Eightcap was founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 2009 and operates under five entities globally. The ASIC-regulated Australian entity offers over 800 financial instruments with highly competitive trading costs.
Traders have access to the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrader, and TradingView platforms. Flexible account types can accommodate beginners and advanced traders.
Given the powerful combination of tight spreads, robust platforms, third-party tools, and VPS hosting, I rate Eightcap as most suitable for experienced, active traders and those using automated strategies.
Recommended in 5 best broker guides: |
Forex | CFD | European Regulated | CySEC | Australia |
Pros: | Cons: |
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Eightcap sets itself apart in areas crucial to active traders: trust, fees, and platforms. It is licensed by three of the leading global regulators – the FCA, CySEC, and ASIC – and offers competitive pricing (for instance, gold spreads as low as 12 cents). The broker also provides a diverse array of trading platforms and tools equipped with advanced functionalities.
Additionally, during my testing of Eightcap, I was assigned a dedicated account manager, which is unusual for most CFD brokers. Having a direct contact provides a better and more personalized experience overall.
My research showed that Eightcap is well-suited for experienced traders, offering ultra-tight spreads through the Raw Account and the advanced capabilities of MT5. These include automated trading, a wide array of technical indicators, and versatile order types.
Additionally, features like 1-click trading and fast order execution make Eightcap a suitable choice for day traders and scalpers.
Beginners can also find value in Eightcap’s offerings, thanks to the user-friendly TradingView platform, the availability of micro-lot trading, and a wealth of excellent research materials.
In this review of Eightcap, we focused on the Australian entity (Eightcap Pty Ltd), regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, AFSL number 391441. We conducted our tests using a Standard Account via the MetaTrader 5 platform and MetaTrader 5 mobile app.
☑️ Regulations | ASIC (Australia), FCA (United Kingdom), CySEC (Cyprus), SCB (Bahamas) |
🗺 Supported Languages | English, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, Arabic, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, German, Malaysian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Japanese |
💰 Products | Currencies, Stocks, Crypto, Indices, Commodities |
💵 Min Deposit | $100 |
💹 Max Leverage | 1:30 (ASIC), 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (CySEC), 1:200 (SCB) |
🖥 Trading Desk Type | STP |
📊 Trading Platforms | MT5, MT4, WebTrader, TradingView |
💳 Deposit Options | PayPal, Wire Transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Credit Card, Bpay, Visa |
💳 Withdrawal Options | Wire Transfer, PayPal, Bpay, Skrill, Neteller, Visa |
🤴 Demo Account | Yes |
🗓 Foundation Year | 2009 |
🌎 Headquarters Country | Australia |
In our Trust category, Eightcap surpassed the industry average. The Aussie broker has three entities licensed by top-tier regulators and two offshore entities with limited oversight. Eightcap’s high level of transparency and 14-year operating history contributed to its elevated trust rating in our review.
This section will cover how the different entities of Eightcap are regulated and how this impacts you as a trader. We rate regulators on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 reflecting the highest level of trust.
Different regulators provide different levels of protection. For example, Eightcap clients in Australia benefit from the oversight of ASIC. It requires that clients have negative balance protection, which means they cannot lose more than their deposit. Client funds must also be segregated from company funds.
The tables below list the protections and benefits by entity, regulator, and region.
Entity | Eightcap Group Ltd | Eightcap EU Ltd | Eightcap Pty Ltd | Eightcap Global Limited | Eightcap Limited |
Country/Region | UK | EU | Australia | Bahamas/Global | Seychelles |
Regulator | FCA | CySEC | ASIC | SCB | Unregulated |
Tier | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | n/a |
Segregated Funds | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Negative Balance Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Compensation Scheme | FSCS Up to £85,000 | ICF Up to €20,000 | No | No | No |
Maximum Leverage (Standard Account) | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:200 | 1:500 |
In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and financial strength. Here, we evaluate the broker’s longevity in the industry, the company’s size, and its transparency.
Eightcap was established in 2009, marking it as an experienced forex and CFD broker. According to its LinkedIn page, the company is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and has 201-500 employees.
