Pepperstone Review 2024

With the goal of “making your strategies work harder” for your success, Pepperstone aims to be a global fintech that conserves its start-up agility. Today, Pepperstone is one of the heavyweights of the Forex industry and offers over 150 financial instruments, including Forex, indices, commodities, equities and cryptocurrencies all via CFDs.

Currently, Pepperstone Group serves over 57,000 clients across the globe, with more than 110,000 trading accounts, and around $12.55 billion trades daily.

Since Pepperstone launched operations in 2010, in Melbourne Australia, they have become not only a prominent Australian broker but one of the largest in the world. Today Pepperstone Group has offices in Australia, Cyprus, Germany, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, The Bahamas and The UK.

Savvy traders that have checked on other Pepperstone broker reviews will realise that this broker positions themselves to have a highly competitive pricing model. Coupled with their speed of execution, collection of “add-on tools” such as Smart Trader Tools and AutoChartist and their multi-award winning customer support.

Pepperstone provides its customers with two suits of trading platforms; MetaTrader (both MT4 and MT5) designed by MetaQuotes Software Corporation and cTrader developed by Spotware Systems.

Pepperstone also hold licenses from ASIC, DFSA, CySEC, CMA, SCB and BaFin.

Pepperstone’s reputation and recognised status within the industry is sustained by a plethora of awards won over the years, the most recent being “Best Forex Platform” awarded by ADVFN International Financial Awards in 2020, “Best Online Forex Broker (Global)” awarded by Professional Trader Awards in 2019 and “Best Forex Platform” awarded by Capital Finance International (CFI.co) in 2019.

The security of funds is a primary concern for all traders. When searching for a broker to trade with, one of the first things most traders look for is their licensing, regulation and overall security of funds.

No trader wants to see their hard trading work destroyed by a scam broker.

Pepperstone is a licensed entity through:

• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, with license number FRN: 684312 for Pepperstone Limited
• Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) in Australia, with license number AFSL No.414530 and ACN 147 055 703 for Pepperstone Group Limited.
• MiFID II in Europe (Directive on Markets in Financial Instruments 2014/65/EU). Being licensed to provide trading services within the European Union, Pepperstone Limited is fully compliant with the requirements of the European Law.

Pepperstone opened their subsidiary office in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and as of 6th June 2020, obtained a Dubai Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), license.

As a consequence of the FCA license, European retail clients are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which compensate them with amounts of up to £85,000, in case the broker faces bankruptcy.

All funds deposited in the clients’ trading accounts are held in segregated accounts with reputable international financial institutions. This is another layer of security implying that the broker will not use clients’ trading funds for its internal financial operations.

Pepperstone is fully compliant with the regulations, adheres to anti-money laundering legislation, implements the requested procedures called know-your-client and is regularly audited by external specialised entities.

Being regulated by two leading authorities in the financial industry, Pepperstone is a well regulated Forex broker.

In 2020 Pepperstone unfortunately, suffered a client data breach explaining that a “data security incident” impacted some users discussed here which has since been addressed.

Any suspicious emails, calls or texts from anyone trying to gain access to any brokerage account, should be ignored and reported.

Pepperstone has a restrained collection of tradable assets, which essentially includes just the most traded financial instruments. They prefer to limit themselves to what they do best, their core product being currency pairs. In total, Pepperstone offers a little over 150 products.

Financial Instruments Pepperstone Offers:

• Forex – 61+ currency pairs (major pairs, minors and crosses)
• Stocks – A selection of 64 stocks traded as CFDs comprising the most renown companies worldwide
• Indices – 14 stock indices tradable as derivatives, and representing the most prominent exchanges in the world
• Commodities – The most traded 15 commodities traded as CFDs comprising gold and silver, cotton, coffee, cocoa, sugar, oil, gas, etc.
• Cryptocurrencies – 5 cryptocurrencies under the form of CFDs, not as assets: Bitcoin Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Dash
• Currency Index CFD – USDX – the universally recognised benchmark of the American dollar value

Premium Forex brokers do their best to provide their clients with additional resources and facilities aimed at improving their trading experience and helping them achieve their best when trading the financial markets. Pepperstone offers a selection of such tools for their trading platforms:

• Smart Trader Tools for MetaTrader
• cTrader Automate
• Spread Betting
• Autochartist
• API Trading
• VPS Hosting
• Social Trading

Smart Trader Tools for MetaTrader

Smart Trader Tools add-on is a plugin for MetaTrader 4 and 5, designed to take MetaTrader to the next level. It provides users with an upgraded trading environment, including professional tools for more robust execution and improved facilities for order management and risk management.

