FOREX com vs. Oanda: Which Broker is Best for US Traders?

Trade through charts, VPS (virtual private server) services, technical analysis and more. How your tax professional may elect to apply any such gains or losses you have from trading in the financial market may vary depending on your unique circumstances. It may be best for Canadian citizens or residents to consult a tax professional to determine any potential Canadian tax obligations.

New investors will need some patience as they try to navigate their way through the educational material. Clients seeking to create a plan and track progress will find it difficult to figure out what education was complete and what should come next.

Forex Risk Disclaimer

OANDA Trade, the broker’s own app, is available via the web and for mobile. The web version comes with free access to advanced charts by TradingView; technical analysis tools by Autochartist; and the latest financial news from Dow Jones FX Select. CMC Markets is the best Canadian forex broker for beginner traders that want access to great educational resources. In addition, the broker also offers some of the most competitive spreads we’ve tested, along with a huge range of forex and CFD products to trade. CMC Markets is the best Canadian forex broker for beginner traders who want access to great educational resources. The fxTrade mobile trading platform crams an impressive amount of functionality into a small platform to the point that it is almost as robust as the desktop application.

OANDA offers clients exposure to a variety of financial instruments, and is a particularly good fit for seasoned traders looking for a stellar browser-based desktop trading experience. Product offerings vary by region, and U.S. clients can only trade FX. Globally, however, the broker boasts fast and reliable trade execution, research resources that are above industry norms, functional user interfaces, and a verifiable track record of regulatory oversight. Forex.com’s Advanced Trading Platform also offers fast and reliable execution.

1. OANDA provides access to Autochartist for free if you have a live trading account.
2. OANDA has no minimum deposit, and competitive spreads, with no commissions.
3. ForexBrokers.com has been reviewing online forex brokers for over six years, and our reviews are the most cited in the industry.

Joey Shadeck is the Content Strategist and Research Analyst for ForexBrokers.com. He holds dual degrees in Finance and Marketing from Oakland University, and has been an active trader and investor for close to ten years. An industry veteran, Joey obtains and verifies data, conducts research, and analyzes and validates our content. Check out a gallery of screenshots from CMC Markets’ mobile trading app, taken by our research team during our product testing. However, many of the integrated features in the platform will trigger a new browser window to open – even when you are on the desktop version.

Demo Account

The platform supports a variety of order types, including market, limit, and stop orders, allowing traders to execute trades with precision. Forex.com also provides access to a range of trading tools, such as an economic calendar, trading calculators, and a comprehensive order management system. From our broker testing, we found Friedberg Direct with AvaTrade offered stable, fixed spreads, a great range of trading platforms and good risk management tools. For these reasons, we think the broker is suited for beginner traders. All these are available with MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView trading platforms.

This is a good design because some platforms are cluttered with notifications and news that can be distracting while trading. You can easily fund your trading account using your MasterCard or Visa debit card. OANDA does not require a minimum deposit, and the funding process is immediate. Because these are variable spreads, they only capture a specific moment in time. You can’t assume they’ll be the same when you trade, but they do provide a useful benchmark. We should note that CIRO-regulated investment firms are members of the CIPF.

Products and Leverage

Forex Broker OANDA (Canada) offers commission free trading with 69 currency pairs via OANDA Trade, MT4 and TradingView trading platforms. We review all features the broker offers and give our thoughts on them. From our analysis, FOREX.com’s trading costs are more expensive than other Canadian brokers. For its Standard account, published spreads are slightly higher than the industry average at 1.66 pips compared to 1.52 for the top 5 most traded currency pairs.

Justin has published over 100 finance articles from Forbes, Kiplinger to Finance Magnates. He has a Masters and Commerce degree and has an active role in the fintech community. He has also published a book in 2023 on on investing and trading. Forex.com also allows you to trade using MT4 and TradingView apps. These limits ensure you are protected from excessive risk in volatile market environments. CIRO is responsible for overseeing trading plus500 forex review activity such as with forex in Canada.

Best Forex Brokers in Canada for 2024

We also take an in-depth look at each broker’s commissions and fees, such as bid/ask spreads – including the average spread data for some of the most popular forex currency pairs. We research other trading costs, such as inactivity or custody fees, minimum deposit requirements, VIP rebates and/or discounts, and a range of other important fee-based data points. Just because a broker offers a trading experience that caters well to beginner forex traders does not mean that it is easier to make money trading forex on their platform. Forex trading is risky; learn more about why the majority of forex traders lose money by checking out our Forex 101 educational series.

OANDA and FOREX.com have apps to keep you trading wherever you are. Both apps are available for iOS and Android, but OANDA’s app is also available for tablets. The OANDA app has the same functionality as the browser-based platform. FOREX.com says its mobile app is as powerful as the web-based platform.

OANDA has applied their proprietary plugin, which enhances the MT4 platform even further, giving you a more robust set of tools to trade from. This tool shows aggregated buy and sell orders placed by OANDA’s traders, so you can clearly see where potential areas of support or resistance levels are through the orders on the screen. One thing I did notice while on the mobile app is that it has all the functionality of its web version should you wish to trade from the mobile app. You can find the common indicators like moving averages, Bollinger bands and the RSI tools – they come as standard. However, you can also find rare indicators, like the Hull moving average or the SuperTrend indicator. Although Autochartist is a perfect option with OANDA, so is having access to a wide range of trading indicators.

Regarding withdrawals, like most regulated brokers, OANDA returns the funds to the source. If you funded your trading account with a wire transfer, OANDA deposits your funds into the same bank account. We wish OANDA Trade were available as a download for desktops, and it surprised us that the broker doesn’t offer stocks. We’d also like to see a commission-based, raw spread account option. One major aim of Forex market regulation is to ensure client protection.

Including TradingView and MT4 platforms enhances the trading experience with additional trading tools. OANDA provides access to Autochartist for free if you have a live trading account. Autochartist dowmarkets analyses forex pairs automatically to identify technical chart patterns with a simple-to-follow breakdown.