ActivTrades or Eightcap – which is better for UK traders 2025? Compare ActivTrades and Eightcap in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.
ActivTrades, a UK-based CFD and forex broker since 2001, is renowned for its award-winning services. It holds licences from esteemed regulators, including the UK’s FCA. The firm offers trading on more than 1,000 instruments across seven asset classes, with an impressive 93.60% of trades executed at the desired price.
Eightcap, an acclaimed broker regulated by the FCA, offers exceptionally low trading costs. Recognised as the top-rated brand by TradingView's vast user base of 100 million, traders can directly access the platform. UK traders can open a live account with a minimum deposit of just £100.
Pros
ActivTrades provides competitive spreads, especially for forex trading, starting at 0.5 pips on major currency pairs without extra commissions. Additionally, the €/£10 inactivity fee is only applied after 52 weeks, benefiting active traders.
While cTrader isn't supported, MT4, MT5, TradingView, and the broker's ActivTrader platform accommodate various trading requirements. The firm's web-based platform has proven user-friendly and visually appealing for novices during testing.
ActivTrades is a reputable firm with over 20 years in the financial sector. It holds authorizations from three top-tier regulatory bodies, according to DayTrading.com's Regulation & Trust Rating. For UK traders, it offers enhanced protection with £1 million in investor compensation, surpassing the £85,000 provided by the FSCS, should the firm face insolvency.
Based on our tests, ActivTrades offers swift and reliable support via live chat, email, and phone in multiple languages. This makes it an excellent choice for both traders and newcomers seeking quality assistance.
With execution speeds averaging 4ms and an order completion rate of 93.6%, ActivTrades provides an outstanding platform for traders. It supports rapid strategies without imposing limits on short-term approaches.
Eightcap has excelled in all essential trading areas, surpassing all rivals to clinch our 'Best Overall Broker' award for 2024. It also earned the titles of 'Best Crypto Broker' and 'Best TradingView Broker' for 2025.
With spreads starting at 0 pips, minimal commission charges, and leverage up to 1:500 for select clients, Eightcap delivers affordable and flexible trading opportunities. These conditions suit various strategies, such as trading and scalping.
In 2021, Eightcap enhanced its lineup, now providing an extensive range of cryptocurrency CFDs. It offers crypto/fiat and crypto/crypto pairs, along with crypto indices for comprehensive market exposure.
Eightcap distinguishes itself with a robust range of trading tools and resources. It offers MT4 and MT5 platforms, the cutting-edge algorithmic platform Capitalise.ai, and recently integrated with TradingView, a social trading network with 100 million users.
Cons
The platform lacks features for copy or social trading, which is a disadvantage for traders interested in passive investing or replicating the trades of seasoned traders. This is particularly evident when compared to eToro and Vantage.
The selection of over 1,000 markets includes forex, commodities, indices, and ETFs. However, the overall choice of asset classes is limited, with no stocks available outside the US, UK, and Europe. In comparison, BlackBull provides access to more than 26,000 markets.
Its research tools are decent, although somewhat lacking. The expanding 'Analysis' hub is useful, but the absence of Trading Central or Autochartist means advanced technical insights are missing. This limitation may hinder traders seeking to spot opportunities in volatile markets.
ActivTrades needs improvement in educational resources to compete with firms like XTB and CMC Markets. While it offers well-presented and informative webinars, the selection of courses and quizzes remains limited, hindering a more comprehensive and engaging learning experience for traders.
Despite the growing range of tools available, Eightcap lacks popular industry resources such as Autochartist and Trading Central. These provide advanced charting analytics, live news, and essential market insights for traders focused on short-term strategies.
Eightcap must strengthen its range of instruments to rival leading firms such as Blackbull Markets, which offers over 26,000 assets. Its current offering, especially in commodities, requires enhancement.
The demo account is available for 30 days, after which it requires a request for extension. This is less convenient than XM's offering, which provides an unlimited demo mode.
Despite a helpful array of educational guides and e-books in Labs, Eightcap lags behind IG's extensive resources for aspiring traders. IG boasts a dedicated Academy app and features 18 diverse course categories.
Awards
Safest Global Broker 2023 - International Investor Magazine
Best Online Trading Services 2023 - ADVFN International Financial Awards
Best Forex Broker Europe 2022 - Forex-Awards.com
Most Trusted Global FX Broker 2022 - International Investor Magazine
Best CFD Broker 2021 - Rankia
Safest Global Broker 2021 - International Investor Award Winners
ActivTrades offers mobile apps for iOS and Android, including its own ActivTrader app, MT4, MT5, and TradingView. These provide real-time data, advanced charting, and customisable features. All apps enable intuitive trading and account management, but ActivTrader excels with its seamless experience, fast execution, and robust research tools.
