AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Comparison – 2025

Top Reasons to Choose AvaTrade or Pepperstone

If you’re trying to decide between AvaTrade and Pepperstone, the choice ultimately comes down to what you value most as a trader.

Based on my in-depth research, AvaTrade stands out for its powerful suite of trading platforms and tools. The broker offers impressive proprietary platforms for web, mobile, and options trading, along with full support for MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and DupliTrade. Traders also benefit from features like VPS hosting for low-latency execution and the Guardian Angel tool, which provides post-trade feedback and personalized insights to help improve risk management and trading discipline.

Pepperstone, on the other hand, shines when it comes to market variety. In my tests, it offered a broader range of tradable instruments — over 1,380 assets spanning forex, commodities, share CFDs, indices, and cryptocurrencies. This wide selection caters to traders seeking both lower-risk opportunities and high-risk/high-reward trades. Pepperstone also delivers solid performance with fast order execution, multiple trading platforms, and VPS hosting for speed-sensitive strategies.

AvaTrade: Snapshot

Headquartered in Ireland and established in 2006, AvaTrade is one of the most recognizable names in the online trading space. This financial derivatives broker operates as a market maker and upholds high standards of trade execution. Alongside its robust selection of platforms and tools, AvaTrade offers a diverse range of instruments, including CFDs and vanilla options. The broker’s pricing is competitive, and its market research is strong and consistently updated.

AvaTrade: Who is it For?

AvaTrade caters to a wide spectrum of traders — day traders, algorithmic traders, copy traders, and chart artists alike. Thanks to its versatile platform lineup, each of these trader types can find tools that suit their strategies and give them a competitive edge. The broker also integrates content from Trading Central, providing clients with seamless access to actionable trading signals.

What Makes AvaTrade Stand Out?

AvaTrade stands out with its comprehensive selection of platforms and tools. For retail traders and advanced technical analysis, traders can choose between AvaTrade’s proprietary WebTrader, MetaTrader 4, and MetaTrader 5. The Guardian Angel plugin offers additional guidance within MetaTrader to help traders refine their strategies. For social and copy trading, AvaTrade provides both DupliTrade and AvaSocial. Options traders can take advantage of the broker’s purpose-built AvaOptions platform. Additionally, VPS hosting is available for low-latency execution, with order speeds averaging around 5 milliseconds.

Pepperstone: Snapshot

Pepperstone is an Australia-based forex and CFD broker founded in 2010. It operates as an STP (Straight Through Processing) broker with no dealing desk, ensuring transparent and efficient trade execution. Regulated across multiple jurisdictions, Pepperstone adheres to high execution standards — I recorded an average order execution speed of around 30 milliseconds, well ahead of the industry benchmark of 60 milliseconds. The broker offers access to over 1,380 tradable instruments across a broad range of markets, available on versatile platforms, including MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView.

Pepperstone: Who is it For?

Pepperstone is a great choice for technical traders and chart artists. The integration of TradingView gives users access to some of the most advanced and visually intuitive charts in the industry. It’s also ideal for algorithmic traders, who can build and automate their systems on cTrader’s dedicated environment for algo trading. To support latency-sensitive strategies, Pepperstone offers VPS hosting for optimized performance. Meanwhile, beginners can take advantage of the broker’s rich educational resources, including articles, videos, tutorials, and webinars.

What Makes Pepperstone Stand Out?

Pepperstone stands out thanks to a powerful combination of advanced platforms, competitive pricing, and fast execution. With cTrader and TradingView in its lineup, the broker delivers a top-tier trading experience. It also offers below-average spreads and ultra-fast order execution. On top of that, Pepperstone provides high-quality market research and comprehensive educational content to support traders of all levels.

Trust

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Trust and Regulation Comparison

AvaTrade operates under seven licensed entities, regulated by authorities including the CBI (Ireland), ASIC (Australia), JFSA (Japan), FSCA (South Africa), DFSA (UAE), ADGM (Abu Dhabi), ISA (Israel), and the FSC (British Virgin Islands). The broker holds client funds in segregated accounts and offers negative balance protection. It also features the AvaProtect tool, a client categorization system to help limit risk for beginners, and a ‘best execution policy’ to ensure consistently competitive pricing.

