OANDA Review 2023 – Best Online Forex Trading & Forex Broker

Our researchers and industry experts with more than 20 years of experience have written this OANDA review. OANDA has been a steady broker for the last 25 years. However, they are headquartered in the USA. But operates in 196+ countries across the world. Nevertheless, they are well experienced in forex and CFD, but multiple OANDA broker review let us know that they were forex brokers initially and expanded the service later. So, how is their service, and what service do they offer? Well, this OANDA forex review will enlighten you about every detail of this broker, including the OANDA minimum deposit, OANDA account types, offered instruments, platforms, and more.

Forex traders across the world can follow this article to get a detailed overview. Read on to get to know more about OANDA broker.

OANDA Review at a Glance

OANDA broker was established in 1996 by Dr. Stumm and Dr.Olsen. According to the OANDA website, they offer everything that relates to forex trading. So, anyone looking for CFD as well as forex trading can kick off with OANDA. Since OANDA is available in more than 196 countries, most of the counties in the world can try this broker. Especially traders from the USA can try OANDA easily as OANDA is the second most popular forex broker in the US.

When it comes to the account for the traders, OANDA offers two basic types of accounts, the first one is standard, and the second one is Premium. However, you will find three accounts on their website, which are a subcategory of the standard, and those are available for retail traders only. Institutional traders may start with the premium account, which has different terms and conditions than the other forex account types.

Nevertheless, all the accounts come with a product catalog with a wide range of CFDs. But, all the CFDs might not be accessed globally as some countries may restrict some instruments. But you will get to the details of the restricted instruments while signing up.

In addition to the regular CFDs, the OANDA traders can get access to the bonds, metals, commodities, indices, and bitcoin as CFDs.

OANDA has different account protection services based on the client's location to protect the client’s fund from hackers or scammers. However, we came to know from different OANDA reviews that OANDA Europe is limited to follow the ESMA rule and offer negative balance protection features. Further, the OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (registered name to operate in Asian countries) provides stop-loss order protection. But US users don't get to access any of these features, but eventually, Americans don't need any protective features as the USA regulation is very strict. Hence, OANDA broker would never take any scam attempt.

According to the OANDA review from the users, OANDA website is very neat and user-friendly. They have everything so organized that the newbie will find it handy.

Lastly, OANDA has regulatory membership from six tier-1 regulations, which we will mention later in this article.

OANDA Review 2023 Quick Summary

🏢 Headquarters	USA
📆 Established	1996
🗺️ Regulation	ASIC,IIROC,CFTC,FCA,MAS,JFSA
🖥 Platforms	MT4, MT5, WebTrader and Mobile App
📉 Instruments	Forex and CFD trading, over 100 instruments
💳 Minimum Deposit	$1
💰 Deposit Methods	Bank Wire, VISA, MasterCard, ACH Payments (echeck), BPAY, CHAPS, Check, PayNow
📱 Mobile Trading	Available
🌍 Web Trading	Available
💵Minimum Trade Size	0.001
🎢 Maximum Leverage	1:500
🌍 ECN	Available
🤖 Robots	Available
🎯 Scalping	Allowed
☎ Customer Support	24/5

 

Who can Use OANDA?

Seasonal traders will find OANDA very helpful as they offer numerous assets for traders. Further, the traders who want to conduct effortless trading can use the OANDA broker without any doubt. Therefore, it can be said that global forex traders of any level can use the OANDA platform.

However, US traders can't trader cannot offer all the instruments except forex. So, with the forex offerings, OANDA is the second-best forex broker in the USA.

OANDA is the perfect forex broker for new traders as well as expert traders, as anyone can use OANDA algorithmic trading for effortless trading.

OANDA Regulation

As per different OANDA reviews, it is a highly regulated broker that is regulated by almost all the tier-1 regulatory bodies in the world. Hence, you can understand how credible the OANDA broker is! Following is the list of the OANDA regulations.

• Australia – Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)
• UK – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• US – Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
• Singapore – Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
• Canada – Investment Industry Regulatory Organization (IIROC)
• Japan – Financial Services Agency (FSA + FFAJ)
• BVI – British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVIFSC )

Offered Instruments

OANDA may not offer hundreds of instruments, but they offer all the top assets across the world. OANDA instruments include metal, forex, bitcoin CFDs, indices, and commodities. However, OANDA reviews suggest that individual stocks are not offered in OANDA while other forex brokers allow trading individual stocks as well as cryptos. So, if you are looking for crypto or individual stocks, OANDA might not be a good pick. But, for the CFD traders, OANDA offers 55 CFD instruments all over the world.

