easymarkets vs Plus500

Trading Spreads and Fees – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Looking at the spreads, you will notice the spreads Plus500 offer are more narrow than easyMarkets. The difference in the spreads reflects what each broker offers as part of their service. easyMarkets offer free inclusions for their client such as risk management tools, and this is paid for through the wider spread. Plus500 charge a premium for some of their features.

You will also notice that spreads for easyMarkets MT4 account are more narrow than their custom forex trading platform. This is because MT4 platform does not have many of the exclusive risk management tools easyMarkets offer such as free guaranteed stop loss, no slippage guarantee, dealCancellation, Inside Viewer, Freeze Rate.

Fixed vs Dynamic Spreads

easyMarkets spreads are fixed while Plus500 offer either fixed or dynamic spreads depending on the currency pair.

easyMarkets don’t or rarely change their fixed spreads, no matter how volatile the condition might be. This provides the advantage of allowing you to plan your trade strategies around a spread before trading.

easyMarkets held their fixed prices through one of the more dramatic economic events in recent memory. In 2015 the Swiss National Bank surprised the market by announcing they would stop pegging the Swiss Franc against the Euro, which resulted in a drop of 2000 pips for the CHF/EUR currency pair. Despite this, easyMarkets did not change their spreads.

Volatile spreads on the hand are subject to market liquidity and conditions of the market. So while variable spreads may generally be narrower than fixed spreads, the fluctuating nature means spreads may be wider than our table shows.

Risk Management Inclusions

easyMarkets come with a large range of complementary risk management tools. These tools are part of all your forex trades and explain why spreads are wider than those of Plus500. Plus500 does offer some risk management features, but these are optional and will result in a wider spread.

Additional Costs

It is important to note that neither broker charges commissions however easyMarkets include most of their “hidden” costs in their spread which are fixed. Plus500 have a few changes that will be applied after you make your purchase.

Conclusion – easyMarkets vs Plus500 Spreads and fees

If you are after the narrowest spreads then choose Plus500 however, the complementary features easyMarkets offer means this broker is well worth considering. easyMarkets offerings are very good if you are a risk-averse trader or am trading in a volatile market.

Open a demo account >>Visit easyMarkets>>

Additional Account Information

easyMarkets accounts

Clients in Australia and all other countries outside Europe and the UK can choose from 3 types of accounts. The VIP account has a higher minimum deposit but offers tighter spreads. The standard account has a lower minimum deposit but wider spreads.

Clients from Australia and other eligible countries can access the leverage of 200:1 with the easyMarkets platforms and 400:1 with MT4. Traders in Australia receive ASIC protection, traders in most other countries receive the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA) protection.

For the best value, we recommend the VIP if you have the funds to meet the minimum deposit requirement.

easyMarkets clients in the UK and Europe only have one account available. This is the VIP account. To open an account, only 100 euro is required.

Regulations Europe and UK

Traders in the UK and Europe are regulated by CySEC. To abide by leverage requirements. Major forex pairs for retails traders are restricted to 30:1 and 20:1 for minor currency pairs. This can be increased if you qualify as a professional trader.

With the easyMarkets platform, you will get:

• Free guaranteed negative balance protection
• Free guaranteed stop-loss and take-profit
• dealcancellation
• Freeze rate
• No slippage
• Fixed spreads

With the MT4 platform, you will get:

• Margin call when equity or used margin is 70%
• Deal stop out when equity or used margin is 50%
• Expert Advisors

Plus500 Accounts

Plus500 keeps things simple when choosing a trading account, as they only offer one account. The account offer traders the following:

• Commission-free trading
• 32 supported languages
• Negative balance protection
• Free close profit or close at loss rates
• Free Trailing stops
• Guaranteed Stops (premium included in spread)
• Free email and push notifications for important market events
• Alerts on price movements and trader sentiments
• Regional regulation
  • Plus500CY (Cyprus)
    • Europe – Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission –  CySEC
      • Leverage for Retails clients – 30:1 for major currency pairs and 20:1 for minor currency pairs
      • Leverage for Professional clients – 300:1
  • Plus500AU (Australia)
    • Australia + South Africa + New Zealand + plus clients that don’t apply to any FCA, MAS, CySEC
      • Leverage of 500:1
  • Plus500UK (United Kingdom)
    • United Kingdom
      • Leverage for Retails clients  – 30:1 for major currency pairs and 20:1 for minor currency pairs
      • Leverage for Professional Clients – 300:1
  • Plus500SG (Singapore)
    • Singapore
      • Leverage of 20:1

Note: Clients in the UK and Europe who wish to increase leverage by applying for a professional account will need to show the broker that they have a financial portfolio of at least 500,000 euro and have carried out at least 10 major transactions per quarter over the past the past 12 months.