Eightcap offers MT4, MT5, and TradingView apps, being the sole FCA-regulated broker with TradingView, ideal for mobile traders seeking advanced charting. Although MetaTrader's design feels dated, its numerous technical indicators, drawing tools, diverse chart styles, and simple horizontal overlays are impressive. Push notifications and an active social network on TradingView are beneficial for traders, with Eightcap providing guidance videos on linking TradingView to iOS and Android.
iOS App Rating
4.9
4.8
Android App Rating
3.8
4.4
Margin Trading
Yes
Yes
MetaTrader 4
Yes
No
MetaTrader 5
Yes
Yes
cTrader
No
No
AlgoTrader
No
No
OmniTrader
No
No
TradingView
Yes
Yes
Autochartist
No
No
eSignal
No
No
Trading Central
No
No
STP Account
Yes
No
ECN Account
No
Yes
DMA Account
No
No
MAM Account
No
Yes
PAMM Account
No
No
LAMM Account
No
No
Demat Account
No
No
AI / Machine Learning
No
No
Robo Advisor
No
No
Negative Balance Protection
Yes
Yes
Market Maker
Yes
No
P2P Trading
No
No
Spot Trading
No
Yes
Auto Trading
Yes (APIs), Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader
TradingView Bots
Copy Trading
No
No
Social Trading
No
Yes
Trade Signals
Yes
Yes
VPS Hosting
No
Yes
Tournaments
No
No
Demo Competitions
No
No
Ethical Investing
No
No
Custodial Account
No
No
Guaranteed Stop Loss
No
No
Inactivity Fee
€/£10
$0
Islamic Account
Yes
Yes
Account Currencies
USD
EUR
GBP
CHF
USD
EUR
GBP
CAD
AUD
NZD
SGD
Commodities
Gold
Oil
Natural Gas
Wheat
Copper
Cocoa
Coffee
Corn
Orange Juice
Palladium
Platinum
Silver
Soybeans
Sugar
Gold
Silver
Oil
Palladium
Zinc
Nickel
Platinum
CFD
ActivTrades specialises in CFD trading, providing access to over 1,000 instruments, including currencies, shares, indices, and commodities. Renowned for its award-winning trading environment, the broker ensures swift and dependable order execution, coupled with clear margin requirements for traders.
Eightcap provides an extensive selection of trading options with over 800 CFDs covering equities, indices, bonds, commodities, and digital currencies, subject to regional availability. Traders can access leverage ranging from 1:30 to 1:500. The platform is distinguished by its sophisticated tools, including an AI-powered economic calendar that tracks over 25 countries with filters for varying impact levels. Despite these strengths, Eightcap's selection of commodities, especially softs such as cotton and wheat, along with its range of precious metals and energy assets, remains limited and could benefit from further development.
Leverage
1:30 (UK and EU), 1:400 (Global & Pro)
1:30
FTSE Spread
0.6
1.2
GBPUSD Spread<
0.8
0.1
Oil Spread
0.03
0.03
Stocks Spread
Variable
0.03 (Apple Inc)
Forex
ActivTrades provides competitive fees in forex, offering excellent spreads on major pairs like EUR/USD starting from 0.5 pips, with no commission charges. The enhanced ActivTrades platform, along with the renowned MetaTrader 4, equips traders with essential tools to navigate the FX market with confidence.
Eightcap provides over 50 currency pairs, matching the industry norm but falling short of leaders like CMC Markets, which offers more than 300. Nonetheless, Eightcap distinguishes itself with institutional-quality spreads starting from 0.0 pips on major pairs such as EUR/USD. The broker's competitively low commissions at $3.50 per side further enhance its appeal. Eightcap also equips traders with comprehensive forex data, including essential fundamentals, bullish and bearish signals, and a calendar monitoring significant foreign exchange market events.
Assets
50+
50+
GBPUSD Spread
0.8
0.1
EURUSD Spread
0.5
0.0
EURGBP Spread
0.8
0.1
Currency Indices
USD
USD
Cryptocurrency
Trade over 15 popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Engage in trading these digital assets 24/7, with transparent fees. Access up to 1:10 leverage on leading tokens like BTC.
Eightcap provides an outstanding crypto trading service with over 120 crypto derivatives, outperforming nearly all alternatives. Testing shows Bitcoin spreads are at a competitive 12 pips, lower than many rivals. With easy crypto deposits and withdrawals, Eightcap is the ideal choice for committed crypto traders.