Pepperstone is authorized and regulated by ASIC (Australia), CySEC (Cyprus), the FCA (UK), BaFin (Germany), DFSA (Dubai), CMA (Kenya), and the SCB (Bahamas). With a strong global presence, Pepperstone is one of the most extensively regulated CFD brokers I’ve reviewed. All client funds are held in segregated accounts at major banks, and the broker maintains a high level of overall transparency.

If you want to learn more about brokers’ regulations, be sure to check out our article on the top regulated forex brokers.

Fees

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone, Spreads, Fees and Commissions Comparison

I conducted my live tests on AvaTrade’s universal account, which offers commission-free trading with floating spreads starting from 0.9 pips. Compared to the industry average, AvaTrade provides low spreads on share CFDs, low-to-average spreads on forex and commodities, average spreads on indices, and relatively high spreads on cryptocurrencies. Its low swap charges make it particularly attractive for longer-term traders. Additionally, AvaTrade does not charge any fees for deposits or withdrawals.

Pepperstone’s Standard account offers commission-free trading with spreads that, in my tests, were better than the industry average across every asset class. For traders seeking even lower costs, the Razor account provides raw spreads from 0.0 pips, plus a $6 round-turn commission per standard lot (100,000 units). Pepperstone also stands out for its fee transparency: it charges no inactivity fees and no deposit or withdrawal fees — except for withdrawals via international bank transfer.

Platforms and Tools

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Trading Platforms Comparison

AvaTrade stands out for its broad and diverse selection of seven trading platforms and multiple tools. I tested AvaTrade’s Web Trader, which includes 80 technical indicators, 13 drawing tools, 9 timeframes, and 3 chart types. It supports all basic order types (market, limit, and stop) and integrates actionable trading signals from Trading Central. A key feature is AvaProtect — an innovative risk-management tool that lets traders hedge positions for a flat fee.

Pepperstone offers a strong lineup of third-party platforms: MetaTrader 4 & 5, cTrader, and TradingView. In my experience, TradingView delivers the most advanced charting capabilities, with fluid performance and over 150 technical indicators and drawing tools. cTrader, meanwhile, features an intuitive strategy builder ideal for algorithmic and copy trading. For MetaTrader users, Pepperstone provides a suite of 28 custom indicators and Expert Advisors (EAs). The broker also offers free VPS hosting for low-latency trading.

Tradable Instruments

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Instruments Selection Comparison

AvaTrade offers access to over 840 tradable instruments, including currency pairs, commodities, share CFDs, indices, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, bonds, and forex options. Its diverse range makes it suitable for various strategies, from speculative and volatility trading to hedging.

Pepperstone provides an even broader selection, with more than 1,380 instruments across forex, commodities, share CFDs, indices, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs. Notably, traders can access 1,045 share CFDs, along with 116 popular share CFDs available for trading 24/5. The wide variety caters to both speculative traders — interested in high-yield, high-risk assets like cryptocurrencies — and risk-averse traders seeking more stable instruments such as ETFs for hedging purposes.

Customer Support

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Customer Support Comparison

AvaTrade provides 24/5 customer support available via live chat, email, and phone. After testing the service, I found it fast and reliable. AvaTrade offers multilingual support in English, Chinese, Spanish, German, Korean, and more.

Pepperstone’s customer support can be reached 24/7 through live chat, email, and phone. During my testing, live chat responses were quick and helpful. Email replies arrived within a day, while phone support was prompt for the UK and Australian entities. However, I did experience some wait times when contacting the global support team.

Research

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Research Tools Comparison

AvaTrade offers well-rounded research materials with a strong focus on technical analysis. The broker integrates content from Trading Central, delivering comprehensive market breakdowns and actionable trading signals. Additional resources include weekly market reviews, an intuitive news screener, sentiment analysis tools, and a user-friendly economic calendar.

