Best CFD Trading Platforms Australia

CFD trading has gained immense popularity in recent years in Australia. Using CFDs, traders can speculate on the rising & falling prices of multiple asset classes.

But trading these instruments is very risky for individual investors. ASIC issues warnings that most non-professional investors lose money trading CFDs.

More than 80% of retail CFD traders lose their money. Therefore, this guide is only for professional traders who are fully aware of the risks involved. If you are a non-professional trader, you must not use any leveraged derivative instruments.

Our Picks for Best CFD Trading Platform Australia

This list of CFD trading platforms is not necessarily the exact ranking order. These are CFD brokers licensed with ASIC, and this guide is for education only.

• Fusion Markets – Best Australian CFD Trading Platform with Low Cost

• Pepperstone – Platform for Trading Forex CFDs in Australia

• FP Markets – Australian CFD Platform with local support

• AvaTrade – CFD Trading Platform with Fixed Spreads & Copy Trading

• XM – CFD Trading Platform for Beginners

• Oanda – CFD Trading Platform with Guaranteed Stop Loss

• eToro – CFD Broker with Proprietary Platform

• Admiral Markets – MT5 CFD Platform

No broker in this guide is better than the other, and you should use this to compare the important aspects like the average spreads, platforms offered, customer support & so on.

Before opening an account with any of these platforms, you must carry out your full due diligence, as the information in this guide may have changed at the time of reading.  

Who could use CFD Trading Platforms?

• Expert financial knowledge: Professional traders who possess a deep understanding of financial markets such as those with finance degrees, years of experience in financial markets etc.

• Experienced Traders: Those who may not have a finance degree but have been investing overtime can prove this by showing a large portfolio of investments to their name.

• Risk-Tolerant Individuals– CFD trading involves a high level of risk. Therefore, individuals who are risk-tolerant and can afford to lose their invested capital can use CFD trading platforms. But it is still not suited for new traders who don't fully understand the risks.

• Professional Traders with adequate funds: You need standby funds to be able to meet margin call requirements when the need arises.

Trading CFDs carry substantial risk of loss of capital. You must not trade any instrument for which you don't have the proper knowledge.

Comparison of CFD Platforms/Brokers in Australia

What is the Best CFD Trading Platform in Australia?

1. Fusion Markets – Best Australian CFD Trading Platform with Low Cost

FMGP Trading Group PTY Ltd, (Fusion Markets) has AFSL number 385620 and is currently regulated by the ASIC.

Fusion Markets commenced Australian operations in 2011 & are members of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Fusion Markets is also regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC) with license number 40256.

Fusion Markets CFD platforms are:

• MetaTrader 4
• MetaTrader 5
• cTrader
• DupliTrade

Fusion Market does not have its own proprietary mobile app, but it offers MetaTrader, cTrader & partners with DupliTrade for copy trading. Its platforms can be installed on mobile, & desktop; and have browser versions.

Fusion Markets recommends its Classic Account for new traders who want spread to be the only trading fee they worry about. Its spreads start from 0.9 pip & no commissions are charged.

For expert traders, Fusion Markets recommends the $2.25 per side commission Zero Account where spreads are near zero as EUR/USD average is 0.05 pip, & AUD/USD average spread is 0.02 pip.

Fusion Markets requires all account types to pay and receive swaps except traders who are using Islamic swap-free accounts.

You can trade CFDs on Forex, Metals, Indices, Energy, Soft Commodities, Cryptocurrency, and US Share CFDs.

Key Fusion Markets CFD instruments available:

• AUD/USD
• EUR/USD
• XAU/AUD
• AUS 200

Fusion Markets Australia can be reached 24/7 by LiveChat, email, or Telephone contact. The quickest way to reach them is through LiveChat as they respond within 1 minute. Telephone response is swift but expensive as their lines are not toll-free.  

2. Pepperstone – Best Platform for Trading Currency CFDs in Australia

Pepperstone Group Limited, AFSL 414530 is a CFD provider regulated by the ASIC.  In Australia the commenced operations in 2013 & are members of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Pepperstone CFD platforms are:

• Pepperstone Mobile App
• MetaTrader 4/5
• cTrader
• TradingView

Pepperstone trading accounts are centered on its trading platforms. The Standard Account works on the MT4/5, & Pepperstone mobile app, & cTrader platforms, charges zero commissions, swaps, & spread. EUR/USD has a 1.10 pip average spread on Standard pepperstone Accounts.

The Razor Account works on the MT4/5, cTrader, as well as the TradingView 3^rd party charting platform. It charges $3.5/side (commissions on forex CFDs), swaps, & spread are raw with EUR/USD benchmark having 0.1 pip average spread.

How much is Pepperstone commission?

