We tested BlackBull Markets vs easyMarkets and found BlackBull have ECN pricing with variable spreads, while easyMarkets are market makers with fixed spreads. Both brokers offer MT4, MT5 and TradingView. See how we compare them
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For this comparison, we found BlackBull Markets uses an STP or ECN pricing model. This means tight spreads, from 0.0 pips, plus genuinely competitive commissions (USD 6.00 per lot). Key strengths we liked with the broker include fast execution speeds and a solid range of social trading software.
easyMarkets uses a market maker model, with (mostly) fixed spreads and unique risk management tools that no other brokers can match. If you are a risk averse trader, easyMarkets might be your best choice.
If you want to know whether BlackBull Markets or easyMarkets is the ideal broker to suit your needs then check out our comparison of the key features you should consider before choosing a broker, side by side. Keep reading for our findings.
Even if you’re an experienced trader, making a decision about the best forex broker to suit your trading style can feel confusing. To help, we run regular head-to-head broker comparisons that are designed to help both experienced and beginner online traders find the brokers that offer the best combination of trading tools, fees and costs. For this review, our team tested BlackBull Markets and easyMarkets.
Read more about our testing methodology here. Ross Collins, our Head of Analytics with over 30 years of experience as an active FX trader, breaks down how we rank and rate for this comparison
There’s more to choosing a forex broker than just focusing on trading costs and online trading fees. But, of course, making sure you are getting value for money should play a part.
| BlackBull Markets | easyMarkets | |
|---|---|---|
| Average Spread (EUR/USD) | ECN Standard - min 1.0 pips (1.34 pips avg) ECN Prime - min 0.0 pips (0.8 pips avg) |
easyMarkets - 0.8 pips 0(fixed) MT4 - 07 pips (fixed) MT5 - 0.5 pips (variable) |
| Commission (round turn) 100,000 |
USD 6 per lot | None |
| Inactivity fees | None. | None |
| Minimum deposit | ECN Standard - $0 ECN Prime - $2,000 |
Standard/MT4/MT4 - $00 Premium - $3000 VIP - $10,000 |
| Withdrawal fees | Yes. USD 5 |
No. |
| FINAL SCORE | 47 | 45 |
We found Blackbull Markets and easyMarkets are wildly contrasting forex brokers in the way they will apply the spreads you will need to pay. BlackBull Markets is a conventional ECN Forex broker which means they source their spreads directly from their pool of liquidity providers. Two types of trading accounts are available – one with no commission costs known as ECN Standard. This account has spreads from 1 pips for EUR/USD and an average spread of 1.34 pips according to tests done by our team. The other account is ECN Prime with spreads from 0.0 pips and a commission for USD 6 for each lot you trade. Regardless of the account you choose, spreads are variable meaning they are constantly changing.
easyMarkets however is unique because they use fixed spreads. This means the spreads will stay the same meaning you do not need to worry about slippage due to volatility in the market. If using the easyMarkets trading platform or TradingView you can choose between the Standard with a fixed spread of 1.8 pips, Premium with a spread of 1.5 pips and VIP account with a spread of 0.8 pips.
Should MetaTrader 4 be a better trading platform for your needs spreads at fixed at 0.7 pips but you will not be able to use many of the risk management features such as guaranteed stop loss or dealCancellation available with the easyMarkets trading platform. Since we know how to trade, we tend to prefer the saving that lower spreads can give you so we like the variable spreads we get when choosing the MT5 trading platform. With this account spreads start from 0.5 pips.
With easyMarkets, there are no withdrawal fees on any of their accounts. Neither broker charges funding fees, but when it comes to minimum deposits, the VIP account with easyMarkets requires a hefty $10,000. BlackBull Markets’ minimum deposits? It starts at $0 (ECN Standard) and goes up to $2000 (ECN Prime).
When choosing a trading platform, we think it is important an easy-to-use interface, useful range of charts and fast execution are the key factors to look for in a trading platform. Other factors we think are worth considering are if the trading platform is mainstream (like Metatrader, TradingView) or proprietary, has a risk management tool, allows social trading and has automation. Another useful feature is customisations and the ability to add your own apps.
| BlackBull Markets | easyMarkets | |
|---|---|---|
| MetaTrader 4 | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 | Yes | Yes |
| cTrader | No | No |
| TradingView | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop | Yes | Yes |
| Web app | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
| Other Platforms | BlackBull Shares BlackBull Trade |
easyMarkets |
BlackBull Market’s main trading platform is MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 but they also offer TradingView. While easyMarkets also have MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and TradingView, the broker does encourage you to use their in-house developed easyMarkets Trading Platform. Since this platform comes with useful risk management tools like a guaranteed stop loss, dealCancellation and free rate, we do appreciate the benefits of using this platform but do note that spreads will be wider since they are fixed and a premium need to be paid for this.
