Best Trading Apps in South Africa

Online trading via an app may seem like a convenient thing to do, but the risks for South Africans are not to be ignored. Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) regulation exists to check online app broker/entities, but when you download & trade on apps from unregulated overseas brokers, you are just as exposed.

Licensed brokers such as HF Markets are legally authorized by multiple regulators to offer their trading apps through app stores in the regions where they are regulated, and you can download it to your device.

We have studied functionality and trading conditions of the Android & iOS apps of major FSCA licensed brokers for risk awareness. Here is our detailed research.

Best Trading Apps in South Africa

We looked at the popular trading apps in South Africa on iOS & Android, and most of them are of CFD brokers. Trading forex, indices, stocks, commodities with CFDs is generally risky and these apps are only as good as the person using them.

If you do not have time to learn and patience to understand the markets, it's better to abstain from trading CFDs via any trading apps. You could lose your entire trading capital.

• HFM – Best App For Online Trading in South Africa
• Exness – Good Trading App for Beginners with Lowest Fees
• Tickmill – Best MT4 Trading App in SA
• XM – Trading App with Micro Account
• FxPro – Best App with Online Gold CFD Trading
• AvaTrade – Trading App with the Best Charting Tools
• FXTM – Low Cost Forex Trading App with Commission
• JustMarkets – Best Forex App for Local Funding Methods
• FXCM – Forex trading App with Best demo Account

1. HF Markets – Best App for Online Trading in South Africa

HFM offers you access to trade on three trading platforms, this includes the popular MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as well as their proprietary trading app called HFM app. All three apps are available on play store and apple store

You can use your HFM credentials to login to the MT4 mobile app where you can trade forex & CFDs in decentralized markets.

On MT4 you can also test strategies in single thread and use Expert Advisors (EAs) and buy tools such as EAs or Trading Robots from the MetaTrader Market.

HF Markets has developed and provided Free Premium Trader Plugins for MT4/5 which include:

• Free Trade Execution & Management Plugin for MT4/5

• Free EAs for Alarms & Messaging Plugin for MT4/5

• Free News & Market Data Plugin for MT4/5

• Free Live Sentiment & Corellation Plugin for MT4/5

MT4 features 9 Timeframes, 30 Indicators, 31 Analytical objects, 32 bit mono-thread, 4 Pending Orders, & a Single-thread Strategy Tester

HFM offers MT5 which is more ideal if you want to trade CFDs on exchange traded securities like Stocks and Futures. MT5 is faster and its Multithread design means you can test strategies and use EAs more efficiently.

MT5 features 21 Timeframes, 38 Indicators, 44 Analytical Objects, 64 bit multi-thread, 6 Pending Orders, Economic Calendar, & Multi-thread Strategy Tester.

For its home-grown app, HF Markets has developed the HFM Trading Mobile App, which is unique to HFM and not shared like MetaTrader apps.

The HFM mobile app has more customized features and a more interactive user-interface than MetaTrader's simple yet practical design.

The HFM mobile app lets you place custom orders in amount, lots, or units. You can also view and manage all your other accounts from inside the app.

A comprehensive history of your closed trades is available for analysis, mark instruments as your favorite to locate them easily.

Many of the HFM apps trading conditions are similar to MT5 such as timeframes, indicators, Orders, Economic Calendar, and tools. However the HFM apps user interface is more equipped and functional.

The HFM app also has responsive live chat and telephone support that can be launched from inside the app without closing it.

You can put extra protection on your trading app by enabling Two Factor Authentication (2FA). For the HFM proprietary app this includes a biometric scanner and pin.

Visit the HF Markets website for more app features

2. Exness – Best Trading App for Beginners (Cent Account, TradingView charts)

Exness Trader, MT4, and MT5 are the trading platforms that you can choose from when trading on Exness. These three apps are available on Android and iOS.

MT4 is an ideal trading platform for traders who wish to trade assets they do not own by speculating on the price direction using CFDs.

MT5 is a more advanced trading platform that allows hedging, and is ideal for trading CFDs on stocks & indices.

The Exness app is Exness home-built mobile app that is not shared, unlike MT4 and MT5. Not only is it available on Apple store and Playstore, it can also be downloaded as an APK file thus bypassing the online app stores.

The Exness app has similar trading functionalities as the Exness web terminal, it allows you set take profit, stop loss, and customize your order size in lot or USD.

The Exness proprietay trading app also has useful features such as:

• A Trading Calculator

• Line/Candle Charts

• 6 Pending Orders

• 7 timeframes

• Live traders sentiment

• In-built TradingView Terminal for super charts

• In-built MT5 Terminal

• In-app news from Trading Central

• Two Step verification

• Touch ID 

The Exness app retains data of your trade history and performance so you can always analyze it and see what you did right or wrong.

You can protect your Exness app using passcode and biometrics. If you have any struggles with using the app after downloading it you can reach customer service on the app 24/7

The CFD instruments traded on the Exness app includes Forex, Indices, Metals, Cryptocurrencies, Stocks and Energies.

