Forex social trading offers ultimate benefits to beginners and experience traders alike. The ability to find, compare, follow and copy traders with proven winning strategy is a dream-come-true feature, especially for newbies. Today the best social trading platforms bring you outstanding selection and analysis of the experienced traders and their historical performance, along with the profit outcome.
What is copy trading?
The idea of copy trading is simple: use technology to copy the real-time forex trades (forex signals) of other live investors (forex trading system providers) you want to follow. This way, every time they trade, you can automatically replicate (copy) their trades in your brokerage account.
Social trading has become one of the most-wanted feature in forex brokers, attracting traders to interact and follow savvy investors, stay connected with forex network and share your own forex results with others.
Before the social trading era, traders had to learn all about fundamental and technical analysis of the market. Since this is rather complicated field, many were getting discouraged and flunk out of forex trading within the first couple of months.
Today, Forex Social Trading makes the trading experience so much easier with a simple follow-copy approach, where your decision is based on the skills and professionalism of other, more advanced traders.
The best social trading platforms brings you a vast network of traders worth following and duplicating. While copying others, newbies can learn the strategies and understand fundamental and technical analysis much better.
Social trading platforms brings you the ability to mirror the trades from other traders into your own account. Forex social trading brokers review top traders’ strategies and results within the given time frame (at times, it is possible to check out the trader’s performance within the last two years).
In order to choose the right social trading platform, it is important to see the number of traders involved in the network. The larger the community -the better chance to find someone truly awesome to follow and copy.
Below is the list of Brokers that offer Social Trading Platforms in 2022
| Social Trading Broker | Rating | Demo | Leverage | Bonus | Platforms | Min Deposit | Payments |
| OctaFX review | 9 | yes | 1:500 | up to 50% | MetaTrader 4, Metatrader 5, cTrader | 50 | Neteller, Skrill, Fasapay, Visa, Mastercard, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Indian, Indonesian, Bangladeshi local banks, Bitcoin, Unionpay |
| LiteFinance review | 8 | yes | 1:500 | 30% + 15% | Metatrader 4, Metatrader 5, WebTerminal | 10 | Skrill, Webmoney, Bitcoin, Advcash, Credit Card |
| AvaTrade review | 7 | yes | 1:400 | 100% | AvaTrader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader Floating Spread, Mac Trading, Web Trading, Mobile Trading, Automatic Trading, AvaOptions | 100 | Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Skrill, Wire Transfer, PayPal, Neteller, WebMoney |
| InstaForex review | 7 | yes | 1:1,000 | $100 No Deposit Bonus | MetaTrader 4, Metatrader 5, Webtrader | 1 | Some local Bank transfers, PayCo, AstroPay, Cryptocurrency |
| PrimeXBT review | 4 | yes | 1:1000 | PrimeXBT, Turbo | 1 | Credit Cards | |
| IronFX review | 4 | yes | 1:500 | 40% | Metatrader 4 | 100 | credit cards, Fasapay, neteller, qiwi, skrill, webmoney, wire transfer |
| Trade Nation review | 4 | yes | 1:30; 1:200 | in-house web-based platform, Metatrader 4 MT4 | 1 | Credit Card, Srill | |
| FP Markets review | 3 | yes | 1:500 | 10% credit bonus | MetaTrader 4 (MT4), IRESS, Mobile trading | 200 | credit cards, UnionPay, Neteller, Skrill (3% fee), Wire transfer, BPay and broker-to-broker transfer |
| Tickmill review | 3 | yes | 1:500 | - | MetaTrader 4, Webtrader | 100 | wire transfer (commission are charged), credit/debit cards, Skrill, Neteller, FasaPay, UnionPay and WebMoney |