In my research, Eightcap is open about its regulatory status, listing its regulator in the footer of each page of the eightcap.com website. Eightcap clearly covers its spreads and commissions in its Trading Costs section. The Client Agreement can be found on the Legal Documents page referenced in the footer.
To summarize, my findings indicate that Eightcap Pty Ltd can be regarded as trustworthy due to the following qualities:
My hands-on tests showed that Eightcap offers highly competitive trading fees. Spreads in commodities, shares, and indices are especially tight, and swap fees are average for the industry. Another bonus is that there are no inactivity or account maintenance fees.
I tested the Standard Account spreads at Eightcap across various markets during the London open at 8:00 a.m. UK time and after the open of the New York forex session at 1:00 p.m. UK time. At these times, the market is typically highly liquid with the tightest spreads. I recorded the data on 24 January 2024.
Instrument | Spread AM | Spread PM |
EUR/USD | 1 Pip | 1 Pip |
GBP/JPY | 2.4 Pips | 2.2 Pips |
Gold | 12 Cents | 12 Cents |
Light Crude Oil | 3 Cents | 3 Cents |
Apple | n/a | 1 Cent |
Tesla | n/a | 7 Cents |
Dow 30 | 1.6 Pips | 1.6 Pips |
Dax 40 | 3.2 Pips | 2.2 Pips |
Bitcoin | $15.32 | $12.46 |
It was hard to find fault with Eightcap in this area, and I was especially impressed by the tight spreads in the Dow 30, gold and Bitcoin.
In the table below, you can see the Swap Long (the cost/credit of holding a buy position overnight) and the Swap Short (the cost/credit of maintaining a sell position overnight) for one full-sized contract. A full-sized contract is 100,000 units of the base currency (the first currency quoted in the pair). I recorded the data on 24 January 2024.
Instrument | Swap Long | Swap Short |
EUR/USD | Charge of $6.79 | Credit of $2.25 |
GBP/JPY | Credit of $14.49 | Charge of $35.58 |
My live tests showed that swap fees at Eightcap are average for the industry.
The Australian entity (Eightcap Pty Ltd) does not charge any inactivity or account maintenance fees.
While some brokers have competitive spreads in only a few popular assets, Eightcap does better by providing tight spreads across the board. This is of great importance to traders and can make or break their journey to profitability, especially for day traders and scalpers. I rate the fees at Eightcap as highly competitive for the following reasons:
The Australian entity (Eightcap Pty Ltd) provides a standard suite of MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, along with WebTrader and TradingView platforms. Experienced traders can benefit from advanced features on MetaTrader, including automated trading, robust charting, and versatile order types. Meanwhile, the TradingView platform is intuitive and suitable for beginners as well.
MetaTrader 5 is available in 52 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese. The platform provides popular features such as
The Marketwatch panel enables traders to stay on top of their favorite instruments at a glance.
The Toolbox panel allows traders to track their open positions, market exposure, trade history, and profit/loss figures in real time.
MetaTrader delivers when it comes to the range of available order types. The platform offers the following:
Charting features are robust. MetaTrader 5 offers:
MetaTrader is also popular due to its copy trading and automated trading features.
The MetaTrader 5 desktop platform is one of the most feature-rich and popular trading platforms. However, it may present a steep learning curve for beginners.
The interface of the MT5 web platform is very different from the desktop and has a more intuitive and user-friendly interface. It allows you to trade without any additional software, only an internet connection is required. The Web Platform allows users to trade directly from any browser and operating system.
Popular features of the WebTrader platform include
Watchlists provide real-time updates for a selected list of instruments.
Charting via the WebTrader platform is outstanding. Traders can make use of:
The WebTrader platform provides standard order types including market orders, limit orders, and stop loss orders. Time-in-force conditions like Good-Til-Cancelled (GTC) or a specified date can be applied to pending orders.
Eightcap offers the MetaTrader 5 mobile app for mobile trading, which is available for Android and iOS. The app offers popular features such as alerts, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart.
The MetaTrader 5 mobile app also provides many order types, including pending and stop orders. However, trailing stop-loss orders are only available from the desktop. To change the language of the MT5 app, you must change the language for your entire phone.
