Avatrade vs IC Markets

How often you will trade. AvaTrade is cheaper commission-free, at about 0.9 pips against IC Markets’ 1.10. But AvaTrade has no raw account, so 0.9 is its floor. IC Markets drops to almost nothing for $7 a round turn once you trade enough to justify it.

The idle fee. AvaTrade: $50 a quarter after three months, plus about $100 a year after twelve. IC Markets: nothing.

The deposit. $100 against $200.

Quick Answer

Comparison Table

Check these on each broker’s own site before you trust them. Gaps move through the day, so treat them as normal-hours figures.

The Contradiction Worth Knowing

AvaTrade is built for a particular kind of trader, and it is a good fit for them.

You get simple pricing with no commission to work out. You get fixed spreads on some instruments, so your cost does not jump during news. You get vanilla options through AvaOptions and three copy-trading services, which suit people who want variety without becoming a full-time trader. And you get around nine regulators watching, which is genuinely reassuring.

That is a broker for someone who trades now and then, keeps things uncomplicated, and does not want to think about it too hard.

Then AvaTrade charges that same person $50 every three months for not trading.

If you fund an account, trade for a month, get busy with life, and come back in six months, AvaTrade has taken $100 off you. After a year it adds roughly $100 more in administration fees. IC Markets, the broker built for people who trade constantly, charges nothing for going quiet.

So the fit is backwards. The broker that suits casual traders penalises casual trading, and the broker that suits heavy traders is the safe place to be casual.

Read that as a practical warning rather than an insult. If you will genuinely trade every week, the fee never fires and AvaTrade is a strong choice. If you suspect you will not, factor it in.

Trading Costs

This splits, and where you land depends on how much you trade.

Commission-free, AvaTrade is cheaper. About 0.9 pips on EUR/USD against IC Markets’ 1.10. It also offers fixed spreads on some instruments, so your cost holds steady when the market gets rough. IC Markets has no fixed-spread product.

But AvaTrade has no raw account. It is a market maker, so every cost sits inside the spread and 0.9 pips is the floor. There is nowhere cheaper to go.

IC Markets’ raw account drops the gap to almost nothing for $3.50 a side, so $7 to open and close. That needs volume to pay off, but once it does, it is far below anything AvaTrade can offer.

So AvaTrade is cheaper today and IC Markets is cheaper later. If you stay occasional, AvaTrade wins on cost. If you improve, AvaTrade has a ceiling and IC Markets does not.

Which Broker Is Safer?

Both, and this is closer to a draw than most comparisons on this site.

AvaTrade holds licences across around nine jurisdictions, anchored by the Central Bank of Ireland and including ASIC in Australia and Japan’s FSA. That is one of the widest footprints in retail trading.

IC Markets holds ASIC and CySEC licences, both strict, and has run since 2007 with a 4.8 rating from over 54,000 Trustpilot reviews.

AvaTrade has more licences. IC Markets has more customers vouching for it. Neither is the risky choice, and neither is watched by Britain’s FCA.

The thing that matters more than either: check which arm of the broker your country puts you under. Both run several entities, and the protection under a European or Australian arm is far stronger than under an offshore one. Look that up before you deposit, not after.

[Your own test: screenshot which company each broker signs you up to from your country.]

Platforms and Markets

Both give you MT4 and MT5.

IC Markets adds cTrader, TradingView charts and free VPS hosting, with about 3,500 markets. If you want cTrader or you run automated strategies, only IC Markets serves you.

AvaTrade adds AvaTradeGO, its own well-rated app, and AvaOptions for vanilla options trading. It offers about 1,250 markets. The options platform is the real differentiator, because it lets you build defined-risk strategies that no plain CFD broker offers, IC Markets included. AvaProtect, which refunds losses on a position within a set window for a fee, is also unusual.

On copy trading AvaTrade edges it, with three services built in against IC Markets’ third-party add-ons.

Leverage

IC Markets caps at 1:500. AvaTrade caps at 1:400. Under European or Australian arms, both drop to 1:30.

These are the two lowest caps you will find in this comparison set, and that is a compliment to both. Leverage grows your losses exactly as fast as your wins, and heavy leverage is the fastest way a beginner loses everything. Both cap low because strict regulators make them.

If you have been looking at brokers advertising 1:2000 or 1:3000, notice that they tend to be the ones nobody strict is watching.

Final Verdict

Take AvaTrade if you will trade regularly, want simple pricing without commissions, or want options and copy trading. $100 gets you in, its 0.9 pips beats IC Markets on the account you will start with, and around nine regulators watch it. Just be honest with yourself about the idle fee, because it targets exactly the casual trader AvaTrade otherwise suits.

Take IC Markets if you will trade often, want cTrader, want thousands more markets, or simply want a broker that does not charge you for taking a break. Its raw account is the cheapest thing on this page once your volume justifies it, and AvaTrade has no answer to it.

Both are genuinely good and properly regulated, which you cannot say about most pairs. So pick on how you will trade, not on which is safer.

FAQ

Which is cheaper, AvaTrade or IC Markets?

AvaTrade on the commission-free account, at about 0.9 pips against 1.10. IC Markets once you move to a raw account, which AvaTrade does not offer at all.

Which is safer?

Both are properly regulated. AvaTrade holds more licences, around nine. IC Markets holds two strict ones and has 54,000 reviews averaging 4.8. Call it a draw and check which arm covers your country.

Does AvaTrade charge a fee if I stop trading?

Yes: $50 every three months once idle, plus about $100 a year after twelve months. IC Markets charges nothing.

Can I get raw spreads at AvaTrade?

No. AvaTrade is a market maker with no raw account, so its spread is the floor.

Which one lets me trade options?

AvaTrade, through AvaOptions. IC Markets does not offer vanilla options.

Which is better for a complete beginner?

AvaTrade if you will trade regularly and want simplicity. IC Markets if you will trade often, or if you think you may go quiet for months at a time.

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