InstaForex Broker Review

2/ 5

USD, EUR, RUB

3.00 pips

USD 30

3.00 pips

USD 0

3/ 5

EUR, USD, RUR, CHF, GBP

0.60 pips

USD 6

0.30 pips

0.50 pips

0.30 pips

USD 0

3.5/ 5

USD, ETH, BTC

2.00 pips

USD 20

0.30 pips

0.40 pips

0.20 pips

USD 0

Swap Fees

The other main trading cost to consider is the overnight swap fee. Swaps can be either positive or negative. Interest for a position carry over in a currency market is paid or deducted for every open trade at 17.00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) for every trading day. Trades opened before 17.00 EST and retained after this time are considered as carried over till the next day and are charged or credited with an interest depending on a trading position opened by the trader. For example, InstaForex charges a swap fee of -0.63 on a long position and -0.15 on a short position.

Compared to other similar brokers, Instaforex’s minimum deposits are low, but the spreads and commissions charged on its accounts are significantly higher than average.

Non-trading Fees

Instaforex’s non-trading fees are higher than other similar brokers.

Some of the most overlooked trading costs are the non-trading fees that are charged by brokers. These fees can significantly affect your profitability and so should be carefully scrutinised.

InstaForex charges no fees for deposits, but it charges high withdrawal and inactivity fees. For example, a fee of 1.75% applies for withdrawals via online banking (click here for more on deposits and withdrawals). A currency conversion fee will also apply for deposits and withdrawals from bank accounts in a different currency than the trading account.

Additionally, clients are charged an inactivity fee after six months of account dormancy. Unfortunately, InstaForex does not publish these costs on its website.

Overall, Instaforex charges higher non-trading fees than other brokers.

Opening an Account at InstaForex

Opening an account at InstaForex is fully digital, and hassle-free, and accounts are ready for trading within 1 day.

South African traders are eligible to open an account at InstaForex but must meet the minimum deposit requirement of 1 USD to do so.

Forex trading account registration only takes a few minutes. After registration, you will receive the welcome bonus of 30% of the money you deposited to your forex account.

The account-opening process is as follows:

Accept the terms of the Public Offer Agreement. This agreement does not have to be signed in order to be binding – it is as legally valid as a standard paper contract.
Fill in the special registration form. After you have completed all the fields, you will receive the following information via email:
- Your forex trading account number (login) and trader password needed to access Client Cabinet. They are also used for conducting operations via the trading platform;
- Your phone password (keyword) used when you contact InstaForex specialists from Technical Support or Dealer Department;
- Your PIN code for confirming withdrawal requests.
Traders can start trading on the Forex market once they have deposited money into their forex trading account for the first time. However, this needs to happen within 30 days after initial account registration.
Traders can set up a trading terminal on their PC, tablet or smartphone, and start trading.
If your account has not been verified yet, you enjoy just 60% of all the opportunities InstaForex gives you. Although account verification is not obligatory, it provides you access to the full spectrum of the services. Accounts can be verified need by uploading a scanned copy of your passport or any other ID (on this page). Within 72 business hours after sending the document, you will receive an email confirming the status of your trading account or requesting additional documents necessary for the verification.

Overall, InstaForex’s account opening process is fully digital and hassle-free, and new traders will be pleased that they can deposit funds without waiting for account verification.

InstaForex Account Types

InstaForex has a wide range of account types, but maximum leverage is very high (up to 1:1000), which in combination with the low minimum deposits, can lead to account wipeouts.

InstaForex offers CFD trading on Forex, stocks, indices, metals, commodities, and cryptocurrencies (click here for more on InstaForex’s tradable instruments).

InstaForex has four different account types suited to beginner traders. Beginner traders are inexperienced traders who have never traded before or have been trading for less than a year. Beginner traders often do not want to risk trading large sums of money and generally will not be able to trade full-time during the workweek.

Accounts with lower minimum deposits which allow trading in micro-lots is generally more suited to beginner traders. However, spreads on these accounts are often wider than those with higher minimum deposits. All InstaForex’s accounts have minimum deposits of only 1 USD, and it offers two micro trading accounts.

InstaForex does not cater well to experienced traders – it does not offer higher minimum deposit accounts with tighter spreads or better trading costs.

Accounts have a maximum leverage of 1000:1, spreads are fixed, and two of the accounts are commission-based. Accounts are denominated in USD and EUR, and the minimum required deposit to open an account is 1 USD. InstaForex allows copy-trading but does not allow hedging and scalping.

InstaForex offers both 4 standard live accounts and an Islamic account.

