This Eightcap vs AvaTrade Forex Broker Comparison found Eigthcap have spreads from 0.0 pips and over 250 crypto pairs. AvaTrade has spread from 0.9 pips but they are fixed. Both brokers offer MetaTrader 4 and 5.
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Eightcap and AvaTrade are both well-regarded global forex and CFD brokers. Eightcap is a no dealing desk broker that has variable spreads, while AvaTrade is a market maker with (mostly) fixed spreads. If you are in Canada, you will be trading with Friedberg Direct powered by AvaTrade Technology.
CFD trading accounts typically come in two types, a standard and an STP-style ‘raw’ account.
The standard account is one with no commission fees, and the only brokerage cost is the spread between the buy and sell prices.
In the table below, we compare the average spreads of different brokers. This data is taken from the broker’s website and we update this each month.
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Standard Account Spreads
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1.10 | 1.20 | 1.40 | 1.40 | 1.40 |
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0.90 | 1.10 | 1.50 | 1.50 | 1.00 |
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1.13 | 1.01 | 1.71 | 1.66 | 1.12 |
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1.20 | 0.90 | 1.50 | 1.80 | 1.80 |
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1.20 | 1.40 | 1.50 | 1.60 | 1.50 |
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1.10 | 1.20 | 1.40 | 1.50 | 1.20 |
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1.10 | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.30 | 1.30 |
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1.20 | 1.80 | 1.90 | 1.90 | 1.60 |
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1.32 | 1.95 | 1.37 | 1.70 | 1.40 |
Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/09/2023
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Looking at the spreads module, you will notice Eightcap is not the best choice for a Standard Account. Eightcap minimum spreads start from 1.0 pip so it follows their average spreads will be higher and don’t compare well to other brokers on this list.
AvaTrade spreads looking at the module however is more interesting. While you can certainly find brokers with lower average spreads for no commission accounts (Pepperstone, IC Markets are good options), these brokers have variable spreads, AvaTrade however is a fixed spread forex broker. Fixed spreads are naturally higher than variable spreads as the broker takes on more risk, if you consider this, AvaTrade spreads are very competitive.
Avatrade spreads are 0.9 pip for the EUR/USD pair for retail traders however pro traders and traders in Canada have spreads for this currency pair starting from 0.6 pips.
EightCap recommends that your first deposit be $500 AUD/USD when you set up your account. You can pay via a bank transfer, POLi/BPay, Visa/Mastercard debit cards and credit cards, as well as eWallets ranging from PayPal to Neteller and Skrill. Notably, you can even fund your trading account with crypto.
AvaTrade has a minimum deposit of $100. To make your deposit you can use credit cards (not in Canada) and bank wire transfers. Skrill, Webmoney and Neteller to all clients except those in Europe and Australia.
An ECN or STP-style account has lower spreads than standard accounts, as the nature of ‘straight-through-processing’ means that your spreads are at market prices. However, you will have to pay a commission fee on trades to access these low spreads.
This table, much like the Standard account table, takes its data from the broker’s website. Like most quality no-dealing desk brokers, spreads average around 0.10 pips which is make Eightcap similar to its competitors and a broker worth considering. AvaTrade does not offer this type of account.
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ECN Broker Spreads
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0.23 | 0.20 | 0.06 | 0.42 | 0.27 |
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0.20 | 0.30 | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.20 |
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0.47 | 0.50 | 0.12 | 0.40 | 0.22 |
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0.20 | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.20 |
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0.30 | N/A | 0.30 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
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0.24 | N/A | 0.17 | 0.54 | 0.30 |
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0.30 | 0.70 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
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0.30 | 1.10 | 0.10 | 0.60 | 0.50 |
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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 01/09/2023
On an Eightcap ‘Raw’ spread account, your spread can fall as low as zero pips wide, meaning that in periods of high liquidity, you won’t have to pay any spread fee at all. Commission fees are at $7 AUD or USD round-turn per standard lot traded. Your minimum deposit for a Raw account is set at $250 AUD.
Due to the differing nature of the accounts offered by Eightcap and AvaTrade, attempting to decide on a single best account is like comparing apples with oranges. Overall, however, we have decided Eightcap is the better broker for this category. They provide both types of typical trading accounts and offer competitive trading fees for their range of products on both of them. AvaTrade only offers one type of account with only fixed spreads.
To measure how safe you will be when trading, we look at how regulated each broker is. Regulatory environments are divided into two tiers which we will now compare.