| Freshforex review | 3 | yes | 1:1000 | +5% to each cryptocurrency deposit; get 300% for each deposit | Metatrader 4 | 1 | WebMoney, ePayService, Skrill , FasaPay, ADVCash, Perfect Money, Neteller, OnlineNaira NGN/USD, E-wallets for the Philippines, Visa/Mastercard/Maestro USD/EUR, Local Depositors, Bitcoin, Internet Banking |
| Pepperstone review | 3 | yes | 1:500 | 100% Match Bonus | Metatrader 4, Metatrader 5, cTrader, cAlgo, cMirror | 200 | bPay, credit cards, Paypal |
| FinPro Trading review | 2 | yes | 1:200 | 100% | Metatrader 4, zulutrade, Finopro station | 5 | credit cards, paypal, skrill, wire transfer |
| AAAfx review | 2 | yes | 1:200 | up to 30% | ZTP, MetaTrader 4, Binary options webtrader, Zulutrade | 300 | Wire, Credit Card, Skrill, Neteller, giropay, EPS, directpay24, teleingreso, ideal, qiwi, Bitcoin |
| eToro review | 1 | yes | 1:30; 1:1 for Crypto Currencies | - | eToro Platform | 200 | Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Paypal, Neteller, Skrill, Webmoney, Wire Transfer |
| Tifia review | 1 | yes | 1:1,000 | Metatrader 4, webtrader | 10 | wire transfer, credit cards, skrill, neteller, perfect money, fasapay, okpay | |
| Synergy FX review | 1 | yes | 1:500 | MetaTrader 4 | 500 | credit cards, skrill, wire transfer | |
| FCI Markets review | 1 | yes | 1:100 | Currenex, FCI NetStation, MetaTrader 4 | 250 | credit cards, neteller, skrill, wire transfer | |
| Rallytade review | 1 | yes | 1;1,000 | Metatrader 4, xStation (web-based), xSocial, xOptions | 100 | credit cards, neteller, skrill, Interswitch, Pocketmoni, etraszact, perfectMoney, WebMoney, VoguePay | |
| TurnkeyForex review | 1 | yes | 1:200 | 00% deposit bonus; 30 days of commission-free trading; 30% rescue bonus | MetaTrader 4, Trade Station | 5 | credit cards, wire transfer, neteller |
| Oinvest review | 0 | yes | 1:200 | Samsung Galaxy, iPhone | Metatrader 4 | 200 | Skrill, Neteller, Credit Cards |
| TrioMarkets review | 0 | yes | 1:300 | - | MetaTrader 4, Sirix Webtrader | 100 | Credit Card, Wire, Skrill, Neteller, Paypal and CashU |
| Darwinex review | 0 | yes | 1:200 | MetaTrader 4, cTrader | 500 | Bank Wire, Credit Cards, UnionPay | |
| LH-Crypto review | 0 | yes | 1:500 | Metatrader 4, Metatrader 5 | 10 | Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, DASH, Ripple, NEO, Visa, MasterCard, Web Money, QIWI, wire transfer |
What is the Best Social Trading Platform for Your Needs?
The best social trading platform will offer an active community with countless trading strategies, a copy trading feature, and in-depth reports on each trader. They will also support the ability to copy numerous traders with seamless order synchronization. An option for the copier to take control of copied trades if desired is another valuable setting. One of the most beneficial tools a social trading platform can offer traders is an alert algorithm to warn copiers about the deviation of strategies, set parameters, or violation of risk management settings.
Benefits of Social Trading
Trading on a social trading platform is a fascinating way to approach the markets. Below, we’ll give you the top reasons why social trading can be beneficial on your journey to create a profitable portfolio.
- Unlike traditional trading platform, social trading networks are much more fun to use
- Free flow of information from other users
- It is extremely easy to use
- Copy Trading – Social copy trading enables you to trade the markets without having to spend time on research and trading in front of the computer
- You get to interact with other members of the network and share trading ideas
- Removes the tension and stress of self-trading
- Risk management tools – In some of the social trading platforms available in the market, you can choose the risk you’re comfortable with.
Cons
- Whether you’re trading manually or copy trading, its still very risky. Especially in the forex market-its pure gambling.
- Finding a reputable and successful trader to copy can be a daunting task in itself. There are many trending and successful traders out there, that still might be a bad option to copy. There is still risk involved in copying even the best traders.
- Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Therefore, a trader who has a very successful trading history may lose large on one trade, or change up their strategy and become riskier. You must always be aware of the risks involved, nothing is 100% safe while investing.
Social trading History
Mirror trading was the first of the industry and really started to take off in the early 2000s. This can be traced in line with the general trend toward social networks which also began to take off around this time. Social trading software, trading platforms, and social trading brokers like eToro first launched around 2010 with eToro leading the way here as they still do.
Brokers like eToro connected traders all over the world to share strategies, insights, and trading ideas which they could then learn from and copy within the very user friendly social trading platform. These advances have continued till today where social trading remains a hugely popular choice.
If you’re willing to invest your time and money in the financial markets, but aren’t sure you have the skill or experience, copy trading is the perfect solution. Some brokers enable you to access the opportunities of trading without any technical skills, and the minimum of time. All you have to do is to choose a broker that has copy-trading (or social trading) function available and select from various available master traders to follow. Social trading opens trading and investing up to everyone. Social platforms (and brokers) allow traders to copy more experienced investors who share their trading information.
Copy trading is when users follow real traders who share signals via a trading platform that logs all transactions. An investor views it and chooses to repeat whichever action. A trader sending signals is called a signal provider, though he can use an auto-trading bot as well. Transactions take place on a trader’s device. Since social trading platforms are based on the ability to follow and copy as many traders as possible worldwide, the best social trading platforms would be those that offer the largest and most active social trading community of Forex traders.
ZuluTrade
This social trading platform focuses on the forex market, and there are only two brokers that U.S. participants can use with their social trading account. You can join ZuluTrade for free, and watch the trades unfold. Plus, there’s a demo account option, providing with the ability to try different strategies before you risk actual money.
ZuluTrade’s website is intuitive and easy to use. You can see market sentiment, based on the trades made by members, and you can also see the top performers and the amounts in their portfolios. You can also join as an investor, where you can select different strategies to copy and build your portfolio based on what’s been successful for others.
SwipeStox/Naga Trader
The SwipeStox app is available for iOS and Android devices and is owned by Naga Trader. Naga Trader is one of the main social investing platforms, and using the SwipeStox app allows you access to trading signals and the ability to follow traders and copy their moves.
Like many of the other social trading platforms, you need to work through a supported broker. With this unique app, you can look at trades and traders and swipe left or right to indicate what you like–sort of like Tinder.
It’s possible to follow trading signals for a number of assets, but trading options are limited for U.S. residents. Because SwipeStox is compatible with FXCM, you might be able to get in there, but if you do, you’ll face restrictions, similar to the types of restrictions you’d see with ZuluTrade.
Naga Trader does have a number of unique funding options, including cryptocurrencies.
Trading Motion
This company focuses on automated trading systems. While Trading Motion features more than 900 systems, only 600 are available to U.S. residents. However, if your broker is supported, you can pay a monthly fee to subscribe to a system of your choice. There are no demo accounts, and you need to look through the site to see if you can identify a system that you think will bring you success.
Once you’ve identified that system, you can use it to make trades. It’s important to stay on top of the situation, though, to ensure that you’re still getting the right approach for your money.
iSystems
Like Trading Motion, iSystems uses a system-based trading. There are almost 1,400 systems available to U.S. customers. The systems created must meet various regulatory requirements in the United States, so there are fewer systems available to U.S.-based traders than to those located outside the country.
However, if the system meets the requirements, you can choose from a variety of systems that were created by dozens of trading professionals. Just choose your system and activate the strategy through one of the more than two dozen U.S. brokers available. It’s even possible for you to act as a developer and create your own automated trading system.
FX Junction
You can join FX Junction for free, allowing you to see the forex trading signals of others, and automatically copy them from your own trading account. In order to use FX Junction, you need to already have a registered brokerage account that uses MetaTrader4 or MetaTrader5 platforms. Once that’s done, you can choose which signals from professionals you want to copy.
