Octa Review

Octa Ratings at a Glance

Octa Product Offering

Octa lives up to its reputation as one of the best online CFD brokers, thanks to its selection of financial instruments, robust trading platforms, unparalleled trading analysis and research tools and educational resources. Here’s a detailed breakdown of its offerings. 

Tradable Instruments or Market

When choosing brokers, traders prioritize those with a modest or extensive selection of assets to ensure seamless access to a broad spectrum of financial markets. Octa meets this criteria, facilitating CFD trading on over 300 instruments within six asset classes. The available market encompasses 35 currency pairs covering all seven majors and 28 other currencies. Octa lets you open a forex trading account with as little as a $25 initial deposit and trade from 0.01 lots. 

Its tight spreads (as low as 0.6 pips on EUR/USD), competitive leverage (up to 1000:1), and lightning-fast execution (under 0.1 second) make it one of the best online forex trading brokers. Octa also supports share dealing, enabling you to trade selected shares of stock of 100+ significant companies with a $10,000 minimum deposit. These are predominantly U.S. stocks such as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and NVIDIA Corp (Nasdaq: NVDA). A handful of European stocks, including top German, Spanish and Italian companies, are also available. You can open as many as 10 stock positions. 

You can also trade stock derivatives on equities listed on 16 global exchanges. Both shares dealing and investing in stock derivatives qualify you for dividend payouts. Furthermore, over 10 popular global market indexes are available for trading via CFD. You can go long or short on these indexes, capitalizing on the impressive leverage to trade larger volumes and magnify your profit. Octa also lets you trade gold and silver CFDs and energy products, including U.S. Natural Gas, Brent crude, and West Texas Intermediate crude CFDs. Moreover, the broker is crypto-friendly, facilitating cryptocurrency CFDs trading on popular cryptos like Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum.

Trading Platform 

Octa provides access to three robust trading platforms, including the versatile MetaTrader suites — MT4, MT5 and OctaTrader — its proprietary platform. These platforms streamline market access and trade execution, catering to diverse trading needs and styles.

MT4 and MT5 Platform

The MetaTrader (MT4 and MT5) suites are overwhelmingly popular in the financial market. Their robust features and functionalities make them the perfect CFD and forex trading. MT4 appeals to newbies and experienced traders due to its beginner-friendly and easy-to-use interface. It is the most sought-after retail forex trading platform, boasting 24 analytical charting tools, over 50 trading indicators, three chart types, and nine timeframes. 

Expert traders seeking more powerful trading platforms typically prefer MT5, which represents a cutting-edge evolution of MT4. With MT5, you get 44 analytical charting tools, over 38 preinstalled technical indicators and 21 timeframes. It also features an integrated economic calendar, depth of market (DoM), detachable charts and extra pending other types (sell stop limit and buy stop limit). 

Overall, the MT4/MT5 platform offers reliability thanks to its unique features, including fully customizable charting options, various order types, and advanced analytical tools. Both also support 1-click trading, copy trading, automated trading via Expert Advisors (EAs), and trading from the charts and trailing stops. They're available on mobile devices, tablets and desktops (Windows or Mac). MT4 WebTrader also lets you trade via the web, eliminating the need to download the software onto your device. 

OctaTrader Platform

OctaTrader is the broker's proprietary platform developed to help improve trading performance, optimize trading opportunities, and save time. It is a convenient yet feature-rich platform offering an innovative and hassle-free way of accessing the financial markets from mobile or desktop devices. This aligns with Octa's commitment to delivering the best trading experience for all traders. 

OctaTrader adopted TradingView's charting technology, featuring more than 100 technical indicators, 11 timeframes, and 11 chart types. The platform offers one-click trading, trading from the chart, trade alerts, a watchlist and all the basic order types (market, limit, stop loss). Traders also enjoy access to regularly updated analytics, including the latest currency rates and tools to track markets, important news, and upcoming events.