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Account Name

Min. Deposit

Max. Leverage

Min. Spread

Commission

Cent.Eurica

USD 1

1000:1

0.03%-0.07%

Cent.Standard

USD 1

1000:1

Spread Only

Insta.Eurica

USD 1

1000:1

0.03%-0.07%

Insta.Standard

USD 1

1000:1

Spread Only

The four live account types include Insta.Standard, Insta.Eurica, Cent.Standard, and Cent.Eurica:

Insta.Standard: This account offers commission-free trading on all asset types. Spreads start at 3.00 pips on the EUR/USD, and leverage is up to 1000:1. Minimum transactions start at 0.01 lots, and Stop Out levels are at 10%. This account is further divided into three tiers depending on the minimum deposit:
- With a minimum deposit of 1-10 USD, traders will access micro-lot trading.
- With a minimum deposit of 100-1000 USD, traders will have access to Mini Lot trading.
- With a minimum deposit of 1000 USD or over, traders will have access to Standard Lot trading.
Insta.Eurica: This account requires a minimum deposit of 1 USD and, instead of the spread, charges a mark-up fee of 0.03%. Minimum trades start at 0.01 lots and Stop Out levels are at 10%.
Cent.Standard: This account type has the same trading terms as the Insta.Standard Account, except – as the name suggests – all trades are denominated in currency cents (1/100th of a currency unit). Because the risk is so low, we consider this a good practice account. Spreads are wide – at between 3.00 – 7 pips, leverage is 1000:1, and no commissions are charged.
Cent.Eurica: This account type has the same trading terms as the Insta.Eurica Account, except – as the name suggests – all trades are denominated in currency cents (1/100th of a currency unit). Because risk is so low, we consider this a good practice account. Spreads are fixed at 0 pips on the EUR/USD, but a round turn commission of 0.03% is charged.
Islamic Account: All InstaForex accounts are available as Islamic Accounts, and this option can be selected at account opening.

Demo Account

InstaForex also offers a demo account with virtual funds that can be topped up on request. Demo accounts are a great way to practice trading in a risk-free environment, allowing traders to familiarise themselves with InstaForex’s platforms.

instaforex-account-types-202010

Deposit and Withdrawal Fees

InstaForex offers a wide range of deposit and withdrawal methods. While no fees are charged for deposits, it charges high withdrawal fees. Additionally, InstaForex’s withdrawal times are exceedingly slow, and many traders have experienced difficulty withdrawing funds from InstaForex.

A well-regulated broker, InstaForex does not process payments to third parties. All withdrawal requests from a trading account must go to a bank account or a source in the trader’s name. InstaForex reserves the right to request further documentation while processing the withdrawal request or to decline a withdrawal request with a specific payment method and suggest another payment method. Instaforex reserves the right if it is not satisfied with any documentation provided by the Client, to reverse the withdrawal transaction and deposit the amount back to the Client’s Trading Account

While InstaForex offers free deposits by various methods, deposits are processed within 3 hours to 2 days. Withdrawals are also slow, and all withdrawal methods have fees attached – usually between 0.5 – 2% of the transaction. For instance, bank wire withdrawals have a 2% fee and take 2-4 days to process.

Although InstaForex states that deposits and withdrawals can be made via bank transfers, Visa, and MasterCard, we were unable to withdraw our funds using these methods. Other payment methods include payco, bitcoin, bank wire transfers, and Skrill.

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Funding Method

Base Currency

Deposit Fees

Withdrawal Fees

Processing Time

Bitcoin

BTC

No fees

0.5%

Deposits are instant, withdrawals are processed within 24 hours.

Ethereum

ETH

No fees

0.5%

Deposits are instant, withdrawals are processed within 24 hours.

Skrill

EUR, USD, GBP

Free, but a minimum deposit of 2 USD is required

No withdrawals allowed

Deposits are instant, withdrawals N/A.

Overall, InstaForex offers a wide range of payment methods, but processing times are slow, and InstaForex charges high withdrawal fees. We also found that we could not withdraw our funds via bank transfer, Visa, or MasterCard and many other traders have experienced similar issues.

Bonuses

InstaForex offers a variety of bonuses to its retail traders. Remember to read the fine print for all bonuses for agreeing to them. Current InstaForex bonuses available in South Africa include:

100% First Deposit Bonus
55% Bonus on Every Deposit
30% Bonus on Every Deposit
Club bonus for traders with an InstaForex club card (1% for deposits of 500 USD up to 10% for deposits of 15,000 USD)

Remarkably, profits made with the use of bonuses can be withdrawn.

InstaForex Bonus

Base Currencies (Trading Account Currencies)

InstaForex offers a limited number of base currencies compared to other brokers.

