Trading CFDs is a top option for South African traders. Good CFD trading platforms allow you to trade CFDs like ETFs and Forex through social or mobile trading platforms. Our experts have selected their best CFD trading platforms, South Africa.
Updated: 04/03/2021
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We list our best CFD Trading Platforms to meet the needs of all types of South African traders
Markets.com is an FSCA regulated broker that is popular among South African traders for its tight commission-free spreads, wide range of CFDs and top trading platforms. You can choose between four trading platforms when signing up to the broker – MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5) or the broker’s proprietary trading platforms, Marketsi and Marketsx.
Regardless of which trading platform you decide to use, each provides excellent trading conditions with low spreads, fast execution and minimal slippage:
The key differences between trading platforms are the tools you can use to analyse markets and develop trading strategies. MT4 and MT5 are known for algorithmic trading with Expert Advisors, while Marketsx and Marketsi offer unique trading tools that you will not be able to find with any other broker, or on mainstream trading platforms like MT4 or MT5.
Markets.com offers a generous range of markets for trading. Being able to diversify your investments can help you manage risk instruments perform differently at different times.
To gain access to the broker’s full CFD product range of over 2,200 financial instruments across 8 different asset classes, Marketsx is Markets.com’s best trading platform option. As well as full market access, the platform provides sentiment, technical and fundamental analysis tools to help you find opportunities and develop trading strategies.
Designed for those wanting to focus on share trading, Marketsi is Markets.com second proprietary trading platform. Similarly to Marketsx, you can trade the broker’s full CFD product range, with the key difference between the two platforms being the trading tools available. While Marketsx focuses on tools for CFD and forex trading, Marketsi Investment Strategy Builder helps you develop diversified share portfolios via two main features:
MT4 and MT5 are two of the most popular platforms worldwide for forex and CFD trading, mainly due to the software’s algorithmic trading capabilities. Known as Expert Advisors (EAs) or trading robots, algorithmic strategies can be written using either the MQL4 programming language on MT4 or MQL5 on MT5. To test and optimise your trading robots against historical market data, both platforms offer robust backtesting tools.
As well as the ability to automate trading with EAs, you can use the platforms advanced charting tools to perform technical analysis and develop trading strategies.
All available trading platforms with Markets.com are user friendly and suited to all levels of trading experience. If you are a beginner trader, the broker provides a great range of educational materials to help you learn how to use each trading platform and its tools. You can find the resources online at Markets.com “Knowledge Centre”, which includes webinars, news, FAQs and expert analysis. One of the most interesting features is “XRay” which a personalised live stream service with expert insight from your own analysis team.
In South Africa, Markets.com operations are overseen by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). If you reside outside of South Africa, you can sign up to one of the following Markets.com subsidiaries, each with regulation by a top-tier financial authority:
As well as oversight from some of the world’s leading financial regulators, Markets.com parent company, Playtech, is part of the FTSE 250 index and listed on the London Stock Exchange. As a public company, Markets.com offers another level of transparency and trust, as the broker is required to adhere to strict financial disclosure regulations and rules.
Markets.com huge CFD product range, tight commission-free spreads plus range of unique trading tools makes the broker the best overall. To supplement competitive pricing and top-tier financial regulation, you gain access to various sentiment, fundamental and technical analysis tools that are not offered by other top brokers.
View Markets.com Review >>Visit Markets.com >>
South African traders can start CFD trading with MetaTrader 4 (MT4) or MetaTrader 5 (MT5) trading platforms by opting for a live trading account with Pepperstone.
Pepperstone is a regulated CFD and financial services provider with a decade of trading history. The Pepperstone Group Limited complies with regulatory standards imposed by some of the world’s most powerful financial agencies, including:
The brokerage offers no dealing desk execution on two main account types:
Launched for the first time in 2005, the MetaTrader 4 software has gradually become a standard for Forex trading. What Pepperstone offers its clients is a user-friendly, versatile trading platform, which allows them to use real-time charts, in-depth news and analytics, live quotes as well as an array of technical indicators and tools for managing orders.
More precisely, the functionalities and key features of Pepperstone’s MetaTrader 4 platform include:
The platform also includes the Autochartist tool, a scanner which removes market noise and highlights the currency pairs, data intervals, and technical indicators that reflect major market events. Built directly into Pepperstone’s MetaTrader 4 software, the Autochartist tool makes it possible for traders to monitor and analyse alerts in further detail and in combination with other indicators the platform offers.
Another advantage of Pepperstone’s MetaTrader 4 platform includes a combination of low trading costs and lightning-fast order execution speeds.