Practically, Smart Trader Tools is a toolbox that consists of 28 smart Expert Advisors (EAs) and indicators to enhance your trading activity.

Smart Trader Tools Includes the Following:

• Trade Terminal – a complex professional tool you can use in analysis and order execution. It contains a central trading panel, a quick access panel, a list of instruments, list of orders and account summary
• Alarm Manager – as the name indicates this advisor sends you notifications when various events occur. Like when your margin usage surpasses a certain threshold or when modifications in price action appear, etc.
• Connect Feature – check quickly on news and market analysis in one place
• Market Manager – a facility to manage your account better and quicker, see at a glance the situation of open trades, pending orders, margin available, price action on chosen instruments
• Mini Terminal – is a version of Trade Terminal that targets just one instrument
• Correlation matrix – provides scores of correlation between various instruments, offering supplementary insights to base your trading strategy on
• Correlation Trader – this tool brings the correlation, further providing detailed analysis between instruments across time frames to better manage your risk
• Sentiment Trader – displays current and historical market sentiment ratings, based on the orders placed on the real accounts of www.fxblue.com
• Excel RTD – export real-time data in Excel with one click and create your own reports to analyse your activity, plus you can even launch simple trading orders from Excel
• Trade Simulator – backtest your trading strategies using real market data and check on your eventual potential results based on historical data
• Session Map – is a feature that translates the global financial exchanges sessions into your local time, together with the associated scheduled events
• Stealth Orders – a feature that allows you not to disclose your pending orders
• Tick Chart Trader – personalise the tick chart according to your preferred style via a Generator EA
• Advanced Indicators: Bar Changer, Candle Countdown, Chart Group, Chart-in-Chart, Donchian, Freehand, Gravity, High-Low, Keltner, Magnifier, Mini Chart, Order History, Pivot Point, Renko, Symbol Info

cTrader Automate

cTrader is a platform dedicated to automated trading, highly preferred by scalpers and traders that use robots to trade.

If algorithmic trading is your preferred method of trading and you like to develop your own indicators and automated trading strategies, cTrader Automate is a great tool for this, it allows backtesting and strategic fine-tuning.

Use the cTrader API and the programming language C# to build your automated trading tools as you wish.
The API in question is dedicated to margin trading and supports virtually any trading strategy that you might think of. cTrader API includes market data, various types of orders, settings to adjust your position, trading history, connectivity, accounts, instruments and error details.

Spread Betting

Spread betting is similar to trading with the notable difference that in certain jurisdictions, such as the UK, it is more efficient from a tax point of view. To see if you can profit on spread betting check the regulation in your region.

Autochartist

Autochartist is an advanced technical analysis trading tool that simplifies the market for you, highlighting assets, intervals and key events that are likely to develop trading opportunities through it’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technical analysis applied to live charts.

Autochartist features:

• Market Scanner – has the ability to identify significant movements on the market and important levels of price that trigger market trends
• Probability Filters – a built-in filter that uses historical backtesting to sort significant events. It allows you to set the minimum probabilities of performance based on recent history
• Risk management Tool – the risk calculator is a great tool that predicts the expected market movements in the near future and calculates your trading volume to respect your risk tolerance limits
• Technical Indicators – identify chart patterns like tops, bottoms, triangles, wedges, etc.
• Volatility Analysis – use expected volatility to set your stop loss and take profit properly
• Daily Market Reports – Autochartist sends reports on the high impact events and identifies trading opportunities

API Trading

Application Programming Interface trading is a technology dedicated to algorithmic traders and provides them with the option of developing their own automated trading systems. Some advantages of the Pepperstone API are the capability to observe market depth and access to a pool of liquidity providers.

