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4.02
/ 5
Accepts South African Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 1.10 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 500:1. Islamic account available. MT4 & MT5 platforms supported. OctaFX is regulated by CySEC and SVG FSA.TradeForexSA follows a strict editorial standard in our review process. We may receive compensation when you click on links to products we review. Please read our advertising disclosure.
A well-established and regulated STP broker, OctaFX offers trading on a limited number of financial assets compared to most other brokers, including 32 Forex pairs, 5 commodities, 10 indices, and 30 cryptocurrencies.
OctaFX offers two live accounts, each linked to a different platform, namely MT4 and MT5. Both accounts boast excellent trading conditions, with spreads that average at 0.7 pips – some of the tightest in the industry. Minimum deposits are also low, at 25 USD, and traders are only charged a swap fee on the MT5 account after the third night a position is held open. Additionally, OctaFX does not charge any commissions on deposits or withdrawals, and no inactivity fees apply.
An Islamic option is available on all account types and new traders will benefit from the excellent analytical section and range of useful trading tools, including AutoChartist, a copy trading platform, and an account monitoring service that allows beginners to learn anonymously from successful traders. Trader education is comprehensive and well-presented and OctaFX’s customer support is available 24/7, which is exceptional for an industry where the norm is 24/5.
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, OctaFX is an STP broker that serves traders from over 100 different countries. OctaFX is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Financial Services Authority of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG FSA):
The company was briefly regulated by the FCA (the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority) from 2015 to 2017 (ref: 679306) but decided not to renew its licence after the Brexit referendum and instead kept its focus on the EU market.
South African traders will be trading under the subsidiary, Octa Markets Incorporated, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. For all intents and purposes, the SVG FSA is not considered a forex broker regulator and applies no supervision of any CFD trading-related activities. However, this does not suggest malpractice or fraudulent activity on the part of OctaFX, but that clients must rely solely on the reputation of OctFX, as no additional measures exist to ensure client protection. However, under the SVG FSA, OctaFX permits its clients to take advantage of higher leverage and various bonuses and promotions.
That being said, in a show of good faith, OctaFX segregates all funds from the company’s operating capital, and it offers negative balance protection to all its clients. However, as OctaFX is not regulated by the FSCA, South Africans are not protected under any local investor protection schemes.
While South Africans may be apprehensive about trading under a subsidiary that is essentially unregulated, OctaFX subsidiaries in Europe are also regulated by CySEC, a well-respected authority.
OctaFX has received plenty of industry recognition in recent years, winning Best ECN broker 2021 (World Finance), Decade of Excellence in Forex Asia 2021 (Global Banking and Finance Review), Best Forex Broker Asia 2021 (Global Banking and Finance Review), Most Transparent Broker 2020 (Forex Awards), Best Forex Broker APAC 2019 (Global Banking & Finance Review), and Best Mobile Trading App 2019 (European CEO Magazine).
Our sister site FXScouts also awarded OctaFX Best Forex Copy Trading Platform 2020 for its innovative approach to copy trading.
Overall, because of its long history of responsible behaviour, CySEC regulation, provision of negative balance protection, and wide industry acclaim, we consider OctaFX a trustworthy broker.
OctaFX’s trading fees are lower than other similar brokers.
Unlike other brokers that offer a range of account types with lower spreads linked to higher minimum deposits, OctaFX offers only two market-execution accounts with minimum deposits that vary depending on the payment method (click here for more on OctaFX’s deposits and withdrawals) but start at 25 USD. Additionally, each account is associated with a different platform (MT4 or MT5), and while the trading conditions are the same on both account options, benefits vary depending on the platform chosen.
In a welcome show of transparency, OctaFX publishes its minimum, average, and live spreads for each financial instrument on its website.
OctaFX’s accounts were assessed to compare the costs to those of other forex brokers. The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) on the EUR/USD, including the spreads and commission.
When making this calculation, we used one lot of EUR/USD as a benchmark as it is the most commonly traded currency pair and it usually has the tightest spread.
Trading Cost Formula: Spread x Trade Size + Commission = Cost in Secondary Currency (USD):
As you can see from the table above, the trading costs are included in the variable spreads, which are lower than other similar brokers. The trading costs at other brokers tend to be 9 USD on the EUR/USD, making OctaFX one of the lowest cost brokers in the industry. Additionally, OctaFX only requires a minimum starting deposit of 25 USD, making these accounts accessible to beginner traders.
The final trading cost to consider at OctaFX is the swap rate charged on positions held overnight. According to the website and to customer service, OctaFX does not charge any swap fees on MT5 for trading positions held for the first two nights of trading, but a fixed fee applies from the third night.