You can open several accounts on the Exness app with no limitations. The Standard Accounts have zero commission and spreads from 0.3 and this lets beginners test the market at low cost.

Professional Raw & Zero Accounts feature $3.5/side commissions and spreads from 0 pips compensate for high commissions.

On the Standard Account, the average spread for USD/ZAR is 194.4 and for Gold vs US Dollar is 20 pips. Majors like EUR/USD & GBP/USD have average spread of 1 pip & 1.2 pip respectively on Standard Exness Accounts.

Visit the Exness website to learn more about their app features

3. Tickmill – Best MT4 Trading App in SA

Tickmill mobile app features Charting Tools, Pending Orders, Market News, Timeframes, and a dashboard that shows you an overview of your account information like balance, margin etc.

The app features the same financial instruments as the web platform; these include Forex, Bonds, Stock Indices, Metals, Commodities and Cryptocurrency. You can open a trade with a maximum leverage of 1:500.

Before you start trading you will have to fund your account with a minimum deposit of $100 (R1700) using local bank transfer or Skrill, Neteller, cards, etc.

If you find yourself struggling to use the Tickmill mobile app, you can reach customer service on the app.

Security features include biometrics and passcode and the app ensures 2FA is used for sensitive operations.

You will have to pay commission of 2 per side per 100k traded and 1 per side per 100k traded on the Pro and VIP Accounts respectively.  The average spread for USD/ZAR is 79.2 pip and 0.09 for gold.

Visit Tickmill website for more app specifications

4. XM – Trading App with Micro Account

XM has 3 platforms, The MT4, MT5, & The Proprietary XM Trading Point Mobile App (this is their flagship app)

MT4 is an old platform and some modern functions are missing and this is why plugins are important. XM has developed its own plugins for MetaTrader but they are not free, you need to subscribe to XM's VIP Education Package.

This brings us to the XM Trading Point Mobile App, which XM has equipped with more modern day to day functions (like Live Chat, Account opening etc ) which you dont get on MT4/5.

Let us list some features of the XM trading Point App in more detail:

• Biometric Authentication
• XM Learning Center (Educational Videos, Podcast, Webinars, & Tutorials for Beginners)
• XM Help Center (search for frequently asked questions & get answers on the app)
• Copy Trading
• Economic Calendar
• Account Management
• Live Support
• Market Research

You can trade CFDs on Forex,Stocks, Crypto, Turbo Stocks, Indices, Energies, & Metals on the XM App with 1:1000 maximum leverage.

On the XM App you can open a Micro Account with a $5 deposit & trade sizes are limited to micro lots on this account. XM alows ZAR base currency so you could deposit & withdraw in ZAR which is convenient &  cheaper.

Since Demo Accounts lack the emotional aspect of trading, XM Micro Accounts are ideal to trade with emotion while risking little capital. 

You can also open a Standard Account on the XM App with a $5 minimum deposit, so you can trade standard lot sizes.

XM also  allows you open the Ultra-Low Account Type  with a $5 minimum deposit. Here zero swap is charged on popular CFD instruments, and spreads start from 0.6 pips (instead of from 1 pip on Standard & Micro Accounts).

All XM Accounts are commission-free so the spreads will be higher (since commissions have been bundled into the spread)

Visit the XM ZA website for more app specifications

5. FxPro – Best App with Online Gold CFD Trading

MT4, MT5, cTrader, and FxPro App are the trading platforms that FxPro Financial service Ltd offers. In this topic, we focus on the FxPro Proprietary app.

The FxPro app has features like Economic Calendar, Trade History, Volatility Push Notification, and One-Tap Trading.

You can customize the trade size to be in either units or lots and enable quick trading directly from the instrument list. To ensure the security of your trading app, you can enable two factor authentication and biometrics.

The FxPro app has 24/5 in-app support for times when you are facing difficulties with using the app. You can fund your account using Local South African bank transfer. You can start trading with a maximum leverage of 1:200.

FxPro does not charge commission on their Standard and Pro Account, but for the Raw+ and Elite Account they charge a commission of $3.5/side.

The FxPro app also lets you trade CFDs on Gold in ounces with average spread as low as 28.05 pips. It also lets you trade Gold in grams with average spreads of 10 pips. USD/ZAR average spreads are around 191 pips and 1:40 leverage (note the risks associated with it).

On the app you can also trade CFDs on Metals like Spot Aluminum, Spot Lead, Spot Zinc, & Spot Copper with 1:40 leverage.

However caution should be exercised at Precious Metals are a volatile asset class with average spreads on Spot Aluminum reaching 523 pips.

Visit the FxPro website for in-depth app specifications

6. AvaTrade – Trading App with the Best Charting Tools

AvaTradeGo is AvaTrade's homegrown trading app that features AvaProtect (get reimbursed for losses while trading), Qne-click Trading, Educational Videos, News, Economic Calendar, and Analyst Views.

The AvaTradeGo app security apparatus includes fingerprint scanner, & passcode. In case of difficulties with using the app, there is live support in the app 24/5.