OANDA: Trade Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that do not require third-party intermediaries such as banks for complete financial transactions. They use cryptography to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of all transactions. Due to its security and value, cryptocurrency has become a recent trend all over the world. On that note, OANDA has started providing cryptocurrency trading services for its users.

Currently, they offer cryptocurrency CFDs on 4 major cryptos, which include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum. They usually offer crypto trading against US dollars. Nevertheless, the spreads at OANDA start from US$80 while the margin begins from 10% for Bitcoin trading.

With the OANDA trading account, you can trade Bitcoin as well as Bitcoin cash using MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Nevertheless, you can trade these as CFDs right from your mobile, tablet as well as a laptop. Keep in mind that the spread for bitcoin is $80 and for Bitcoin Cash is $2.

Apart from these two currencies, Ethereum is another option for your crypto trading. Ethereum cryptocurrency has the second-largest market capitalization of any digital currency, after Bitcoin. It is also growing at a very fast rate. Ethereum cryptocurrency is not an actual coin but is known as "ETH" or "Ether", which is used to power the blockchain platform Ethereum. At OANDA, it has a $5 spread.

Finally, Litecoin is another top crypto liked by crypto traders. OANDA offers as low as $0.6 spreads for Litecoin.

 

OANDA Trading Review: Costs

Forex brokers usually earn money from spreads, and OANDA is not different. But, the good thing about OANDA spreads is that it is based on a simple structure with two pricing variations. So, users will get core price with commission option and spread only option.

Nevertheless, the spread only gives the profit if the client passes the bid/ask spread. On the other hand, the core price + commission feature works on an industry-standard raw spread based on $50 per million. The commission is adjusted with the user's account, and it is done as a cash adjustment.

The OANDA website mentions all the pricing structures with a detailed explanation. On top of that, you can also contact OANDA for more details. However, the cost ultimately depends on the account type you are registered for. So, you should compare the costs before you go for signup, which is available on the website.

For instance, the US traders may get 1.3 pips in the case of EUR/USD through the standard account. On the other hand, this pricing will be changed to 0.4 pips in the case of core pricing and commission structure.

The good thing about OANDA brokers is that they do everything with the help of an automated engine that closely observes global pricing. Despite using the automated engine, it will solely depend on the liquidity and also the volatility of the market. And for that reason, OANDA historical spreads are accessible by all the traders.

While traders from Europe and Asia might not get a discount, Americans may take part in the "advanced trader program," which will give free VPS and wire transfers for the US traders. As per different legit OANDA reviews, it is a kind of reward program for US traders with high volume. This program also provides other benefits, including commissions and spreads. Besides, the traders will also get a "dedicated relationship manager" for instant support if any trader faces any problem. Traders are also entitled to receive discounts for third-party platforms along with API support.

As per the OANDA review, traders are classified as tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3. To get all the benefits we have discussed in the "advanced trader program," tier 1 users will be required to make a deposit of at least $20,000 or have to make $10 million worth of transactions each month. Tier 2 traders, on the other hand, will need to trade $100-$500 million per month. However, the tier 3 traders will need to trade more than $500 million per month.

According to numerous OANDA forex review You will not need to pay any fees to add money to any of your OANDA account types. OANDA broker minimum deposit for the standard account is zero. But the minimum deposit for OANDA premium account is $20,000. On top of the premium OANDA account, allow free wire transfer for unlimited time.

OANDA charges an inactivity fee for accounts that have been inactive for a long time. They may also charge for the bank wire transfer or debit card transfer for the standard users.

OANDA Account Types

OANDA broker review indicates that there are three OANDA account types available: standard account, core account, and swap-free account. All these accounts are different from each other, but all of them offer a 0.01 lot size. Nevertheless, the swap free account is applicable for the special trader who doesn't want to work with the interest due to religion. The standard and core accounts are accessible by all levels of traders.

