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Page Summary
Pepperstone is a reliable Forex and CFD broker, known for its diversity of trading platforms, industry leading pricing, fast account opening and great support. We recommend this broker to traders at all levels, from beginners to advanced.
Review Summary
Our top findings from our Pepperstone review:
- Pepperstone offers competitive pricing, multiple account types, fast trade execution and numerous trading platforms. Users can trade on over 1600+ different instruments limited to Forex and CFDs.
- Catering to algorithmic, sophisticated, and beginner traders, Pepperstone offers MetaTrader, TradingView, and cTrader platforms with multiple self developed add-ons. Their research is better than average.
- Pepperstone is considered safe, regulated by top tier financial regulators including the ASIC, FCA, DFSA, CySEC, CMA, SCB and BaFIN. Customer support is strong with 24/7 phone and web chat assistance, a well thought out FAQ section and quick response times.
Pepperstone users can trade on MetaTrader and cTrader using customisable add-ons, different languages and a clear fee report. Both trading platforms provide high-speed and versatile algorithmic trading using a variety of execution styles. Pepperstone is a low-risk broker with a high Trust Score regulated by top tier financial regulators.
Pepperstone has a low minimum deposit, great customer support and an above average research section.
In this Pepperstone review we reveal everything you need to know about this online broker.
Pepperstone Tradable Assets
Pepperstone users can trade on a variety of different assets…CDFs in forex, cryptocurrencies, indexes, shares and commodities.
Assets
| Feature | Pepperstone |
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 100 |
| CFDs – Total Offered | 1500+ |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | Yes |
Commissions and Fees
Pepperstone commission and fees structure is a combination of spreads and commissions that favor active traders. They offer two accounts. Razor has a favourable commission spread. Its fee structure is based on trading volume. Standard account traders pay a higher spread. Non-trading fees are similar to other brokers.
Tradable Products: Pepperstone offers a small number of tradable products. They provide a large selection of third-party platforms which include social copy trading options. Pepperstone offers two different account types: Razor and Standard. The Razor trading account in combination with Pepperstone’s Active Trader program is more cost effective. The Standard account is more expensive than Razor but cheaper than the industry average.
Pepperstone Razor account: The Razor account can be used on every platform. It has a commission-base price structure plus prevailing spreads. Spreads average 0.16 pips on EUR/USD in Razor. This is comparable to industry averages after including a commission of 0.7 pips. The cost of spreads and commission is 0.86 pips.
Pepperstone Standard account: This account is commission-free with a higher, less competitive spread. Using the same EUR/USD transaction, traders pay a spread of 1.16 pips with no other commission.
Active traders: Pepperstone Active Trader program rebates a portion of the spread. The amount depends on the monthly trading volume and the trader’s tier. This goes for professional account holders in the UAE. Users can contact their support team to open a pro account.
Pepperstone United Kingdom: UK premium clients must trade $15M per month (150 standard lots), to be eligible for the tier-1 rebate of 10% per lot. Better tier-3 rebates can be negotiated for those trading more than 500 lots per month.
Pepperstone Australia: 200 lots are required to qualify for Active Trader designation. Tier one’s rebate is $1.00 per standard lot. That reduces the spread from 0.75 to 0.65 pips. Tier two rebate is 15% (or higher) reducing the spread to 0.638 pips.
Additional Fees: Pepperstone has no deposit fees. Deposits from Standard to credit or debit cards are charged 1.8% to/from AUD sources. Transferring from non-AUD sources are charged a 3% fee. Withdrawal fees vary. They start at $0 withdrawing via MasterCard Secure Code or Verified by Visa. International withdrawals incur a flat AUD $20 fee. There are no dormant or inactive account fees.
Commissions and Fees
| Feature | Pepperstone |
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $200.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard | 1.16 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD – Razor | 0.86 |
| Active Traders or Pro account holders | Yes |
Platforms and Tools
Pepperstone is a basic desktop and mobile broker. It lacks a proprietary platform but offers every third-party platform a trader wants to use. Pepperstone finished ‘Best in Class MetaTrader’ in 2020. They offer smart and sophisticated trading platforms tools which are fit for purpose.
Platforms
Pepperstone customers can use a broad range of off-the-shelf desktop and Web trading platforms. These include the full MetaTrader suite: MT4 and MT5, cTrader and TradingView. Traders can use either account type with any platform. The platforms give traders advanced technical features including algorithmic strategy, backtesting and detachable charts.
For customers using MetaTrader 4, their Smart Trader Tools extension kit adds functionality across several tools. These include in-depth market analysis, trade execution assistance and market research.
Professional Tools
Copy trading: Pepperstone offers social trading based on a partnerships with Myfxbook. They offer myFxbook for MetaTrader and DupliTrade ($5,000 minimum balance required). Copy trading is limited to users outside the UAE.
Charting: The free Autochartist Plug-In provides technical analysis through MetaTrader 4. Social trading features can be accessed through desktop trading platforms.
cTrader vs MT4: Both cTrader and MetaTrader support algorithmic trading. cTrader’s advantage is its web-based platform. This provides a broader range of trading tools compared to MT4 Web. Included in MetaTrader’s desktop version is the algorithmic trading module. cTrader requires the standalone cAlgo platform to run in parallel. This is a small but noteworthy difference.
