5, cTrader

Minimum Deposit

$200

Why We Recommend IC Markets

All indicators point to IC Markets as the best brokers for CFD share trading. This is because of its wide variety of CFD shares that allow traders to diversify their portfolios.

IC Markets offers 0.62 pips for EUR/USD currency pairs and a major pair average spread of 0.76 pips against the industry average of 1.52 pips. The broker also has good VPS services that power its MT4 and MT5 platforms while providing a proprietary platform.

Broker Details

We found MetaTrader 5 improves on MetaTrader 4, extending its range of indicators to 38, 21 chart timeframes, and has new tools like Depth of Market.

The Depth of Markets is made possible thanks to its new infrastructure upgrades that connect to the liquidity provider so you can view the open order book, showing you all the open and pending orders at particular price levels.

We tested this tool and liked that you could see the open interest for each price level. This gives you an idea of where the demand is so you can make or adjust your trading ideas to reflect this. We think you could use this as an additional indicator to help support your technical analysis, as this is raw price action, showing actual demand, which is incredibly powerful intel.

We Recommend IC Markets With MT5

We like IC Markets when it comes to trading with MetaTrader 5, which offers a selection of 1,600+ share CFDs across several major exchanges, including the FTSE, ASX, NYSE, and NASDAQ.

If you like to trade multiple markets, we found the broker also offered 61+ forex pairs, 25+ indices, 26+ commodities, and 18+ crypto markets. All of these markets can take advantage of MetaTrader 5s features.

While reviewing IC Markets, we tested the spreads to see how IC Markets performed using the RAW Trading account. Our analyst, Ross Collins, chose to test the average spreads of EUR/USD during multiple market sessions to get the average spread IC Markets offered. He found they offered an average spread of 0.32 pips, below the 0.49 pips industry average.

RAW Spreads Tested By Ross Collins
0.16 0.09 0.21 0.22 0.23
0.19 0.19 0.41 0.36 0.61
0.19 0.23 0.27 0.24 0.24
0.22 0.23 0.17 0.27 0.16

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 03/01/2024

As you can see, this placed the broker joint third, slightly behind City Index and Fusion Markets, which are well known for their low spreads.

ic markets account types and trading platforms

Broker Screenshots

3. cTrader with FxPro Top Robot Trading Software

cTrader with FxPro

Forex Panel Score

61

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.2
GBP/USD = 0.2
AUD/USD = 0.5

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5, cTrader, FxPro Trading Platform

Minimum Deposit

$100

Why We Recommend FxPro

FxPro is our recommended option for traders seeking brokers with robot trading software via cTrader Automate. cTrader comes with advanced charting and technical analysis packages, allowing you to conduct in-depth market analysis.

Decent standard spreads of 1.32 pips on the EUR/USD currency pair and a fixed spread of 1.96 pips on the same currency pair. FXPro also does not require a minimum deposit to open an account.

Broker Details

We like the cTrader platform as it’s a cross between MetaTrader 5 and TradingView, combining the automation features and depth of market tools of MetaTrader 5 with the excellent chart tools of TradingView.

Our tests found that cTrader had 70+ technical indicators, 11 chart types, Depth of Market access, and tools that allow you to copy trade and automate your trades.

To test the robot trading (cBot) feature, we downloaded a free cBot and installed it on the cTrader platform, which we found straightforward. Like installing new software, the cBot file does all the work and installs automatically, which is easier than MetaTrader 4’s approach.

Once installed, you simply hit the blue play button, and it will automatically open a chart and begin running.

What stood out for us is that you connect to the cTrader platform via a proxy. This means you are executing your trades closer to the exchange, helping reduce your ping, which is a positive if you automate your trades by speeding up the platform’s execution.

FxPro Is A Good Choice For cTrader

From our testing, we found FxPro offered the best overall experience with cTrader because it is an STP broker, which can leverage the platform’s performance and tools like Depth of Market access.

We opened a FxPro cTrader account to test its spreads on the cTrader platform to see how expensive it is. To do this, we collected the average RAW spreads from the major pairs to generate an average as an indicator of how expensive it is to trade forex.

