Pepperstone vs Plus500

Pepperstone vs Plus500 Spreads and Fees

When Compare Forex analysed Pepperstone vs Plus500 as best forex brokers in the category of spreads, it is apparent Plus500 spreads are much wider. A wider spread means you will pay more in transaction costs.

Our data from the table above comes from each brokers account that offers their best spreads. As Plus500 only offers a single trading account and do not provide their average spreads therefore, we have taken a spread sample at a point in time. Our sample should not be taken to be official as spreads change rapidly throughout the day.

Pepperstone Razor Account

Features of the Pepperstone Razor Account include

• ECN + STP Style trading for ECN pricing
• Choice of MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader
• a minimum, maximum trade size of 0.01 per 100 lots traded
• Round-turn commission of USD $7.76  and AUD $7.00 when using on MetaTrader 4 (MT4) per 100 lot traded
• Round-turn commission of USD and AUD $7.00 when using MetaTrader 5 (MT5) per 100 lot traded
• Commission costs are 0.0035% of the base currency being traded, i.e. for the EUR/AUD you will pay €3.50 per every 100,000 units traded of the fx pair.
• $200 minimum deposit (though the broker does not enforce this)
• Spreads starting at 0.0 pips GBPUSD
• 500:1 leverage (ASIC), Retail traders 30:1, Professional traders 500:1 (FCA, Cysec)
• 64+ currency pairs
• 50 deep pool of liquidity providers for industry-leading low spreads
• Scalping, hedging
• Expert Advisors or EAs are also supported.

Pepperstone offers a choice of two other accounts. These are:

Pepperstone Standard Account

Designed for novice traders, this account offers all the same features as the Razor Account but without commission. In place of commission 1 pip is added to the spread.

• No commissions
• Spreads from 1 pip GBP USD
• Available for MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5
• Best for novice traders not wanting commission costs

If you’re unsure what account is right for your circumstances you can view the Pepperstone razor vs standard account comparison page.

Pepperstone Swap Free Account

This account is exactly the same as the Razor account but in place of overnight holding fee or rolling interest, there is a small admin charge. This account has no swap fee which means it is compliant with sharia law which forbids Muslims from receiving or paying swaps. To be eligible for this account, you must be able to prove you are Muslim.

Active Trader – Savings through rebates

If you are a high volume trader, Pepperstone can offer you rebates through their Active Trader program. If you trade at least 100 lots a month then you can receive rebates which will be paid directly into your bank account.

Why Pepperstone spreads are narrower

Pepperstone uses an Electronic Communication Network (ECN) pricing. As Pepperstone is the issuer of their own products, they cannot be called a true ECN broker in a strict sense of the word. Pepperstone connect you with liquidity provider via ECN and have no dealing desk, requotes or price manipulation meaning they can provide ECN pricing as they pass prices directly to you.

We recommend the Razor account as this account offers the narrowest spreads.

Plus500 Live/Pro Account

Plus500 only offers 1 type of Account with the following features:

• Plus500 is a Market Maker
• No minimum or maximum trade size in lots apply
• No Commission charged
• Minimum trading deposit of $100
• Spreads from 0.01
• Leverage of up to 300:1 with ASIC regulation
• Leverage of up to 30:1 for retail traders and 300:1 for professional traders with FCA regulation
• Over 60 Currency Pairs to choose from and trade

Why Plus500 spreads are wider

Plus500 is a market maker or dealing desk broker. In practice, this means that Plus500 set their own prices for which they will commit to buy or sell for each currency pair. Market makers hold security and use this to play the role of the other side of the trade. That is if you want to place an order to buy a currency pair, Plus500 will sell you the security they have. If you want to sell a forex pair, Plus500 will buy the security off you.

Spreads which are the difference between the buy and sell price of the currency pair are wider because the broker will add 1-5 pips (percentage in point) into the spread for their services. This is how a market maker such as Plus500 make their profit.

