Compare Online Brokers in Australia

The key mission of Online Brokers Australia is to make it easier for traders and investors to easily find a quality, Australian regulated, online broker who meets their needs.
This sounds as if it should be relatively easy, just look at a broker’s web site and see if it suits the trading needs you have. As anyone who has already tried to do this knows, it's not that easy!

Brokerage firms generally have a wealth of information on their web sites. The trouble is that sometimes there is so much information on their site that it becomes onerous to simply find the key facts you are looking for. Online Brokers Australia not only independently review each broker with a stringent set of criteria before they are even listed on the web site. If a brokerage firm doesn't meet our initial stringent requirements test, then we simply won't list or review them. It's that simple!
The effect of this policy is that brokers who are listed on the review and comparison site have met the initial requirements prior to being fully reviewed and classified.

To put it simply, we don't want to overwhelm readers with lists and even reviews of every broker in the financial markets.
Instead we provide a list of brokers that are:

1. Australian regulated;
2. Have met the initial requirements test prior to progressing to the review stage;
3. Have a key point of difference to the other brokers listed on our site. This is very important and while subjective, the aim is to ensure that any new broker reviewed and added to the site provides a clear alternative or key point of difference to the other brokers listed in their category;
4. An aggregate rating based on 5 key criteria that are critical aspects of trading through an online broker;
5. Suggestions on the type of trader or investor a broker or financial service provider might be most suited to.

Stuart Young founded Online Brokers Australia in 2014 and is the reviewer of every brokerage firm or online trading product/service listed on the site.
Stuart's extensive experience in the online trading and financial services industry for more than a decade shows through in the reviews. He is a:

• a recognised private trader for 12+ years;
• was previously chief moderator in Global Trading Tools trade room, providing training & coaching to traders of all levels, from entry level through to ex-bank traders;
• has worked previously for an online broker and so understands the inner workings of brokerage firms and how they truly operate;
• completed RG146 certification; and
• has a graduate diploma in Economics from Griffith University (GDip Econ);

In our belief that transparency is critical for any leading review and comparison site, please view Stuart Young's LinkedIn profile for more details on his extensive experience in the online trading industry.

1. We are transparent - Online Brokers Australia is NOT run by “faceless” reviewers, hiding behind web site privacy and the anonymity of the internet! Stuart Young, Founder & Reviewer, is extremely proud of not just our online trading reviews, but our reputation in the brokerage industry;
2. Since the start of 2018 we meet with the brokers in person - Brokerage firms have stated that they were pleasantly surprised to actually meet with the reviewer in person, as this is not common in the industry;
3. We list "average" spreads in trading account comparison tables - It is a mandatory requirement for any derivatives provider we list to make their average spreads, not just the typical marketing hype "from" spreads, publicly available. This is the ONLY way to make an informed decision on the costs of trading with a certain brokerage company;
4. Stuart Young has 15+ years of experience in online trading both as a trader and previously working for a brokerage firm. In addition, he has a GDip in Economics and was previously chief moderator with industry respected trader Davin Clarke, in their Global Trading Tools online trading room. This gives Stuart a unique perspective and invaluable experience from both sides of the "trading fence";
5. We make it easy to choose a top broker - Our site does not provide an overwhelming list of brokers to choose from. We appreciate that choosing an online stock broker, CFD provider or FX broker can be a daunting task. This is made ever more complex by the overwhelming amount of information provided on some brokerage firm web sites. Our aim is to simplify the selection process by only listing a couple of brokers in each category who show a clear point of difference and meet our stringent initial requirements test; and
6. We have an excellent relationship with the brokers on our site - Mutual respect is critical to providing a "win win" outcome for all involved with our business. This is includes readers of our reviews. Our relationship with the brokerage companies is built for the long-term. As Stuart talks to them on the phone, has visited many in person at their Australian offices, and is a respected trader himself, this has built a solid mutually respectful relationship.

This is an excellent question and one every single trader or investor who reads online reviews should always ask!

There are so many "faceless" brokerage review sites where traders don't even know who has reviewed the firm and what their experience or credentials in the online trading and broking industry are. An online trading account not only holds your open trades or positions but any cash left in the trading account. Why make such an important decision based on any online review where you can not even tell who actually wrote it, let alone the credentials and experience they have in the trading and brokerage industry.

At Online Brokers Australia we do things a little differently and we're proud of it!

Why Our Online Trading Reviews Are Trusted

As stated in the prior FAQ, Stuart Youngs, Online Brokers Australia's founder and reviewer, has extensive experience in the online trading and financial services industry for well over a decade. This experience is crucial in understanding the hard questions from the brokers and collating the information that traders really need to make such an important decision;

We now visit many of the brokers in person! As of a couple of years ago, and moving forward we actually go to the brokerage firms office and meet them in person.
We have visited the Australian offices of the following reviewed companies:

• IG Australia
• OANDA Australia
• Pepperstone
• TradeDirect365

This will continue through out 2023 with further one-on-one visits planned and keep an eye out on the review pages as we'll add a photo from our visit 🙂

Online Trading in Australia

It is a mandatory requirement for any Forex broker or CFD provider providing financial derivatives to make their average spreads, not just from spreads, publicly available. The brokerage firm must either display the average spreads on their own company web site or submit in writing their average spreads for the financial instruments requested by our reviewer, along with written confirmation that these trading spreads can be published on the review site. This is another area where we differ significantly from the vast majority of existing online broker comparison and reviews in Australia.

By only displaying "from" spreads in their comparisons, our competitors are not providing a holistic picture of the potential costs associated with trading at a specific broker. It also ensures our online trading account comparisons are comparing "apples for apples", not just a figure that is generally known as a marketing tool (i.e. the "from" spread).

This advice relates to an investment or trading service/product. I'm sure almost everyone reading this has heard advertising by property developers stating, "land from $$" or "house and land packages from $$". All this tells you is the absolute minimum price you can possibly pay. As we all know, this will generally be for the smallest block or worst position in the estate, and the vast majority of other properties in the development will cost you significantly more to buy.
Asking what the "average" price for the whole estate would give a much more accurate representation of the potential costs / fees / charges you need to factor in.

The exact same logic applies to the trading spreads (the difference between the bid and ask spread). Providers of derivatives for online trading often display only the from spread in their advertising or marketing. While trading the EUR/USD from 0 pip spread sounds attractive, in reality, traders will not receive a spread of zero every time you place a trade in their platform, and the more representative figure of what your trading costs will be is knowing the average spread for the instrument, in the trading account you are considering. Essentially this is price you will pay on average to trade (buy and sell) that instrument, and therefore we always display the average spreads in our comparison tables for derivatives accounts.

Finding the Best Online Brokers Australia Reviews

We strongly suggest if the broker review or comparison you’re considering does not display or comment on the “average” spreads in their CFD / Forex trading Australia reviews & comparisons then you are not able to make a fully informed decision as to which is the best trading account for your own needs.

Yes.
Our site is dedicated to Australian traders and it is a mandatory requirement that any online broker listed or reviewed on the site is Australian regulated (ASIC regulated brokers).

If your brokerage firm does not have a current Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) please do not inquire about being listed on this web site.

There are often many claims by firms to be one of the best Australian brokers, however, if a Forex, CFD and/or stockbroker does not hold a current AFS license, this is a red flag to us and they will not be listed on our Online Brokers Australia comparison and review site.