OANDA Demo Account Review

Multiple OANDA forex review suggests that before opening a real account, traders can also open an OANDA practice account which gives the opportunity to check out the broker precisely. Usually, the new traders open the OANDA demo account as it can give a clear view of the real account. Besides, the expert traders can also open a practice account with OANDA to see if it is feasible according to their needs.

The demo account OANDA is exactly the same as the OANDA real account. But, the demo account doesn't need any sort of deposit to start, while the real account will need some money to start the trading. OANDA demo trading account will have virtual money in it, which can never be withdrawn.

 

Other OANDA Account Types

Sometimes forex traders want to start ECN trading. Therefore, traders look for the OANDA ECN account. But, OANDA doesn't have an ECN account. Hence, OANDA copy trading and OANDA social trading are not available either.

However, traders may also be interested in OANDA scalping, but they don't provide any idea about scalping trading. Besides, it is not sure about the OANDA PAMM accounts too.

OANDA Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit for OANDA can be any amount and it doesn’t depend on the OANDA account types. So, traders can start trading even with $1. So, OANDA forex minimum deposit can be zero-dollar too! However, it doesn't mean that traders can deposit any large amount easier. OANDA forex review suggest that the users will need to provide some additional documents if they go for depositing more than $9000. The additional documents include bank statements as well as a passport. So, if you are a retail trader and don't want to go through the documentation hassle, you can continue trading with an OANDA min deposit of less than $9,000. But, if you deposit money frequently, you may provide the documents and deposit a large amount.

OANDA Review: OANDA Deposit Fees

Some forex brokers may charge deposit fees for some funding methods. However, deposit fees are mainly incurred from the payment system, but it doesn’t rely on the OANDA account types. For example, some banks may charge deposit fees via wire transfer. Other than that, deposit fees from the broker's end are zero. So, it can be said that deposit fees are zero for most of the forex brokers, and OANDA is also the same. They don't require any fees for funding to the OANDA trading account. Depositing via credit may require high fees, as banks charge interest on that. But, considering the fees, funding via bank transfer is safe.

OANDA Trading Platform Review

OANDA users can trade through different ways such as via the desktop platform, OANDA web platform, OANDA MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and mobile app. Further, we came to know from OANDA forex review that, they have their very own platform named fxTrade, which has a clean interface with a user-friendly design that can process any complex order while giving access to all the instruments. It also comes with detailed analytics on different OANDA account types.

OANDA Review: FXTrade

OANDA broker is primarily based on the fxTrade as it is the main platform. It comes with an easy-to-use capability for any trader. Besides, the numerous analytics tools that come with fxTrade make it special. On top of that, users can get the opportunity to initiate trading from the charts through the multi-chart features. Nevertheless, the charts provide the advanced studies feature with sophisticated display style. Aside from these, fxTrade also comes with economic analysis features along with the news feed and watch list. Another good thing is that users also get access to information on historical and live exchange rates via the fxTrade.

Despite all those benefits of fxTrade, OANDA review also suggest that it also has a downside as the look of the platform might feel old-fashioned, and users feel awkward while using some functions. It is because the news, forums, as well as economic analytics will take the users to a new tab of the Browser. Users will also need to go to the separate tab to see the order book. All these downsides may work as an obstacle to a smooth experience. But, the server response time, as well as the execution rate, will stand all those downsides out.

In short, the fxTrade is good enough to fulfill all the needs through its features and necessary tools.

 

OANDA Review: fxTrade API Libraries

fxTrade provides a range of API libraries that direct the traders to automated trading. On top of that, the API library also covers tutorials on python to educate the traders about the API instruments. Automated trading offers an easy and improved trading feature for traders of any level. With the help of fxTrade, traders can trade different instruments at the same time on different markets. Therefore, traders may be able to initiate forex trading and other CFDs simultaneously.

The fxTrade can also preprogram some criteria and also give notification support while entering or exit a position. On top of that, it also provides enough time for downloading the historical data. Therefore, the OANDA broker fxTrade API library gives the following benefits.

• Get access to the live and historical market data
• See the prior trading records
• Test any strategy without any potential risk
• Initiate trade request
• Stop loss feature with taking profit or enter orders

OANDA MetaTrader 4 ( MT4 OANDA)

Apart from the fxTrade custom platform, OANDA also offers MetaTrader 4 or MT4 as the trading platform. According to several OANDA review, MT4 offers numerous advanced charting features alongside the OANDA algorithmic trading with access to different expert advisors (EA).

