Alpari vs Oanda

In this Forex broker comparison, we’ll be taking a look at Alpari, a Mauritius-based Forex broker, and Oanda, a broker that operates both in the United States and across the globe. Both brokerages accumulated over twenty years of market experience and have become household names in the Forex industry, but are on decidedly different paths. Alpari is home to over 2,000,000 clients and has earned a sound reputation for PAMM accounts. Oanda has grown more quietly, and remains more popular among North American traders.

This comparison will focus on the following four aspects plus an ultimate verdict:

• Features and Platforms
• Available Markets
• Typical Spreads and Fees
• Security and Trust
• Alpari vs Oanda Verdict

Feature	Alpari (visit site)	Oanda (visit site)
Headquarter:	Mauritius	US
Regulation:	FSC	CFTC, NFA, IIROC, FCA, MAS, ASIC, FSA
Type of Broker:	Market Maker	Market Maker
U.S. Clients Allowed:
Minimum Deposit:	£100 or a currency equivalent	No minimum deposit
Maximum Leverage:	1:1000	1:30
Commissions / Spreads:	Spreads, Commission	Spreads
Account 1:	Micro	CFD Trading
Account 2:	standard	Spread Betting
Account 3:	ECN
Demo Account:
Islamic Account:
Segregated Account:
Managed Accounts:
Institutional Accounts:
Website Languages:	English Spanish 6+	English Spanish 7+
Support Hours:	24/5	24/5
E-mail Support:
SMS Support:
Chat:
Broker Offers:	See what Alpari offers	See what Oanda offers

Features and Platforms

Alpari

Alpari provides traders with the MT4/MT5 trading platforms only. The brokerage claims to offer ECN trading, but regrettably, this broker fails to specify which ECN bridge it provides to connect MT4/MT5 accounts to the Electronic Communication Network (ECN), which makes us skeptical about the ECN offering overall. Also unfortunately, the supported trading platforms come as a basic version only, as Alpari doesn’t offer any required third-party plugins. This leaves traders without critical features and requires further investment to upgrade the trading environment.

PAMM accounts remain at the core of Alpari with over 56,000 PAMM accounts and 550,000 traders. Social trading is additionally supported through the Alpari CopyTrade platform. New traders can take advantage of webinars and written content that provides traders with a solid understanding of the Forex markets. Complementing a great trading environment is the free research provided by Alpari and a loyalty cashback program, which reduces trading costs for active traders.

Oanda

Oanda has developed its own proprietary trading platform but also provides traders access to the popular MetaTrader 4 platform.Traders with existing trading solutions built on the MT4 infrastructure will get the same trading conditions via the Oanda MT4 plugin. Advanced charts are included in the proprietary trading platform through a partnership with TradingView. The Oanda MT4 Open Order feature shows market sentiment based on this broker’s order book. Developers are supported via a series of Oanda APIs, allowing for the development of customized trading solutions.

This broker hosts webinars and created a basic introduction to trading. Educational content consists of written articles and videos, and new traders will find an acceptable selection of material. The MarketPulse section offers traders research, trading ideas, and news. Oanda does list a failure rate of 73.5%, which ranks in the middle of the spectrum of brokers required to disclose this information.

Available Markets

Alpari lists over 250 assets available for trade, with a definite focus on the Forex market. The commodity selection remains a weak point, as only four assets are accessible. Only ten equity CFDs provided, that merely serves as a justification to list this asset class, eleven index CFDs offer traders basic diversification. Four cryptocurrencies are also available. Oanda offers a great selection of currency pairs and complements this with a solid selection of commodity CFDs. Index CFDs remain limited, but this broker offers bond CFDs as another means of diversification. The broad asset selection at both brokers is acceptable for pure Forex traders.

Typical Spreads and Fees

Spreads in the Alpari Micro account start at 1.7 pips for the EUR/USD, but are reduced to 1.2 pips in the Standard account. The Pro MT4 account grants traders access to spreads as low as 0.4 pips but require a minimum deposit of $25,000 or a currency equivalent. The most competitive trading environment is provided in the ECN account, where traders can operate with a minimum deposit of just $500 for a starting spread of 0.4 pips and with a commission of only $3 per lot. This marks one of the most trader-friendly cost structures in today’s brokerage industry.

Spreads at Oanda are significantly higher, the lowest spread we found during this Alpari and Oanda comparison was 0.9 pips. There are no commissions charged, but the mark-up on spreads substitutes for it. This broker offers a Premium account for a deposit of $20,000, but critical trading conditions are the same as in the Standard account.

Swap rates on overnight leveraged positions apply at both brokerages, but Alpari does offer a swap-free Islamic account which is not currently available at Oanda. Corporate actions impact equity and index CFDs and are passed on to traders at Alpari and Oanda. An inactivity fee of $10 per month is charged by Oanda if an account showed no activity for three months. Third-party charges on deposits and withdrawals apply, Oanda grants one free withdrawal to a credit/debit card per month. Traders will find the overall trading costs at Alpari far superior over Oanda, and this has a direct impact on the profitability of portfolios.

The most competitive trading environment at Alpari is located in the ECN account, with spreads as low as 0.4 pips and a commission of $3 per lot. This broker mentions the minimum spread at 0.1 pips in a different section of its website.