VPS Hosting

Since Pepperstone caters to algorithmic traders, a VPS (Virtual Private Server) is vital. A VPS guarantees the continuous functioning of Expert Advisers/robots 24/7 and ensures there are no power or connectivity failures. Pepperstone proposes two VPS providers FXVM and New York City Servers.

Social Trading

Pepperstone used to offer a plethora of social trading options but, at the point in writing this review, they only offer MetaTrader Signals for Mirror Trading.

Pepperstone does not have its own proprietary trading platform, so they rely on third-party platforms for Social Trading functionality. Traders can choose from the thousands of trading strategies and signals found inside the MetaTrader platform, or use the platforms previously promoted by Pepperstone such as ZuluTrade and FXBook.

Pepperstone provides services globally, with the exception of the jurisdictions where CFD trading is not a lawful activity. For example, they do not provide services in the United States and for various regions, there is a dedicated subsidiary of the group that offers services. The British branch of Pepperstone does not serve clients in Belgium and the United States. The Australian branch does not serve clients from the European Union.

Pepperstone’s primary services are available only in English, however, they have —

Pepperstone has two types of accounts:

• Standard Account
• Razor Account

Plus, they also have an account dedicated to professionals “Pepperstone Pro”

Standard Account

The Standard Account of Pepperstone is best suited for new traders and works on both platforms MetaTrader and cTrader. Its prominent characteristics are:

• Institutional level spreads
• Minimum deposit 200 GBP
• Zero commissions and spreads starting with 1 pip (may vary based on platform used and account currency)
• No dealing desk execution
• Accounts may have the following currencies EUR, USD, GBP, CHF
• All instruments provided are available
• Leverage of up to 1:30 for European clients and up to 1:500 for other international clients
• Trading styles allowed: scalping, hedging, EAs
• Provides access to news trading

Razor Account

The Pepperstone “Razor Account” is best suited for algorithmic traders and scalpers and is often the account quoted when spreads are mentioned in any marketing material, so be aware of this. It provides a fixed cost when compared to their regular account. The Razor Account is available on both of the Pepperstone trading platforms MetaTrader (MT4 and MT5) and cTrader.

Its most interesting features are:

Institutional level spreads
Minimum deposit 200 GBP
Commissions from GBP 4.59 round turn for 100k traded and spreads starting with 0 pips (may vary based on which platform is used and the account currency)
No dealing desk execution
Accounts may have the following currencies EUR, USD, GBP, CHF
All instruments provided are available
Leverage of up to 1:30 for European clients and up to 1:500 for the other international clients
Trading styles allowed: scalping, hedging, EAs
Provides access to news trading
The Razor account offers the best trading costs in the Pepperstone offer.

Pepperstone has preferential conditions for professional traders.

The main advantages of professional clients working with this brokerage are:

Dedicated Relationship Manager
Active Trader Program – high volume trading brings you interesting rebates
Increased leverage of up to 1:500
Exclusive events dedicated to professionals
Large size execution – possibility to place higher volume order with one click
Credit facilities
Premium rewards for referrals
To qualify for a Pepperstone professional-client account, you need to fulfil at least two of the following requirements:

Have over 40 trades of significant size placed in the past year
A financial portfolio of over €500,000
Worked in the financial sector in a niche related to trading for minimum one year
Pepperstone account
Figure 2: Pepperstone account types

Account Opening

Opening a Pepperstone account meets the normal standard process within the forex industry. The procedure is done in four phases with an online application, and it takes several minutes to complete. To open an account, just click on the red button called “Open live account”, on the right top corner of any page and follow the prompts. You will have to fill out your details, including name, surname, country of residence, email address and password. In accordance with the anti-money laundering legislation and KYC procedure, you will have to prove your identity via an ID document (passport, driving license or ID card) and a document of residence (utility bill or bank statement). Once your account is approved you can fund your account and start trading.