Furthermore, MT4 also lets the user save the chart profile along with the user layouts for future references. Besides, traders will also be able to draw up the swap rates. MT4 OANDA also works on providing monthly exchange rates along with the live rates.

But the new inexperienced traders might face difficulties in creating EAs.

OANDA Forex Review: Other Tools

To get an excellent trading experience, OANDA broker offers some built-in tools that are especially available only for OANDA traders.

• MotiveWave: A professional charting tool from OANDA, which also works as a technical analysis platform with more than 250 built-in indicators. Besides, MotiveWave also offers more than 30 trading strategies that can be used as default. Hence, its user-friendly feature, along with the high-performance feature, can make forex trading enjoyable.
• OANDA Market Reports: The idea of this tool is to provide the market summary with the Autochartist. OANDA market supply offers market reports for the next 48 hours. Usually, they send an email to the users before starting the market analysis.

Apart from these tools and platform features, users are also allowed to use other third-party apps.

OANDA MetaTrader 5 ( OANDA MT5 )

MetaTrader 5 is an updated version of MT4, and OANDA broker also offers MT5 for its users. Although it is similar to the MetaTrader 4, it has some new features.

• 12 extra timeframes
• 13 extra objects for graphical presentation
• Community chart accessibility
• 8 additional built-in indicators
• Partial order filling feature
• Economic calendar
• 2 extra pending order types alongside the additional features for order execution
• Compress the log file automatically
• Multiple trading strategy testing feature
• MQL5 programming language
• Comes with an HTML chart feature to present different reports

 

OANDA Mobile Apps

Traders who don't have enough time to trade via desktop applications can trade via OANDA mobile app. Sometimes, users may stay on the run; hence, using a computer might not be possible all the time. And in that case, mobile apps come handy as it offers the same features as the desktop app. OANDA review suggest that the mobiles app can be installed on Android phones or tabs, iPhones, iPads, and Windows 8 phones.

Since it offers the same feature as the desktop application, the user will be able to access the analytical features, trading instruments, and more.

Like the desktop or web platform, the mobile app also allows the traders to initiate trading from the chart. Furthermore, users can alter the display style that is eye soothing for them. The good thing about OANDA mobile app is that it opens the news, calendars, etc., inside the app without talking to the browser.

OANDA broker also updates them regularly so that it can be run smoothly, complying with the phone models and operating system.

OANDA Spreads Review

As per the OANDA historical spreads data, it is evident that OANDA broker offer competitive prices based on the location. So, it doesn't matter whether you are in the USA, Singapore, Philippines, or even in Europe; you will always receive the benefits of competitive spreads. Therefore, you will see that the OANDA spreads match with other top forex brokers. So, how does OANDA provide competitive spreads?

OANDA spreads are competitive because of the use of the automated machine. The machine observes the market volatility and liquidity before they provide the spreads. That is how OANDA spreads become competitive.

OANDA Leverage

A regulatory body and the location influence the OANDA leverage greatly. Nevertheless, the respective regulators based on the different locations fix the OANDA maximum leverage. While the regulators fix the max leverage, traders can have the potential opportunity on OANDA margin reduction.

OANDA Review: Security

The Forex industry is huge, and lots of scammers always look to start fraudulent activity and lure innocent traders. Therefore, traders, as well as brokers, need to take extra measures for security. That is why having security while making any transaction has become a concern for the traders.

However, if a trader picks OANDA broker, he or she will not need to worry about security as the OANDA server, and data transfer is done in a highly secured way. As a result, users' data remains safe with OANDA. On top of that, they also work via encrypted transaction processes. Hence, OANDA forex review ensures that they are one of the safest brokers in the industry.

OANDA Review: Customer Service  

The regular business hour for OANDA is from Sunday to Friday. But live chats for customer support are active from 1 PM ET to 6 PM ET. On the other hand, email support is available 24/7. Traders are open to send an email about their problem anytime. But, phone call support is not always active. As per different OANDA reviews, it doesn't matter how you contact customer support, and you will get the perfect solution as customer support providers at OANDA is highly skilled.