South Africa-based retail customers are able to trade major Forex pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY with ultra-low spreads that start from 0.0 pips on the broker’s Razor trading account. In addition, some exotic currency pairs such as EUR/ZAR can be traded with a minimum spread of 2.0 pips, while USD/ZAR – with a spread of as low as 10.0 pips on Pepperstone’s Razor Account.
Below you have a full spread comparison among top forex brokers and CFD brokers in South Africa.
Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 02/04/2021
Compare All Spreads >>
Still, since Pepperstone’s Razor Account allows for ECN-style trading, retail clients will be charged a commission. For the broker’s MT4 platform and depending on what trading account currency is used and what trade volume is achieved, the commission will be as follows:
Based on the MQL5 programming language, the MT5 trading platform offers advanced functionality and enhanced tools for market analysis. It is an appropriate choice for professional traders who intend to conduct extensive back-testing.
More precisely, the key features of Pepperstone’s MetaTrader 5 platform include:
Just like the case with MetaTrader 4, South Africa-based clients will have to pay a commission when trading on Pepperstone’s MT5 via a Razor Account.
Clients in most countries are able to fund their trading accounts and to withdraw funds without being charged any fees by Pepperstone. With this broker, South Africa-based retail customers have a choice of several funding methods:
The MetaTrader trading platforms are regarded as the gateway to trading CFDs. With a minimum deposit of AUD$200 or equivalent in Rand, SA traders can gain access to the popular CFD platforms.
View Pepperstone Review >>Visit Pepperstone >>
CFD traders from South Africa can opt to trade via FxPro if they want to gain access to the best CFD and forex broker that offers the cTrader trading platform. FxPro is a reputable multi-regulated CFD and Forex broker, which has received over 70 global awards.
Established in 2006 and headquartered in the UK, the company offers CFDs on a wide range of markets on prominent trading platforms such as MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader.
FxPro is an authorised online broker to conduct CFD trading business in several jurisdictions:
Our team of experts at Compare Forex Brokers recommend FxPro to South Africa-based retail clients for its cTrader platform, one of the more popular mainstream platforms on the market.
First of all, FxPro’s cTrader software solution provides access to full market depth. Depth of market means best available bid and ask quotes are transparent, which ensure you can get the best available prices. The platform presents market data in three convenient ways:
We should note that the platform automatically aggregates all available liquidity at the best possible prices and executes trade orders at VWAP.
Other advantages of FxPro’s cTrader include:
While FxPro may not be a true ECN broker, it does offer No Dealing Desk execution for South African client. In other words, traders’ orders are filled with no human intervention, while they are granted direct market access (DMA) and are able to take advantage of full market transparency.
Our review of FxPro’s trading platforms has concluded that:
Clients’ trade orders are executed at FxPro’s Equinix Data centres – LD5 in London and AM4 in Amsterdam. These trading servers are co-located and cross fibre connected with top-tier banks, providing liquidity through FxPro’s proprietary aggregator Quotix.
FxPro offers CFDs on several underlying assets:
We believe FxPro is among the best CFD brokers in South Africa offering the cTrader trading platform. South African traders can open a live trading account with FxPro with a minimum deposit of 7,000 ZAR. Click the button below if you want to trade CFDs with a globally regulated broker, fast order execution speed, and access 6 different asset classes.
View FxPro Review >>Visit FxPro >>
South African traders looking for the best CFD social trading platforms for forex copy trading or mirror trading and CFD copy trading may wish to consider a trading account with eToro. Recognised across the globe for its social trading platform, eToro is a legit and reputable CFD and Forex broker authorised to conduct financial services business in the following jurisdictions:
Our team of experts recommend eToro’s CopyTrader feature to novice traders who may not be able to earn consistent profits in the Forex market, as well as to those who do not have the time to closely monitor market movement. The platform allows beginners to earn a passive income by simply copying the trading activity of experienced traders.
eToro’s social trading platform enables South African clients to filter through a set of parameters such as return, risk score, number of copiers or preferred markets to trade, in order to find an experienced trader whom to copy. Currently, the broker has over 3,000,000 active traders. As soon as a leading trader is located, beginners are able to connect with him/her to discuss trading indicators, signals, or strategies as well as to copy his/her trading portfolio performance.
Replicating a top trader’s activity is not associated with any management fees or other hidden costs for copiers. What they need to do is simply allocate a portion of their available trading account balance to that trader to copy his/her portfolio.