Pepperstone Account Opening

Figure 3: Pepperstone Account Opening

Pepperstone Demo Account

A demo account offers a genuine idea of what exactly Pepperstone provides.

Through Pepperstone’s demo account you will have at your disposal a 30-day practice account, loaded with $50,000 in virtual funds to test their services.

The option to open a demo account is present on any Pepperstone page in the footer. Look for the button “Try Demo”.

The demo account is used by experienced traders to test the services of a broker, to test new indicators, new tools and test/backtest new strategies. It is an extremely helpful feature.

Beginners should definitely use a demo account when they start trading, as they need to learn and get a feel of what trading in financial markets means. It’s a free way to learn and sharpen your trading skills without the stress of losing money. When you are just starting using a demo to identify your trading style, your preferred trading assets and to build your trading strategies will help you with your trading journey. Remember, only start trading on a real account when you consider you are ready to do so and only use funds that you can afford to lose.

Pepperstone enjoys huge popularity and has had exponential growth in a relatively short period of time, thanks to their reduced commissions and low spreads similar to interbank pricing.

Combine this with cutting edge technology and a pool of serious liquidity providers and the result is a low cost, convenient and high execution trading environment. These are conditions laid out for trading, that traditionally were reserved for institutional clients and a limited elite of wealthy individuals.

On all types of accounts, Pepperstone offers variable spreads with or without commissions. Spreads vary with the platform used, type of account, instrument traded and moment in the market. Their offer in terms of trading costs are very competitive and quite often sits on top when comparing it with those offered by other brokers. For example, while using a Razor account the minimum spread for EURUSD is 0 pips and the average spread is 0.13 pips to which a commission of €7 is added per round turn lot. When using a Standard account there are no commissions, the minimum spread is 1 pip and the average spread is 1.1 pips.

As a licensed broker, Pepperstone transparently displays all the costs related to all classes of trading assets on their site, in the section “Spreads, Swaps and Commissions”.

See below for the list of spreads related to Forex pairs for both types of accounts:

Pepperstone Forex Pairs
Figure 5: Pepperstone Forex Pairs
Here are the spreads related to CFDs with indices as support:

Pepperstone CFDs
Figure 6: Pepperstone CFDs
Here are the commissions for the Razor account for both platforms, in lots and microlots:

Pepperstone Razor Microlots
Figure 7: Pepperstone Razor Microlots
Pepperstone charges swaps for all positions kept open overnight. You can find these variable fees on your trading platform.

Pepperstone does not charge an inactivity fee.

Pepperstone does not charge fees for depositing and withdrawing funds but third-party payment processors can incur additional costs. Pepperstone provides a range of options to fund your account, which you can see in your Secure Client Area. If you don’t have a live account yet, you will not be able to see them all listed on the site.

In the section “Funding and Withdrawal”, the only payment options listed are:

Visa
Mastercard
Bank transfer
Deposits/withdrawals are usually instant, except for a bank transfer which can take up to 5 working days.

Pepperstone does not process payments from or into third party accounts, this means that the name registered to your trading account should be the same as the name on the registered bank account.

Pepperstone Deposits and Withdrawals
Figure 8: Pepperstone Deposits and Withdrawals
Minimum Deposit
Score: 4.8 out of 5

To open an account with Pepperstone, a minimum deposit of 200 GBP is needed. This is a competitive offer within the industry and allows virtually anyone interested in trading to open a trading account.

If you are planning to make a living out of your trading, a deposit of such small amounts will be not enough. However, it is a good level for when you first start trading.

Offering the most popular two suites of platforms across the globe (MetaTrader and cTrader) free with all their account versions, Pepperstone provides an outstanding gateway to the trading world. Further enhancing the capabilities of these platforms, the Smart Trader Tools add-on is also available.

In short, with Pepperstone as your preferred Forex broker, you can use the following trading platforms:

MetaTrader 4
MetaTrader 5
cTrader
You can download the trading platform that suits you from withing the Pepperstone “Secure Client Area”(SCA), or from the corresponding trading platform website. Be aware if you’re downloading the software directly from the vendor’s website, you’ll need to input settings. If it’s coming directly from Pepperstone, they’ll often embed their own branding (logo, feeds etc.) and often your account info.