While Plus500 does not charge commission there do have other fees. These include:

• Plus500 Premium Fee (also called an overnight fee) – A fee is charged by the broker if traders hold onto their position when markets are closed.
• Plus500 Inactivity Fee – Account that has no activity over 3 months will incur $10USD fee
• Guaranteed Stop Order – We delve more into this lower down. If Guaranteed Stop Orders are used it generally means a wider spread

Trading Spreads and Fees Conclusion

When deciding between each account you will need to consider between 2 basic features these are

1. Spreads – Generally, high volume traders will benefit greater from tighter spreads combined with larger lot size despite the commissions. You will need to do the numbers but wider spreads and lower lots size may end up with greater cost saving.
2. Features – If you plan to use features such as scalping, hedging and EAs then you will want to consider Pepperstone as Plus500 don’t allow these.

From our perspective we consider Pepperstone offer better value as being an ECN trader means their costs are more transparent.

View Pepperstone Review >>Visit Pepperstone >>

Pepperstone vs Plus500 CFDs

Plus500 CFDs

Plus500 offers one of the most diverse ranges of CFDs among all foreign exchange brokers in the markets. Unique offerings when trading CFDs extend to soft commodities such as lean hogs, live cattle and feeder cattle. We have not seen other brokers allow you to buy and sell securities of these types.

They also offer several cryptocurrencies, Shares CFD, Options and ETF round out their trading suite which is also not necessarily available with other brokers.

The diverse range of instruments is why Plus500 has specifically designed their platform so users can take advantage of all these instruments without being overwhelmed with data.

Pepperstone CFDs

Pepperstone offers a solid range of CFDs for trading. These include the following:

1. Indices – 14 Indices (0.50% margin)
2. Soft commodities – 5 commodities and a margin of 2%
3. Precious metals –5 crosses for Gold/Silver (0.2% margin), Platinum and Palladium (0.2% margin)
4. Energies – 3 Energies (0.2% – 1%)
5. Shares CFD – NYSE 60+ stocks (5% margin) and cost of per share of 0.02c.
6. Currency Index CFD – USDX basket (leverage of 100:1)

Cryptocurrencies CFD

Trading of cryptocurrencies has emerged as a popular option for traders in recent years. Trading of cryptocurrency is exciting because it is so volatile which means opportunities for large rewards.

Plus500 Cryptos

Plus500 offers one of the largest range of cryptos of all online forex brokers. Not only do they offer the more common ones like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin but they offer some rare ones like NEO, Monero, IOTA and EOS.

These cryptos are available with a margin of 5% (1:20) to 10% (1:10)

Pepperstone Cryptos

The collection of cryptocurrencies Pepperstone offer is quite broad but not as diverse a Plus500 offer. Cryptos include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin.

All Cryptos are available with leverage of 1:20 or 5% margin.

Note: Under new FCA guidlines UK traders are no longer able to trade cryptocurrencies.

Pepperstone vs Plus500 CFDs Conclusion

Plus500, when compared with Pepperstone, offer a larger range of CFDs. If you are looking for a broker that offers a great range of different trading options then we recommend Plus500.

Pepperstone vs Plus500 Forex Trading Platforms

In our review of the available trading platforms, each broker offers different trading platforms with different features. All Pepperstone platforms offer Webtrader to use in browsers and can be used with iOS, Android tablets and mobiles and Mac and Windows PCs.

Pepperstone Trading Platforms – MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 offered by Pepperstone is our favourite forex trading platform. MT4 is the world’s most popular forex trading platform and includes features such as:

• Easy to use interface
• One-click trading for prompt order management
• Expert Traders (EAs) which is algorithmic automated trading. (Plus500s does not allow this)
• 9 timeframes including M1/5/15/30, H4, Daily, Weekly, Monthly
• 30 indicators
• 4 pending order types
• 3 chart types (line, bar, candlesticks) and direct trading from the chart
• 31 graphical objects
• Hedging
• 32 bit, mono-threaded platform. Uses less memory
• Expert advisors for algorithmic trading

Pepperstone MT4 Add-On

Smart Trader Tools is Pepperstone own an add-on enhancement tool for MT4. There are some 13 features that can lead to better and more successful trading.