Overall, the MT5 app offers an above-average range of features. I rate it as a well-designed app, but as one that caters more to experienced traders.
Clients of Eightcap’s Australian entity have access to Capitalize.ai, which enables them to create, test, and automate trading strategies using everyday English instead of code. For example, you could type in an entry trigger such as ‘if EUR/USD 30 minute RSI crosses above 80, buy $500 worth’. You can also automate your exits, for example, ‘close position at a profit of 6% or at trailing stop of 4%’. I found this to be a user-friendly platform with great potential for easily automating your trading ideas.
Eightcap is a no-dealing desk STP (Straight Through Processing) broker.
Eightcap offers a diverse range of over 800 tradable instruments. Clients can benefit from an especially strong range of commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. I rate the scope of available instruments as better than average for the industry.
CFDs (Contracts for Differences) are financial derivative products that allow traders to speculate in various markets without owning the underlying assets. Tradable instruments at Eightcap include the following:
In the tables below, you can see a selection highlighting the variety of CFD instruments available at Eightcap:
Forex Major | Forex Minor |
GBP/USD | EUR/USD | USD/JPY | USD/CHF | GBP/JPY | EUR/GBP | CHF/JPY | AUD/CAD |
Energies | Metals |
Brent Crude Oil | WTI Crude Oil | Nickel | Gold | Palladium | Zinc |
Indices | Crypto |
Nikkei 225 | UK 100 | Australia 200 | Wall Street 30 | Ethereum | Solana | Shiba Inu | Tron |
US Stocks | Global Stocks |
Spotify | Pfizer | AMD | Robinhood | Vodafone | BMW | BP | Rio Tinto |
My assessment indicated that Eightcap is particularly strong in the areas of indices and cryptocurrencies. There is some room for improvement in the range of available currency pairs. Overall, the variety of tradable assets at Eightcap is impressive.
The Australian entity of Eightcap (Eightcap Pty Ltd) provides 24/5 support via phone, live chat, and email in 9 languages. Once I was assigned an account manager, I received high-quality support with fast and complete answers to my inquiries.
Support is a key component of a broker’s offering – whether you are a new trader looking for guidance on how to use the platform or an experienced trader who needs help fast to exit their positions in the event of a technical glitch.
I tested Eightcap customer service over two weeks with dozens of queries, ranging from available order types to fees and regulatory issues. Overall I had a positive experience.
Eightcap Australia clients can deposit and withdraw funds via bank wire transfer, Visa, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and BPay. Processing times are relatively fast for the industry. Deposits and withdrawals (including bank wire) are free of internal charges.
Method | Available Currencies | Processing Time | Transaction Fee | Transaction Limit |
Visa | AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, CAD, SGD | Instant | $0 | $5,000 |
PayPal | AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, SGD | Instant | $0 | $4,000 |
Wire Transfer | AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, CAD, SGD | 1-5 business days | Variable | N/A |
BPay | AUD | 1-2 business days | $0 | $50,000 |
Skrill | USD, EUR (only for EEA clients), CAD | Instant | Variable | $50,000 |
Neteller | USD, EUR (only for EEA clients), CAD | Instant | Variable | $50,000 |
Processing times for bank wires are average compared with other CFD brokers. Free deposits are standard for the industry.
You can request to withdraw funds from your account by submitting an online form through the Client Portal.
Method | Available Currencies | Processing Time | Transaction Fee | Withdrawal Limit (per transaction) |
Visa | AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, CAD, SGD | 2-5 business days | $0* | No limit |
PayPal | AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, SGD | 1-5 business days | $0* | No limit |
Wire Transfer | AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, NZD, CAD, SGD | 1-5 business days | $0* | Above USD $25 / EUR $20 |
BPay | AUD | 1-3 business days | $0 | Above USD $25 / EUR $20 |
Skrill | USD, EUR (only for EEA clients), CAD | 1 business day | $0* | $50 – 50 000 |
Neteller | USD, EUR (only for EEA clients), CAD | 1 business day | $0* | $50 – 50 000 |
*Eightcap does not charge any internal fees for deposits or withdrawals but be aware that the provider you use might charge you a transaction fee and/or international processing fee and/or other.