The spreads we gathered were:

Pair Avg. RAW Spread
EUR/USD 0.32
USD/JPY 0.42
GBP/USD 0.37
AUD/USD 0.51
USD/CAD 0.74
Overall Average 0.47

We then compared this average with 40 brokers to see how they faired. Based on our data, FxPro was slightly above the industry average of 0.44 pips for the average spread on major pairs.

RAW Account Spread Comparison
0.52 0.80 1.41 0.86 1.11
0.06 0.27 0.23 0.42 0.59
0.02 0.17 0.50 0.27 0.30
0.10 0.20 0.60 0.40 1.00
0.02 0.05 0.36 0.19 0.23
0.10 N/A N/A N/A N/A
0.30 0.50 0.60 0.50 0.50
0.17 0.30 N/A 0.54 0.68
0.30 0.40 N/A 0.50 0.50
0.44 0.42 0.50 0.40 0.30
0.20 0.40 0.60 0.50 0.70

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 03/01/2024

When it comes to using trading robots, we think RAW accounts are best as they have tighter spreads and fixed commissions. So, your trading costs will remain comparable even when the markets are more volatile around news announcements because you’ll be paying the same commission, no matter what.

Broker Screenshots

4. ProRealTime with IG Group Best Auto Trading

ProRealTime with IG Group

Forex Panel Score

71

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.16
GBP/USD = 0.59
AUD/USD = 0.29

Trading Platforms

MT4, IG Trading Platform, L2 Dealer

Minimum Deposit

$0

Why We Recommend IG Group

IG Group’s advanced charting, real-time analysis, and auto trading made possible with ProRealTime have positioned them as one of our top picks for auto trading. ProRealTime provides reliable market data and diversified analytic tools for improved trading efficiency.

With a tight RAW spread of 0.16 pops for the EUR/USD currency pair and a major pair average spread of 1.38 pips, IG Group allows you to maximise profits and minimise losses.

Broker Details

ProRealTime isn’t as popular as MetaTrader 4 or TradingView, but we feel it packs a punch with its features. While testing the platform, we found it had 53 technical indicators, 12 chart types including Heikin Ashi and Bar charts, and 20 timeframes ranging from tick charts to 1 year.

What stood out while exploring the platform was its range of impressive tools that help automate your trading. In particular, the ProRealTime Trend tools automatically generate support and resistance based on major price levels and automatically update in real time.

The same tool can automatically generate trend lines, so you can easily find the short and long-term trades with a button click.

IG Group Offers ProRealTime For Automation

To get the best out of ProRealTime, we think IG Group is a top choice for its extensive range of markets and low trading costs.

While testing ProRealTime, we opened an IG account and explored the range of markets IG provides, covering 100 forex pairs, 12,000+ shares, 130 indices, 41 commodities, 6,000+ ETFs, and 7,000+ options markets. We like that you can access all CFD markets through ProRealTime, while other platforms IG Group offers, like MetaTrader 4, cannot access shares and most of the ETF markets.

However, we found that you cannot access the options markets through ProRealTime – it was only available on the IG Trading Platform.

We opened a standard account as IG Group does not offer RAW spreads, which meant our account was commission-free. While executing trades, we experienced an average spread of 1.13 pips on EUR/USD, lower than the industry average of 1.24.

IG Group is one of the only brokers to provide the ProRealTime platform for free. If you are not a fan of IG but want access to ProRealTime, you can subscribe to the platform directly for £24.00 per month.

ig account types and products au

Broker Screenshots

5. eToro Best Copy Trading

eToro

Forex Panel Score

43

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 1
GBP/USD = 2
AUD/USD = 1

Trading Platforms

eToro Trading Platform

Minimum Deposit

$50

Why We Recommend eToro

eToro is our foremost recommendation for experienced and beginner traders seeking brokers with great copy trading features. Copy trading provides an easy entry point if you are new to trading while enabling experienced traders to gain new strategies and diversify portfolios by observing other traders.

Using eToro means you can trade with decent standard spreads, that average 1 pip for the EUR/USD currency pairs. Our tests found that they achieved an overall average spread of 1.30 pips for their major pairs which is superior to the overall industry average of 1.52 pips.

Broker Details

While exploring the CopyTrader platform, we found that it has a filter button that brings up a range of options for you to narrow down eToro’s 20,000,000 copy traders based on your preferences.

