Page Summary
In this guide, we go over the best forex brokers in South Africa. We have analysed and evaluated 174 forex brokers in 8 different categories. We measured all aspects of their service including trading platforms, fees, mobile trading, deposits & withdrawals, assets, regulation, research & education, and customer support.
Forex brokers that reached the highest score are considered in the following list:
Best Forex Brokers South Africa
- AVAtrade – Best forex broker overall with a high trust score
- Forex.com – Best trading tools and forex trading features
- XM – Best forex broker for beginner and intermediate traders
- Saxo Bank – Best forex broker for advanced users and research
- Interactive Brokers – Best forex broker for advanced users
- Pepperstone – Best forex broker with low trading fees and customer support
Best Forex Brokers for citizens in South Africa
| BROKER | GENERAL INFO | SCORE | BEST FOR | MIN. DEPOSIT | |
| #1 | AVAtrade | Best overall offer | 4.9/5 | Low spreads | $100 |
| #2 | Forex.com | Best features | 4.4/5 | Tools and features | $100 |
| #3 | XM | Best for forex trading | 4.1/5 | Different assets | $5 |
| #4 | Saxo Bank | Best for premium traders | 4.9/5 | Forex trading | $2,000 |
| #5 | Interactive Brokers | Best Overall Broker | 4.9/5 | Overall trading experience | $0 |
| #6 | Pepperstone | Lowest trading fees | 4.9/5 | Low fees | $200 |
Find below a breakdown of the best forex brokers in South Africa, beginning with the best – AVAtrade.
1. AVAtrade – Best Forex Broker Overall
Min Deposit: $100
Fees: 4.9
Assets available: 4.9
Total Fees: 0.9 pip
AVAtrade takes the first place as the best forex broker for South Africa traders. They have a intuitive and sophisticated trading platform and mobile trading app that supports over 50 different forex currency pairs.
Deposits and withdrawals are free of charge. The minimum deposit is $100. Choose AVAtrade if you are a beginner or semi advanced forex trader, looking to trade major forex currency pairs as CFD’s with a authorised forex broker.
Pros
- Great Research and Educational tools
- Great Customer support
- Good choice of social trading options
Cons
- Comparing others relatively few trading instruments are offered; offers Forex, CFDs and Binary Options
Key features
- Access to 1250 CFDs and 44 forex options
- Excellent copy trading features
- Advanced mobile trading app (AvaOptions)
- Industry average pricing
- Perfect for casual and advanced traders
- Access to the full meta trader suite
2. Forex.com – Best Forex Trading Platforms and Features
Min Deposit: $100
Fees: 3.7
Assets available: 4.1
Total Fees:
Forex.com finishes up on second place with the best forex trading platform. Their multi-asset, features-rich trading platform offers a wide range of proprietary platforms, advanced social trading features and great asset coverage. Forex.com offers trading on over 4500 different CFDs as stock, cryptos, currencies and access to 5500 tradable symbols overall.
Their overall great offer makes this forex and CFD broker a good choice for traders at all levels.
Pros
- Great market coverage
- Advanced Trading and Web Trading platforms
- Advanced charting features and performance analytics
- Award Winning Mobile trading app
- Professional customer support
- Competitive fee and commission structure
Cons
- Educational videos are missing
- MT5 available outside of US only
- Limited assets available on MT5
Key features
- 5500 tradable symbols and 4550 CFDs overall
- Award winning mobile trading app
- Advanced charting and performance analytics available
- Great combination of ease of use and personal customisation
- Publicly traded
3. XM – Best Forex Broker For Market Research and Education
Min Deposit: $5
Fees: 4.1
Assets available: 2.8
Total Fees:
XM finished on third place as the broker with the best selection of market research and educational materials. They are a MetaTrader-only forex broker offering auto-trading, fast order executions, multiple order types, and no hidden commissions. We recommend this brokers for beginner traders, because of their low entry level and great educational content.