Eightcap Pty Ltd provides three account types. The account opening process is entirely digital and can be completed through their website. I completed the application in just 10 minutes. Additionally, clients can access a free demo account on both the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms.
The table below breaks down the key features of the Standard, Raw, and TradingView account types:
Feature | Raw Account | Standard Account | TradingView Account |
Spreads From | 0.0 pips | 1.0 pips | 1.0 pips |
Available instruments | 800+ | 800+ | 800+ |
Commission | 3.5 AUD, USD, NZD, SGD, CAD | 2.25 GBP | 2.75 EUR per standard lot traded | No Commission* (Shares include commission) | No Commission* (Shares include commission) |
Minimum Deposit | $100 | $100 | $100 |
Min. / Max. Trade Size | 0.01 lots / 100 lots | 0.01 lots / 100 lots | 0.01 lots / 100 lots |
Margin Call Level | 80% | 80% | 80% |
Stop Out Level | 50% | 50% | 50% |
Account Base Currencies | AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, CAD, SGD | AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, CAD, SGD | AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, NZD, CAD, SGD |
Scalping | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed |
To open a CFD account with the Australian entity of Eightcap, prospective clients must provide the following information:
There is a brief section testing your knowledge and understanding of risk.
Eightcap offers demo accounts via MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Demo accounts are especially important for beginners as they allow them to practice the strategies and get comfortable with the trading platform without risking real money. The demo account features live quotes and simulates live market conditions. Once users are up to speed on a demo account, they can easily switch to a live version.
To be eligible for a professional account at the Australian entity, you will need to meet either one of the following criteria:
Sophisticated Investor | High Net Worth Investor |
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Benefits of being a professional client include:
If you become a professional client, you will not receive any protections afforded to retail clients under Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act.
The Australian entity (Eightcap Pty Ltd) does offer swap-free Islamic accounts.
One of the reasons that traders are attracted to the forex market is the high degree of available leverage. Leverage is the use of borrowed funds to increase the size of your trading positions beyond what would be possible using only the cash in your account. In the table below I cover the leverage available at Eightcap across a range of CFD instruments.
Major Currency Pairs | 1:30 |
Non-Major Currency Pairs | 1:20 |
Gold | 1:20 |
Major indices | 1:20 |
Non-Major Indices | 1:10 |
Stocks | 1:5 |
Cryptocurrencies | 1:2 |
Eightcap accepts clients from the majority of countries globally, except FATF blacklist countries like Iran and North Korea.
Eightcap shines in the research category with high-quality text and video-based analysis from leading industry experts.
The AI Economic Calendar from Acuity enables clients to get trade ideas from 1000+ macroeconomic events.
Eightcap also incorporates live webinars. I rate the research materials as above average.
The Trade Zone series of videos from Eightcap helps traders orient themselves with key insights for the upcoming trading week. These reports by Joe Jeffriess are less than five minutes and enable traders to be best prepared for high-impact economic reports.
The Trading Week Ahead report is text-based and also covers events on the economic horizon – deciphering everything from central bank speeches to key economic reports.
In the Trade Ideas series of reports, Joseph Jeffriess provides a technical perspective including major support and resistance levels, chart patterns, trend analysis, and potential set-ups.
The AI Economic Calendar from Acuity within the client portal goes deeper than the norm, covering over 1000 events from 55 countries. It has advanced filtering capabilities, shows assets affected by the release, provides historical event analysis, and gives price range projections.
It also includes news and commentary, along with news sentiment and correlation data. The AI Economic calendar helps traders identify which instruments to trade, when to trade, and how the market is likely to respond to economic data.
I was impressed by the high-quality text and video-based analysis, along with the third-party AI Economic Calendar from Acuity. The analysis provides comprehensive coverage of both technical and fundamental themes.
The Eightcap Labs section of the website offers a comprehensive range of educational articles, guides, and eBooks covering trading fundamentals, strategies, and cryptocurrencies. Materials are insightful and can cater to beginners and experienced traders.