Eightcap is regulated by a top-tier and a second-tier regulator. These are, in order,
– The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in Australia
– The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB), with global coverage
Meanwhile, AvaTrade has seven top-tier regulatory licences and one second-tier licence. These are;
– ASIC in Australia
– The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), in the EU
– The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in the UAE
– The Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada (IIROC), in Canada
– The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), in South Africa
– The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), in Ireland
– The Financial Services Agency (FSA), in Japan
– The Financial Services Commission of the British Virgin Islands (FSC BVI), with global coverage
Eightcap only has the standard risk management tools that come with the trading platforms such as stop loss, trailing stops etc.
AvaTrade in addition to the standard risk management tools also has AvaProtect if you are using AvaTradeGO. For a small premium, this tool allows you to recover your trade for a period of time rather than suffer a loss should price movements move against you.
To make sure you are safest when trading, you should trade with a broker regulated in the country you are trading from. As a result, if you are trading in Australia, you are safe with both Eightcap and AvaTrade. If you trade in a region other than Australia where AvaTrade has top-tier regulation, we recommend that you trade with them to maximise safety. That said, Eightcap being regulated by SCB should be adequate.
Both Eightcap and AvaTrade offer a strong suite of platforms and accompanying trading tools to help enhance your trading experience.
As you can see in the comparison image below, the only overlap between Eightcap and AvaTrade is with MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). MT4/MT5 are the two most popular trading platforms used for forex and other CFD trading, and accordingly, most top brokers offer them for you to trade on.
Eightcap goes beyond MetaTrader options by providing Capitalise.ai and TradingView.
The Capitalise.ai platform allows you to build algorithmic trading bots without requiring any code. You can then implement these bots on the platform to automatically trade for you.
TradingView is a chart-focused trading platform, with different chart types and indicators. If you enjoy chart trading, you will have all the tools you could ever dream of on TradingView.
In comparison, AvaTrade does not provide other external platforms. Instead, they have a range of proprietary platforms. AvaTrade Go and AvaTrade WebTrader are aimed at allowing you to trade on mobile (Android/iOS) and on your web browser.
AvaTrade Options simply provides you access to the options markets, which we will talk more about in the product comparison.
Eightcap’s tools, CryptoCrusher and AmazingTrader are focused on helping you become a better trader.
CryptoCrusher, aims to allow you to ‘crush’ the crypto markets by providing you with crypto-focused information and trading ideas. AmazingTrader helps you risk-manage your open CFD positions, allowing you to be more profitable.
Meanwhile, AvaTrade’s trading tools revolve around social trading. Partnering with DupliTrade and by providing AvaSocial, you can copy-trade professional or highly successful traders at the click of a button.
For trading platforms, we give the win to Eightcap. Alongside MT4/5, Eightcap’s other two trading platforms are unique and each serves a different purpose to help you to trade better. In comparison, AvaTrade’s platforms simply allow you to access trading on different devices.
Since the two brokers have different focuses on their trading tools, we cannot objectively determine the winner for tools. However, we can say that both brokers have excellent tools available. Eightcap has great tools to improve your trading, while AvaTrade gives you a range of options through which to copy-trade.
As two of the top CFD brokers, you can trade with, both Eightcap and AvaTrade provide you with a wide range of financial instruments to trade. These range from forex pairs to CFD indices to shares and ETFs.
On Eightcap, you have 46 different currency pairs available to trade. Available pairs range from majors like the EUR/USD to minor pairs like the GBP/AUD.
What makes Eightcap stand out is its extraordinary range of cryptocurrencies. There are over 250 options available, with coins paired against fiat currencies like the USD, and in some cases, even against other coins- with a popular pair being Ethereum vs Bitcoin. You could even purchase a crypto index to gain exposure to the overall cryptocurrency markets if you wish to.
AvaTrade offers 55 currency pairs in total. In comparison to Eightcap, AvaTrade has much weaker crypto offerings, with a total of 16 options plus one index.
However, AvaTrade does offer options trading, which many other brokers do not provide. Therefore, if you are interested in options, you may wish to consider AvaTrade.
While AvaTrade does have slightly more forex pairs compared to Eightcap, we give this overall category to Eightcap. This is because of the strength of Eightcap’s all-round trading product range, combined with the unmatchable presence they have in the crypto CFD trading space.
To see which broker is more popular, we take a look at the monthly website traffic to each broker’s website.
In June 2022, Eightcap saw 634 thousand visits to their website. AvaTrade had slightly fewer visits in June, with 554 thousand visits.
Therefore, we determine the more popular broker to be Eightcap.
Eightcap is our winner compared to AvaTrade. Their stronger trading account range, excellent platforms and tools for traders, and their unmatched niche in cryptocurrency CFDs are why we have decided Eightcap is the better broker choice.