Platforms – easyMarkets vs Plus500

easyMarkets Trading Platforms

This broker offers a choice of 2 platforms. This is their custom platform and MetaTrader 4.

easyMarkets own proprietary offers all the standard tools one expects when trading. This platform which is available via web and mobile includes excellent features for new and intermediate traders. The platform offers the following key benefits:

1. Access to easyMarkets risk management features such as dealCancellation and Freeze Rate.
2. Trading ticket for easy switching between different trading categories such as forwards or vanilla options.
3. Access to 200+ trading instruments via main trading screen
4. Good range of analytical tools
5. Easy to navigate interface
6. Zero slippage
7. Integrated news and charts

MetaTrader 4 by Metaquotes is the world’s most popular trading platform and the platform we like to recommend. Mt4 is built for both beginner and advanced traders and has a few features easyMarkets proprietary platform does not offer but also is missing a few features. MT4.

Features MT4 offers that easyMarkets own platform does not:

1. Expert Advisors / Robots to automate your trading
2. MultiTerminal so you can see more information on different terminals
3. Excellent range of graphs and charts

Features easyMarkets proprietary platform offers that MT4 does not

1. dealCancellation
2. Vanilla options and froward deals
3. Integrated news and charts
4. No slippage guarantee

Plus500 Trading Platforms

Plus500 only offer their custom platform. They do not offer platforms like MetaTrader or cTrader that many brokers offer. The Plus500 platform does have one unique feature, in addition to being able to use the platform via web-browsers. mobiles and tablets users can also access their platform via their apple watch. The platform is specifically designed to operate seamlessly across different operating systems and interfaces (i.e. mobiles, tablets) which will appeal to you if you wish to be mobile.

The platforms easy interface makes it easy for users to see all the information they need for different trading derivatives. It also designed so you can easily use their risk management tools when you need them.

If you like to test your trading strategies before putting them to practice, plus500 platform has a great feature that allows for an easy switch between live and demo accounts.

Conclusion – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Both easyMarkets trading platforms and the Plus500 platform offer several benefits, the other platforms do not offer. It is best to consider your trading needs when choosing a platform. For example, if you need risk management features, then easyMarkets proprietary platform might be ideal. If you desire integration between different platform interfaces and operating systems, then Plus500 might be best. MetaTrader 4 has the advantage of being widely available, which means you can change brokers in future but continue to use the same platform.

Open a demo account >>Visit easyMarkets>>

Risk Management – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Both easyMarkets and Plus500 are known for their risk management features. easyMarkets include many of their risk management features in their spreads while Plus500 make their features optional.

We have already shown a comparison for each broker’s risk management tools. Here is a brief rundown of what each feature is.

Features of note both brokers offer:

1. Guaranteed Negative Balance Protection: While most brokers only offer a margin call system to protect your account, these brokers guarantee your account won’t go into debt.
2. Guaranteed Stop Loss/Take Profit – easyMarkets offer this for all trades (without increasing the spread) while Plus500 offer this as an option (which will widen the spread. These features guarantee your forex currency pairs will be sold when prices hit your loss tolerance or have achieved a level of profit. (not included with easyMarkets MT4 platform)
3. Trailing Stops

Features of note only easyMarkets offers:

1. Price Freeze – This is a free feature that allows you to freeze the bid/ask price of the currency pair before they change. This gives you an extra second to decide if you wish to take up the offer before the price changes. (not available with easyMarkets trading platform)
2. dealCancellation – If you are dealing in a volatile market, you may wish to take up dealCancellation. When you purchase this feature, you gain the right to cancel your order within 60 minutes. For example, if price movements are unfavourable during this period, you can cancel your order and get you your investment back. (not available with easyMarkets trading platforms)
3. Hedging – If you want to insure yourself against possible unfavourable future currency movements, then you may take advantage of forward contracts. This can help protect your investment however, can also work against you if price movements are unfavourable.
4. Slippage – easyMarkets guarantee you will not experience slippage when forex trading.

Conclusion – easyMarkets vs Plus500

easyMarkets are our recommendation when it comes to risk management features. Not only do easyMarkets offer more risk management tools, but a lot of these tools are also inclusive with all your trades. Plus500 also has a good deal of risk management option however you must nominate them to use.

Open a demo account >>Visit easyMarkets>>

Contracts for Difference (CFDs) – easyMarkets vs Plus500

easyMarkets offer over 200 trading CFDs  instruments,  Markets available for trade include:

• 64 Forex pairs
• 27 Shares CFD
• 3 Cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum
• 21 Metals combinations among Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium and Copper
• 7 Soft commodities
• 5 Energy products
• 15 Indices

With easyMarkets, you can trade 4 different ways. These are CFDs, Options, Forwards and easyTrade.