You can trade CFDs on Forex, Indices, Crypto, Commodities, Stocks, ETFs, and Bonds. For Forex pairs, AvaTrade supports a maximum leverage of 1:400.

AvaTrade has only one acount type that features fixed spreads from 0.9 pips & minimum deposit is $100 using local bank transfer.

7. FXTM – Low Cost Forex Trading App with Commissions

On the FXTM in-house app, tools for technical and fundamental analysis include 4 chart types, 9 time frames, notifications, and trade history.

The app also supports 2FA, and has 24/5 in-app customer support to assist you when you face challenges with using the app.

CFDs on Forex, Metals, Commodities, Stocks, Indices, are the financial assets that you can trade on the FXTM Trader and you can trade Forex Pairs with a leverage as high as 1:2000 but this is extremely risky.

With a minimum deposit of $10 (R170) you can start trading on a real account. To fund your account in ZAR you can use Local bank transfer option or Africa local solutions.

FXTM does not charge commission for the Micro and Advantage plus account, however commission on the Advantage Account ranges between $0.40 and $2 per 100k.

Typical spread on USD/ZAR is 73.5 pip and for Gold CFDs the spread hovers around 9 pip.

Visit the FXTM website for more app specifications

8. JustMarkets – Best Forex App for Local Funding Methods

The app at JustMarkets (JustForex) is powered by MetaTrader and you get to open MT4 or MT5 trading accounts. You get the functionality of MetaTrader combined with the trading conditions of JustMarkets.

The JustMarkets app lets you manage all your accounts from the inside. It has a demo account for learners and in-app customer support remains active 24/7

For real account, you can deposit a minimum of $10 (R170) for the Standard Account. Local South African bank transfer, and Electronic Fund Transfer in ZAR are available methods for funding your account with ZAR.

Forex, Commodities, Stocks and other digital assets are available on the trading platforms and you can start trading FX pairs with a maximum leverage of 1:3000.

Average spread stays around 100 pip for USD/ZAR and 2.2 for CFDs on Gold on the MT4 and MT5 standard Accounts.

How to spot a Fake Trading App in South Africa?

1. Broker Regulation

A legit Forex broker in South Africa should be regulated by the FSCA and their FSP number should be verifiable from the FSCA website.

Some forex apps make use fake license number. Therefore, you should do your proper research, and verify that the license actually belongs to that broker.

Here is an example of a valid FSP number of a broker. This should then be verified through the regulator's website, including the allowed products.

2. Bad Playstore Ratings and Review

Before downloading any app, go through the reviews and see what people who have used the app have to say.

If the reviews are too bad then that's a red flag. On the same note if all the reviews are good then it may be doctored and you may want to consider that as a red flag as well.

3. You Are Contacted From Out Of the Blue

No legit broker or App which is licensed by any regulator will contact you out of the blue; as you could be dealing with impersonators pretending to be from a reputable broker.

If you receive any email or phone call or message from unknown party pretending to make money for you from forex if you deposit money through their app, you should avoid it.

4. Unknown Download Links

Go to the broker's website or certified online app stores to download apps.  Avoid downloading via links sent to you by friends or acquaintances. These links could redirect you to download a clone app.

Verify the creator of the trading app before you download it to your device. If you mistakenly download a

5. Difficulty withdrawing funds

If you're at this point you've already parted with cash. Fake apps show fake cash balances, so withdrawal will always be met with excuses and you being asked to deposit more funds.

If you find reviews that a users of an app are not able to withdraw their funds, you should not use that app.

How to Download a Trading App in South Africa?

First you have to find all the licensed brokers in South Africa. Check if they offer the app for your device on their website.

For example, if you want to download trading app on your Android, you can go to Play store, search for the broker name. From the results, make sure to verify that the app you are downloading is from the actual broker, not some scam.

Or the best way is to go to the website of the broker, visit to platforms page. It will look something like this screenshot. On this page, you will also find the link to download the app on multiple devices.

Comparison of Best Trading Apps in South Africa

Frequently Asked Questions – Trading Apps South Africa

Which app is best for Online Trading in South Africa?

Although MT4 is widely used for forex trading by SA traders, it is good for beginners.  

Most traders will find MT4 useful but for some experienced traders, platforms like Tradingview, cTrader are their preference. You choice should be based on your experience with a platform.

Which trading app in South Africa has the lowest fees?

Overall low trading fees for forex & CFDs on Indices are low on Exness on MetaTrader 4. Typically, the spreads of GBP/USD are 0.6 pips on Pro Account.

The app supports a Standard Cent Account letting you trade lower units and has low spread and no inactivity fees.

Which trading app is suitable for beginners and professionals?

MT4 is suitable for both beginners & pro traders. Professional traders will also find MT5 or proprietary trading apps more useful.

Should I trade with MT4 or MT5 app?

MT4 is suitable for trading currencies and CFDs. But some brokers will have lower fees on their MT5 & cTrader platforms, for example FxPro. They have lower trading fees for trading indices on the cTrader platform.