The biggest weakness we found with the easyMarkets trading platforms (other than wider spreads) is that automation and social trading and copy trading are not available with it. easyMarkets do however allow expert advisors (EAs) and MetaTrader Signals with MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, so automation, social trading and copy trading is defiantly possible.
It is a different story with BlackBull Market which allows EAs and Signals trading with MT4 and MT5 but also provides extra social trading platforms you can use. We liked Myfxbook but you might prefer ZuluTrade or even the BlackBull Markets social trading app with integrated with MetaTrader MQL4 and MQL5 signals network.
| BlackBull Markets | easyMarkets | |
|---|---|---|
| Forex trading | 72 | 62 CFD, 24 Vanilla options |
| Cryptocurrency trading | 9 | 3 |
| Share CFD trading | 26,000+ | 60 (US, EU, AU, JA, HK exchanges) |
| Commodities CFD trading | 9 Metals 5 Energies 8 Softs |
5 Metals 5 Energies 7 Softs |
| ETF CFD trading | 7 | 0 |
| Indices CFD trading | 10 | 14 |
| Bonds/Treasuries CFD trading | 0 | 0 |
| Real Stocks | Yes (selected countries) | 0 |
| Other Products | 0 | 0 |
While easyMarkets does have a compelling case when it comes to trading platforms, they do have more trading platforms than BlackBull Markets, we like the greater range of social trading tools BlackBull Markets have to offer. We give easyMarkets a score of 6 out of 10 for trading platforms and BlackBull Markets 7 out of 10.
easyMarkets name their account types after the trading platforms you will use. So you can choose between easyMarkets accounts with 3 tiers (Standard, Premium and VIP). The minimum deposit for the standard account is $200 but spreads are wider while the minimum deposit for the Premium Account is $500 and VIP Account is $10,000 but you are rewarded with tighter fixed spreads. The other accounts you can choose from are MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.
easyMarkets uses a market maker pricing model meaning they are the counterparty to your trades but the good thing is that spreads are fixed so you know exactly what the spread will be when you open your trading position. This is a great benefit if you are a scalper as it means your spreads are predictable. The exception to this rule is MetaTrader 5 which uses variable spreads.
| BlackBull Markets | easyMarkets | |
|---|---|---|
| Market Maker | No | Yes |
| Dealing Desk | No | Yes |
| Execution Type | STP | Market Maker |
| Demo Account | Yes | Yes |
| Standard Account | ECN Standard | MT4, MT5, easyMarkets (with Standard, Premium and VIP options) |
| Commission Account | ECN Prime | No |
| Fixed-spread Account | No | Yes (MT4 and easyMarkets accounts only) |
| Swap-free Account | On request | On request |
| # of Base Currencies | 9 | 19 |
| Maximum Forex Leverage | 1:500 | 1:30 or 1:500 |
BlackBull Markets is a no-dealing desk broker with variable spreads. For this reason, the broker places an emphasis on tight spreads since they profit on trading volume, the more you trade, the more they will get in commissions. We tested BlackBull markets and found them to be the fastest broker for execution speed with limit orders of 72 ms and market orders of 90 ms. This fast execution is important because it helps to prevent slippage when trading. Execution speed with easyMarkets is less important because the broker guarantees no slippage with their fixed spreads.
We gave easyMarkets a score of 4 for trading experience, this isn’t because we think they are poor but a quirk of our methodology. We think a score of 6 is a better reflection of their products. BlackBull Markets fared better with a score of 7.
BlackBull Markets enables traders access to 72 currency pairs (EUR/USD), compared to easyMarkets’ 62 available pairs however easyMarkets does allow vanilla options with 24 of these currency pairs. On the whole BlackBull Market’s range of markets to trade if more vast including over 26,000 shares both as CFDs and as equities.
| BlackBull Markets | easyMarkets | |
|---|---|---|
| Forex trading | 72 | 62 CFD, 24 Vanilla options |
| Cryptocurrency trading | 9 | 3 |
| Share CFD trading | 26,000+ | 60 (US, EU, AU, JA, HK exchanges) |
| Commodities CFD trading | 9 Metals 5 Energies 8 Softs |
5 Metals 5 Energies 7 Softs |
| ETF CFD trading | 7 | 0 |
| Indices CFD trading | 10 | 14 |
| Bonds/Treasuries CFD trading | 0 | 0 |
| Real Stocks | Yes (selected countries) | 0 |
| Other Products | 0 | 0 |
For Crypto traders, there’s also much more choice with BlackBull (11 cryptocurrencies to trade), compared to easyMarkets’ offer of just four cryptos (Ethereum, Bitcoin, Ripple and Algorand).