1. Alarm Manager – Price alerts via SMS, email, web popup, sound alerts and twitter of activities. Can open, close and place pending order.
2. Connect – a centralised portal that provides relevant news and technical analysis to help with investment decisions
3. Correlation Matrix – allows for analysis of the correlation between your chosen instruments.
4. Correlation Trader – allows for easy comparison of market charts and direct trading from the tool.
5. Excel RTD – Puts account, ticket and price data into Excel spreadsheet with basic formulas. Trading commands can be sent from Excel if you have programming skills.
6. Market Manager – Watch lists and account and order activity can be controlled from a separate convenient window.
7. Sentiment Trader – this tool allows you to follow the general sentiment of other traders regarding your chosen instruments.
8. Stealth Orders – Allows you to hide your pending orders and set entry and exit positions from the market.
9. Indicators – SO traders can see potential profit and loss results based on historically proven strategies.
10. Session Map – Provides a quick overview of the world’s major markets and their time zone.
11. Trade Terminal – provides an alternative view of your MT4 window with different analysis features. Can assist with faster and more precise trading.
12. Tick Chart Trader – tick display of instrument performance to help with lead to faster decision-maker and therefore enhance the benefit of the one-click trading feature.
13. Mini Terminal – An extension of the Trade Terminal for those that want a terminal for each market.

Pepperstone Trading Platform – MetaTrader 5

This platform is an upgrade on MetaTrader 4. Not only does it offer all the features MetaTrader 4 offer, but improves on many of these features. While MT5 is as popular as MT4, it is growing and it is expected that MetaTrader might phase out MetaTrader 4 support in the future.

• Shares CFD trading (not available on MT4)
• Ability to view up to 100 charts with21 time-frames
• 44 graphical objects
• 38 built-in indicators
• 80 MetaTrader indicators (more can be purchased from codebase)
• Netting and Hedging accounting modes for orders and trades
• Superior testing capability
• Advanced depth of market (DOM)
• 1 more order execution type and 2 extra pending order types (compared to MetaTrader 4)
• A 64-bit multithreaded platform for speed and efficiency
• Expert advisors for trading automation

Pepperstone Trading Platform – cTrader

cTrader is a popular alternative to the MetaTrader platform. Many people find the platforms clean and uncluttered interface better than what MetaTrader offer. This makes it a great option for those new to trading. It is also popular as it offers advanced charting features.

Some key differenced include:

• Level II pricing
• charts that are detachable for multiple monitors
• Advanced backtesting tools
• cAlgo with C# for trading automation
• Ability to store profiles, passwords and templates in the cloud
• 3 chart modes -single, multi and free chart.
• Advanced order protection – wide choice of order types

The Plus500 Forex Trading Platforms

Plus500 have their own custom proprietary trading platform and do not offer MT4. In our review of the ‘Plus500 Trading Platform” we found the platform to be a very user-friendly and intuitive platform thanks to clutter-free with minimal button interface.

Available for desktops, browser, mobile and tablets the ‘Plus500 Trader Platform’ is not feature-rich but still manages to make you feel that you have the tools you will need at your disposal when needed. From the main window, you can see 4 sections each with a different purpose.  The key feature that you can see a range of CFDs along with open positions, pending orders and quotes and price movements without needing to open different windows. Given Plus500 offer around 2000 trading instruments which can be overwhelming, this simplicity is very useful. The main windows also contain charts which can show graphical representations of price movements.

One big plus is the platform is integrated with the trading section on the brokers’ website. This means you can trade without installing the platform once you have signed up.
There are however, a few limitations with the platform. No scalping or EAs are allowed, and it does not have a social trading feature. With simplicity comes a lack of advanced features that can help with trade management, decision making, and execution.

Plus500 Trading Platform in our opinion is great for beginners or for those looking to trade with a wide variety of CFDs. The platform, however, is ideal if you are looking to use EAs and advanced tools. Check out our full Plus500 review when compared to IG Markets.

Forex Trading Platforms Conclusion

We believe MT4 provides is a proven platform for by both beginner and advanced users. The Smart Trader Tools offered by Pepperstone allow users a wealth of trading tools you can use EAs, hedging and scalping which are not available or allowed with Plus500, therefore we are recommending Pepperstone when it comes to platforms.