Compared with other copy trading platforms like ZuluTrade, we like that eToro offers a more comprehensive filter for choosing traders. For example, you can choose traders based on:

  • the markets they trade,
  • how frequently they traded,
  • what their success rate has been in the last 30 days,
  • plus 11 other options

We selected our preferences based on our experience as a medium-to-high-risk investor seeking exposure in the forex markets. We traded ten times in the last month, which returned 1,121 potential traders.

This allowed us to review each account before investing with a copy trader.

As part of our testing of the CopyTrader platform, we tested the spreads of eToro to see how expensive it is to copy trade.

Like IG Group, eToro only offers spread accounts with no commission, so the spreads we experienced averaged one pip on EUR/USD, below the 1.24 industry average. We think these spreads are competitive, considering eToro charges no commission.

As the focus of using eToro is to copy trade, you may not have full control over what assets your copy trader chooses. So we thought it was good that eToro didn’t charge commissions on assets like shares and ETFs, which other brokers like IC Markets charge. We think this helps keep your cost of trading simple, making it easier to review your copy trader.

The broker has a solid selection of markets on its platform, offering 49 forex pairs, 2961 shares, 13 indices, 41 commodities, and 41 crypto markets.

etoro account types poducts australia

Broker Screenshots

6. Capitalise.ai with Eigthcap Best for Crypto CFD Trading

Capitalise.ai with Eigthcap

Forex Panel Score

75

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.06
GBP/USD = 0.73
AUD/USD = 0.27

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5, TradingView

Minimum Deposit

$100

Why We Recommend Eightcap

Eightcap offers an extensive range of tradeable cryptocurrency pairs with simplistic portfolio management and automated trading execution through Capitalise.ai.

This is the basis upon which we recommend Eightcap as a good option for cryptocurrency CFD trading. Eightcap provides low-cost trading with a tight RAW spread of 0.06 pips on the EUR/USD currency pair and a tested RAW spread of 0.5 pips, according to our calculations.

Broker Details

Capitalise.ai is a platform that lets you describe your trading strategy to its AI, and it will generate an entry and exit strategy based on your requirements. You can then use your MT4 platform to automate these strategies directly from Capitalise.ai.

To test Capitalise.ai, we got free access through our Eightcap account. As it was our first time on the platform, we were given an interactive step-by-step guide on using it, which we felt reduced the platform’s learning curve.

To set up your strategy, you simply describe your entry and exit points, and the platform will configure the rest.

What stood out for us is that you can forward-test the strategy by using the simulate feature, allowing you to run it in real-time with market data to see how it performs.

This is excellent as you can get a better feel for how the strategy performing in a live environment vs backtesting with historical data, which can be manipulated. Plus, you don’t have to risk your funds to test the new strategy.

Eightcap has Capitalise.ai for Forex and Crypto Trading

We think pairing Capitalise.ai with Eightcap is an excellent choice for crypto trading as the broker offers 95 crypto markets, including Bitcoin, XRP, Litecoin and Ethereum. This is the most cryptocurrencies available to trade from our tests and is over 4x higher than the average of 20 markets based on 30 other brokers.

In addition to crypto markets, the broker also offers 56 forex pairs, 586 stocks, 16 indices, and 8 commodities. It’s not the widest of choices, but Eightcap covers the popular exchanges available on Capitalise.ai.

While testing Eightcap, we found they had competitive spreads on their Standard and RAW trading accounts. The Standard account had spreads averaging one pip on EUR/USD, and the RAW account averaged 0.06 pips, both below the industry averages for their respective account types.

As RAW spreads vary greatly, we asked Ross Collins to test Eightcap’s spread on the majors to determine the average spreads over multiple market sessions. He found that Eightcap averaged 0.2 pips on EUR/USD, lower than the industry average of 0.25 pips.

EURUSD Average Spread
TMGM 0.15
Tickmill 0.15
Fusion Markets 0.16
IC Markets 0.19
Pepperstone 0.19
FP Markets 0.2
EightCap 0.2
Admiral Markets 0.21
CityIndex 0.22
ThinkMarkets 0.22
Blueberry Markets 0.27
Go Markets 0.38
Axi 0.43
CMC Markets 0.44
Blackbull Markets 0.46

eightcap trading accounts au

Broker Screenshots