Market Research and Analytical Tools

Octa boasts a broad spectrum of well-organized and highly beneficial analytical and research resources. Most of these resources are available in the market information section, encompassing the economic calendar, forex news, interest rates tracker, and market holiday calendar. These resources can assist you in making a more informed trading decision. 

For instance, Forex News provides timely information on market trends, economic indicators, and geopolitical events, while the economic calendar highlights upcoming economic events and data releases that can impact market movements. The interest rate tracker allows you to monitor changes in central bank rates, which influence currency values and market trends.

The section also provides live quotes and trading strategies like triangles, flags, and rising and falling wedge patterns. These strategies suit diverse trading needs, styles or preferences and can guide you in strategy planning. Risk management tools like pip, profit and forex trading calculators are other available trading resources. Overall, Octa's research material is of higher quality than what you'd typically find with the average broker.

Educational Resources 

Octa offers modest educational material that can significantly narrow the learning curve for beginner forex traders. These include webinars with industry and trading professionals, which the broker also publishes on its YouTube channel. Octa's Forex basics include 21 carefully crafted articles and 11 video tutorials. 

Combining written content, charts, and videos creates invaluable resources for introducing newbies to the financial markets. Trading platform tutorials are equally available in both written and video formats, guiding beginners through the initial steps, including how to use the Autochartist MetaTrader plug-in. 

Features like its trading glossary, trading strategies, and dozens of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) further help flesh out Octa's impressive educational offering. The broker's YouTube Channel and insightful financial and trading blog are commendable learning sources.

Account Types

Octa provides three primary account types: MetaTrader, MetaTrader 4, and MetaTrader 5. While they predominantly have similar features, a slight difference exists, especially regarding the array of assets, as shown in the comparison table below. 

The MT4 is the simplest and most popular account type, ideal for beginner forex traders. In contrast, the MT5 account will suit more technically sophisticated traders. The OctaTrader account type is highly intuitive and versatile and can accommodate traders of diverse skills and experience levels. Remember that, like the MT4 account, it doesn't offer stocks and intraday assets. That said, each of these trading accounts supports swap-free halal trading. 

Demo Account 

Suppose you're just getting started with little or no trading experience. In that case, a demo account can help you practice and build your skills, develop a winning strategy and get comfortable with the trading platform without risking real money. Octa offers a demo for all its account options. The demo account features live quotes and simulates live market conditions in assets, including forex and CFDs on stocks, indexes, and commodities. Once you've gained confidence using a demo account, you can easily switch to a live version.

Copy Trading Services 

Whether you want to copy trades (as a Copier) or have your trades copied (as a signal provider or Master Trader), Octa can accommodate your needs on both desktops and through its Copytrading App. Octa's proprietary copy trading service is well-developed, enabling traders to access multiple signal providers to copy and create a diversified, balanced portfolio. It presents an opportunity to earn a more stable income via forex investing for both the Copier and Master Trader (signal providers). 

The Master Traders are typically experts with years of proven experience crafting a winning strategy. Copiers have their area on the website and a link to Octa's list of Master Traders and ratings. Master Traders also have their own area and account types and must adhere to Octa's rules. To follow or copy a Master Trader, you must fund your copy trading account via direct deposit or transfer from your trading account.

Octa provides recommended allocation amounts for each Master Trader to facilitate effective investment allocation. You can copy trades fully or proportionally to your trading balance versus the Master Trader. The former results in superior trading results, as it adjusts your positions based on portfolio size and leverage. A ranking system evaluates the trading history of each Master Trader with Octa. Detailed statistics on their trading strategy and performance are also accessible. 

You can evaluate each trade individually, and thanks to metrics like percentage gains, maximum unrealized losses, risk score, etc, you can make better choices when selecting which Master Trader to follow. You can also access the drawdown percentage (DDP), a risk management tool that you can use to adjust and close your position once the Master Trader experiences losses automatically. Octa's copy trading is highly flexible; you can set up, modify or stop copying orders anytime. 

