Pepperstone vs ActivTrades 2024: Features, Pros, Cons and More 2024

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Forex brokers are fintech firms that provide traders and investors with access to the forex market. There are numerous forex and CFD brokers available. Pepperstone and ActivTrades are two popular forex and CFD brokers that offer online trading services. Both brokers are regulated by top regulatory authorities. Pepperstone is regulated by seven regulatory authorities, including ASIC, CySEC, FCA, BaFin, CMA, DFSA, and SCB. On the other hand, ActivTrades is regulated by FCA, CMCM, SCB, BACEN, and CVM. These two brokers offer similar services. However, each broker has its strengths and weaknesses.

In this article, we will compare Pepperstone with ActivTrades in terms of trading platforms, regulations, tradable assets, fees, customer support, and overall trading experience. We will also explore whether Pepperstone is better than ActivTrades and vice versa. This comparison will help you understand which broker suits your trading style and preferences better

Pepperstone vs ActivTrades: In a Nutshell

Pepperstone

Founded in 2010; Pepperstone is an Australian-based forex and CFD broker that offers online trading services globally. The broker gives you access to trade more than 1200 forex/CFDs on its powerful platforms; MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView. With its technological infrastructure, Pepperstone offers lightning-speed executions, multiple trading tools, and low trading fees. It is regulated in 7 jurisdictions and boasts of over 400,000 clients from all over the world.

Pepperstone At a Glance

Pepperstone At a Glance
  • Founded In: 2010
  • Founder: Owen Kerr and Joe Davenport
  • Headquarters : Melbourne, Australia,
  • Minimum Deposit: None (However, Pepperstone recommends $200 or equivalent for margin requirements. 
  • Maximum Leverage: Upto 30:1 for ASIC, CySEC, FCA, BaFin, and DFSA jurisdictions, 400:1 for CMA, 200:1 for SCB, and 500:1 for Professional Accounts
  • Regulations: FCA, ASIC, CySEC, BaFIN, DFSA, CMA, and SCB
  • Trading platform: MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView
  • Account Types: Standard, Standard (cTrader/MetaTrader 4&5),  Razor (MT4, MT5, cTrader & TradingView)
  • Trading Styles: All including Scalping, Hedging, News Trading, EA Trading
  • Payment Options: Bank Wire (BankTransfer/SWIFT), VISA, MasterCard, BPAY, Local Bank Transfers, M-Pesa, Neteller, PayPal, Poli, Skrill, UnionPay
  • US Clients: Not Accepted

ActivTrades:

ActivTrades is an online forex and CFD broker that offers MT4, MT5, and the ActivTrader proprietary web and mobile trading platforms. Alex Pusco founded ActivTrades as a stock brokerage in Switzerland in 2001. Later he moved to London in 2005. The broker added MetaTrader 4 in 2007. It also added CFDs on indices and commodities to its offer in 2008. ActivTrades offers over 45 currency pairs, Indexes, ETFs, as well as Commodities and Shares CFDs for your personal investment and trading options. To learn more, you can read our review of ActivTrades

ActivTrade At a Glance

ActivTrade At a Glance
  • Founded In: 2001
  • Founder: Alex Pusco
  • Headquarters: London, UK
  • Minimum Deposit: No Minimum Deposit. However Chinese and Brazilian traders require a $500 Minimum Deposit. 
  • Maximum Leverage: 1:200 for retails traders, and 1:400 for Pro traders 
  • Regulations:FCA, SCB, CMVM, BACEN and CVM
  • Trading platform: MT4, MT5, ActivTrader and Tradingview
  • Account Types:  Professional Account, Retail Account
  • Payment Options: Bank Wire (BankTransfer/SWIFT), VISA, MasterCard, Maestro, Ngan Luong, PayPal, Skrill, SOFORT
  • US Clients : Not Accepted

Pepperstone vs ActivTrades: Features

Pepperstone:

  • Trading Instruments: 1250+Trading instruments including Forex, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Shares/Stocks CFDs, etc 
  • Maximum leverage: 1:30 for retail traders of ASIC, CySEC, FCA, and BaFin jurisdictions, 1:200 for SCB Jurisdiction, 1:400 for CMA Jurisdiction, and 1:500 for professional traders. 
  • Minimum Deposit: No Minimum Deposit. However, Pepperstone recommends $200 or equivalent for the margin requirement. 
  • Account Types: Two ( Standard account, Razor Account) 
  • Trading Fees: Spread starting from 1 pip for Standard Account or Commission 3.00 to 3.50 per lot for Razor Account on a Single Trip. 
  • PAMM/ MAM:  Available 
  • Scalping: Allowed 
  • News Trading: Allowed
  • EA/ Robot Trading: Allowed

ActivTrades:

  • Trading Instruments: 1000+Trading instruments including Forex ( Major, minor, exotics), shares, Indices, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, Commodities, Bonds, etc 
  • Maximum leverage: 1:30 for retail traders of FCA, and CMVM, 1:200 for retail traders of SCB, and 1:400 for Pro Traders.
  • Minimum Deposit: No Minimum Deposit. However, for Chinese and Brazilian clients the minimum deposit is $500
  • Account Types: Two ( Professional, Retail) 
  • Trading Fees: ActiveTrades charges spread. The spread starts from as low as 0.5 pips. It does not charge any commission. 
  • PAMM/ MAM:  Available 
  • Zulutrade: Available
  • Scalping: Allowed 
  • News Trading: Allowed
  • EA/ Robot Trading: Allowed

Pepperstone Vs ActivTrades: Pros and Cons

Peppersotne:

