Axi review

Our rating

Axi scores 7.8 out of 10 on our table. That figure is an average of six things we assess, and it hides the shape of the broker: its strongest area is regulation at 9.4, its weakest is education at 5.4. Whether that gap matters depends entirely on which of the six you were going to use.

In its favour: low forex fees, no withdrawal/deposit fees, fully digital account opening. Against it: limited platform choices (no MT5), lack of advanced educational videos.

Regulation and safety9.4/10

Axi lists its authorisations as ASIC (AFSL 318232); FCA (FRN 466201); New Zealand FMA (FSP 518226); DFSA. Those are tier-one authorisations, which is the strongest position a retail broker can be in - they carry leverage caps, client-money rules and, in several cases, a compensation scheme.

The licence that matters to you is the one held by the entity that opens your account, and at a multi-entity broker that is decided by your country of residence. Its registration can be checked directly on the ASIC Professional Registers, AFSL 318232. It is a two-minute check and it is the only way to confirm that the firm taking your deposit is the firm named on the website.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own funds, with regulated banking institutions - so that if the business fails, client balances are not part of what its creditors can reach. Negative balance protection applies to retail clients where required, so a gap through your stop cannot leave you owing the broker money.

On compensation: FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; no statutory investor compensation scheme under ASIC. That covers the broker failing, not your trades losing money - the two are frequently confused and only one of them is insured.

Axi does not accept clients from United States and other jurisdictions where Axi products are prohibited or restricted. Restriction lists move, so confirm your own country before you spend time on an application.

What it costs to trade8.8/10

Axi advertises spreads from 0.0 pips. Commission is US$2.25 per side / US$4.50 round turn, Pro, charged on top of the spread rather than instead of it - which is the normal arrangement on a raw account and the reason its quoted spread can be so low. Put the two together and a EUR/USD round turn works out at approx. 0.45 pips, which is the figure worth comparing against other brokers.

An advertised minimum is the best price a broker has ever quoted, not the price you will get. On our record its measured average on EUR/USD is 0.0 pips, Pro, and approx. 0.2 pips, Pro on GBP/USD. Spreads are variable, so they move with liquidity and widen around releases and the daily rollover.

Positions held overnight accrue a swap, and swap-free accounts are available for clients who need them. Currency conversion applies where your account and the instrument use different currencies, which is a charge worth avoiding by funding in the currency you actually trade.

Leave the account dormant and it costs you: $10/month after 12 months inactivity. That is the charge most often missed when comparing brokers, and it matters disproportionately if you trade seasonally or infrequently.

Platforms and tools8.8/10

Axi runs MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Axi Trading Platform. Both MetaTrader versions are available, which matters more than it sounds: an expert advisor written for MT4 will not run on MT5, so a trader arriving with existing software needs the specific version it was written for.

Automation is supported: yes. There is API access (yes, institutional/API connectivity) for anyone connecting their own software. Copy trading is available through Yes, Axi Copy Trading, which is the alternative to writing rules yourself.

Charting runs to 100+ through TradingView. Additional tools include tradingView, Autochartist, VPS, PsyQuation. On mobile: both proprietary and third-party.

Markets, leverage and execution7.9/10

Axi covers Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities, Metals, ETFs, Cryptocurrencies, Futures. That comes to 1,500+ instruments in total. On the currency side specifically it lists 70+ pairs. Breadth is worth less than depth in the markets you actually trade - a hundred instruments priced well beats a thousand you will never open.

Leverage is capped at 1:30, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation - a protection rather than a restriction. Our record for this broker reads "1:30 retail", and the difference between those figures is the entity you are onboarded to rather than anything you can choose. Whatever the headline, the number that governs your position is the margin requirement on the specific instrument - it is always lower on shares and crypto than on major currency pairs.

Execution is market execution / liquidity-provider aggregation, routing orders to external liquidity rather than pricing them internally. Measured speed is 29ms. Its servers sit in co-located servers in major global financial data centres, which is what determines latency more than any software choice.

Order types available: market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop. Stops and limits are table stakes; what separates platforms is whether the ones you rely on are there and how quickly they can be modified once a position is open.

Accounts

Account types run to standard, Pro, Elite, Premium, Cent, Islamic, Demo. The minimum deposit is $5. The smallest position it will take is 0.01 lots, which is what actually governs how precisely you can size risk on a small account.

A demo account is available, which is the cheapest way to find out whether the platform suits you. Swap-free Islamic accounts are offered. Professional classification is available for clients who qualify, which lifts leverage caps and lowers the protections that come with retail status - a trade rather than an upgrade. Opening takes typically a few minutes.

Accounts can be denominated in 11 base currencies. Funding in the currency you trade removes a conversion charge from every position, which is a small saving repeated indefinitely.

Deposits and withdrawals

Deposits can be made by Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, PayPal and regional/local payment methods. They clear in instant for cards, PayPal and selected electronic methods.

Withdrawals go out by cards, bank transfer, PayPal and supported regional methods. Expect instant for eligible card withdrawals. The minimum withdrawal is $5. Check the withdrawal routes rather than the deposit ones. They are frequently not the same list, anti-money-laundering rules usually require funds to return the way they came, and the difference only becomes apparent at the point you want your money back.

Local payment methods include PayPal; Waave and multiple region-specific payment methods - which matters more than it looks if you are outside the broker's home market, since an international wire is slow and expensive compared with a domestic transfer.

Support and education6.5/10

Support runs 24/7. That is worth more than it sounds on a leveraged account: markets gap at inconvenient hours, and a position you cannot get help with is a position you carry until somebody answers. You can reach them by live chat, email, support request, callback. Live chat typically answers in under 2 minutes. Support is offered in 10+ languages.

Its education is substantial - Axi Academy, courses, tutorials, articles, ebooks, videos and trading guides - which is the difference between a broker that will teach you and one that will simply take the deposit. Research output covers market analysis, Autochartist, technical/fundamental analysis, market news and trading tools.

The company behind the brand

The company behind the brand is AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd, registered as ACN 127 606 348. It operates from Sydney, Australia. It has been trading since 2007, so there is about 19 years of record to look at.

It sits within Axi Group. It is privately held, so its finances are not published the way a listed group's are. Headcount is in the 300+ range.

You may also see it under Axi; AxiTrader. Brands and legal entities rarely map one to one in this industry, and the name on the website is not always the name on the client agreement.