Page Summary
In this guide, we go over the best trading platforms in El Salvador. We have analysed 174 brokers and evaluated their platforms in 8 major categories. We measured all aspects of their service including trading platforms, fees, mobile trading, deposits & withdrawals, assets, regulation, research & education, customer support and islamic account options.
Trading platforms that reached the highest scoring are considered in the following list:
Top 5 Trading Platforms in El Salvador
- Interactive Brokers – Best trading platform overall
- CMC Markets – Broker known for its award winning trading experience
- OandA – Low risk CFD and forex broker
- Forex.com – Best Forex Trading Platform
- Capital.com – Best in research and education
Best Online Trading Platforms El Salvador
| PLATFORM | SCORE | GENERAL INFO | MINIMUM DEPOSIT | |
| #1 | Interactive Brokers | 4.9 | Best trading platform Overall | $0 |
| #2 | CMC Markets | 5 | Broker known for its award winning trading experience | $0 |
| #3 | OandA | 4 | Low risk CFD and forex broker | $0 |
| #4 | Forex.com | 4 | Best Forex Trading Platform | $100 |
| #5 | Capital.com | 4.7 | Best in research and education | $20 |
Below section breaks down the best trading platforms in El Salvador, beginning with the highest rated…
1. Interactive Brokers – Best Platform Overall
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 highly trusted global broker with a well-rounded offer of tradable markets, great educational content and sophisticated order type configuration. It is a high trusted and well capitalize 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.
Professional and seasoned traders will appreciate the great selection of advanced trading tools and order type configurations available on their proprietary Trader Workstation desktop platform (TWS).
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
2. CMC Markets – Broker known for its award winning trading experience
Min Deposit: 0
Fees: 3.7
Assets available: 3.2
Total Fees:
CMC Markets is a reputable online broker known for its award winning trading experience, excellent selection of tradable instruments and industry leading pricing. With over 12.500 tradable instruments across all asset classes, CMC is among industry leaders in market coverage.
Their proprietary trading platform called Next Generation is reliable, fast executing and fully packed with useful trading tools and indicators. It features an impressive education and research section full of quality in-house and third party content.
CMC Market offers the lowest commissions and fees in the industry. Low spread fees (0.73 pip on EUR/USD) are available for traders at all levels and accounts. Additional bonuses and rebates for active traders makes CMC Markets a market leader in costs and fees.
Pros
- Wide range of available assets
- Free demo paper trading account
- Excellent customer support
Cons
- Offers only CFD trading and spread betting
- Few education and research tools available
- High fees compared to other brokers
Key features
- Access to 9000+ shares and ETF CFDs
- 300+ tradable forex pairs
- Cryptocurrency CFD trading available
- Compatible with metaTrader 4
- Well-suited for beginner and advanced traders
- Gives spread rebates
3. Oanda – Low risk CFD and forex broker
Min Deposit: 0
Fees: 3.1
Assets available: 1.8
Total Fees:
OandA is a low risk CFD and forex broker with an extensive market research section, daily market updates and social trading features. Authorized by 6 tier one regulators, it is considered low risk for traders all across the globe. Their trading platform is intuitive, automate-executing and offers multiple features for algorithmic and social trading. Mobile trading is available through fxTrade on industry leading research and charting tools.
For a low cost broker, their fees and commissions are above industry average across all accounts (core and default).
Pros
- Multiple trading platforms available
- Broad range of research and analysis tools
- Easy account opening process
Cons
- Only CFD and forex trading available
- Customer support is only available during office hours
- Charges inactivity fees
Key features
- Access to over a thousand different CFDs on multiple asset classes and over 50 forex pairs
- Real-time currency conversion and access to 25 years’ historical FX data across 38,000 forex pairs
- Great corporate solutions like payment gateways and currency converters
- Competitive commissions, spreads and other trading fees
- Compatible with both MetaTrader 4 and 5
- Dedicated relationship manager, free VPS, trading fee and wire transfer discounts for professional traders
4. Forex.com – Best Forex Trading Platform
Min Deposit: $100
Fees: 3.7
Assets available: 4.1
Total Fees:
Forex.com finishes up on forth 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
5. Capital.com – Best For Research and Education (Discount Broker)
Min Deposit: $20
Fees: 4.8
Assets available: 4.7
Total Fees:
Capital.com is a top choice for traders looking for a discount broker with great educational content and resources, advanced research tools and a premium trading interface. They offer a wide range of tradable assets including CFDs on cryptos, stocks, indices, commodities and forex pairs.
Founded in 2016, Capital.com is an international fintech company which has group of entities authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (“CySEC”), and the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (“FSA”). It does not operate a bank and is not publicly traded.
Choose Capital.com if you are looking for a great mobile trading experience, professional web trading interface, day trading features. Beginner traders will like the low minimum deposit ($20), industry leading commission structure, and award winning education section.
Pros
- Newsroom grade educational videos and analysis
- Award winning education and research section
- New age mobile trading app
- Real time market updates and price alerts
- Hedging and risk management tools
Cons
- MT4 and MT5 not available
- Market access is industry average
Key features
- Access to 6.000 tradable symbols and 477 cryptocurrency CFDs
- High quality research and educational content
- Patented AI trade bias system
- $20 minimum deposit
- No inactivity fees
How To Pick The Right Platform?
