NB! At the time of writing, the Danish website for Avatrade has been suspended for irreparable reasons. We, therefore, refer temporarily to the international website.
Avatrade is a CFD broker with its headquarters in Ireland, which has been on the market since 2006.
They intensively advertise bonuses to new customers and market themselves aggressively on, among other things, social media. But we review them on an equal footing with other brokers and always try to be as objective as possible in our reviews.
In the review, we rate them according to the usual parameters:
- Security
- Product selection
- Trading platforms
- Trading costs
- Charting package
- Customer service
- Demo account
- Bonuses
About Avatrade
Avatrade is a global CFD provider with headquarters in Dublin and regulated by the central bank of Ireland.
Unfortunately, at Avatrade it is possible to lose more than one’s account balance. It is different from broker to broker if they choose to secure the account from a negative account balance. At Avatrade, they have unfortunately chosen to leave the risk to the customer. We are having difficulty recommending a broker where the customer runs a risk in addition to his account balance.
Security at Avatrade
Customers’ money is separated from Avatrade’s funds. That is, if Avatrade against forgery should go bankrupt, it does not affect the customers’ money as they are located elsewhere at different banks.
In addition, up to € 20,000 of the money is secured. It’s not quite as much as if a broker is regulated in Britain, but it’s better than, for example, Cyprus. However, one is not guaranteed if the bank in question should go bankrupt, in that case there is no claim. However, one’s money is mainly located at Danske Bank.
Products at Avatrade
They offer these financial products:
- Shares (most major shares)
- Commodities
- Forex
- Stock indices
- Options
- Bitcoin
- Litecoin
- Bonds
- ETFs
They have thus covered most markets and the product range is satisfactory. There should be something for every daytrader.
Trading platform at Avatrade
Avatrade offer two trading platforms. Their own web-based platform and Metatrader 4. We have looked into their own platform – AvaWeb Trader.
The design is quite outdated and could do with an update. The platform is inflexible and does not contain great possibilities to customize it to your own needs. We will discuss the charting package in a little while.
The language of the platform is in English. We would prefer to see that there is a possibility of choosing Danish as a language on the platform.
Trading costs at Avatrade
Their spreads are at the high end compared with competitors. We have looked at their fixed spreads, as it is relatively easy to compare the fixed spreads among the different brokers. Here are their spreads in the most popular markets:
- Dax: 1.5 points
- Dow Jones: 3 points
- EURUSD: 3 points
- EURGBP: 3 points
- AUDUSD: 4 points
- USDJPY: 3 points
- GBPUSD: 4 points
- Crude Oil: 3 points
- Gold: 6 points
As you can see, their spreads are significantly higher than others. However, with the exception of Crude Oil, where they actually have a low spread. So, if you trade a lot of oil, it may be an idea to look at Avatrade. If not, well, you have to look elsewhere.
The charting package as a work tool
The charting package at AvaWeb Trader is not very user-friendly. For example, it is not possible to drag the chart either horizontally or vertically, making it quite difficult to zoom in and out.
It is only possible to view the graph as a line graph, bar graph or candlestick graph. Unfortunately, it is not possible to get a Renko graph, which we miss.
There are 27 indicators and most known are included. One might miss a slightly larger selection of indicators, but the basics are in place and most should have their needs covered.
Setting the time intervals is fine, but we miss a 2 or 3-minute graph.
In general, the platform seems somewhat outdated and could do with an update.
Customer service at Avatrade
Customer service seems to be alright. It is possible to contact Avatrade 24 hours a day on weekdays via their live chat, which is available on their website. It is clearly a plus that they are available 24 hours a day. There is nothing worse than sitting with a problem and being unable to get in touch with one’s broker. In addition, they have a Danish phone number, which you can call, which is positive. It is always an advantage to communicate in your mother tongue.
Demo account at Avatrade
Like most other brokers, Avatrade offer a demo account. It’s easy to open and does not require a long time. However, they have a time limit of 21 days, and for some customers, it may be annoying to apply for renewal. Of course, we see that as something negative.
Avatrade offer bonuses
They offer a lot of bonuses and use it everywhere in their marketing. This is a sign that they do not have a better message to communicate than “free money”. It’s always a bit junk when a broker tries to attract new traders to their business with bonuses, especially when they are very hard to realize. We do not say it cannot be done – that’s fine – but for new traders, you should not concentrate on acting as much as possible, but rather focus on quality over quantity.
It, therefore, draws a little down that they make so much use of bonuses.
Overall rating of Avatrade
- Security – 2 points
They are registered in Ireland and regulated through Ireland’s central bank and their money is therefore in relatively safe hands. However, you can lose more than you have deposited, which is negative and in the case of bankruptcy, you will not be entitled to a single krone.
- Product range – 5 points
They have a fairly wide range of products, and that is, of course, a positive thing.
- Trading platform – 1.5 points
AvaWeb Trader needs an update. The design is outdated and the platform is generally not very flexible and user-friendly.
- Trading costs – 2 points
Their spreads are generally a lot higher than the other brokers we have reviewed so far. However, their spread on crude oil is low.
- Charting package – 1 point
The charting package is inflexible and outdated. We miss more flexibility and more tools.
- Customer service – 5 points.
It is great to have phone support and live chat 24/5.
- Demo account – 2 points.
It is positive that there is a demo account, but it is limited to 21 days, which is negative. We believe that you should give the customer the time it takes to find the platform.
- Bonus – 1 point.
Bonus is not something we see as positive as it usually damages more than it benefits. It is therefore a negative sign that Avatrade offers bonuses.
Overall rating: 2.4 out of 5
So far, they have been rewarded with the lowest score of the brokers we have reported so far. Avatrade have high spreads compared to their competitors, security is not at the top, the charting package is outdated and inflexible and they market themselves aggressively through bonuses. It’s not a broker we would recommend people to choose, we think there are far better choices out there.
>> You can sign up to Avatrade here <<
Disclaimer: We do not receive any payment for this review. All ratings and attitudes in this article are as objective as possible and are not produced in collaboration with Avatrade. Avatrade is neither advertiser nor sponsor at DaytraderLand.com. If you sign up for Avatrade’s trading platform through the above affiliate link, the writer will receive a smaller commission from Avatrade as part of their affiliate program.
Comments to the review
What are your personal experiences with Avatrade?
Of course, we would like to hear from people who have traded through Avatrade, both good and bad experiences. Thanks in advance!
