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Charles Schwab vs AvaTrade 2024

BrokerNotes.co

Written by BrokerNotes.co

August 06, 2024

Trying to decide between Charles Schwab and AvaTrade? We’ve taken the guesswork out of the equation with our Comparison Tool. Use our tool to compare hundreds of data points, side-by-side, to see how these two brokers stack up against each other.

Based on our extensive research, hands-on testing, and expert analysis of over a hundred data-driven variables, we've determined that, overall, Charles Schwab ranks more highly than AvaTrade.

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Compare

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Overall Rating Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Overall Rating star 9.3 /10 star 8.7 /10
Offering of Investments star 9.5 /10 star 7.5 /10
Commissions & Fees star 8.0 /10 star 9.0 /10
Platform & Tools star 9.5 /10 star 8.5 /10
Research star 9.0 /10 star 7.5 /10
Mobile Trading star 9.5 /10 star 8.5 /10
Education star 9.0 /10 star 10 /10
Account Type Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Standard Trade Size (100,000 units) info Yes Yes
Mini Trade Size (10,000 units) info Yes Yes
Micro Trade Size (1,000 units) info No Yes
Islamic Account info No Yes
Deposit/Withdrawal Options Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Minimum Deposit info $0 $100
Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) info Yes Yes
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) info No Yes
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) info No Yes
ACH or SEPA Transfers info Yes No
Copy Trading Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Social Trading / Copy Trading info No Yes
DupliTrade info No Yes
ZuluTrade info No Yes
Cryptocurrency Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Cryptocurrency (Physical) info No No
Cryptocurrency (Derivative) info Yes Yes
Bitcoin info No Yes
Ethereum info No Yes
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info Yes Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs info Yes Yes
Indices (Index CFDs) Charles Schwab AvaTrade
DAX info Yes Yes
Dow Jones info Yes Yes
FTSE info Yes Yes
NASDAQ 100 info Yes Yes
Nikkei info Yes Yes
SP 500 info Yes Yes
Investments Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) info Yes Yes
Spread Betting info No Yes
Social Trading / Copy Trading info No Yes
Metals info Yes Yes
Energies info Yes Yes
Agriculturals info No Yes
ETF info Yes No
U.S. Stocks (CFD) info No Yes
Trading Platforms Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Apple iOS App info Yes Yes
Android App info Yes Yes
Proprietary Platform info Yes Yes
Desktop Platform (Windows) info Yes Yes
Web Platform info Yes Yes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) info No Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) info No Yes
Regulatory Licenses Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Tier-1 Licenses info 5 4
Australia (ASIC Authorised) info No Yes
Canada (CIRO Authorised) info Yes Yes
Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) info Yes No
Japan (SFC Authorised) info No Yes
Singapore (MAS Authorised) info Yes No
Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) info No No
United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) info Yes No
USA (CFTC Authorized) info Yes No
New Zealand (FMA Authorised) info No No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info No Yes info
Tier-2 Licenses info 0 3
Tier-3 Licenses info 0 1
Research, Education Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Trading Central (Recognia) info No Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) info Yes Yes
Daily Market Commentary info Yes No
Autochartist info No No
Investor Dictionary (Glossary) info Yes Yes
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos info Yes Yes
Client Webinars (Archived) info Yes Yes
Trading Costs Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Minimum Deposit info $0 $100
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard info 1.25 info 0.93 info
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active info 1.25 info 0.61 info
Active Trader or VIP Discounts info No Yes
Trading Tools Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Watchlists - Total Fields info 580 7
Mobile Watchlist info Yes Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) info 374 80
Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies info 374 73
Trust Factors Charles Schwab AvaTrade
Year Founded info 1971 2006
Publicly Traded (Listed) info Yes No
Bank info Yes No
Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). info No Yes info
Trust Score info 99 94
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Charles Schwab vs AvaTrade Comparison

Comparing forex brokers side by side is no easy task. Our research team has collected thousands of data points, written hundreds of thousands of words of research, and tested over 60 brokers to help you find the best forex brokers in the industry. Trying to decide between Charles Schwab and AvaTrade? Our independent database powered by our unbiased research will help you compare Charles Schwab vs AvaTrade side-by-side.

What is Trust Score?

Trust Score is a data-driven rating system that provides an at-a-glance rating of a broker’s overall trust by tracking 60+ brokers and over 100 regulatory jurisdictions across the globe. To make things clearer for everyday traders, we’ve created a five-tier system for regulators and Trust Score rating labels. Learn more about Trust Score, and check out our country guides to see the most trusted brokers in your country of residence.

Can I trust Charles Schwab?

Charles Schwab has a Trust Score of 99, giving it a "Highly Trusted" Trust Score Label.

Can I trust AvaTrade?

AvaTrade has a Trust Score of 94, giving it a "Highly Trusted" Trust Score Label.

Is Charles Schwab a good broker?

