ActivTrades Spreads, Fees, and Commissions

Written by Zornitsa Stefanova

Zornitsa Stefanova

Zornitsa Stefanova is experienced forex and crypto analyst. She also covers various financial topics such as stocks trading and retirement investments.

, | Updated: December 11, 2025

ActivTrades is a long-established, multi-regulated online broker that has been catering to its global clientele since 2001. It operates with licenses from several major regulatory authorities, including respected watchdogs like the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and the Portuguese Securities Market Commission. The broker offers a wide range of tradable markets, encompassing over 1,100 CFDs in forex, stocks, indices, commodities, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs.

ActivTrades acts as the sole execution venue for customers, running an in-house dealing desk that sources and compares prices across multiple liquidity providers to ensure the tightest possible spreads and lightning-fast order execution with minimal requotes. Costs are competitive overall as the broker facilitates commission-free trading with target spreads of 0.5 pips for forex pairs. Onboarding customers should anticipate several non-trading fees related to withdrawals with specific methods, currency conversion, and inactivity.

ActivTrades Trading Costs

ActivTrades has adopted a simple, yet competitive fee structure where nearly all trading costs are built into the spread, with no commissions charged on most asset classes. Furthermore, the broker excels at delivering swift execution and fills over 93% of all orders at the price customers have requested. Apart from ensuring price transparency, the company’s all-in-one pricing model makes it exceptionally easy for active traders to calculate their expenses.

Retail Account Average Forex Spreads

Committed to maintaining low costs for its customers, ActivTrades offers tight average spreads for retail accounts and charges zero commissions for all tradable markets except stocks. There are no commission-based accounts at ActivTrades for the time being. The target spread for liquid pairs like EUR/USD and USD/JPY, is exceptionally tight at around 0.5 pips. We have noticed the spread for USD/CNH is highly competitive at around 1.2 pips on average, which is substantially lower than what many rival brokers quote for this exotic pair.

Clients can calculate their expenses for forex positions by multiplying their contract size by the average spreads. In the case of EUR/USD where the target spread is 0.5 pips, traders will pay 100,000 x 0.00005 = $5 per standard lot and 1,000 x 0.00005 = $0.05 per micro lot.

Note that the table below assumes your trading account is denominated in US dollars. If you use the yen as your base account currency, your costs for pairs like USD/JPY, where the yen is the quote currency, would equal ¥1,000 per standard lot and ¥10 per micro lot.

This is because when your account is in dollars and a pair is quoted in another currency, the pip value for each lot is naturally in the quote currency and must be converted back to dollars. Another thing to pay attention to is that the amounts below correspond to the cost in one direction of a trade without using leverage. You must multiply them by two to derive your round-turn expenses ($10 in the case of EUR/USD).

ActivTrades Overnight Funding Costs

Swap fees, also known as rollover or overnight funding fees, represent the daily financing charge or credit applied to leveraged CFD positions held open overnight. The fee applies daily and essentially represents the interest rate differentials between currencies, as trading forex CFDs involves borrowing one currency to buy another.

ActivTrades applies these swap rates to all positions held past the daily rollover time, which is typically 12:00 a.m. platform time. Swap rates are dynamic and change day to day based on underlying interbank interest rates, liquidity, and general market conditions. Due to the T+2 settlement cycle in the forex market, positions held open overnight from Wednesday to Thursday are charged triple swaps to account for the weekend.

To calculate their swap charges or credit, traders must multiply the swap rate by their position size, as shown in the example below. Alternatively, they can use the built-in swap calculator on the ActivTrades platform to avoid manual calculation.

• 1 standard lot in EUR/USD (long): 100,000 x -0.0001 = -$10
• 1 standard lot in EUR/USD (short): 100,000 x 0.000033 = $3.30

As you can see, long positions in the pair will have $10 deducted from the account balance on a daily basis. If you hold the position for three consecutive days, your expenses will amount to $30. Conversely, short positions will have $3.30 credited to the trader’s account balance, or $9.90 after three days. The calculations are similar for one micro lot consisting of 1,000 base currency units.

• 1 micro lot in EUR/USD (long): 1,000 x -0.0001 = -$0.10 (-$.30 for a three-day hold period)
• 1 micro lot in EUR/USD (short): 1,000 x 0.000033 = $0.03 ($0.09 for a three-day holding period)

*We recommend you check ActivTrades’ swap rates regularly as they are revised to reflect current interest differentials and market conditions. You can find the most current swap rates in the Market Watch panel after logging into your MT4 account.

Swap-Free Trading at ActivTrades

ActivTrades offers swap-free Islamic accounts, specifically designed for Muslim traders adhering to the Sharia law. With this account type, there are no swap fees or interest charges for leveraged positions held open past market closing hours.

Instead of variable swaps, customers pay fixed fees but these are not clearly detailed on the broker’s website. Traders interested in the precise cost schedule for swap-free accounts should contact ActivTrades directly, as the associated administrative charges typically vary by instrument and position size.

It is also worth mentioning that the eligibility for this account type depends on geographical location. Swap-free trading is primarily available to clients in the MENA region and parts of Asia. The eligible jurisdictions include Egypt, Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Algeria, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia, among several others. Traders can apply by contacting the Middle East desk at middleeastdesk@activtrades.com.

ActivTrades Non-Trading Costs

ActivTrades generally maintains low trading costs, but onboarding customers should be aware of several non-trading fees charged by the broker. While registering a live account is free, customers with dormant accounts are penalized after a certain period of inactivity. Withdrawals with some payment methods also attract additional charges. There is a standard currency conversion fee, applicable when transacting in a different currency than your base account currency.

1. Currency Conversion Fees

   A standard currency conversion fee is applied when a trader funds their balance or withdraws money in a currency different from the account’s base currency. This non-trading cost is set at 0.5% of the transaction value. The fee is necessary for converting funds before they are credited or debited. It applies regardless of the funding method used, making it an important consideration for active traders.

2. Withdrawal Fees

   The broker supports several free withdrawal methods, including credit and debit cards, Neteller, Skrill, PayPal, and Bitcoin. Bank transfer withdrawals can incur charges depending on the account’s base currency or regulatory entity. Customers registered under the Bahamas entity pay a fixed fee of £9 and this amount is debited in their base account currency. Those at the European division incur a $12.50 fee if their accounts are denominated in US dollars. Note that bank transfer withdrawals in euros and Swiss francs are processed free of charge.

3. Inactivity Fees

   ActivTrades charges an inactivity fee after a prolonged period of account dormancy. The broker starts deducting $/€10 from the account’s balance each month if no trading activity occurs for 50 consecutive weeks or more. This timeframe largely aligns with the industry standard as most brokers that penalize inactive customers generally start doing so after one year of inactivity. Traders can easily avoid paying this by accessing their accounts and opening or closing positions occasionally.

Closing Thoughts on ActivTrades Fees

All things considered, ActivTrades distinguishes itself with an exceptionally simple and competitive pricing model, with zero commissions and tight average spreads of around 0.5 pips for major currency pairs. Its overall pricing rivals many discount brokers and offers decent enough value, especially for high-volume traders. Its non-trading costs, including the inactivity fee and the 0.5% currency conversion charge, are largely manageable but may put off casual and budget-conscious traders.

Written by Z. Stefanova