MetaTrader 4
MT4 is the incontestable leader in terms of trading platforms popularity. Its key features that traders appear to most appreciate are:

High level of customisation
A collection of 85 built-in technical indicators
Ability to develop personalised EAs via MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4)
A supplementary selection of 28 indicators provided by Smart Trader Tools
Identify market setups and trading opportunities with the help of Autochartist, a powerful analysis tool
Flexible types of orders and several charting options
An infinite choice of other trading tools created for MT4 can be added on to your account
Backtesting and algorithmic trading capabilities
VPS service
MetaTrader 5
MT5 is the updated version of MT4. It offers better functionalities, but as yet as not surpassed MT4’s popularity. MT5 is particularly aimed at advanced traders.

Here are the features that make MT5 outstanding for Pepperstone clients:

Superior user interface and personalisation abilities
Based on MQL5 programming language, which permits things like improved debugging capabilities, object oriented programming, improved events management
Advanced trading and analytics tools as Smart Trader Tools and Autochartist
Enhanced processing speeds
Improved hedging, scalping and algorithmic trading capabilities
Enhanced charting options with 21 timeframes, economic calendar and 38 indicators included by default

Figure 9: MT5
cTrader
cTrader is the first choice of algorithmic traders because of its intuitive interface, advanced trading characteristics and coding customisation. Here are its most impressive facilities:

Developed to offer an institutional level trading environment for retail traders
Ability to code in C#, open API
Interface that allows customisation with detachable charts and preset charts
Advanced order functionality, risk management features and range of indicators
Superior customisation for automate trading via cTrader Automate
Analytics features to help you improve your trading skills
Educational video collection directly in the platform
Extensive back-testing capabilities
Advanced processing of expert advisors and customised indicators
If downloading and installing apps is not your thing, you can always rely on the web versions of these platforms to access the features of the desktop apps.

From the algorithmic trading point of view, cTrader’s web platform is more advantageous as it contains a richer collection of trading tools in comparison with MT4 WebTrader. On the contrary, the desktop version of MetaTrader has the module of algorithmic trading built in, while cTrader imposes the parallel use of the standalone cTrader Automate.

Mobile Trading Platforms
Score: 4.5 out of 5

The proliferation of smart mobile devices has made trading on the go possible, with some platforms even making features exclusive for mobile trading. Pepperstone offers the mobile versions of MetaTrader and cTrader for iOS and Android. You can download them from the site in the Trading Platforms section, from their respective stores or from your Secure Client Area.

The greatest advantage of mobile trading is that you don’t need a computer to trade, and can trade from anywhere, at any moment. Via mobile, you can access most features that are available on the desktop app. Obviously you’re limited by screen real-estate, but via the MT4 or MT5 mobile app, you can still access charts, real-time quotes, order management capabilities and even advanced trading tools provided by your broker.

Configure Trading Accounts
Configuring an account with Pepperstone is a simple process and typical of the Forex industry standard. As Pepperstone does not have its own proprietary trading platform you will need need to download and install one of the trading platforms Pepperstone uses, mainly MetaTrader or cTrader, the use your account credentials to sign in to the site. Pepperstone does offer a whole course on MetaTrader 4, teaching you how to download, install and configure your platform. It contains 10 chapters and addresses in detail all the aspects of the platform: how to navigate the platform, how to install expert advisors, how to customise your charts, how to use the mobile interface, how to set up VPS, etc. There is also a video dedicated to MT5 installation, as well as a detailed guide on how to use the cTrader platform.

Pepperstone is not quite top of the class in the section of education and resources, but their offer in this chapter is solid. Their education section covers the basics well and offers content for advanced traders too, mainly via webinars. You can also find written articles, courses and video lessons.