Charles Schwab is a leader in platform technology and trusted by millions of investors globally with trillions in assets under its brands. Available exclusively to U.S. residents, Charles Schwab's forex offering consists of just over 70 currency pairs, along with powerful research, trading tools, and comprehensive educational resources for investing.

Is AvaTrade a good broker?

AvaTrade is a well-rounded, highly trusted broker that offers excellent educational resources for beginner forex traders and great tools for social copy trading. AvaTrade's commissions and market research are close to the industry average, and traders gain access to AvaTrade's proprietary platforms as well as third-party favorites like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

What Tier-1 jurisdictions is each broker regulated in?

Tier-1 is reserved for the strictest, most stringent regulatory jurisdictions in the world. Tier-1 regulators impose additional capital requirements and require a tougher initial screening process. Charles Schwab holds regulatory licenses in the following Tier-1 jurisdictions: Canada (CIRO Authorised), Hong Kong (SFC Authorised), Singapore (MAS Authorised), United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) and USA (CFTC Authorized). AvaTrade, on the other hand, is licensed in these Tier-1 regulatory jurisdictions: Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (CIRO Authorised), CBI Authorised (Ireland) and Japan (SFC Authorised). Neither have New Zealand (FMA Authorised) and Switzerland (FINMA Authorised)

What Tier-2 jurisdictions is each broker regulated in? What about Tier-3?

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, Charles Schwab is none, while AvaTrade is Cyprus (CySEC Authorised), Israel (ISA Authorised), South Africa (FSCA Authorised) and UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised).. Neither have China (CBRC Authorised), India (SEBI Authorised), Russia (CBR Authorised) and Thailand (SEC Authorised). When comparing tier-3 licenses Charles Schwab is none, while AvaTrade is British Virgin Islands (FSC Authorised).. Neither have Bahamas (SCB Authorised), Belize (FSC Authorised), Bermuda (BMA Authorised), Cayman Islands (CIMA Authorised), Mauritius (FSC Authorised) and Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).

Which broker offers more trading platforms?

Whether your broker develops its own proprietary platforms or provides access to popular third-party platforms, you should make sure you can use your preferred type of trading platform. In our testing, we found that Charles Schwab offers a Proprietary Platform and Desktop Platform (Windows), whereas AvaTrade supports a Proprietary Platform, Desktop Platform (Windows), DupliTrade and ZuluTrade. Neither have cTrader

Does Charles Schwab offer MetaTrader? Does AvaTrade offer MetaTrader?

For MetaTrader Charles Schwab provides neither of these, while AvaTrade provides MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). If MetaTrader is a must for you, read our guides on the best MT4 brokers or best MT5 brokers.

How do Charles Schwab and AvaTrade differ in terms of minimum deposit? What about average spreads and funding options?

Charles Schwab requires a minimum deposit of $0, while AvaTrade requires a minimum deposit of $100. It's also important to ensure your broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. In our research, we've found that Charles Schwab supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) for funding and deposit methods, whereas AvaTrade supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw)

Which broker offers more tradeable asset classes, Charles Schwab or AvaTrade?

When choosing a forex broker, it’s important to consider each broker’s available investment products and tradeable asset classes. We’ve researched each broker’s individual offering of investments to help you pick the right broker for what you want to trade. During our testing, we found that Charles Schwab delivers a more diverse selection of investment options than AvaTrade, offering tradeable asset classes and investment types such as Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Metals, Energies and ETF.

We also keep track of each broker’s total number of tradeable symbols; Charles Schwab offers 40000, and AvaTrade offers a total of 1260 tradeable symbols.

Can I trade cryptocurrency with Charles Schwab or AvaTrade?

Crypto trading has become popular among forex traders across a range of international jurisdictions. As a result, many forex brokers now offer crypto products to their clients; most crypto assets are offered either as an underlying physical asset (such as when you own actual bitcoin assets, for example) or as a derivative product like a CFD. If you are looking to trade physical cryptocurrencies, you’ll find that neither Charles Schwab nor AvaTrade allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

Who offers more research tools, Charles Schwab or AvaTrade?

Market research plays a huge role in any forex trader’s ability to conduct analysis within the global forex market. We test each broker’s research offering to help you decide which broker is right for your technical or fundamental analysis needs. Charles Schwab delivers the following research tools: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts and Forex News (Top-Tier Sources). AvaTrade, on the other hand, provides the tools listed here: Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources), Trading Central (Recognia) and Social Trading / Copy Trading. Neither have Autochartist

Broker Reviews

Still looking for more information, read our broker reviews.

Charles Schwab Review

AvaTrade Review

Overall winner: AvaTrade

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We review each broker’s overall global offering – a “Yes” checkmark in our Compare Tool does not guarantee the availability of any specific features in your country of residence. To verify the availability of any features within your country of residence, please contact the broker directly.


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