Trading accounts can only be denominated in three base currencies – EUR, USD, and RUB, which is limited compared to other brokers. Most other brokers denominated accounts in at least five to ten currencies. Additionally, InstaForex does not offer ZAR trading accounts, which is a disadvantage for South Africans who will likely have bank accounts denominated in ZAR and who will have to pay currency conversion fees on deposits and withdrawals.

For traders that trade in large volumes (more than 10 lots a month), it is better to open an account denominated in USD at a digital currency bank, especially for trading on assets such as the EUR/USD. This is because when trading a USD quoted currency pair with a ZAR account, there will be a small conversion fee for every trade made.

Overall, InstaForex offers fewer trading account currencies than most other large international brokers and doesn’t offer accounts denominated in ZAR.

Trading Platforms

InstaForex platform support is better than other similar brokers.

Alongside InstaForex’s two proprietary web-based platforms, it also offers support for MT4 and MT5, the two most popular trading platforms in the Forex industry.

InstaForex WebTrader: Designed by InstaForex, the user-friendly WebTrader trading platform is available only to the broker’s clients. WebTrader enables investors to trade directly in a web browser, so there is no need to download and install any software. This platform offers access to all the latest Forex news and analysis and synchronises with all other InstaForex platforms, allowing for multi-platform trading.

InstaTick Trader: InstaTick Trader is an in-house trading platform developed by InstaForex. Its key advantage is 6-digit quotes. Most platforms only offer 5-digit quotes, so the InstaTick platform provides traders with an even more detailed overview of the tiny fluctuations in the Forex market. InstaTick is available in a web browser with no downloads required.

MetaTrader 4 – The MT4 trading platform is the most widely used Forex trading platform and can also be used to trade other instruments like commodities, cryptocurrency, stock index, and stock CFDs. Though it is now showing its age, MT4 is still immensely popular for its auto trading features that enable algorithmic trading and strategy backtesting with expert advisors (trading robots).

Features of InstaForex’s MT4 platform include:

30 technical indicators
31 graphing objects
Three chart types
Nine timeframes
One-click trading.
Traders can also add custom EAs and indicators.

While MT4 has great customizability, the platform feels outdated, and some of the features may be hard to find. In addition, only the basic orders are available, including Market, Limit, Stop, and Trailing Stop.

MetaTrader 5 – The MT5 trading platform is being adopted by more Forex brokers all the time, it has a more modern interface, allows for an unlimited number of charts to be used, shows Depth of Market, and has a built-in Economic Calendar. It also has a larger number of pending order types than MT4 and features an embedded chat system. In addition, the MQL5 scripting language is more efficient than its precursor and MT5 has more advanced charting tools than MT4. Note that traders can only trade currencies, stocks, and metals on MT5 (for a full list of financial instruments, click here). Features of Instaforex’s MT5 include:

30 technical indicators
31 graphing objects
Three chart types
Nine timeframes
One-click trading.
Traders can also add custom EAs and indicators.

The benefit of InstaForex offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker. Additionally, thousands of plugins and tools are available for the MetaTrader platforms.

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Broker

Platform Choice

Copy Trading

4/ 5

5/ 5

4/ 5

Overall, InstaForex’s platform support is better than other similar brokerages, and it offers its proprietary trading platform, which is easier to use and set up than MT4 and MT5.

InstaForex Platforms

InstaForex’s Mobile Trading

InstaForex’s mobile trading support is excellent compared to other similar brokers, but there is no mobile solution for MT5, Instatick, and the Webtrader.

InstaForex offers a range of downloadable apps, available on both Android and iOS. However, there is no mobile MT5 InstaForex trading server. Additionally, Webtrader and Instatick are only browser-based.

InstaForex offers the following mobile applications:

MT4: The MT4 mobile application offers full InstaForex account functionality to offer a seamless transition from the desktop application. It is available on both Android and iOS. However, traders should be aware that it may vary in the number of technical indicators and instruments available to trade and has different chart types and market analysis tools compared to the desktop version.
InstaVerify: This app enables you to verify your trading account on a mobile device.
IFX Client: IFX Client allows safe and convenient access to the Client Area.
IFX Partners: Provides clients with information on the account balance, latest transactions, and the amount of commission and rebate payments added to their account.

Trading Tools

InstaForex offers various useful trading tools to help traders make better trading decisions.

InstaForex offers several trading tools, including a VPS hosting service, a copy trading platform, various indicators, and educational resources.