Pepperstone delivers high-quality research through written reports and videos produced by its in-house team, led by Chris Weston. The content covers major economic events, technical analysis, and weekly market outlooks. Video updates are available on YouTube via the “Trader Insights” and “The Trade Off” series. Research is further supported by Autochartist, a tool that highlights trading opportunities using technical patterns. Overall, Pepperstone’s research is insightful, accessible, and among the best in the CFD industry.

Deposits & Withdrawals

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Deposit and Withdrawal Methods Comparison

AvaTrade accepts payments via bank wire, credit or debit card, and several e-wallets. The broker does not charge a handling fee for deposits or withdrawals. Transaction times vary, depending on the chosen payment method, but generally take around 1-2 business days to complete.

Pepperstone offers a wide range of deposit and withdrawal methods, including bank transfers, credit cards, digital wallets, and cryptocurrencies. The broker does not charge any handling fees for deposits or withdrawals, except for withdrawals made via international bank transfer. Processing times vary by method but are typically completed within three business days.

Account Types and Terms

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Account Types Comparison

AvaTrade offers one account for retail traders and another for professional clients, the latter featuring higher leverage and fewer trading restrictions. Swap-free Islamic accounts are also available. The minimum deposit is $100, and traders can choose from EUR, USD, GBP, or CHF as their base currency. For retail accounts, the broker’s margin call level is set at 50%.

Pepperstone provides two main retail account types: the Standard and the Razor account. The Standard account uses a spread-only pricing model (excluding share CFDs), while the Razor account offers raw spreads with a commission-based structure. Professional accounts with higher leverage are available, and the broker’s Active Trader Program offers volume-based rebates. In my view, the Standard account is ideal for beginners and casual traders, while the Razor account is better suited for experienced and professional traders.

Education

AvaTrade vs Pepperstone Educational Content Comparison

AvaTrade offers a comprehensive educational program with a strong emphasis on technical analysis. Its Academy section features over 150 lessons totaling more than five hours of study — one of the most extensive libraries I’ve come across. Additional resources include platform tutorials, an e-book, articles, and beginner-friendly educational videos. The broker also provides hundreds of past webinars on its YouTube channel and maintains a blog with broader commentary on trading and economic topics. However, coverage of fundamental analysis and trading psychology remains relatively limited.

Pepperstone also impresses with the scope and quality of its educational content. The broker provides a well-rounded library that includes articles, videos, platform tutorials, and live webinars. The material caters to traders of all experience levels, with standout webinars hosted by seasoned professionals covering both basic and advanced strategies. Beginners can build a strong foundation with market basics, while experienced traders benefit from in-depth guides on topics like Fibonacci retracements and optimizing Expert Advisors. Platform tutorials are especially helpful for navigating tools like MetaTrader.

Our Methodology

Since 2011, FX Empire has developed a detailed methodology for evaluating CFD brokers, involving over 250 variables across nine crucial categories. Our team of experts, with deep industry knowledge, conducts live testing and research by interacting with the brokers directly. We check regulations, open accounts, test spreads, account costs, platform functionality, instrument variety, customer support reliability, and the quality of research and educational content. This granular analysis helps us identify each broker’s strengths and weaknesses, keeping our comparisons current with market trends and ensuring our guides meet traders’ needs.

We strive to evaluate each broker objectively, considering how their offerings align with the diverse trading goals and preferences of our readers. Our focus is on providing a balanced overview of each broker’s strengths and weaknesses. This method ensures that our readers receive clear, insightful comparisons to aid in making well-informed trading decisions.

We employ a comprehensive rating system across nine key categories:

• Trust
• Fees
• Platforms and Tools
• Tradable Instruments
• Customer Support
• Research
• Deposits and Withdrawals
• Account Types and Terms
• Education

In each category, we conduct an in-depth analysis for both brokers, outlining features, advantages, and disadvantages and determining their suitability for different trader profiles. By blending insights from our extensive reviews with first-hand experiences and observations, we ensure each comparison is balanced, informative, and tailored to the trader’s unique needs. You can read more about our review process here.

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