OctaFX vs markets.com

How do markets.com and OctaFX 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.

At FX Scouts, 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 markets.com and OctaFX, 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 markets.com or OctaFX 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 markets.com holds two Tier 1 and one Tier 2 licences, and OctaFX holds one Tier 1 and one Tier 2 licences.

 

Can I trust markets.com?

Yes as markets.com was founded in 2008 and is regulated by ASIC, B.V.I FSC, CySEC, FCA and FSCA.

 

Can I trust OctaFX?

Yes as OctaFX was founded in 2011 and is regulated by CySEC, FSA-St-Vincent and Fi.

 

Based on these findings, markets.com earned a higher trust rating than OctaFX.

Does markets.com or OctaFX 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 OctaFX has overall lower trading costs than markets.com. 

 

Does markets.com or OctaFX 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, markets.com offers support for MT4 and MT5 and OctaFX offers support for MT4 and MT5. 

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 markets.com and OctaFX offer copy trading.

 

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 markets.com offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than OctaFX. markets.com offers 67 Forex pairs to trade and OctaFX offers 35 Forex pairs to trade.

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, OctaFX offers 30 cryptocurrencies while markets.com offers 25 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with OctaFX.

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 markets.com nor OctaFX charges a withdrawal fee. Overall, OctaFX has better deposit and withdrawal processes than markets.com. 

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. 

markets.com has better educational support than OctaFX. markets.com offer educational support for more experienced traders and OctaFX does not.

 

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 markets.com offers better research analysis than OctaFX and that both markets.com and OctaFX offer frequent webinars.

 

Our overall Verdict on markets.com

Markets.com is a trademark owned by Finalto (Australia) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Playtech Ltd – a company traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Markets.com offers traders fast, low-cost trading on over 2,200 financial instruments, much more than is usually offered at other brokers. Tradeable instruments include stocks, Forex, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, and bonds. 

Full support is offered for MT4, MT5, and Markets.com's award-winning proprietary platform, Marketsx. An advanced multi-asset trading platform, Marketsx is packed full of features, including over 14 fundamental, technical and sentiment-based trading tools and expert analysis, in addition to in-depth charting and comparison tools.

Markets.com offers low trading costs compared to other similar brokers, with spreads starting at 0.8 pips on the EUR/USD, with no commissions and reasonable minimum deposit requirements. In addition, Markets.com provides a high level of customer service compared to other brokers, and all traders are assigned a dedicated Account Manager to assist with any queries regarding their account or using the platform.

Our overall Verdict on OctaFX

OctaFX will be a difficult choice for many Nigerian traders. On the one hand, it has very low trading costs, charges no fees for deposits and withdrawals, and has a great copy trading service.

On the other hand, OctaFX is essentially unregulated in Nigeria and has a limited range of instruments to trade compared to other brokers: 35 Forex pairs, 150 stocks, 5 commodities, 10 indices, and 30 cryptocurrencies.

If you can look past these issues, you will find a low-cost broker with a fairly standard setup: Two accounts with minimum deposits of 25 USD, a slick mobile app, and a good range of trading tools. OctaFX also heavily promotes its wide range of bonuses, and it can offer leverage of 1:500 on Forex pairs.

Finally, both accounts are swap-free for Muslim traders, and OctaFX always runs competitions and promotions for Nigerian clients.

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

markets.com has an overall rating of 4.58 and OctaFX has an overall rating of 4.27. For more detail please read our reviews of markets.com and OctaFX.