VPS: VPS hosting only runs on Windows OS. The Virtual Private Server enables you to upload and run your MT4 Expert Advisors and cAlgo Robots 24 hours a day, without needing to keep your trading terminal running. Available for free for accounts with balances over 5000 USD, VPS services are provided by a third-party, Beeks FX VPS. VPS services have the advantage of never suffering connectivity issues and have extremely low latency due to their proximity to major international exchanges. See below for more details:
ForexCopy: The ForexCopy mobile app will help you explore the process of copying orders of top traders and start making money on their successful trades.
Forex Signals: The Forex Signals app helps you conduct analysis and react to market developments promptly.
Forex Strategies: By installing this application, you get access to trading strategies that allow you to gain additional experience and extend profits.
Forex Quotes and Analysis: This app helps traders to make sound decisions while trading on Forex. The Forex Quotes and Analysis app enables you:
- To get quotes online
- To stay abreast of upcoming events with an economic calendar
- To read financial news provided by leading news agencies
- To analyze market conditions
- To monitor the latest macroeconomic reports
- To analyze the dynamics of quotes on charts
- To receive analytical reviews from forex experts.
Crypto Learn: This app allows traders to explore and learn about the cryptocurrency market.
PAMM: InstaForex’s PAMM service allows traders to invest in proven strategies executed by expert traders and take a share of the profit. Benefits of using the PAMM system include:
- Real-Time Data updates, where followers can observe the status of their investments.
- Advanced analysis tools for expert traders to improve their trading performance.
- No hassle – no trading experience is needed to open a follower account.

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Broker

Economic Calendar

Autochartist

Trading Central

Trading View

Free VPS

Overall, InstaForex provides a decent selection of trading tools.

Financial Instruments

InstaForex offers an average range of trading instruments compared to its competitors, but its Forex offering is impressive.

InstaForex offers trading on Forex, oil & gas, indices, shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, metals, and futures.

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Financial Instrument

Number of Assets

Leverage

Commodities

100:1

Cryptocurrencies

Variable - depending on market conditions

Stock CFDs

140

Unpublished

Forex

110

1000:1

Futures

Unpublished

Indices

100:1

Metals

100:1

WTIs

100:1

Forex pairs: InstaForex offers 110 Forex pairs to trade, a much broader range than is offered by most other brokers. These include majors, minors, and exotics such as USD/ZAR and ZAR/JPY. Maximum leverage is 1:1000; however, only 17 pairs available on MT5.
Commodity Futures: InstaForex offers trading on 53 commodity futures, including metals, energies, and agriculture, a much broader offering than most other brokers. Maximum leverage on commodities is up to 1:100, but trading is not available on MT5.
Stock CFDs: InstaForex’s stock CFD offering is average compared to most of its competitors, with only 83 stock CFDs available to trade, including popular US tech companies, and those listed on the NASDAQ and NYSE, and more. Traders should note that stock CFD trading is only available on MT5. Stock CFDs are generally traded without leverage.
Indices: Instaforex offers cash and futures contracts on over 15 international indices, including the NASDAQ, S&P500, FTSE100, and the Nikkei. This is an average range of indices compared to other brokers. Maximum leverage is 1:100, but these are not available on MT5.
Metals: InstaForex offers trading on 4 metals, which is average compared to other similar brokers. The maximum leverage is up to 1:100 on metals.
Oils and Gas: InstaForex offers trading on 17 energies, a wider range than is typically found at other brokers. The maximum leverage on this instrument is 1:100.
Futures: InstaForex offers trading on two US futures, which is average compared to most other brokers. Maximum leverage is unpublished for Futures. Trading is not available on MT5.
Cryptocurrencies: InstaForex offers a reasonably wide range of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dash Coin, Ripple & Litecoin. Leverage for trading CFDs #Bitcoin, #Ethereum, #Litecoin, #Ripple, Uniswap, Polkadot, Filecoin, Doge, Chainlink, Cardano, BCHUSD can be changed in the specified range depending on market conditions. Spreads on these currencies are variable and are significantly higher than Fiat currencies, but in line with other brokers.

Overall, Instaforex provides an average range of tradable assets, but it should leave most professional traders satisfied.

InstaForex for Beginners

While InstaForex does offer two Cent Accounts targeted at beginner traders, it is not a welcoming environment for those with little trading experience. A structured trading course is only made available once a live account has been opened, and the freely available education is limited in scope and poorly presented.

Education

InstaForex’s educational materials are good for those who open a live account, but the freely available educational materials are lacking.

InstaForex provides a good trading course for those who open a live account. Lessons cover the basics of Forex trading, how to use the Metatrader platforms, technical analysis, and fundamental analysis, among others.

The freely-available educational materials comprise a small selection of videos and tutorials that cover key concepts, margin trading, technical analysis, swaps, futures, and currency pairs. The videos are short and to the point, but lack depth. It also offers a number of written materials explaining the basics of Forex trading, but better materials can be found at other brokers.

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Broker

Beginner Course

Advanced Course

Well Structured Education

Education Quality

Webinars

Medium

Medium