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Octa vs IC Markets - 2024 Comparison | FxScouts
AuthorAuthor: Björn MichelsUpdated: Nov 15, 2023

Last Updated On Nov 15, 2023

Björn Michels

Trading with a reputable online broker is a crucial factor for success in the international markets. At FxScouts, we help you find the broker that suits your trading needs.

Each year we spend thousands of hours testing brokers by opening accounts, testing their platforms, and rating them according to a set of over 200 metrics. We deposit real money with the brokers to ensure that the products and user experience they advertise are consistent with reality.

We have found that the best way for traders to choose a broker is to compare brokers side-by-side. The comparison tool below allows you to compare two brokers based on their ratings and features.

Select brokers to compare

Select brokers to compare

How do IC Markets and Octa stack up against each other?

The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.

IC Markets

Octa

At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.

To compare IC Markets and Octa, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.

Does IC Markets or Octa have a better trust and regulation rating?

Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.

In our comparison, we found that IC Markets holds two Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences, and Octa holds one Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.

 

Is IC Markets financially regulated?

Yes IC Markets was founded in 2007 and is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, SCB and FSA-Seychelles.

 

Is Octa financially regulated?

Yes Octa was founded in 2011 and is regulated by CySEC, FSCA and MISA.

 

Based on these findings, IC Markets earned a higher trust rating than Octa.

Does IC Markets or Octa have lower costs?

Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged. 

Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that Octa has overall lower trading costs than IC Markets. 

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Broker
Trading Conditions
Base Currencies
EURUSD (Standard)
Trading Cost (Standard)
EURUSD (Best)
GBPUSD (Best)
USDJPY (Best)
Commission
Octa
11110.54.5/ 5
EUR, USD
0.60 pips
USD 6
0.60 pips
1.10 pips
1.20 pips
USD 0
IC Markets
11110.54.5/ 5
AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, SGD, NZD, JPY, CHF, HKD
0.10 pips
USD 8
0.02 pips
0.23 pips
0.14 pips
USD 7

 

Does IC Markets or Octa offer a better choice of trading platforms?

Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms. 

In this case, IC Markets offers support for and Octa offers support for . 

Do the brokers offer copy trading?

In this case both IC Markets and Octa offer copy trading.

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Broker
Platform Choice
Copy Trading
Platforms
Octa
11110.54.5/ 5
OctaTrader
IC Markets
111115/ 5
TradingView

 

Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?

A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that IC Markets offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than Octa. IC Markets offers 64 Forex pairs to trade and Octa offers 52 Forex pairs to trade.

Toplist Forex Pairs

And what about Cryptocurrencies?

In this case, Octa offers 30 cryptocurrencies while IC Markets offers 18 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with Octa.

Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?

Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals. 

We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that IC Markets charges a withdrawal fee and Octa does not. Overall, Octa has better deposit and withdrawal processes than IC Markets. 

Which broker offers better educational support?

We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas. 

IC Markets has better educational support than Octa. Both IC Markets and Octa offer educational support for more experienced traders.

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Broker
Beginner Course
Advanced Course
Octa
IC Markets

 

Which broker offers better market analysis materials?

To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field. 

We found that 0 offers better research analysis than 0 and that both IC Markets and Octa offer frequent webinars.

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Broker
Economic Calendar
Autochartist
Trading Central
Trading View
Free VPS
Octa
IC Markets

 

Our overall Verdict on IC Markets

An excellent all-round broker with a very high trust rating, IC Markets was founded in 2007 in Australia and holds licences from some of the strictest regulators in the world. IC Markets is well-known for its low trading costs, choice of trading platforms, and wide range of trading tools.

IC Markets offers a lower-cost trading environment than almost any other broker, with average spreads of 0.10 pips (EUR/USD) on its Raw Spread Account in exchange for a low commission of 6 USD (round turn) per lot.IC Markets is one of the few Forex brokers to support all three major trading platforms, including MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, and cTrader; and offers numerous trading tools for each, including VPS services, Trading Central, and various copy trading services.

Beginner traders will benefit from IC Markets’ exceptional customer support, available 24/7 to help with any account or technical queries. While its education section is more comprehensive than most other brokers, it offers a fairly limited selection of market analysis materials.

Our overall Verdict on Octa

Octa is a good low-cost broker, but it has a few drawbacks. On the one hand, it has very low trading costs, charges no fees for deposits and withdrawals, and offers a great copy trading service — though this is not available on iOS mobile devices.

On the other hand, Octa onboards Indian traders through its Comoros Union-based entity, which has few regulatory protections. The range of instruments available to trade is also slightly limited compared to other brokers, with 52 Forex pairs, 5 commodities, 10 indices, 150 equities, and 30 cryptocurrencies.

If you can look past these issues, you will find an excellent low-cost broker: Octa offers three swap-free accounts with minimum deposits of 25 USD, a slick mobile app, and a good range of trading tools. It also heavily promotes its wide range of bonuses and can offer leverage of 1:500 on Forex pairs. Finally, the website is fully translated into Hindi, and Hindi customer support is available 24/7.  

Which broker has the highest overall rating?

IC Markets has an overall rating of 4.56 and Octa has an overall rating of 4.37. For more detail please read our reviews of IC Markets and Octa.

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