View Pepperstone Review >>Visit Pepperstone >>

Pepperstone vs Plus500 Customer Service

In our review, we found Pepperstone offer superior Customer Service when we compare with Plus500. Pepperstone customer service has won numerous awards by the CFD industry, a reflection of the excellent service they offer.

Plus500 got the thumbs up from us because their live chat available 24 hours a day for all 7 days of the week Pepperstone only offer this service during business hours Monday to Friday. We felt that Pepperstone customer support was superior in all other ways. For example, Pepperstone offers phone and email support in a range of different countries. Plus500, on the other hand, do not offer phone support at all.  We found it surprising Plus500 does not offer phone support given this type of service is a basic expectation from clients.

Another example is Pepperstone provide email contact of all the individual departments you might want to address a question to. Plus500 integrate their email system directly into their web portal so we don’t actually know who we are addressing our questions to.

Unlike phone and email support, live chat is available with both brokers. We put the live chat feature of each broker to the test and found Pepperstone was able to answer all some complex questions in a timely manner and professional manner. Plus500 struggled with some of our technical questions and the waiting time seemed to be longer.

When it comes to education tools, Pepperstone has a large library of educational tools including a glossary of trading terms, webinars, trading guides and FAQ. Plus500 did not seem to offer any education of note.

Both brokers offer a demo account that is free to use for an unlimited time. This can be an invaluable tool for learning forex trading until you gain the confidence and experience needed for successful trading.

Pepperstone vs Plus500 Customer Service Conclusion

We believe the customer service of Pepperstone is among the best on offer in the industry. We, therefore, recommend them over Plus500.

Pepperstone vs Plus500 Deposits and Withdrawals

Funding with Pepperstone

Except for bank wire withdrawals, Pepperstone does not charge fees for its funding services. This means you can make deposits using a method such as debit cards and credit cards using Visa or MasterCard, Digital wallets such as Paypal, Neteller, Skrill, the Australian e-wallets BPAY and POli and Chinese merchant Unionpay without any fees from the broker. If you make your withdrawal before 7 am AEST then you can receive your funds on the same day. After this time and you can receive your funds a day later. Your account must be in your name and linked with your Pepperstone account. If you are using bank wire, your fund can take 3-5 working days to show in your account. Bank wire withdrawals will incur a fee of USD $20.

Funding with Plus500

Making a deposit or withdrawal does not incur fees from Plus500 however your payment merchant may charge fees.

With Plus500 you can deposit money with the following methods

• Debit/Credit card – Visa and Mastercard
• Paypal
• Skrill
• Bank transfer

Plus500 advise you can expect fees from the merchant for the following situations:

• Overseas credit cards
• Bank transfer
• Forex Conversions

Withdrawals generally take about 3-7 days to process but this will vary depending on the method you have used for payment.

Pepperstone vs Plus500 Deposits and Withdrawals Conclusion

Ultimately, you’ll need to decide who you prefer to use as your payment issuer and investigate what charges with issuer has from their end. Pepperstone offers zippy deposits and withdrawals. Plus500 offers some funding methods not available with Pepperstone.

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Regulation

Pepperstone is regulated in the following regions:

• Australia with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, also known as ASIC
• The United Kingdom with the Financial Conduct Authority, also known as FCA*
• Europe with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. License number is 388/20
• In Germany by BAFIN with licence number 151148
• South Africa with the FSCA in South Africa. FSP number is 49497
• In Dubai with DIFC Registered Number 3460

*Under new FCA guidelines, UK traders are no longer able to trade cryptocurrencies.

Plus500 have the following regulation in addition to ASIC and FCA

• Cyprus with Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, also known as CYSEC
• New Zealand with Financial Markets Authority, also known as FMA
•  Singapore with Monetary Authority of Singapore also known as MAS

Trading with speculative stock can be high risk, it is therefore important to choose a broker that is regulated by a tier-one authority. These regulators can help protect your funds by requiring that the broker keep your funds in a tier-1 bank account, that the broker provides a product disclosure statement (PDS) and establish a complaints process.