The main criteria to consider when choosing a trading platform in El Salvador include: fees, trading platform, mobile trading, deposits & withdrawals, assets, customer support, liquidity and security.
Fees: Choose a broker with a transparent fee structure and avoid brokerage accounts with high fees on trades, overnight fees and hidden fees. Commission and spread fees are common with El Salvador brokerage accounts. Spreads should vary between 0.03% to 0.5% depending on your trading volume.
Trading platforms: They should be user friendly, grant access to trading tools and indicators and suitable to traders at all levels. We recommend you opt for a platform with a technical charting interface and built-in market data. A comprehensive market news feed and access to advanced features are a must.
Mobile Trading: Mobile trading apps should offer the same trading tools and charts as their web versions. Choose mobile platforms with full-screen charting options and social feeds.
Deposit & Withdrawal: Deposit and withdrawal needs to be fast and simple. Choose an broker that offers your preferred payment method and industry leading commission and fee structures.
Assets: Look for coverage of preferred assets. El Salvador traders are allowed to access all tradable asset classes including forex, stocks, indexes, options, FOPs, commodities, futures, indices, bonds, swaps, mutual funds, hedge funds, spot gold, ETFs and cryptos.
Regulation: Brokers with top-tier licenses follow strict rules enforced by a trustworthy regulators and offer high security standards. We recommend users to choose platforms with FCA, CySEC, and ASIC licenses and tier one regulations.
Research & education: Beginner and average 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 traders should look out for responsive and professional customer support available in their language.
*Islamic Accounts: All platforms from our list offer islamic account options. This gives users the chance to trade online in compliance to the Sharia law.
Online Trading In El Salvador
Online trading in El Salvador is done through The Salvadoran Stock Exchange, Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador (BVES). Traders and investors can trade or invest in domestic companies and government infrastructure projects. The Central Securities Depository (CEDEVAL) oversees the Bolsa de Valores de El Salvador. There are 34 companies listed on the exchange. If residents of El Salvador want to invest in overseas companies or trade commodities, currencies, cryptocurrencies, or any other financial instrument they will have to do this with an internationally operating broker, trading platform, or cryptocurrency exchange.
Offshore brokers don’t need any special license to market and offer their products and services to citizens of El Salvador. Residents of El Salvador are free to use their services and there are no legal repercussions. The CEDEVAL doesn’t guarantee any safety of funds invested or traded by El Salvadorians abroad.
Online Trading Regulation
The Central Securities Depository (CEDEVAL) is the main regulatory body for online trading in El Salvador. All companies based in El Salvador that want to offer trading and investment services to their residents, must apply for a license with CEDEVAL. It is mandatory that all trading takes place in U.S. Dollars. Overseas brokers, trading platforms, and exchanges don’t need such a license as long as they don’t have an office in El Salvador.
Cryptocurrency regulation in El Salvador is loose and open. Bitcoin is legal tender in the country and the country’s treasury even contains Bitcoin. It is legal for El Salvadorians to buy, trade, invest, mine, and pay for goods and services in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. There is even a beach town (El Zonte) named Bitcoin Beach, where everything can be bought with Bitcoin.
Licence Verification
You can verify the validity of an overseas broker’s CEDEVAL license by going to the official CEDEVAL website and checking the Registro Electronico de Emisiones for the name of the broker. If the broker has a valid license, it will show all company details. If no results show up, the broker is operating without an El Salvadorian license and we recommend checking the websites of other regulatory bodies like the CySEC, BaFin, ASIC, or FCA. Note that most cryptocurrency exchanges operate without a license and are unregulated because there are no legal frameworks regarding cryptocurrency in place yet. For El Salvadorians, it is legal to access and use the services provided by overseas-based cryptocurrency exchanges.
Conclusion
Based on our review, we consider Interactive Brokers as the best trading platform for El Salvador residents. They offer a low minimum deposit, competitive fees, advanced charting tools, social trading features and a responsive customer support.
CMC Markets is the second best trading platform for El Salvador residents, because of their low fees, advanced trading tools, copy trading features and a responsive customer support. OandA, Forex.com and Capital.com are finishing up our list of top platforms with a great overall offer and above average ratings.
FAQ
Are There Commission-Free Trading Platforms In El Salvador?
Yes, there are trading platforms available in El Salvador that offer 0% commission trading.
How Much Should I Invest When Trading Online in El Salvador?
You should always invest at least the minimum deposit amount El Salvador and international brokers require you to open an account. In most cases, this is about $50.
Is Crypto Trading Available In El Salvador?
Yes, crypto trading is available to El Salvador citizens. The leading trading platforms offer Bitcoin trading via CFDs.
How To Check If A Trading Platform Has a Valid License?
You can check if a trading platform has a valid operating license on the CEDEVAL official website. If the broker is based outside of El Salvador, you can check the official websites of CySEC, FINRA, ASIC, BaFin, or FCA instead.
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.