To access the broker’s CopyTrader, South African clients will have to put down a minimum deposit of $200. We should note that eToro’s all trading accounts support USD only and deposits made in a different currency will have to be converted at the current market rate. Currency conversion will incur a certain fee.
eToro allows South African traders to automatically copy trade in a diverse range of financial markets, including:
Additionally, eToro’s Popular Investor Program provides an opportunity for traders who get copied to earn extra income on a monthly basis.
eToro offers the following account funding options for South African clients:
Overall, eToro is the most profitable social trading platforms, allowing South African-based clients to copy top-performing traders. eToro’s copy-trading platform is a multi-assets platform allowing copy trading CFDs and copies forex trading. Grab your free demo account by clicking the button below.
The best CFD trading Apps for South African traders is offered by ThinkMarkets. Additionally, we also recommend ThinkMarkets for its Islamic forex trading account tailored for Muslim traders. In our proprietary star scoring system, mobile trading App ThinkTrader scored the highest points due to its:
Note * Mobile CFD trading platform ThinkTrader is available on iOS and Android applications. You can download ThinkTrader directly on your mobile phone and start trading in a few minutes.
In addition to ThinkTrader, ThinkMarkets also offers South African residents two additional mobile CFD trading platforms powered by MT4 mobile app and MT5 mobile App.
The mobile trading charts powered by ThinkMarkets’ price engine will keep you on top of the market trends. SA traders can also monitor their CFD trades at a glance, along with the ability to open and close new positions directly from the charts.
The cutting edge mobile technology offered by ThinkMarkets has global recognition with five-star reviews from +15,000 CFD and foreign exchange traders.
Note* South African traders with little trading experience can open a demo account directly from the mobile App.
ThinkMarkets Islamic account is the perfect fit for South African residents of the Muslim faith. Among the South African forex brokers we reviewed, ThinkMarkets offer the best Sharia-compliant accounts for several reasons, including:
Note* According to the Sharia law, South African Muslim traders are not allowed to be charged or pay an interest rate. The interest-free Islamic trading accounts were created to allow Muslim traders to trade on the forex market.
On the downside, the Swap-free accounts offered by ThinkMarkets come with two disadvantages:
ThinkMarkets is a regulated broker by the FSCA that offers a high-quality trading platform for iPhone and Android devices. Part of being a successful trader is the ability to monitor the market at any time, so you can spot new trading opportunities. If you want to stay connected on the go and enjoy the same trading tools and features that come with a desktop trading platform, you need to explore ThinkTrader App. Claim your free demo account by clicking the button below.
View ThinkMarkets Review >>Visit ThinkMarkets >>
CFD provider Plus500 offers the best software solution for trading risk management. The risk management tools offered by Plus500 are designed to help South African traders with little trading experience. CFD traders need to have access to risk management platforms in order to make better trading decisions.
Plus500 Ltd is a leading multi-regulated CFD and Forex provider headquartered in London and has a local office in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a global online provider offering over 2,000 financial instruments on a range of platforms, Plus500 is authorised to provide financial services in a number of jurisdictions:
Leverage in CFD trading is connected with a high risk of losing your trading capital. Retail CFD investors need appropriate tools to minimize the side effect from high leverage ratios. Plus500 offers maximum leverage to South African retail traders of:
High market volatility coupled with high leverage ratios may provide good opportunities for customers with vast trading experience. However, if not handled properly, such a combination may lead to considerable losses for inexperienced traders, sometimes even greater than the amount they initially deposited into their trading account. This is known as a negative balance.
Plus500 is one of the few brokers that offer negative balance protection as an inclusive risk management feature for their product. Under the broker’s guaranteed negative balance protection policy, retail investor accounts cannot lose greater amounts than the initial deposit. This feature is of great benefit when other features (stop-outs, margin calls) can not always protect you in a highly volatile market environment.
Plus500 allows South Africa-based retail clients to protect their active positions by using three essential tools:
As a tool to manage high leverage, Plus500’s “Close at Profit, Close at Loss” trading feature is available for clients with no fees:
As a risk management tool, “Guaranteed Stop” sets an absolute limit on potential losses and also minimises the risk of slippage. In case a trader has made an incorrect prediction of market movement, his/her active position will be automatically closed by the trading software at the specified price level.
Plus500’s Guaranteed Stop is only allowed on selected trading instruments, and an extra pip/s will be applied to the spread as your cost.
As a risk management feature, Plus500’s “Trailing Stop” can be used with no additional fees.
Once enabled, the feature will preserve the gains achieved when the market moves in the anticipated direction, while the Stop Loss order placed will be updated automatically.