OANDA Forex Broker Review: Education

Forex OANDA has numerous educational videos on forex trading and CFD trading, which gives the proper knowledge on trading. Besides, they also provide articles and written documents on OANDA forex trading. Hence, traders of any level and background can learn forex with the help of the OANDA FX education option. Besides, OANDA also sends newsletters to provide new updates on the market. Nevertheless, the videos provided by the OANDA might feel outdated, so this can be a downside of OANDA education.

OANDA Forex Review: Research

OANDA comes with a different economic analysis tool to conduct forex research. The tools are effective in doing market research before a trader starts making a strategy for forex trading. Moreover, the tools for research help the traders to take the right decision on a prospective strategy. Further, expert traders may also find the research tools handy. OANDA broker has a tool for market volatility analysis which makes the research effortless.

 

OANDA Forex Review: OANDA Scam or Legit?

When a trader finds a broker, the first thing that comes to their mind is if the broker is a scam or legit! To get to know if OANDA scam or legit, we have taken a look at many OANDA reviews and found that the users gave positive responses as OANDA legit broker. Furthermore, permission from the top forex regulations in the world also provides the authenticity of the broker. If it was a scam, those tier 1 forex regulations would not have given license to OANDA.

How to Start Trading with OANDA Broker?

Trading with OANDA is very easy to start. So, we have taken a look at different online OANDA reviews to know the exact process to start trading with OANDA. First of all, you must need an active account with OANDA. Apparently, many traders start trading via OANDA demo account, while the expert traders directly open a live trading account.

To make a profit and start live trading, you must need one of the live OANDA account types that is what we came to know from OANDA forex review. Once you open the account, you will need to verify with some documents such as identity cards, bank documents, etc. Once you are done with that, you can log in to your account using the ID and password.

After that, you just need to deposit some amount of money. Since there is no requirement for a OANDA minimum deposit, you can fund any amount you want. Once the money is available in your OANDA account, you are ready to start trading.

You may use the available tools in the OANDA platform to plan your trading strategy, and after that, you can place your first trading order.

However, OANDA's maximum and minimum requirement for trading depends on the trader's requirements and instruments.

Further, OANDA has a lower entry requirement as a market maker compared to ECN brokers. Market makers usually require a low OANDA minimum deposit while the commission on trade is zero.

The good thing about OANDA trading is that they don't have any requotes. Hence, traders don't need to think about the slippage. But the OANDA margin requirements depend on the instruments.

OANDA Pros and Cons

OANDA Pros

• While most of the forex brokers don't operate in the USA due to the strict regulations, OANDA broker provide their service to the US traders. However, US traders can access only the forex market.
• OANDA comes with numerous effective trading tools which are good enough to make the trading effortless. The top trading resources are different calculators along with the Dow Jones FX Select news. These tools make the OANDA web platform and the mobile platform easy to use for any kind of trading activity.
• TradingView, which is an advanced financial visualization, allows the traders to get to the market via multiple charts.
• OANDA provides various economic analysis features complying with real-time news, calendars, and analytics.
• OANDA is a member of NFA (#0325821), while they also have the license from FCM and RFED.
• They also have a license with the FCA (#542574) run as OANDA Europe.
• The FCA provides up to £85,000 fund protection for European traders through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

OANDA Cons

• While the OANDA follows the ESMA protocols in Europe, the American traders don't get the "negative balance protection" feature. Therefore, the US traders with a negative balance in their account may need to pay some amount of money to OANDA.
• There are no guaranteed stop-loss orders for the US clients.
• OANDA doesn't provide any ETFs, individual stocks, industry sectors, or cryptocurrencies. They just provide 55 CFDs, which is a very limited number considering the competitors.
• Traders will need to pay inactivity fees if they don't conduct any trading for a long time.
• Traders may need to pay fees for wire transfers depending on the location.

Final Words

Since this OANDA review is written by the industry experts, all the things discussed here are legit. Furthermore, this article is good enough for any prospective trader to think if trading through OANDA is worth it.

Different OANDA account types are there for any type of trader. Considering the accessibility of the tool, licenses from tier 1 regulation, features, etc., OANDA is one of the best forex brokers to have an excellent trading experience. Furthermore, the OANDA rating of 91 is good enough to start trading with them without any hesitation.

But, keep in mind that you will not get hundreds of CFDs with the OANDA. So, if your primary goal is to trade CFDs, you should look at the offered CFDs at OANDA. Although they don't provide a wide range of CFDs, you will surely get the top CFDs available globally.