Because easyMarkets has such a small range of tradeable CFDs, BlackBull outperforms easyMarkets easily. We gave easyMarkets a score of 4 out of 10 and BlackBull Markets a score of 7 out of 10.
Online trading comes with risk. Sometimes, you get a big win. Many other times, though, you do not.
Financial losses can happen to beginners and experienced traders, whether you’re trading stocks, CFDs, or forex.
One way to help prevent other risks is all about regulation.
By placing strict requirements on brokers, government-run regulators help prevent fraud and protect customer funds.
| BlackBull Markets | easyMarkets | |
|---|---|---|
| Forex trading | 72 | 62 CFD, 24 Vanilla options |
| Cryptocurrency trading | 9 | 3 |
| Share CFD trading | 26,000+ | 60 (US, EU, AU, JA, HK exchanges) |
| Commodities CFD trading | 9 Metals 5 Energies 8 Softs |
5 Metals 5 Energies 7 Softs |
| ETF CFD trading | 7 | 0 |
| Indices CFD trading | 10 | 14 |
| Bonds/Treasuries CFD trading | 0 | 0 |
| Real Stocks | Yes (selected countries) | 0 |
| Other Products | 0 | 0 |
Both brokers are regarded as safe and trusted for online trading but because BlackBull lacks Tier-1 regulation, however with regulation in Australia though ASIC and CySEC for the EU along with risk protection tools like a guaranteed top loss and fixed spreads we think easyMarkets is the winner in this category. Interestingly traders in the UK, with easyMarkets are not protected by the FCA and are instead sent to their offshore subsidiary in the British Virgin Islands or Seychelles but with all their risk management tools, it shouldn’t matter so much.
BlackBull Markets is regulated by the Financial Markets Authority, which is not quite tier-1 but still represents trust and the broker does have negative balance protection (unless they consider you to be abusing this protection).
| BlackBull Markets | easyMarkets | |
|---|---|---|
| Application required? | Yes | |
| Approval time? | Within 24 hours | |
| Funding methods | Credit Card, Neteller, UnionPay, Fasapay, Skrilll, and Bank Transfer |
|
| Customer Support | Email. Messenger. Twitter. 24/6. Multiple languages. |
24/5 |
When our testing team tried to open an account with BlackBull Markets, their website delivered a painfully slow experience – frustration-inducing! Still, the sign-up went without a hitch. BlackBull Markets also has 24/6 customer service support is a positive for BlackBull Markets especially since the live chat box on their website has a human not a bot. easyMarkets still gets the gong in this category.
easyMarkets has been around since 2001 so get points for due to the fact they have been around for some time and they have a score of 4.8 on TrustPilot from over 1500 reviews. We tried their chat bot and really liked that we did not need to provide personal details such as name, email in order to spread with a human through the chat.
We gave easyMarkets a score of 7 for the customer experience and BlackBull Markets a score of 6.
Since it was founded by Selwyn Loekman and Michael Walker in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2014, BlackBull Markets has nurtured its reputation as a well-regulated, trusted ECN broker.
BlackBull Markets offers more than 26,000 tradable instruments (including commodities, forex, CFDs and stocks) to clients in 180 countries.
Headquarters: Auckland, New Zealand
Global Offices:Auckland
Year founded: 2014
Number of users: 30 million+
Countries served: 180
At the end of April 2023, its online address shifted from blackbullmarkets.com to blackbull.com
BlackBull Markets ReviewVisit BlackBull Markets
Headquarters: Cyprus
Global Offices: Sydney, Australia and
Year founded: 2001
Number of users: 100,000+
Countries served: 150
Demo accounts are on offer from both brokers – and they make it easier for online traders to practice trading strategies without risking real money. But learning about trading CFDs and how to trade forex is about more than just using demo accounts.
The two brokers score equally here – and both could do better to cater for the needs of beginners.
BlackBull Markets does offer superior social trading options, while easyMarkets seems best for crypto traders.
Both have good reputations as decent forex brokers but BlackBull takes the crown here, with a bigger range of Forex Pairs. Points to easyMarkets, though, for currency range.
With a much wider range of products to trade, the winner is obviously BlackBull Markets.