Plus500 offers a far more comprehensive range of derivatives than easyMarkets.

Instruments available with Plus500 include

• 13 Cryptocurrencies plus 1 Crypto index. Cryptos include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, NEO, Ripple, Stellar, EOS, Cardano, Tron and Monero. 10 of these are combined to make up the Crypto Index.
• 67 indices including country and sector indices including cannabis indices.
• 17 commodities
• 1800+ Shares CFD
• Options
• ETFs

Conclusion – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Plus500 offers more CFD features when it comes to trading different asset classes or derivatives than easyMarkets. We recommend Plus500 if you need to trade a wide range of different CFDs.

Note: Traders from the UK with Plus500UK (United Kingdom) will not be able to trade cryptocurrencies as FCA does not allow this derivate to be offered for trade.

Bonus Offers – easyMarkets vs Plus500

easyMarkets

Two promotions that will be of interest to most retail traders are the “First Deposit Bonus” and the “Refer a Friend” offer.

The “First deposit bonus” will result in you receiving up to 20% or $2000 in tradeable bonus depending on the size of your first deposit provided you meet the Plus500 terms and conditions. This offer simply means you receive bonus credit you can use to trade with.

The “Refer a Friend” offer simply means easyMarkets will credit you up to USD$750 in trading credit for each friend you introduce to easyMarkets. The more your friend trades in their first month from sign up, the more credit you will receive.

Plus500

Plus500 offers several bonus programs. This includes a rebate program and first deposit program. In both programs you will be rewarded with trading credits based on how much you deposit when you join Plus500 or how much trading activity you engage with each month.

With the “First Deposit program”, The first-time deposit of AU$300 will result in AU$80 while a deposit of AU$75,00 will give you $10,000 in trading credit. So the more you deposit when you open your account, the more trading credit you can earn.

The rebate program means you can earn T-points every time you trade. The more you trade, the more points you can earn.

Conclusion – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Both brokers offer a good range of bonus features however Plus500 offer more value in the long term when it comes to trading features thanks to their credit rewards in their rebate program.

Customer Service – easyMarkets vs Plus500

easyMarkets Customer Support

This broker has 24/5 customer support commencing 8 am each Monday AEST time. easyMarkets have their support teams located in Sydney and Cyprus and available via Messenger (Facebook), Viber and WhatsApp in additional to the traditional methods contact methods.

easyMarkets Customer Service

The easyMarkets range of educational resources is solid. Educational features include:

• Get Starting – This section found on their website is a series of video that covers all the fundamentals you need to know for trading with easyMarkets
• Discover – This video series explains everything you need to know about the main trading instruments available with easyMarkets.
• Free eBooks – If you prefer to learn by reading, easyMarkets offers eBooks you can download that cover a wide range of information about trading and easyMarkets trading platforms
• Knowledge Base – This feature explains the main topics in a simple and straightforward manner
• FAQ – Here you will find all your questions answered

easyMarkets services also include in-depth market analysis resources. These include:

• Market News – These are feeds of events on the market throughout the world.
• Trading Charts – These are charts that will help you predict future trading movements
• Currency Rates – here you can find all the latest currency exchange rates around the world
• Financial Calendars – This feature advises on changes in policies that may impact markets your trades
• Forex News – This is a blog covering major news that will affect forex

easyMarkets also offers a demo account. With the demo account, you get $15,000 of virtual funds and access to most easyMarkets features such as guaranteed protections and dealCancellation.

Plus500

This broker is unusual in that their support features are more limited when we compare with other brokers. For example, although Plus500 offers 24/7 live chat and email support, there is no phone support.

Plus500 also don’t offer much in the way of trading education. This is interesting given it is a standard feature many other online brokers offer. This doesn’t mean Plus500 is an inferior product, it just means they assume you will use other resources freely available on the web when researching.

This broker, however, does offer one of the better demo accounts. While most broker offer time limits or fund limits for their demo account, Plus500 place no access or limit restrictions.

Conclusion – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Unless you require 24/7 customer support, easyMarkets are our recommendation. easyMarkets provide a wide range of contact options for customer support. Not only is their support better, but they have more services. easyMarkets offer all the educational tools you will need to help you trade successfully and have a great experience with easyMarkets.

Deposits and Withdrawals – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Neither broker charge fees for making deposits or withdrawals however, Plus500 does have a deposit and withdrawal minimum of $100 requirements. Both brokers offer a good range of cards, bank transfer, eWallets methods for managing your funds.

*Your capital is at risk

Conclusions – easyMarkets vs Plus500

Given both brokers do not charge for funding transfers and offer mostly the same services don’t see a need to recommend one broker over the other.

*Your capital is at risk