This flexibility extends to its commissions. The Master Trader typically sets the commission amount for copying orders, ranging from 0% to 50% of the copiers' gain. However, you can pay fees strictly on profitable trades or pay a fixed revenue per lot, where a trading charge applies regardless of the outcome. You can use the filter to evaluate Master Traders based on the commission structure that best suits your preferences.

Octa offers dependable, highly responsive and multilingual customer support via multiple channels, including live chat and email. Customer service is accessible 24/7 in over 21 languages via Live Chat, which offers the fastest response time and is the best channel for urgent inquiries. For non-urgent inquiries, you can contact the firm 24/5 via email at clientsupport@octafx.eu for EU-based traders and 24/7 at support@octafx.com for traders residing in other jurisdictions.

The broker also provides a comprehensive FAQ section on its website, offering detailed information on common queries regarding trading, account management, deposits, and withdrawals. Benzinga recommends consulting the FAQ for possible solutions to your queries before contacting support. 

Octa maintains an active presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Telegram and Instagram, which are alternative means of contacting the team. Octa's responsive and multichannel customer service plus supplementary support resources demonstrate a solid commitment to assisting its clients. This is evident from its 4.5/5 rating on Trustpilot, where the broker enjoys overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Thanks to its decade of experience, regulatory oversight and robust security measures, Octa is trusted by millions of traders globally. Multiple financial authorities or regulators license the broker in various jurisdictions. These include the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa and the Mwali International Services Authority (MISA) in Comoros. Octa maintains strict compliance standards, operational guidelines and transparency regarding client fund protection according to its regulatory requirements across these jurisdictions. 

Remember that specific regulatory standards and frameworks may vary among regulatory entities. For instance, the Investors Compensation Scheme protects European traders under the CySEC entity. The scheme allows them to claim compensation of up to €20,000 if the broker becomes insolvent. That said, all the entities offer negative balance protection, which ensures you do not lose more than you deposited in the brokerage during widespread market volatility. Furthermore, the broker stores clients' funds in a segregated account separate from the company's operational funds. 

This segregation ensures that the client's funds remain safe in case of unforeseen company issues. Octa employs Single-Socket-Layer (SSL)-protected technology to secure financial transactions, prevent unauthorized access to trading accounts and protect sensitive data at rest or in traffic across its network. To enhance security further, you must submit your ID scan and proof of address per the mandatory Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements. 

Withdrawals from live accounts are initiated only after email confirmation so that you can access your funds. Again, Octa adopts 3D technology to process Visa credit card transactions, making them safe and transparent. Finally, a dedicated team of highly professional technical specialists and engineers monitors the technical environment for all of Octa's online operations 24/7. Octa will never sell or share your personally identifiable information (PIS) with a third party without your consent except to comply with judicial orders. You can read the broker's privacy policy to learn how the company secures your data online and your responsibilities.

Octa offers affordable fees and low entry barriers for forex trading. You can start trading with as little as $25, although the broker recommends a $100 minimum deposit. For stock trading, the minimum is $10,000. The broker prides itself on its no-dealing desk intervention as an STP/ECN broker. It can internally match a significant portion of its order flow due to high trade volumes, thereby minimizing risks and saving costs without interfering with orders. All the account types are commission-free with competitive or tight spreads across diverse assets. 

For instance, the spread for forex majors, including EUR/USD, starts at 0.6 pips (or $6 per one standard lot) with a 0.7 pips average cost. This is similar to a zero-spread (0.0 pip), commission-based broker offering a $6 commission. Octa charges $15 or 0.1% (whichever is greater) for all share transactions and provides no leverage on the asset. It also offers impressive leverage across all asset classes. Leverage trading involves using borrowed funds to increase the size of your trading positions beyond what you could achieve with your capital.