Pros
  • Regulated in 7 Reputed Jurisdictions (FCA in the UK, CySEC in Cyprus, ASIC in Australia, BaFin in Germany, DFSA in Dubai, CMA in Kenya, and SCB in the Bahamas) 
  • Fast order execution (fast execution on an average of 30 ms) 
  • Competitive spread starting from 0.0 pips 
  • Segregated clients fund with tire 1 bank 
  • No Inactivity Fees 
  • Attractive Trading Conditions 
  • Wide Range of Instruments Offered 
  • Fast and full online account opening 
  • MT4 Smart trader tools, Autochartist, Capitalise.ai, and free VPS are some of the trading tools available.
Cons
  • US Traders not allowed 
  • Only CFDs are Offered 
  • No cent/Micro Account 
  • Minimum deposit 200
  • Support works only 24/5  
  • Limited account protection for non-U.K./E.U. clients
  • No guaranteed Stop loss 
  • 30-day expiry for demo accounts

ActivTrades:

Pros
  • Regulated by FCA, SCB, CMVM.
  • There is no Minimum Deposit. You may deposit as low as possible
  • The maximum leverage is as high as 200:1.
  • Free deposit and withdrawal.
  • Allows scalping, news trading, and EA trading.
  • Has MT4, MT5, TradingView, and ActivTrades platforms.
  • Offers 1000+ trading instruments.
  • Spreads start from 0.5 pips.
  • Provides fast order execution.
  • Lloyds of London insurance up to $1,000,000.
  • Offers 24-hour customer support in 14 languages.
  • Supports a variety of bank accounts.
  • Available to customers in more than 140 countries
Cons
  • Not regulated by ASIC or CySEC.
  • Only forex and CFDs are offered; no real tradable instruments are available.
  • No passive investment programs like PAMM or MAM accounts.
  • Mediocre customer support.
  • Not authorized to trade real stocks.
  • Offers 24/5 support.
  • A bank wire withdrawal fee is applicable.
  • Wide spreads in crypto pairs.
  • An inactivity fee may be charged.
  • The minimum deposit for Brazilian and Chinese traders is $500.

Pepperstone vs ActivTrades: Side-by-Side Comparison

Pepperstone
ActivTrades
Product
Product
Pepperstone
ActivTrades
Founded In
Founded In
2010
2005
Founded By
Founded By
Owen Kerr and Joe Davenport
Matthew Murphie
Headquarters
Headquarters
Melbourne, Australia
London, E1W 1YN, United Kingdom.
Regulations
Regulations
FCA, ASIC, SCB, CMA, CySEC and BaFin
FCA,CSSF,SCB, BACEN,CVM and CMVM
Min Deposit
Min Deposit
None
$10
Max Leverage
Max Leverage
1:500
1:400
Tradable Assets
Tradable Assets
Over 1200 forex, CFDs in stocks, indices, commodities, ETFs and Cryptos
Forex, Shares, Indices, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs, Commodities.
Fees
Fees
Spread from 1.0 pips, commissions $7/round lot
Spread from 0.5 pips
Platforms and Tools
Platforms and Tools
MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView
MT4, MT5, ActivTrader and Tradingview
US Traders
US Traders
Not Allowed
Not Allowed

Pepperstone Vs ActivTrades: Our Scores and Ratings

We rated both brokers, Pepperstone and ActivTrades, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 0.1 increments. To achieve a comprehensive rating, we broadly grouped all services offered by brokers into 6 macro categories and assigned percentage weights to them. Each macro category is subdivided into several data points which contributes to the total score of 1.0-10.0 assigned to each macro category. Since all categories are not equally important, our weight percentage plays a significant role in assessing the broker accurately. For example, Regulation and Security contributes a total weight of 40% to the whole ratings because this is the most important rating category. To learn more, read our methodology.

Pepperstone

9.4
Total Score
Regulation and Security (40%)10
Fees and Commissions (20%)9.2
Trading (15%)8.5
Trading tools (10%)9
Customer Support (10%)9.6
Trading Education (5%)8

ActivTrades:

9
ActivTrades Score
Regulation and Security (40%)9
Fees and Commissions (20%)9.3
Trading (15%)9.2
Trading tools (10%)9
Customer Support (10%)9
Trading Education (5%)8

Final Verdict :

Both Pepperstone and ActivTrades offer online trading services to traders and investors worldwide. They provide similar trading services, such as allowing scalping, hedging, EA trading, and copy trading. The minimum order size for both brokers is 0.01 lots. Additionally, both brokers offer PAMM and MAM services.

However, there are a few areas where you may find some differences. For example, Pepperstone is an Australian-based broker, while ActivTrades is a UK-based broker. The minimum deposit for Pepperstone is $0 ($200 recommended). Similarly, ActivTrades does not have a minimum deposit requirement except for Chinese and Brazilian clients, where the minimum deposit is $500. The maximum leverage for Pepperstone ranges from 1:30 to 1:500 depending on the jurisdiction and account types, while the maximum leverage for ActivTrades ranges from 1:30 to 1:400 depending on the jurisdiction and account types.

Our score for Pepperstone is 9.4, and for ActivTrades, it is 9.00. According to our rating, brokers that achieve a score of 8.00 or higher are considered safe and trustworthy. If you are looking for an Australian-based forex broker that offers trading services worldwide, you can choose Pepperstone. On the other hand, if you prefer a UK-based forex and CFD broker that provides trusted online trading services, you can choose ActivTrades.

Written by

Jason Paine is a forex trader, researcher, and tech enthusiast. He is passionate about financial markets and cutting-edge technology. With a dynamic 16-year trading career, he's on a mission to guide fellow traders. Having navigated diverse forex brokers, Jason shares his insights at Brokersway to bridge the gap between traders and the right brokerage.

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