ActivTrades Review 2026: Platforms, Fees and Fund Protection

ActivTrades is a forex and CFD broker operating since 2001, licensed by the FCA (UK), SCB (Bahamas), BACEN and CVM (Brazil) and CMVM (Portugal). EU clients are served by ActivMarkets Empresa de Investimento, S.A., a Portuguese investment firm supervised by the CMVM (activtrades.eu).

In short: ActivTrades stands out for fund protection — on top of the investor compensation scheme (up to €25,000) it offers extra insurance up to €1 million — plus free deposits, four platforms (ActivTrader, MT4, MT5, TradingView) and interest on free funds. Drawbacks: a 0.5% conversion fee on deposits and withdrawals in another currency, and 72% of retail CFD accounts lose money (EU). We checked activtrades.eu on 25 October 2026.

1. Is ActivTrades safe?

Yes. EU clients are served by ActivMarkets Empresa de Investimento, S.A., supervised by Portugal’s CMVM. Funds are covered by the investor compensation scheme (up to €25,000), and ActivTrades adds insurance of up to €1,000,000 per client. Retail clients have negative balance protection. Note that activtrades.com is operated by non-EU companies (ActivTrades Corp, ActivTrades Markets); EU residents should contract with ActivMarkets via activtrades.eu.

2. Platforms and accounts

• ActivTrader — the broker’s own platform.
• MetaTrader 4 and 5 with Trading Central tools.
• TradingView.
• Individual, professional, Islamic and demo accounts.
• CFDs on forex, shares, indices, crypto, ETFs, commodities and bonds.

3. Deposits and withdrawals

• Free deposits: bank transfer, cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, VOLT instant transfer.
• 0.5% conversion fee on deposits and withdrawals in a currency other than the account currency.
• With very low trading volume, ActivTrades may pass on payment provider costs.

4. Pros, cons and verdict

5. Alternatives

• Tickmill — raw spreads from 0.0 pips.
• FxPro — MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView.
• XTB — CFDs plus real stocks and ETFs.

6. How to open a ActivTrades account — step by step

1. Register on the ActivTrades website — EU clients should be served by an EU company: ActivMarkets Empresa de Investimento, S.A. (Portugal) — CMVM no. 433. Check the company name in your client agreement before depositing.
2. Enter your personal details and complete the questionnaire. Before offering CFDs, an EU broker must assess your knowledge and experience (the MiFID II appropriateness test) and warn you if CFDs are not appropriate.
3. Verify your identity with a passport or ID card and a proof of address (e.g. a utility bill or bank statement), as required by anti-money-laundering rules.
4. Choose the account type and base currency. An account in the currency you deposit in saves conversion costs.
5. Fund the account. Deposits are accepted only from accounts or cards in your own name; available methods: bank transfer, cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller — no ActivTrades fees.
6. Install the platform (ActivTrader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView) or log in via your browser. Practise on a demo account first, if the broker offers one.

7. What trading with ActivTrades really costs

Below are the costs from the summary table above — taken from ActivTrades’s website and documents when we updated this review:

• EUR/USD spread: from 0.5 pips (activtrades.eu)

How to work it out: on EUR/USD one pip on a 1-lot position (€100,000) is worth about $10, so a 1-pip spread costs about $10 when you open the trade. A commission quoted “per lot per side” is charged twice — on opening and on closing. Add overnight swaps for every night the position stays open and any currency conversion if your account currency differs from the instrument’s. On 0.1 lot all these amounts are ten times smaller.

8. Withdrawing money from ActivTrades — how it works

You request a withdrawal in the client area. Under anti-money-laundering rules, funds usually go back via the method used to deposit (e.g. to the card up to the amount deposited by card) and only to an account or card in your own name. The first withdrawal may require full account verification, so upload your documents right after registering. Only free funds that are not used as margin can be withdrawn.

9. ActivTrades compared with other brokers

For comparison, here is ActivTrades next to other brokers whose reviews we updated in October 2026. Figures come from their summary tables — see the full reviews for details.

10. Leverage and client protection in the EU (ESMA)

As an EU investment firm, ActivTrades applies the restrictions introduced by ESMA and adopted permanently by national regulators to retail clients:

• leverage up to 1:30 on major currency pairs, 1:20 on other pairs, gold and major indices, 1:10 on other commodities and indices, 1:5 on shares and 1:2 on crypto;
• margin close-out at 50% of required margin;
• negative balance protection — retail clients cannot lose more than they deposited;
• a ban on bonuses and trading incentives for retail CFD clients;
• a mandatory risk warning with the share of losing retail accounts — for ActivTrades: 72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Higher leverage is only available to professional clients who meet the MiFID II criteria — at the cost of some protections, including negative balance protection.

11. Tax on profits from ActivTrades

Tax treatment depends on your country of residence. ActivTrades generally does not file tax returns for you, so keep the annual statement of trades from the client area. For Polish residents: profits from a foreign broker are reported in the PIT-38 return (19% tax), with foreign-currency amounts converted at the National Bank of Poland average rate from the business day before each trade.

12. Glossary: terms to know before opening a ActivTrades account

• Spread — the difference between the buy and sell price, paid on every trade.
• Pip — the smallest typical price move of a currency pair (0.0001 for EUR/USD).
• Lot — the standard position size: 1 forex lot is 100,000 units of the base currency; 0.01 lot (micro lot) is 1,000.
• Commission — a fixed fee per trade, usually on raw-spread (ECN/Raw) accounts.
• Swap — the daily cost or credit for holding a position overnight, based on the interest-rate differential.
• Margin — the part of the position value set aside as collateral; at 1:30 leverage about 3.33% of the position.
• Margin call and stop out — a warning and automatic closing of positions when equity falls relative to required margin.
• Slippage — execution at a different price than requested, common around news releases and price gaps.

13. FAQ

Risk warning: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. This review is for information only and is not investment advice.

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