This broker offers limited regulatory protection.
Pros
- Very good customer support
- Very competitive trading fees
- Good choice of different trading platforms
Cons
- Could have more deposit and withdrawal options
Key features
- Access to 1,000+ trading instruments
- Trade the markets your way using one or multiple of the 16 available trading platforms including MT4 and MT5
- No re-quotes nor order rejections
- Broad range of educational material offered in the form of webinars, videos, live trading education sessions, and podcasts
- Extensive research tools via XM Research Centre including trade ideas, technical summaries, and a detailed economic calendar
- Free VPS perfectly suited for EAs and other automated trading software
4. Saxo Bank – Best Selection Of Tradable Assets
Min Deposit: $2000
Fees: 4.7
Assets available: 4.9
Total Fees:
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Saxo Bank finishes up on third place as the forex brokers with the best asset coverage. They offer a superb trading platform offering all the industry leading trading features, tools and research materials. Their offer of over 40.000 tradable symbols and 30.000 securities makes them an industry leader in forex trading assets coverage.
If you can afford the minimum deposit of $10.000 for South Africa citizens, this is the go to forex broker for traders and investors at all levels.
South Africa based forex traders who want to trade in accordance to the Sharia Law can open up an islamic account. Saxo Bank also offers a great customer support in Arabic language via phone, email or in person in their local UK office.
Pros
- Industry leading market coverage
- Excellent Trading Features with SaxoTraderGo
- Advanced order type and account protection features
- Intuitive and easy to use mobile trading app
- Great education and research materials
- Competitive fee structure for active traders
Cons
- $10,000 minimum deposit for UAE users
- High time investment to set up
- Only for advanced traders
Key features
- 40.000 tradable symbols available (crypto derivatives, forex options and futures)
- Advanced account protection and order types
- Fast execution of trades
- $2.000 minimum deposit
- “Best in class” educational resources
- Great ease of use level combined with advanced features
5. Interactive Brokers – Lowest Trading Fees
Min Deposit: 0 ($2000 for margin account)
Fees: 4.9
Assets available: 4.9
Total Fees:
All trading involves risk. More than 80% of investors lose in spread bet and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
Interactive Brokers is a great overall pick for South African traders. It is a high trusted company with an industry leading trading platform, a competitive fee structure and great global market access. Their low entry level and the Global Trader platform, which is intuitive and easy to use trading station, make this broker s great choice for beginners and advanced forex traders living in South Africa.
Pros
- Best market coverage in the industry (100k+ assets on different instruments)
- Access to 16,500 shares and 8,000 stocks as CFDs
- Professional trading platform suitable for different types of traders
- Intuitive and easy to use mobile trading app
- Industry leading fee structure
- Compatible features for casual and professional traders
- Responsive customer support
Cons
- Few deposit and withdrawal options
- Research and education materials missing
Key features
- Margin loan rates on stocks of 1.3%
- Access to 135+ global markets
- Advanced order types, tools and features
- Access to frictional shares
- Lowest commissions in the industry
6. Pepperstone – Best MetaTrader and cTrader Forex Broker
Min Deposit: $200
Fees: 4.9
Assets available: 4.8
Total Fees:
Pepperstone is a trusted Forex and CFD broker well know for its support of multiple copy trading platforms, great variety of tradable assets and a enormous research and education section. The combined offering of cTrader, MetaTrader and various social trading features makes this broker s great fit for copy traders and algorithmic traders.
Pepperstone is available through 24/5 phone and online chat support plus offers an extensive FAQ web section, and e-mail.
Pros
- Great for algorithmic and copy traders
- Multiple platform add-ons
- Competitive fees and commissions
- Advanced social trading features
- Excellent education and research section
- Competitive fee structure for day
Cons
- Lack of video educational resources
- Advanced order types missing
- Customer support not in Arabic
Key features
- 600 + stocks as CFDs available
- Great variety of trading platforms (MetaTrader + cTrader)
- Multiple advance trading add-ons
- Social trading features
- Competitive pricing for active traders
How To Choose a Regulated Forex Broker?