On the MT4 Account, swap fees are charged every night a position is held open.
This is the swap calculation formula:
pip price *swap (short/long)* volume / 10.
For example, if you go short (sell) 0.5 lots of GBP/USD:
10 USD (pip price for 1 lot) * -4.8 (swap value short) * 0.5 lots / 10 = -2.4 USD
Overall, with costs of 7 USD (EUR/USD) per lot traded, and with swap fees only applied from the third night of trading, OctaFX is one of the lowest cost brokers in the industry. In addition, OctaFX’s minimum deposits start at 25 USD, though it does recommend a minimum of 100 USD or equivalent, making it a good choice for both beginner and experienced traders.
OctaFX’ non-trading fees are lower 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.
OctaFX does not generally charge any account, deposit, or withdrawal fees, and it does not charge any inactivity fees.
Overall OctaFX’s non-trading costs are lower than the industry average. It does not levy fees for deposits and withdrawals and there are no charges on inactive accounts.
The account opening process at OctaFX is hassle-free, fully digital and accounts are ready for trading immediately.
All South African residents are eligible to open an account at OctaFX, as long as they meet the minimum deposit requirements stipulated by the deposit method they choose.
Creating an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are available for trading immediately:
New traders will have to click on the “Open Account” button at the top of the page where they will be directed to register an account.
Overall, OctaFx’s account-opening process is fully digital and hassle-free, and accounts are available for trading immediately.
OctaFX offers two account types, which is limited compared to other brokerages, but its accounts are suited to both beginners and more experienced traders.
OctaFX offers two live accounts, which are suitable for both beginners and more experienced traders. Beginner traders are inexperienced traders who have never traded before, or who 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 and which allow trading in micro-lots are generally more suited to beginner traders. Usually, spreads on these accounts are often wider than those with higher minimum deposits, but that is not the case at OctaFX– which has low minimum deposit requirements and low spreads on both of its accounts.
In general, experienced traders tend to prefer accounts with higher minimum deposits and tighter spreads. Again, at OctaFX this trade-off does not occur as both accounts have excellent trading conditions.
OctaFX has two different account types (along with an unlimited demo account) depending on which platform you decide to use. However, having the account types to a specific platform is an unusual approach; if you are familiar with a specific platform and wish to continue using it, you are going to be restricted in your account choice.
Both of OctaFX’s accounts require a minimum deposit of only 25 USD, although OctaFX recommends that traders deposit at least 100 USD. All trades are executed in under 0.1 seconds and OctaFX allows hedging, scalping, and copy trading. Additionally, Islamic accounts are available.
Demo Account: OctaFX offers an excellent unlimited Demo Account option, available on MT4 and MT5. It offers real market conditions and a chance to win real money in a monthly Champion Demo Contest.
MT4 Account: The MT4 Account requires a minimum deposit of 25 USD (though 100 USD is recommended) and no commission is charged on trades. Spreads average at 0.7 pips, which is much tighter than other similar brokers, leverage is up to 500:1 for Forex trading, and the margin call/stop out is 25%/15%. Metals, indices, and Cryptocurrencies can also be traded. Swaps are charged every night a position is held open.
MT5 Account: As with the MT4 Account, minimum deposits start at 25 USD, but OctaFX recommends starting with 100 USD. Spreads average at 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD, and no commissions are charged. The difference between the MT4 and MT5 accounts is that swaps only apply on the MT5 account from the third night a position is held open. Additionally, MT5 offers some features that are not available on MT4, including depth of market, an integrated Economic Calendar, and full-size tick charts.
Additionally, OctaFX only allows traders to modify their leverage levels once every 24 hours.
The following leverage restrictions apply to all account types:
Overall, OctaFX offers two live accounts which are suited to both beginners and more experienced traders. Spreads are tighter than most other brokers on both account types, but because the account types are linked to different platforms, it may limit traders who are familiar with a particular platform.
OctaFX provides a limited range of funding methods, but it does not charge fees for deposits or withdrawals. It also only allows accounts to be denominated in EUR or USD, which means that traders will have to pay currency conversion fees.
A well-regulated broker, OctaFX 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.
There are several ways to deposit funds into your trading account and while OctaFX does not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees, it only allows accounts to be denominated in EUR or USD, and it doesn’t cover any currency conversion fees.
Overall, while OctaFX does not charge commissions for deposits or withdrawals, the range of payment options is limited, accounts can only be denominated in EUR or USD, and funds cannot be withdrawn to Mastercards.