Equinix: Pepperstone has a strategic partnership with Equinix. This gives clients with low latency access to the interbank system via Equinix’s New York Financial Exchange. Pepperstone offers several Virtual Private Server (VPS) options to high-end and premium clients.
Platforms and Tools
| Feature | Pepperstone |
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| cTrader | Yes |
| DupliTrade | Yes |
| TradingView | No |
| Charting – Indicators / Studies (Total) | 51 |
| Charting – Drawing Tools (Total) | 31 |
| Charting – Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Watchlists – Total Fields | 7 |
| Order Type – Trailing Stop | Yes |
Research
Pepperstone research tools are great for beginner traders and include market reports written by their trading team. They offer several third party and In-house research tools to help investors make informed decisions.
ThefxLounge: the company has a large research tools deficit. cTrader and MetaTrader platforms contain limited research features. Most account holders use the website’s “Market Review” section. That section offers industry expert access to forex and commodities from analysts Boris Schlossberg and Kathy Lien.
Integration with their main trading website is average. They offer a high-quality, updated YouTube channel. Pepperstone offers an email subscription to “Daily Market Reports.” These give trading opportunities and economic event information.
Pepperstone’s range of third-party social trading platforms and research tools help complement the content they develop in-house. They deliver an acceptable balance of quality content across video and written formats. This is above the industry average but not available in all jurisdictions.
Third-party tools: Pepperstone offers traders access to AutoChartist, a popular software provider of automated pattern recognition and trading signals. They offer Smart Trader Tools, an MT4 add-on with tools such as sentiment indicators. All are available to clients with an account balance of at least AUD $500. Delkos risk management tools are available to Pepperstone clients.
Research
| Feature | Pepperstone |
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
| Weekly Webinars | No |
| AutoChartist | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No |
| Delkos Research | Yes |
| Social Sentiment – Currency Pairs | Yes |
| Economic Calendar | Yes |
Education
Pepperstone is an awarded industry leading provider of education features and materials. These include a website, trading guides, webinars, and updated video content on their Youtube training channel.
Website: the Pepperstone website contains trading guides, tutorials and webinars. A section devoted to commodity trading, margins, slippage and hedging gets high marks. Their education pages double as a “Help” section. It contains deposit and withdrawal procedures, platform comparisons, technical analysis tutorials, market glossary and platform guides.
Trading Guides: Pepperstone has a library of 20+ trading guides. Organized by trading experience level: beginner, intermediate and advanced they reach everyone. There are several dozen videos to augment your forex education. They lack CFD content.
Articles: Pepperstone has a “learn to trade forex” library of articles. There are a mere nine articles and one website page in the CFD learning section.
Webinars: Pepperstone analysts conduct several monthly webinars.
YouTube videos: The Pepperstone YouTube channel provides dozens of educational trading videos. Their “Master the Trade” series covers beginner to advanced themes. The content is high quality and in-line with the industry average.
Customer Service
Pepperstone customer service is fast, reliable and has won many awards. It is available through phone, online chat and e-mail.
Pepperstone FAQ section resolves most inquiries. Phone and chat support services operate 24 hours per day/5-days a week M-F. Additional support comes from online entry and social media channel queries. Pepperstone live chat response times averages under 5 minutes.
Mobile Trading
Pepperstone does not have a proprietary mobile trading app. They offer a variety of mobile trading tools on the cTrader, Webtrader, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms for iOS and Android. These mobile trading platforms are available in the Apple Store and Google Play. iPad and tablet users cannot use Webtrader or MetaTrader 5, but other tools work.
The mobile versions have limited functionality, most customers find them useful. The apps are reliable and deliver decent functionality and results. High-ranking brokers offer bespoke made, proprietary mobile trading apps.
Mobile Trading
| Feature | Pepperstone |
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Trading – Forex | Yes |
| Trading – CFDs | Yes |
| Alerts – Basic Fields | Yes |
| Watch List | Yes |
| Watch List Syncing | Yes |
| Charting – Indicators / Studies | 30 |
| Charting – Draw Trendlines | Yes |
| Charting – Trendlines Moveable | Yes |
| Charting – Multiple Time Frames | Yes |
Conclusion
Pepperstone is a great online broker for those who want to trade forex and CFDs on a variety of different platforms with unlimited customisation options. They are a leading and award winning broker in education, pricing and support. Account opening is fast and easy with no inactivity charge.
We recommend Pepperstone to traders at all levels looking to trade forex and CFDs on a variety of different trading platforms.
Further Reading
Disclaimer
Stefan Grasic (Dipl.-Jur) is the owner of Business24-7 and has considerable experience in the financial and investment niche, but also enjoys writing articles for the general readership. Stefan is an active stock, CFD, crypto and general investment researcher, advising blockchain companies such as Blockbird, GoCrypto, Hive Terminal at their start up level. Stefan began trading in 2010 as a college student. Money was tight,…