InstaForex vs ActivTrades

InstaForex or ActivTrades – which is better for UK traders 2025? Compare InstaForex and ActivTrades in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.

InstaForex vs ActivTrades Comparison Table 2025
InstaForex ActivTrades
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3.2
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4
InstaForex is ranked #41 among CFD brokers. ActivTrades is ranked #66 among CFD brokers.
Review
Review
InstaForex is a forex and CFD broker founded in 2007. The broker offers diverse market coverage to millions of clients, spanning traditional assets like currencies and shares, as well as other interesting opportunities such as IPOs. ActivTrades is a UK-headquartered CFD and forex broker established in 2001. The award-winning brokerage has secured licenses from trusted bodies, notably the UK’s FCA, and facilitates trading on over 1000 instruments spanning 7 asset classes, with over 93.60% of orders are executed at the requested price.
All investments involve a degree of risk of some kind. Trading financial derivative products comes with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should not engage in trading these instruments unless you fully understand the nature of the transactions you are entering into, and the true extent of your exposure. These types of investments may be suitable for some investors, but they are not for everyone.
Pros
  • InstaForex delivers a superb trading environment, with the powerful MT4 and MT5 platforms offering dozens of technical analysis tools, automation capabilities and multiple order types
  • The broker is a particularly good pick for serious forex traders, with over 100 currency pairs, tight spreads from 0.0 pips and a market-leading selection of curated forex market resources
  • The broker is accessible for beginners, with low minimum deposits and zero-commission trading available.
  • ActivTrades offers tight spreads, particularly for forex trading with spreads starting from 0.5 pips on major currency pairs without additional commissions. The €/£10 inactivity fee doesn’t kick in for 52 weeks either, so it doesn’t penalize active traders.
  • Although cTrader isn’t supported, MT4, MT5, TradingView and the broker’s ActivTrader cater to diverse trading needs, with the firm’s web-accessible platform hitting the mark for beginners during testing with a slick look and feel.
  • ActivTrades is highly trusted, boasting 20+ years in the industry, authorization from 3 ‘green tier’ bodies under DayTrading.com’s Regulation & Trust Rating, and it goes the extra mile for UK traders with £1M in investor compensation (exceeding the £85K through the FSCS) in the event of brokerage insolvency.
  • ActivTrades provides fast, dependable and multilingual support based on our tests of its live chat, email, and phone assistance, making it excellent for active traders and beginners.
  • With execution speeds averaging just 4ms, an order fulfilment rate of 93.6%, and no restrictions on short-term strategies, ActivTrades offers an excellent environment for fast-paced strategies like trading.
Cons
  • Customer support is available only in EN, CZ, PL, and SK.
  • The broker provides trading instruments only in the form of CFDs.
  • The broker’s website and client cabinet feel outdated and difficult to navigate for newcomers
  • There are no copy trading or social trading features, which is a drawback for traders seeking passive investment opportunities or the ability to mimic the trades of more experienced traders, especially compared to eToro and Vantage.
  • There's a varied selection of 1000+ markets, such as forex, commodities, indices, and ETFs, but the range of asset classes overall is limited, notably there are zero stocks outside the US, UK and Europe, while BlackBull offers a superior 26,000+ markets.
  • Its research tools are good but not great, with a growing ‘Analysis’ hub but no Trading Central or Autochartist for advanced technical summaries which could help aspiring traders identify opportunities in fast-moving markets.
  • ActivTrades still has some way to go to match firms like XTB and CMC Markets in the education department, with some well-presented, informative webinars but limited courses and quizzes for a more comprehensive and engaging learning journey.
Awards
  • Safest Global Broker 2023 - International Investor Magazine
  • Best Online Trading Services 2023 - ADVFN International Financial Awards
  • Best Forex Broker Europe 2022 - Forex-Awards.com
  • Most Trusted Global FX Broker 2022 - International Investor Magazine
  • Best CFD Broker 2021 - Rankia
  • Safest Global Broker 2021 - International Investor Award Winners
  • Best FX Broker 2021 - Le Fonti Award
FCA Regulated
No

List of FCA Regulated Brokers

Yes
Instruments
Currencies, Cryptocurrencies, Stocks, Indices, Metals, Oil and Gas, Commodity Futures and InstaFutures CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Bonds, ETFs, Futures, Cryptos (location dependent)
Bonus
Choose between: Club Bonus, 30 %, 55 % and 100 % bonuses
Demo Account
Yes Yes
Minimum Deposit
$1 $0
Payment Methods
Minimum Trade
0.10 of the lot (0.0001 of market lot for Cent.Standard and Cent.Eurica) 0.01 Lots
Regulator
BVI FSC FCA, CMVM, CSSF, SCB
Mobile Apps
iOS and Android + browser based platform iOS & Android
Trading App