OctaFX runs several promotional schemes for clients – some of which you don’t even have to spend any money to benefit from:
50% Deposit Bonus
OctaFX offers a deposit bonus scheme (up to 50% of your deposit) on every deposit. However, withdrawing the bonus is conditional on trading activity, which can be calculated in the following way:
Demo Contests
OctaFX runs demo account contests on the MT4 platform. The demo contest runs for 4 weeks and the participant with the largest demo account balance at the end of the period will win 500 USD, with smaller prizes for the rest of the top five.
OctaFX 16 Cars Competition
In order to enter this contest, traders must open an MT4 account and denominate it as their contest account. Traders then have to make the highest possible profit and traded volume with the best profit/loss ratio. The closer traders are to the top in these three categories, the higher their chances of winning.
Trade & Win: Get Gadgets for Trading
The Trade & Win promotion gives traders free prizes and gadgets based on their trading volume. For instance, if you have traded 150 lots with OctaFX you may be eligible for an Android smartwatch. Other prizes include phones and even laptops.
OctaFX only offers accounts denominated in EUR and USD, which is very limited compared to most other brokers. Most other brokers allow trading accounts to be denominated in up to 5 – 10 currencies.
OctaFX only allows trading accounts to be denominated in EUR and USD, which is hugely limiting for traders, and especially for South Africans who will likely have bank accounts denominated in ZAR. This means that South Africans will have to pay conversion fees on all deposits and withdrawals. Conversion fees can make trading expensive, and affect profitability.
Additionally, some traders may want to have multiple accounts with different base currencies to avoid paying conversion fees. However, because OctaFX accounts are only denominated in EUR and USD, this is not possible.
In this case, it is better to open an account at a digital bank. Digital banks offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers.
OctaFX’s trading platform support is average compared to most other brokers.
OctaFX offers full support for Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5, some of the world’s most popular trading platforms. The benefit of offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can use their own customised versions of the platforms should they choose to migrate to another broker. However, some brokers offer their own proprietary platforms which are generally more beginner-friendly and easier to set up.
Remember that with OctaFX, platform choice is tied to account type and, as such, will affect trading conditions.
MT4 and MT5 are available for Windows, Android, iOS, and web browser.
MetaTrader 4
Developed by MetaQuotes in 2002, MT4 is still considered one of the best CFD trading platforms in the world. Although the platform feels somewhat outdated, it is still widely recognised for its execution speeds, excellent charting tools, algorithmic trading, and customisability. It also offers instruments to follow price fluctuations, identify trend patterns through charts and graphs.
Other features of MT4 include:
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. Its back-testing functions are not only faster than those of MT4, but it also allows simultaneous multi-pair testing.
It also has a larger number of pending order types, features an embedded chat system, and more advanced charting tools than MT5.
Other features include:
Overall, OctaFX’s platform support is about average when compared to other brokers, Additionally, MT4 and MT5 are generally more difficult to set up and are less user-friendly than the proprietary platforms available at some other brokers.
OctaFX’s mobile trading platforms are better than other similar brokers.
OctaFX offers a mobile version of both MT4 and MT5 in addition to its own proprietary OctaFX mobile trading app.
MT4 and MT5 Mobile Trading
Both the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms are available on both Android and iOS mobile devices and tablets. Beginner traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced timeframes and fewer charting options. However, the MT4 and MT5 apps allow traders to work from anywhere, with functionality to close and modify existing orders and calculate profit/loss in real-time.
The OctaFX Trading App
OctaFX offers its own OctaFX Trading App (only for Android) which gives you access to all your OctaFX accounts (including your Demo Account) and comes with Market Insights fully integrated.
The app also allows traders to manage all their accounts in one place, including the ability to modify leverage, create forex training accounts, open and close trades, deposit and withdraw funds, and keep track of your bonuses and promotions. The app is well-designed and user-friendly, making it appealing to beginner traders.
Overall, OctaFX’s mobile trading support is good when compared to other brokers, with the MT4 and MT5 mobile versions available, in addition to the OctaFX trading app. However, OctaFX’s trading app is only available on Android devices.
OctaFX’s trading tools are better than other similar brokers.
Alongside industry standards such as an Economic Calendar, Profit, and Trading Calculators, OctaFX also offers an Account Monitoring tool, a great copy trading service, and Autochartist.
Overall, OctaFX offers a good range of trading tools, including an excellent copy trading service and Autochartist, one of the best technical analysis tools in the industry.
OctaFX offers a limited range of tradable instruments compared to other similar brokers.
OctaFX’s range of financial instruments for CFD trading (click here for more details on CFD trading), includes Forex, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
Overall, the range and depth of tradable instruments available at OctaFX is more limited than that of other brokers, which may leave some traders dissatisfied.