Pepperstone CFD Instrument inventory looks good with 1200+ CFDs on Forex, Commodities, Indices, Cryptocurrency, Currency Indices, Shares, & ETFs.

Key facts about Pepperstone Australia CFD instruments:

• AUD/USD forex pair is available
• AUS 200 Index CFD is available
• Australian Share CFDs are available
• JSE Africa Top 40 Index CFD is available
• US Dollar Index CFD is available

Pepperstone CFD trading platforms explained

• MT4: Most ideal for trading forex CFDs because of the capacity to build and deploy Expert Advisors for automated trading, Advanced charting capacity, Graphical Objects for drawing, etc. Pepperstone has built free EAs you can integrate into their MT4.

• MT5: Ideal for trading Stock & ETF CFDs, it is an improvement on MT4 but most traders still stick t0 MT4 hence a wider social community behind MT4.

• CTrader: Built to rival MT4/5, it has a more modern feel, & features very advanced order management. cTrader also lets you build trading robots (cBots) using C# programming language. However, cTrader is yet to be widely accepted, hence a smaller followership &social community of users.

• TradingView: A 3^rd party charting platform that offers very advanced chart functionality (TradingView is not a broker). Pepperstone partners with TradingView so you can switch between pepperstone & TradingView charts during trading.

• DupliTrade: A renowned 3^rd party copy trading platform. Pepperstone partners with them so you can use the DupliTrade platform to copy-trade with your Pepperstone Account.

Pepperstone customer support features Toll-free telephone, email support, & LiveChat that are available 24/7.

Learn about Pepperstone platforms here

3. FP Markets – Australian CFD Platform for Trading Shares

First Prudential Markets PTY LTD (FP Markets) is an Australian CFD provider with AFSL number 286534 issued in 2005. They are also a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

FP Markets CFD trading platforms are:

• FP Markets Mobile App
• Iress
• MT4
• MT5
• cTrader

You can opt to open a Standard Account where spreads start from 1.0 pip & where you don't pay commissions. This Standard Account is ideal for beginners.

Alternatively, if you're an expert you can go with the Raw Account where spreads start from 0 but you pay $3 per side commissions. Both Standard & Raw Accounts require a $100 starting deposit.

FP Markets CFD products menu contains: Forex, Shares, Metals, Commodities, Indices, Digital currencies, Bonds, & ETFs

You can contact FP markets through LiveChat, Phone, or email.

4. AvaTrade – CFD Trading Platform with Fixed Spreads

Ava Capital markets Australia PTY LTD license number 406684 is an ASIC regulated CFD provider. They have been operating in Australia since 2011 & are members of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

AvaTrade CFD trading platforms are:

• AvaTradeGO Mobile
• AvaTrade Web Trader
• AvaSocial (copy trading)
• MT4
• MT5
• DupliTrade (copy trading partnership)
• ZuluTrade (copy trading partnership)

AvaTrade Web Trader can be launched from your browser & there is no need for installation. Web Trader comes with free market research and has a sentiment bar that tells you the percentage of traders that are buying, and those selling.

AvaTradeGO is a mobile app developed by AvaTrade specifically for CFD trading on phones. It features biometric security login, AvaProtect insurance of trades, custom trading, push notifications, in-app support, in-app education, and more.

AvaSocial is a homegrown copy trading solution developed by AvaTrade. However, it has not gotten much followership as it has only 10k downloads on google playstore.

AvaTrade also partnered with 3^rd party social trading platforms: ZuluTrade & DupliTrade, so you can copy trades from an external platform with a bigger social community of users.  

For MT4, AvaTrade has included a Guardian Angel plugin which acts as a trader's companion alerting you of excessive market risk, volatility, stop loss placement, etc.

MT5 is also offered by AvaTrade and is ideal for trading Shares & Bonds but Avatrade has not developed any additional plugins for MT5.

AvaTrade CFD inventory consists of Forex, Stocks, Indices, FX Options, Crypto, Bonds, ETFs, & Commodities.

For pricing/fees at AvaTrade, you pay fixed spreads, you pay & receive swaps, but you don't pay commissions. Let's look at AvaTrade fixed spreads for some popular instruments below:

AvaTrade platforms have access to 24/5 customer support on weekdays only. LiveChat & Whatsapp chat have been integrated into AvaTrade proprietary platforms for easy access.

5. XM – CFD Trading Platform for Beginners

Trading Point of Financial Instruments PTY LTD are the ones trading with the XM brand name in Australia. Their AFSL number is 443670 & they are also a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.  They have been offering services in Australia since 2013.

 XM offers you the following CFD trading platforms

• XM Proprietary Mobile App
• MT4
• MT5 

 The XM Mobile app was developed by XM for both new & experienced traders but the amount of educational material in the app makes it a good CFD trading app for beginners in Australia.