In case the market changes direction and starts moving against the trader’s position, it will eventually trigger his/her Stop Loss order. Trailing stop can still result in slippage, so there is a chance that the position may not close at the “Close at Loss” level the trader has specified.
Overall, our team of experts believes that CFD provider Plus500 offers one of the best CFD platforms for risk management tools. Claim your trading account with a minimum deposit of Rand 1,500 by clicking the button below.
View Plus500 Review >>Visit Plus500 >>
*Your capital is at risk ‘76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
XTB xStation 5 was hand-picked by our team of experts as the best CFD trading platform for shares trading. CFD provider and Forex broker XTB is recommended for CFD and ETFs trading based on five factors:
Having over 15 years of business history, XTB one of the best stock brokers, award-winning CFD and Forex broker providing services to clients in more than 13 countries across Europe. XTB Ltd, based in London, is authorised and regulated by the reputable FCA.
The broker’s CFD product offering includes more than 1,500 trading instruments in six asset classes. Our team of experts recommends XTB to South African retail investors interested in trading CFDs on Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and Shares.
XTB offers CFDs on as many as 110 US and European ETFs traded with a maximum leverage of 1:5 and with no requotes. The broker will charge a commission of 0.08%, but there is a minimum commission amount – EUR 8 or $8. ETFs such as SDPR S&P 500 Trust and PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 can be traded with a minimum spread of 0.02 points.
XTB offers CFDs on more than 1,743 high-quality US and European Shares. The maximum leverage offered is 1:5, while the commission charged is 0.08% (minimum EUR 8 or $8) on the broker’s MetaTrader 4 and xStation 5 platforms. The table below highlights some of the top stocks that you can trade through XTB.
xStation 5 is XTB’s proprietary platform, which offers a user-friendly interface, superior order execution speeds as well as more advanced tools for sophisticated traders.
It is available as a:
Key features include:
XTB Review >>Visit XTB >>
The best cryptocurrency platform for CFD trading is offered by AvaTrade. South African residents can take advantage of Bitcoin CFD trading without the new to store your coins in a digital wallet. Additionally, cryptocurrency traders from South Africa can benefit from the best spreads in the market, a good selection of crypto pairs and trading through cutting-edge CFD platforms.
AvaTrade is a well-recognised CFD and Forex broker, regulated by 8 authorities on 5 continents, including in Australia by the ASIC and in South Africa by the FSCA.
While many brokerages usually include only the most popular and most actively traded digital coins in their CFD product lists, AvaTrade offers a wider range of Cryptocurrencies.
A total of 11 digital currencies are available to trade with no commissions and no bank fees on transactions on a range of intuitive trading platforms, including:
Non-EU retail traders can take advantage of a leverage up to 1:2, while the maximum leverage for professional traders is 1:25 on the following Cryptocurrencies:
Note* We should note that cryptocurrency trading is 24/7 through the broker’s MetaTrader accounts.
AvaTrade also offers CFDs on the Crypto10 Index, which reflects the performance of the 10 digital coins with the largest market cap. The cryptocurrency index is provided by the firm BITA and includes the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies.
South African retail traders are allowed to trade the Index with a maximum leverage of 1:2, while the leverage for professionals is 1:10. The typical spread on the broker’s MT4 and MT5 platforms is 1% Over-market, while trading is 24/7.
Visit AvaTrade >>
The best CFD trading platform South Africa review has compared the best forex brokers and CFD brokers offering Contract for Difference (CFDs). Overall, South Africa is an attractive financial hub that attracts some of the most reputable online trading brokers. According to the 2019 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Global Competitiveness Index, South Africa ranks as the 19th financial hub in the world.
Our team at Compare Forex Brokers aims to connect CFD traders with the most appropriate CFD trading platform that is suitable for your trading style. By comparing the key CFD trading platform features, we were able to provide you with a quick way to compare the best CFD brokers in South Africa.
Risk Warning: All types of CFD trading involve a high level of risk. Learn more about the potential risk of trading Contract for Differences and how CFDs work before investing any of your capital.
Justin Grossbard has been investing for the past 20 years and writing for the past 10. He co-founded Compare Forex Brokers in 2014 after working with the foreign exchange trading industry for several years. He also founded a number of FinTech and digital startups including Innovate Online and SMS Comparison. Justin holds a Masters Degree and an Honours in Commerce from Monash University. He and his wife Paula live in Melbourne, Australia with his son and Siberian cat. In his spare time, he watches Australian Rules Football and invests on global markets.
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