XM vs AvaTrade - 2024 Comparison | FX Scouts Kenya
AuthorAuthor: Björn MichelsUpdated: Oct 12, 2023

Last Updated On Oct 12, 2023

Björn Michels

Trading with a reputable online broker is a crucial factor for success in the international markets. At FX Scouts Kenya, we help you find the broker that suits your trading needs.

Each year we spend thousands of hours testing brokers by opening accounts, testing their platforms, and rating them according to a set of over 200 metrics. We deposit real money with the brokers to ensure that the products and user experience they advertise are consistent with reality.

We have found that the best way for traders to choose a broker is to compare brokers side-by-side. The comparison tool below allows you to compare two brokers based on their ratings and features.

Select brokers to compare

Select brokers to compare

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Broker Score
Min. Deposit
Regulation
Trading Desk Type
Trading Instruments
Forex Pairs
Crypto Pairs
Pros
Cons
Regulation
Trading Conditions
Trading Platforms
Deposit & Withdrawal
Education & Research
Assets Available
Customer Service
% Lose with this broker
Leverage
Spread
Hedging
Scalping
Account Types
Islamic Account
Trading Platforms
Funding Methods
Trading Commission
11110.54.45/ 5 USD 5CySEC Regulated BrokersASIC Regulated Forex BrokersDubai Financial Services AuthorityInternational Financial Services CommissionFSCA Regulated Forex BrokersMarket MakerCommodities, Cryptocurrencies, Energies, Stock CFDs, Forex, Indices, Metals, Shares5760
  • Well regulated
  • Excellent education
  • Free deposits and withdrawals
  • Wide spreads on its entry-level accounts
Read Review 11110.54.5/ 5 111115/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111115/ 5 1110.503.5/ 5 111104/ 5 75.33%1000:10.60 pips Micro, Standard, XM Ultra Low, XM Zero MT4, MT5Bank Transfer, Mastercard, Visa, Skrill, Neteller, Fasapay, PerfectMoney, BitcoinFees Included in Spread
11110.54.59/ 5 USD 100ASIC Regulated Forex BrokersFSCA Regulated Forex BrokersCySEC Regulated BrokersFinancial Services AgencyCentral Bank of IrelandFinancial Regulatory Services AuthorityMarket MakerBonds, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Stock CFDs, ETFs, Forex, Indices, Vanilla Options5520
  • Top-tier regulation and security with licenses from ASIC and CBI among others
  • Accessible trading with a low minimum deposit of 100 USD
  • Award-winning mobile trading with the AvaTradeGO app with social trading features
  • Wide range of assets including unique instruments like vanilla options
  • Educational material to support trader development and strategy enhancement
  • Market analysis could be more extensive
  • Poor regulatory oversight outside of the UK and EU
  • Avatrade is a Market Maker and operate a dealing desk which might not align with all trading preferences
Read Review 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 111115/ 5 111115/ 5 11110.54.5/ 5 76%400:10.90 pips Islamic, Professional, Retail MT4, MT5, Avatrade Social, AvaOptionsSkrill, WebMoney, Neteller, Bank Transfer, Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, POLi, Klarna, Paypal, OzowFees Included in Spread

How do AvaTrade and XM stack up against each other?

The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.

AvaTrade

XM

At FX Scouts Kenya, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.

To compare AvaTrade and XM, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.

Does AvaTrade or XM have a better trust and regulation rating?

Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.

In our comparison, we found that AvaTrade holds three Tier 1 and two Tier 2 licences, and XM holds two Tier 1 and one Tier 2 licences.

 

Is AvaTrade financially regulated?

Yes AvaTrade was founded in 2006 and is regulated by ASIC, CBI, CySEC, FRSA, FSA-Japan and FSCA.

 

Is XM financially regulated?

Yes XM was founded in 2009 and is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, DFSA, FSCA and FSC.

 

Based on these findings, 0 earned a higher trust rating than 0.

Does AvaTrade or XM have lower costs?

Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged. 

Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that XM has overall lower trading costs than AvaTrade. 

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Broker
Trading Conditions
Base Currencies
EURUSD (Standard)
Trading Cost (Standard)
EURUSD (Best)
GBPUSD (Best)
USDJPY (Best)
Commission
XM
111115/ 5
USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, ‎AUD, HUF, PLN, RUB, SGD, ZAR
0.60 pips
USD 6
0.60 pips
0.60 pips
0.60 pips
USD 0
AvaTrade
11110.54.5/ 5
USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, ZAR, CHF
0.90 pips
USD 9
0.90 pips
1.60 pips
1.10 pips
USD 0

 

Does AvaTrade or XM offer a better choice of trading platforms?

Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms. 

In this case, 0 offers support for and 0 offers support for . 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

Copy trading is a great option for beginner traders who can’t trade full-time or lack experience with Forex trading. In this case both AvaTrade and XM offer copy trading.

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Broker
Platform Choice
Copy Trading
Platforms
XM
11110.54.5/ 5
AvaTrade
11110.54.5/ 5
Avatrade Social
AvaOptions

 

Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?

A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that XM offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than AvaTrade. XM offers 57 Forex pairs to trade and AvaTrade offers 55 Forex pairs to trade.

Toplist Forex Pairs

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, XM offers 60 cryptocurrencies while AvaTrade offers 20 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with XM.

Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?

Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals. 

We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that neither AvaTrade nor XM charges a withdrawal fee. Overall, 0 has better deposit and withdrawal processes than 0. 

Which broker offers better educational support?

We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas. 

AvaTrade and XM both have very good educational support. Both AvaTrade and XM offer educational support for more experienced traders.

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Broker
Beginner Course
Advanced Course
Well Structured Education
Education Quality
Webinars
XM
High
AvaTrade
High

 

Which broker offers better market analysis materials?

To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field. 

We found that 0 offers better research analysis than 0 and that both AvaTrade and XM offer frequent webinars.

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Broker
Economic Calendar
Autochartist
Trading Central
Trading View
Free VPS
XM
AvaTrade

 

Our overall Verdict on AvaTrade

AvaTrade is an internationally and FSCA regulated CFD broker offering trading on Forex, cryptocurrencies, commodities, indices, stocks, bonds and EFTs. AvaTrade has one of the best mobile trading applications in the industry and, unlike many global brokers, offers a local South African customer support team. 

AvaTrade has over 200,000 active traders on the MT4, MT5, and AvaGo platforms and provides free access to trading tools like Autochartist, Duplitrade and AvaProtect, its own innovative risk management system.

While AvaTrade is a dependable broker for beginners, professional traders looking for advanced educational material and industry-leading market research will be underwhelmed.

Our overall Verdict on XM

A popular global broker with a large customer base and a good reputation, XM is a good option for most Kenyan traders. It has some of the lowest fees in the industry, provides excellent research and education, and has a beginner-friendly trading app. It has an outstanding range of trading tools and offers traders generous bonuses and incentives. It also has one of the best copy trading services in the industry. 

XM offers four trading accounts, three of which have a minimum deposit of 5 USD and have no commissions for Forex trading. The highlight is the commission-free Ultra Low Account with spreads that start at 0.6 pips (EUR/USD).

The main drawback is that XM’s Kenyan clients will be trading through XM’s company in Belize, which has poor regulatory oversight. However, Kenyan traders still have negative balance protection and can rest assured that their funds are kept in segregated accounts.

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

AvaTrade has an overall rating of 4.59 and XM has an overall rating of 4.45. For more detail please read our reviews of AvaTrade and XM.

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