For example, a 1:500 leverage means you can control up to $250,000 worth of positions in the market with an account size of just $500. Octa offers maximum leverage of up to 1:1000 for forex, 1:400 for commodities, 1:40 for stocks, and 1:200 for cryptocurrencies. Remember that leverage is a double-edged sword that magnifies your losses like your profits. The broker charges no account, inactivity, deposit and withdrawal fees. Furthermore, no-stop orders, currency conversions, swaps, or overnight fees exist. 

The latter can make a tremendous difference if you're a leveraged trader who keeps positions open overnight. Octa supports multiple deposits and withdrawal methods, including bank wire, debit or credit card, digital wallet (Skrill and Neteller) and cryptocurrency. The supported method depends on your jurisdiction. Processing times typically range from instant to about half an hour for deposit and a few hours for withdrawal, which is above average for the industry.

Octa also offers numerous promotions and attractive bonuses to incentivize traders and enhance their trading experience. For example, it provides a 50% bonus on each deposit and a four-tier status program that rewards active traders. You can also win lucrative redeemable prizes via its Trade & Win promotion, where each lot counts as a prize lot. Furthermore, you can earn extra income through referral commission via the broker's affiliate or referral program. Moreover, demo contests for real money are also available. Terms and conditions apply for each promo, and you must read and understand them before participating.

Octa provides fully functional, intuitive, and robust mobile trading apps for MT5, MT4, and OctaTrader, which are available for iOS and Android devices. These apps offer full trading capabilities, interactive charts, technical analysis tools, real-time market quotes, and customizable watchlists, allowing traders to stay informed and execute trades on the go. It also provides a dedicated Copytrading app to discover and copy from numerous Master Traders. The app allows you to specify all the parameters for your order copy, and you can modify or stop copying orders at any time according to your preferences.

Octa delivers an excellent user experience for traders worldwide. The website is clear and well-laid out, with features positioned effectively, making navigation a breeze. This facilitates fast and seamless account setup and onboarding, including documentation and know-your-customer (KYC) processes. The whole process takes under a minute. The trading cost and leverage are competitive, and the entry barrier is low, streamlining accessibility for undercapitalized traders and enhancing user experience.

 Octa's support for the MetaTrader platforms, alongside its proprietary platform, also boosts access to millions of traders accustomed to the MetaTrader suite. These traders enjoy a competitive advantage thanks to Octa's numerous analytical resources and trading tools. Moreover, educational materials, including webinars, articles, video tutorials and trading strategies, deliver a well-rounded learning experience for diverse traders.

 A demo account can also help beginners build confidence before trading a live account with real dollars. Customer support is readily accessible to guide you and address any queries. Furthermore, the various promos and bonuses offer traders extra earning opportunities, making the broker even more attractive. Unfortunately, Octa is unavailable in certain regions, including the U.S., UK, Philippines, Japan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia and Cyprus. That said, Benzinga highly recommends this broker. 

Octa vs. Competitors

Octa has few competitors, including Vantage, XM and IC Market, which offer retail investors multi-asset CFD trading. However, the platform's low trading cost arising from the tight spread, zero commission, zero withdrawal and deposit charges and swap-free overnight trading offers significant competitive advantages.

Octa's comprehensive social trading service is also commendable. Moreover, the broker offers a stand-alone social trading app to facilitate seamless copy trading on the go; while its competitors may boast more extensive tradable assets, Octa's offering is modest enough to satisfy the needs of diverse traders. Moreover, the broker's proprietary platform sets it apart from other online forex brokers that support the MetaTrader platforms. 

Octa is a compelling broker for novice and experienced online forex and CFD traders. Its low trading cost, easy-to-use platform, efficient customer support, and solid analytical and educational resources are testament to this. The broker can improve its educational material to accommodate the learning needs of more experienced or even expert traders. 

Adding more tradable instruments will also be a welcome development to keep it even more competitive. Furthermore, a license from tier-one regulators like the British FCA can further boost its global reputation from a security and compliance perspective. Benzinga awards Octa a 5-star rating based on its commendable features, product offerings and support. 

Frequently Asked Questions