Eightcap provides useful articles covering trading fundamentals with topics like The Power of Market Momentum and Trading the GBP Crosses. These articles are well-written, in-depth, and accessible to beginners.
The eBooks within Eightcap Labs are focused on cryptocurrencies. Traders can get up to speed with cryptocurrencies ranging from Dogecoin to Solana with detailed downloadable guides. These complement the above-average range of crypto pairs available to trade at Eightcap.
I especially liked the articles on actionable strategies relating to various technical indicators and specific assets like crude oil. These articles go beyond the theoretical and get into practical trading advice. I rate the educational content as better than average for the industry. Eightcap could improve further by adding interactive courses.
Operating for over 15 years, Eightcap is a well-known brand on the Australian market with entities licensed by three top regulators in the world – FCA, CySEC, and ASIC.
Its Australian entity provides first-class account protection, highly competitive spreads, and a diverse range of assets. The intuitive TradingView platform makes Eightcap accessible to beginners. Meanwhile, experienced traders can benefit from the advanced features of the MT4 and MT5 platforms.
Eightcap has gone the extra mile with research materials and tools. With their advanced platforms and resources like Capitalize.ai, I also rate Eightcap as a strong choice for traders using automated strategies.
Considering Eightcap’s advantageous mix of narrow spreads, strong platforms, extensive third-party tools, and VPS hosting, I find it to be a good choice for seasoned, active traders and those employing automated trading strategies.
Headquarters Country | Australia |
Foundation Year | 2009 |
Regulations | ASIC (Australia), FCA (United Kingdom), CySEC (Cyprus), SCB (Bahamas) |
Publicly Traded | No |
Number Of Employees | 201 |
Trading Desk Type | STP |
Trading Platforms | MT5, MT4, WebTrader, TradingView |
Restricted Countries | Bahamas, Belarus, Burundi, Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, North Korea, Guyana, Mali, Nicaragua, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, United States, Albania, Turkey, Kosovo, Northern Mariana Islands, Somalia, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Venezuela, Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Vanuatu, Israel, Japan, Libya, Myanmar, South Sudan, Sudan, Zimbabwe, American Samoa, Haiti, Saint Helena |
Supported Languages | English, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, Arabic, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, German, Malaysian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Japanese |
Min Deposit | $100 |
Max Leverage | 1:30 (ASIC), 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (CySEC), 1:200 (SCB) |
Deposit Options | PayPal, Wire Transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Credit Card, Bpay, Visa |
Withdrawal Options | Wire Transfer, PayPal, Bpay, Skrill, Neteller, Visa |
Time to Withdrawal | 3 |
Time to Open an Account | 8 |
Crypto | Ethereum, Monero, Dogecoin, NEM, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Dash, Fantomcoin, NEO, TRON, Kyber Network, Cardano, Stellar, EOS, Qtum, VeChain, Waves, storm, Metal, Polkadot, Binance Coin, Chainlink |
Products | Currencies, Stocks, Crypto, Indices, Commodities |
Demo Account | Yes |
OCO Orders | No |
Offers Hedging | Yes |
Automated Trading | Yes |
API Trading | No |
Guaranteed Stop Loss | No |
Guaranteed Limit Orders | No |
Guaranteed Fills / Liquidity | No |
Economic calendar | No |
Trading From Chart | Yes |
One-Click Trading | Yes |
Expert Advisor | Yes |
Social Trading | Yes |
Autochartist | Yes |
Trading Signals | Yes |
Platform Languages | Multi-lingual, English |
24 Hours Support | Yes |
Support During Weekends | No |
Live Chat | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Webinars | Yes |
Deposit Fee | No |
Withdrawal Fee | No |
Inactivity Fee | No |
Dan Blystone began his career in the trading industry in 1998 on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Later Dan gained insight into the forex industry during his time as a Series 3 licenced futures and forex broker. He also traded at a couple of different prop trading firms in Chicago. Dan is well-equipped to recommend the best forex brokers due to his extensive experience and understanding of the brokerage industry.
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