FX Junction uses what they call validated Signal Providers that you can follow. You might have to pay an AutoCopy fee, based on the provider you follow, but that’s the main cost you’ll see. If you become a Signal Provider yourself, you’ll then be able to receive additional profits from those that copy you.
Unlike many other social trading platforms, FX Junction isn’t actually a broker or deal maker, nor is it an asset manager or advisor. The company plays that aspect up, focusing on the fact that it doesn’t have any conflicts of interest.
Collective2
Like Trading Motion, you can pay a subscription to use an automated system that copies successful traders. You need to check to see if your broker is on the list of partners, though. For those interested in keeping trading costs lower, Interactive Brokers is on the list and can be a good choice.
With Collective2, you choose subscription levels based on how many strategies you want access to each month. If you want access to unlimited trading strategies, you might have to pay up to $299 per month. When you consider your situation, make sure you understand how paying a trading fee can cut into your overall profits.
Tradency
While not exactly a social network in the way eToro and ZuluTrade are, Tradency still uses aspects of sharing to allow you to copy trades made by others. Using algorithms, Tradency’s Mirror Trader generates strategies based on how professionals are making moves all over the world.
You can take a look at the different strategies and then use the platform to copy the strategies in your own account. You can see other traders’ portfolios of strategies, and get an idea of how to do the same thing with your own account. You’ll need to find your broker on the list, and realize that some instruments and investments won’t be available to you as a U.S. trader.
Peeptrade
Rather than setting up automatic trades, this social trading platform lets look into what’s under the hood for professional traders. You can “peep” at what they’re doing–for a subscription fee. You get emails and other alerts when trades are made so that you can go ahead and copy the trade on your own.
Joining Peeptrade is free, so you can kick the tires a bit. Some of the professional investors will even allow you to “peep” their trades on a trial basis before you start paying for regular access.
MQL5
This strategy, using the MQL5 website, is a little different when it comes to social trading. You’ll need to be set up with the MetaTrader platform, using either MT4 or MT5. Because this is a common platform, there’s a chance your broker might use this.
The MQL5 website has a robust forum that you can use to get more information about forex trading, and interact with members of the community. On top of that, it’s also possible to subscribe to signals, so you receive them automatically. You can also buy systems developed by traders. The cost of the system depends on the trader.
However you do it, though, you use what you’ve learned in your own terminal. So, if you buy a system, you can then run it from your own MetaTrader dashboard. You can also find a virtual server to be constantly copying a trader’s moves and signals, without having to run it on your own.
Mirror Trading
Mirror Traders are slightly different again. With this type of trading, you are essentially copying exact positions based on algorithmic trading strategies which have been coded to behave in a certain way. This means you follow the strategy exactly, with the same opening and closing times, in a fully automated environment.
When it comes to the top mirror trading services, Tradency was a pioneer in this area. They have offered, and continue to offer mirror trading services after many years in the industry.
How we reviewed the best social trading networks & platforms
We based our list on four key components: Features, Traders, Costs and Support/Social:
- Features: Rates the amount & quality of the data and features available on the site to analyse the traders to copy, as well as the platform capabilities for investors to manage risk and open trades. We are very much in favour of complete transparency with regards to the historical and open trade data. Therefore, we penalise networks which don’t do so.
- Traders: The choice and quality of the traders available on the social trading platform for investors to follow and copy. Availability of traders who risk there own money and have long positive trade history data will rate higher. The choice is important too since not everyone wants to copy the same type of trader or strategy.
- Costs: This rates not only the cost of using the platform (subscription, management and/or performance fees), but also takes into account other factors which have an impact on the overall cost to you. E.g. account deposit and withdrawal fees, average spreads and slippage (i.e. the difference between the price you get as an investor and the price the trader got – high slippage means less profit or more loss for you and hence is a cost too).
- Support/Social: By this, we take into account not just the customer support offered by the network, but also the user guides, FAQs and other support documentation available on the sites. Social refers to the interaction possibilities offered between investors themselves as well as between the investors and the traders/strategy providers (often this is in the form of forums, comments or ratings).