Pepperstone Education
Figure 10: Pepperstone Education
Inside the Education section, traders can access:

Learn to trade Forex – this section contains a series of articles covering the basics, like What is pip value, Risk management, Technical Analysis, Fundamental Analysis, Technical Indicators, etc.
Learn to trade CFDs
MetaTrader 4 course – a video course with 10 chapters that present the MT4 platform, teach you how to install it, how to set up a chart, how to set up MT4 for mobile, how to set up VPS, how to use scripts, etc.
Webinars – Pepperstone, in partnership with FX Evolution, periodically organises webinars and you can also access the archive of dozens of past webinars covering subjects like How to trade gold and Forex majors, Forex scalping and price action strategies during volatility, How to trade earnings season, Is volatility a trader’s friend or foe?, Portfolio hedging during times of uncertainty, Advanced price action scalping strategies
Trading guides – includes a series of detailed guides for intermediate traders, addressing themes like What type of trader are you?, Five common trading mistakes and how to avoid them, Five questions to ask your Forex broker, Scalping strategies, How to read candlestick charts, etc.
Forex trading course – presents the video recap of the Trader Fest 2019 event with industry leaders and experts presenting key concepts and approaches like: Turning strategy into tactical rules for better trades – Daryl Guppy, Volatility as a core consideration for your trading – Chris Weston, High probability forex trading – Adam Khoo, Trading Jesse Livermore’s pivotal market points – Jamie Saettele, A rules-based strategy to beat the market with less risk – Boris Schlossberg, etc.
Pepperstone also puts at the disposal of their clients a series of analytics and research tools. The Market Analysis section comprises:

The Daily Fix – this is a detailed and insightful market analysis of the day made by the in-house team of experts of Pepperstone. Some examples include: The Daily Fix: Using volatility as a central guide in trading; The Daily Fix: Big flows in GBP, EUR and gold; Green for 2020 in the NAS100, with bonds working like a dream
Market News – up to several short articles a day depicting important events that take place in the markets and trade ideas. Some examples are: Jobless rate lower than expected, AUD falls anyway; 5 charts: US dollar index a key consideration for forex traders; Trade idea – short EUR/AUD; Negative US interest rates – listen to the market
Trading Charts – Pepperstone’s research analysts provide insights and analyse various instruments that present interest for that day. Some examples are: AUS200: Can risk sentiment overcome the 5600 hurdle?; NZD/JPY gaining on risk sentiment; Bitcoin tumbles overnight, so what does the ascending triangle pattern mean?; Key levels: EUR/USD respects trend support but holds low
Economic Calendar
Financial Events – presents fundamental events likely to affect the markets. Like for example: Is the European Recovery Fund a game changer for the region?; Week Ahead: Easings and reopenings in focus; etc.

The fact that customer support is paramount in trading is no news. Poor customer support can easily translate into lost opportunities and financial losses. Pepperstone prides itself on stellar and multi award-winning customer support.

Customer support distinguishes itself by two main characteristics: availability 24/5 and personalisation. Pepperstone has real traders answering clients’ questions and thus, overall, there is a high level of client satisfaction.

Pepperstone’s customer support may be reached via:

Email: support@pepperstone.com
Phone
Chat online
Social media channels
A Support section that answers common questions is also present on the site.

As a regulated broker within the EU, Pepperstone cannot offer bonuses and promotion schemes, but it does have a referral program and a rebate program dedicated to volume traders.

If you refer a friend to Pepperstone you are entitled to receive an incentive of £100, if certain conditions are met.

For professional traders, Pepperstone offers the Active Trader Program. This program provides cash rebates and access to some exclusive benefits especially designed for high-volume traders with Razor accounts.

To qualify for the Active Trader Program you will need trade a minimum volume of 200 lots and maintain that level for at least 3 months. Once this level is reached you obtain a 15% rebate on commissions paid directly into your trading account.

Pepperstone has received a range of awards for their customer service and client management, they can provide a high-quality trading experience for many traders, but particularly cater well for the beginner to the intermediate trader. They have a top client service, a rich selection of platforms, a good educational and research offer, a very competitive pricing model and a qualitative trading infrastructure that allows algorithmic trading. Plus, they also have a good selection of advanced trading tools to respond to advanced traders’ needs. All in all, Pepperstone is a renowned broker with a good reputation and is able to provide a top-quality trading experience for most traders.