 The XM app also has fingerprint login, Two factor Authentication (2FA), Integrated LiveChat, Integrated Account Management, Technical tools with 90+ Indicators, Economic calendar etc.

XM offers Web, Mobile and Desktop versions of MT4 & MT5, ensuring they are compatible across Apple and Android devices including Tablets.

CFD products on the XM are Forex, Shares, Commodities, Equity Indices, Energy, & Precious Metals.

Another beginner friendly feature is XMs $5 minimum deposit requirement across all its account types. This means beginners have access to every account level.

All XM trading accounts don't charge you a commission for trading, but spreads don't fall below 0.6pip. For the Ultra-low account spreads start from 0.6 pip and Standard & Micro Accounts charge spreads from 1 pip.

For customer support, XM provides 24/5 support. They provide support in 30 languages. They have a help center page to attend to customers' needs. There is live chat, Australian phone number and email address for assistance.

6. Oanda – CFD Trading Platform with Guaranteed Stop Loss

The ASIC has authorized Oanda Australia PTY LTD to offer CFD platforms in Australia using the trading name Oanda. Its AFSL number is 412981 & it started operations in Australia in 2012. Oanda is also a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Oanda CFD Trading Platforms consist of:

• A Proprietary Mobile App called 'fxTrade'
• A Proprietary Web Trader
• MT4
• TradingView (partnership)

The Oanda fxTrade app has key features such as: Custom Alerts, Push Notification, Economic calendar, News/Research, Customizable Trade Orders, Account Management, etc.

Oanda MT4 has all the regular features but Oanda has added a mini terminal that gives you detailed Depth of Market (DoM).

Oanda has added more plugins to their MT4 to enable intraday market scans, trade from the plugin, opt to be alerted when your desired chart pattern is detected by the plugin.

The addition of TradingView platform through a partnership enables you call up TradingView charts to your Oanda screen and use these more advanced charts to trade.

The cost of using Oanda platforms is spreads from 0.6 pips and zero commission for the Spread Only Account, & Spreads from 0.1 pip including $3.5/side commissions on the Core Pricing Account.

Customer support is on hand 24/5 by telephone and email.

How should you select a CFD Trading Platform?

Trust & Safety

In Australia, CFD trading is regulated by the ASIC, so ensure your CFD issuer platform holds an active ASIC license by checking the ASIC registers to confirm their license at "asic.gov.au/online-services/search-asic-s-registers"

Also ensure the license status is 'Current' and not suspended.

To illustrate this, we confirmed the ASIC license of Pepperstone from the ASIC register as seen below:

Fees

Spreads and commissions are some of the trading fees involved, then there are also swap fees charged on overnight positions.

Most brokers offer account types that have two pricing models: Spread-only, or Raw spread plus commission.

Beginner traders usually go for spread only accounts because calculating profit/loss is easier.

However, more experienced traders may go for commission plus raw spread accounts, because they have a better understanding of how to estimate profit/loss.

For example, a trader executing a day trading strategy where he doesn't leave positions open overnight, can choose a platform that charges overnight swaps, knowing that it won't affect him. However, those who are not day traders worry about overnight swaps.

Some brokers on our list, like AvaTrade, offer fixed spreads so if your style of trading involves holding a position for weeks, fixed spreads may be an option you want to consider.

The spreads table on the CFD broker's website will look something like below. The information included in this is the margin, leverage & spreads in pips. There may be other data as well, like trading hours.

Customer service

Certain asset classes such as cryptocurrency CFDs, can be traded even on weekends; so, if your CFD platform offers 24/7 support, that would be great.

Your CFD platform provider should also have multiple avenues to reach them & where they have toll-free phone lines, this would also be good to reduce cost.

Also check the response time on the support channels to make sure they respond swiftly.

Is CFD Trading Profitable?

Almost 80% of retail CFD traders lose their money. This percentage is different at each CFD platform, but in general, retail traders lose when trading CFDs.

Trading CFDs is not suitable for non-professional traders. All CFD brokers are required to carry out due diligence of the adequacy of the clients before they can open an account.

Any client who does not have the financial knowledge & understanding of the risks should trade CFDs. Retail traders must not trade on any CFD platform, and professional clients should only trade with proper risk management.

Frequently Asked Questions – Best CFD Trading Platforms Australia

What is the best CFD trading platform in Australia?

CFD trading platforms that have active ASIC regulation, provide multiple trading platforms, and good trading conditions are considered okay.

Platforms like Pepperstone, Fusion Markets, & AvaTrade are good trading platforms in Australia.

Which CFD platform has the lowest fees in Australia?

The exact fees are variable & different for different instruments. For example, the fees for trading AUD/USD would be different from XAU/USD.

Various brokers have their raw spread accounts, & competitive commissions. Check the typical spreads + commissions per 10,000 units for trading.