The main criteria to consider when choosing regulated forex brokers in South Africa include trading platforms, fees, mobile trading, deposits & withdrawals, assets, regulation, research & education, and customer support.
Fees: Avoid brokerage accounts with high fees on trades, overnight fees, and hidden fees.
Trading platforms: Look for intuitive, easy to use, and fast executing forex trading platforms.
Mobile Trading: Mobile trading apps should offer the same trading tools and charts as their web versions.
Deposit & Withdrawal: Choose a broker that offers your preferred deposit and withdrawal option with low fees.
Assets: Look for the best coverage of asset classes and currency pairs. Forex broker who does not offer major currency pairs should be voided.
Regulation: Only choose tier one, DFSA regulated forex brokers.
Research & Education: Beginner and average forex traders and investors should choose a broker with research and education tools including weekly webinars, daily news updates, personal account manager, personal training, and room access.
Customer support: Beginner forex traders should look out for responsive and professional customer support available in their language.
Islamic Accounts: All of the brokers from our list of the best forex brokers in South Africa offer an Islamic account option. This gives the user to trade forex in compliance with Sharia law.
Forex Trading in South Africa
Forex trading is very popular among people in South Africa. There are many South Africans making daily profits with forex trading. Forex trading is legal in South Africa and it is easy to enter for beginners. Forex trading is taxed in South Africa. Traders and investors need to report their capital earnings to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
South African traders are allowed use offshore brokers to trade forex with higher leverage and trade financial instruments and assets not offered by South African brokers including exotic currency pairs, options and other asset classes. Trading profits made with overseas brokers are taxed in South Africa.
Forex Trading Regulation in South Africa
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) regulates the South African forex markets together with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). These institutions protect forex and CFD traders and prevent insider trading and other forms of investment fraud. Founded in 1921 and 2018 they are both based in Pretoria. All brokers that want to offer trading and investment services to South Africans have to apply for a license with them. These forex brokers have to obey strict rules set out by the SARB and FSCA in order to maintain their license. Offshore brokers don’t need such a license to be able to accept South African forex and CFD traders.
How to Check Authorisation
You can verify the validity of a forex broker license in South Africa by going to the official website of The Financial Sector Conduct Authority and checking their Public Register of License Holders for the name of the forex broker you want to trade with. If its name doesn’t show up in the register, the broker or trading platform is unlicensed. You will be better off trading with one of the best forex brokers in South Africa mentioned in this guide.
Whenever a forex broker is based abroad, you can check the validity of their license by going to the official websites of international regulators including, but not limited to the ASIC, CySEC, BaFIN, and FCA, and checking their Registered Entities listings.
Summary
We have compared 174 forex brokers in 8 major categories including trading platforms, fees, mobile trading, deposits & withdrawals, assets, regulation, research & education customer support, and sharia law compliance.
According to our research, AVAtrade is the best forex broker for South African residents. Besides its great overall offer, it has a competitive fee structure, advanced trading tools, copy trading features, and responsive customer support in the Arabic language.
Forex.com is the best South African forex broker for high volume traders based on their reliable trade execution, overall low fees, and a big variety of tradable assets.
FAQ
Is forex trading legal in South Africa?
Forex trading is legal in South Africa. It is regulated by The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).
Is forex trading taxable in South Africa?
Yes, profits from forex trading are considered income in South Africa. All profits made are taxed at your current tax rate and have to be reported to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Where can I trade forex in South Africa?
You can trade forex in South Africa with domestic forex brokers who have a valid broker license or with any offshore broker offering services to South African residents.
Disclaimer
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.
Copy trading is a portfolio management service, provided by eToro (Europe) Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cryptoasset investing is unregulated in some EU countries and the UK. No consumer protection. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.