The educational material at OctaFX and its alternative website is good but focused on new traders; for more experienced traders there is little in the way of educational support. Customer support is competitive but where OctaFX really shines is in the research and market analysis available.
The educational materials available at OctaFX are more comprehensive and in-depth than what is available at other brokers, but it is more geared towards beginners than experienced traders.
OctaFX offers tradingtiger.pro, an online trading academy for new traders. The site features a range of short tutorials covering everything you need to know to get started – from Forex Fundamentals to Predicting the Market. Each tutorial is a mix of video and text and is well-packaged and easy to understand; learners are tested frequently on the material and the entire website is free of charge. Overall, an excellent resource for beginners traders and we hope OctaFX considers expanding it to include intermediate and advanced courses and brings the course in-house.
Back on OctaFX’s main website, the in-house education section is anchored by a collection of articles collectively called Forex Basics. Article topics range from explainers on ECN trading and Risk Management to Technical Analysis and Trading Strategies as well as more advanced concepts such as Pair Correlations and Fibonacci Retracements. These articles are detailed and well-written and offer valuable advice for new and intermediate traders.
OctaFX is also very active on YouTube, with a range of live trading sessions and webinars taking place on a regular basis. In addition, a workshop for novice traders is held every Saturday in English.
Also on the main site, there is a short Tutorial section covering the MetaTrader platforms, CopyTrading, Autochartist and CFDs, and a Video Tutorial section focused on getting started with MetaTrader. Finally, there is a FAQ section and a useful glossary of Forex trading terms. The education section also has links to the Manuals for the different platforms OctaFX supports (MT4 and MT5).
OctaFX also hosts regular webinars in a range of languages, and archives of past webinars can be found on its site.
Overall, OctaFX’s educational materials are some of the best in the industry, but it could look at including content that is more suitable for advanced traders.
Like its education section, the market analysis materials available at OctaFX are better than most other brokers.
OctaFX has an excellent Market Insights section which is updated frequently but is only available in English. Regular posts include a Daily Forecast, a Daily Review, and Weekly Review. These posts frequently offer predictions of future market movements – but be cautious and do your own research before acting on any predictions.
The Market Insights section also has a daily video series, uploaded to the OctaFX YouTube channel, called Market in a Minute, which covers all the big news from the Forex markets for the preceding trading day. In addition to all these regular updates, there are irregular short pieces published in reaction to trading events with detailed technical insight.
OctaFX also hosts a Forex News section, also only in English, with short briefings on all the major news stories affecting the Forex markets, this is updated over the weekend and the articles are well-written and concise. These briefings are offered without any suggestion of how the events will affect the markets.
OctaFX customer support is open 24/7 via live chat, and 24/5 via phone (with local numbers for the UK, Hong Kong, and Indonesia), email, WhatsApp, and Telegram.
Additionally, the Finance Department is open from 06:00 – 22:00 (EET) and the customer verification department is open from 08:00 – 17:00 (EET) for account setup and troubleshooting queries.
We found the support team very responsive, but uninformed. It was difficult to find answers to our questions about the swap fees of the MT5 account.
We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the FXTM offering. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the broker, the platform offering of the broker and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.
Trading Forex is risky, and each broker is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. OctaFX would like you to know that: Forex margin trading involves substantial risks. Forex margin trading exposes participants to risks including, but not limited to, changes in political conditions, economic factors, acts of nature and other factors, all of which may substantially affect the price or availability of one or more foreign currencies.
Speculative trading is a challenging prospect, even to those with market experience and an understanding of the risks involved. Only funds that a person would allocate to high-risk investments (i.e., funds that if lost would not affect the person’s standard of living or financial well-being) should be used in trading.
In cases where a Client has used only conservative forms of investment in the past, forex trading might not be appropriate for the Client. A Client must understand that a total loss of all funds deposited can occur, should the market go against the Client’s position(s).
OctaFX is a good broker that offers trading on a limited number of tradable assets, including Forex, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Full support is offered for the MT4 and MT5 platforms, with an account type associated with each platform. Because the account options, platforms, and trading conditions are all tightly linked, new customers may feel arbitrarily restricted. That said, OctaFX’s trading costs are some of the lowest in the industry, and it has an excellent analytical section, well-designed education for beginners, world-class trading tools, and a range of exciting bonus options for all traders. Additionally, its customer support is available 24/7, which is exceptional in an industry where the norm is 24/5.
Accepts South African Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 1.10 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 500:1. Islamic account available. MT4 & MT5 platforms supported. OctaFX is regulated by CySEC and SVG FSA.
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