ActivTrades provides a choice of mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. The proprietary ActivTrader app and support for MT4, MT5, and TradingView give access to real-time market data, advanced charting tools, and customizable trading features. All four apps let you trade and manage you accounts intuitively, but ActivTrades boasts the most seamless trading experience, combining the broker’s ultra-fast execution speeds with dynamic charting and research tools.
iOS App Rating
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3.6
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4.9
Android App Rating
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3.6
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3.8
Margin Trading
Yes Yes
MetaTrader 4
Yes Yes
MetaTrader 5
Yes Yes
cTrader
No No
AlgoTrader
No No
OmniTrader
No No
TradingView
No Yes
Autochartist
No No
eSignal
No No
Trading Central
No No
STP Account
No Yes
ECN Account
Yes No
DMA Account
No No
MAM Account
No No
PAMM Account
Yes No
LAMM Account
No No
Demat Account
No No
AI / Machine Learning
No No
Robo Advisor
No No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes Yes
Market Maker
No Yes
P2P Trading
No No
Spot Trading
No No
Auto Trading
Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader Yes (APIs), Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
Copy Trading
No No
Copy Trading Platform
The Copy Trading facility at Instaforex is increasingly popular, due to the clear design and growing list of specialist traders and markets.
Social Trading
Yes No
Trade Signals
Yes
VPS Hosting
Yes No
Tournaments
No No
Demo Competitions
No No
Ethical Investing
No No
Custodial Account
No No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No No
Inactivity Fee
€5 €/£10
Islamic Account
Yes Yes
Account Currencies
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • PLN
  • CZK
  • USD
  • EUR
  • GBP
  • CHF
Commodities
  • Oil
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Palladium
  • Natural Gas
  • Copper
  • Gasoline
  • Cocoa
  • Coffee
  • Cotton
  • Soybeans
  • Livestock
  • Wheat
  • Orange Juice
  • Platinum
  • Sugar
  • Gold
  • Oil
  • Natural Gas
  • Wheat
  • Copper
  • Cocoa
  • Coffee
  • Corn
  • Orange Juice
  • Palladium
  • Platinum
  • Silver
  • Soybeans
  • Sugar
CFD
You can trade CFDs across a range of diverse markets with flexible account types and leverage up to 1:1000. With access to both MT4 and MT5, traders can execute multiple short-term CFD trading strategies using the dozens of pre-integrated technical indicators and graphical objects. ActivTrades specializes in CFD trading, offering over 1000 instruments spanning currencies, shares, indices, commodities, and more. The broker has picked up industry awards for its CFD trading environment, delivering fast and reliable order execution with transparent margin requirements for traders.
Leverage
1:30 for retail clients, 1:500 for professional 1:30 (UK and EU), 1:400 (Global & Pro)
FTSE Spread
Fixed 0.6
GBPUSD Spread<
Av. Floating 0.6 pips 0.8
Oil Spread
Fixed 0.03
Stocks Spread
0.1% Variable
Forex
InstaForex's range of 100+ currency pairs is among the largest we have seen. ECN spreads are also available from 0.0 pips with zero commissions. Minimum deposits start from $1 making the broker accessible for beginners. You can also access market-leading forex analysis and insights. ActivTrades offers its lowest fees in the forex department, with excellent spreads on majors like the EUR/USD from 0.5 pips and zero commissions, keeping pricing simple. Improvements to the ActivTrades platform, alongside access to the industry-leading MetaTrader 4, also give traders the tools they need to navigate the FX market confidently.
Assets
1000+ 50+
GBPUSD Spread
0.6 0.8
EURUSD Spread
0.2 0.5
EURGBP Spread
0.5 0.8
Currency Indices
  • USD
  • USD
Cryptocurrency
There's a range of 10+ crypto tokens against USD, with 0.1% fees and 1:5 leverage. You can also trade the Bitcoin token with spreads around 25, which is in line with similar brokers. Trade 15+ of the most know cryptos, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Digital currencies can be traded around the clock with no hidden fees. 1:10 leverage is also available on major tokens like BTC.
Spread
0.1% Variable
Coins
  • BCH
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • XRP
  • and50+more
  • BTC
  • ETH
  • LTC
  • BCH
  • DOT
  • EOS
  • LINK
  • XLM
  • NEO
  • ADA
  • SOL
  • XRP
  • BNB
  • XMR
  • AVAX
  • DOGE
Crypto Lending
No No
Crypto Mining
No No
Crypto Staking
No No
Auto Market Maker
No No
InstaForex ActivTrades
Review
Review
All investments involve a degree of risk of some kind. Trading financial derivative products comes with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should not engage in trading these instruments unless you fully understand the nature of the transactions you are entering into, and the true extent of your exposure. These types of investments may be suitable for some investors, but they are not for everyone.
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InstaForex
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