Comparison of Best Trading Apps in the Philippines

Note: The spread and regulation is as per information on these brokers’ websites in January, 2024.

Best Forex Trading Apps in the Philippines

Here are 2024’s Best Forex Trading Apps in the Philippines that we have reviewed:

1. HF Markets – Overall Best Forex Trading App in the Philippines
2. OctaFX – Low Cost Forex App
3. XM – Most Trusted Broker
4. FXTM – Most Suitable for Advanced Traders
5. IC Markets – Best Customer Support
6. eToro – Best for Social Trading
7. Exness – Low spread forex broker

#1 HF Markets – Overall Best Forex Trading App in the Philippines

#2 OctaFX – Low Cost Trading App

#3 XM – Most Trusted Broker

#4 FXTM – Suitable for Advanced Traders

#5 IC Markets – Best Customer Support

#6 eToro – Best for Social Trading

Types of Forex Trading Apps

There are two types of forex trading apps. Some forex brokers have both while some support just one type. Let us break them down:

1) Third-Party Trading Apps: These trading apps are developed by other companies for forex brokers. These companies allow CFD brokers to host their trading services on their trading apps. A prominent example is MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 mobile developed by MetaQuotes.

Another common third-party mobile trading app is cTrader mobile developed by Spotware Systems. These companies are not brokers. However, they partner with brokers globally so traders can use the app through their clients.

2) Proprietary Trading Apps: Proprietary trading apps are developed by forex brokers independently. This is not done in conjunction with third parties so the names of these trading apps vary from broker to broker.

For example, some brokers just name their apps after their companies just name it after their company (like HFM App and FXTM trading App). Because these apps are developed by brokers individually, their trading conditions and interface are never the same too.

Advantages of Using Forex Trading Apps

There are some pros that come with using forex trading apps. We look at a few in this section.

Ease: It is easier to trade forex with trading apps. In the past, traders needed an office and a desktop to analyze the market. To get key economic news, they have to read newspapers. In addition, access to industry experts was so difficult. They have to make a number of calls to get advice. A single proprietary trading app can perform all of these functions and much more.

Flexibility: Apart from the convenience that trading apps bring, they also offer flexibility. With mobile apps, you can trade on the go, analyze the market, and monitor your positions. You can do these while you are in a car, hanging out with friends, or taking a walk. This will not be possible if all that was available for trading are desktops.

Notifications: Price alerts and notifications are a major advantage of forex trading apps. You can set an alert that lets you know when prices have hit certain levels. This saves you a lot of time and allows you focus on other things.

Furthermore, you can set notifications for news releases as well. Instead of checking manually on websites. You can get an automated notification of key economic data, releases, and events.

Personalization: Most forex trading apps allows traders to arrange trading tools, charts, indicators, and colors in a way that suits them. Being able to customize your app makes you ‘feel at home’ with the app, making trading more convenient.

Efficiency: Placing trades on mobile phones is often efficient and quicker than desktop. This is not about execution speed. It is that with a few swipes, you can set your take profit and stop loss targets quickly. Because the desktop versions of trading platforms are designed differently, it often takes more than a few clicks to place your trade.

Disadvantages of Using Forex Trading Apps

Though forex trading apps are very useful, they also have some disadvantages. If you really want to be a proficient trader, you cannot use mobile apps alone. Here is why:

Size of the Screen: This is a major challenge with using mobile apps. They do not give a good view of past price movements, especially on higher timeframes. This experience is not so good. Many traders use up to two or more desktops to have a full view of the market. You cannot do this on mobile devices, not even a tablet.

Difficult to Focus: Mobile trading apps can lead to a lot of distractions. This could come from notifications from social media apps, a message, or a call. These interruptions are not good for traders and can affect long-term performance. Desktops do not have these issues.

Execution Speed: Forex trading apps have improved over the years. However, there could be risks of your app crashing when trading. In addition, mobile networks might not be very reliable. This affects execution speed and leads to latency.

Overtrading: Because it is easy to access charts on the go, mobile apps heighten the tendency to trade more. This in turn increases your chances of losing more money. To deal with this, you need to be disciplined and stick to your trading plan.

How to Choose the Best Forex Trading App for Traders from the Philippines?

Since forex trading is not regulated in the Philippines, it is important for traders to carefully choose the broker (and the app) that they sign up with.

There are three main considerations to think of.

1. Safety

The forex broker should be safe for traders from the Philippines. Traders should check whether the broker is regulated by tier-1 financial authorities such as the FCA of the UK or the ASIC of Australia.

Most reputed foreign forex brokers are regulated by at least one of the above the two. Further, traders should check the other licenses held by the broker such as from the CySEC of Cyprus.

The higher the number of licenses that are held by the broker, the safer they may be.

2. Overall Fees

Brokers charge a variety of trading and non-trading fees. Trading fees are in the form of spreads, commission, and swap-fees. Non-trading fees can be deposit fees, withdrawal fees, or inactivity fees.

Traders should be aware of the fees charged by the broker. Usually, their spread and commission rates are displayed on their website. Traders can check non-trading fees by contacting the customer support of the broker.

3. Trading Instruments

Traders should ensure that the instruments that they want to trade are offered by the broker. Usually, brokers offer a wide variety of instruments but it varies widely. As a trader from the Philippines, it may be important to check whether they offer PHP currency pairs

Is forex trading halal?

While it is haram to pay riba on trades, Some forex brokers offer swap-free accounts that are compliant with Islamic principles of no riba, these brokers offer accounts that eliminate overnight interest charges. some brokers in the Philippines with Islamic accounts are Octa, HF Markets, XM and AvaTrade among others.

highest leverage forex broker

Leverage in forex trading amplifies your potential profits and losses. While it can magnify your gains, it can also lead to significant losses if the market moves against you.

In the Philippines, The Securities and Exchange Commission does not regulate the forex brokers so there is no maximum leverage that the forex brokers must adhere to. Most forex brokers offer high leverage from 1:400 to 1:2,000 and some even offer 1:unlimited.

Some high-leverage forex brokers in the Philippines that offer high leverage are HF Markets – 1:2,000, FXTM – 2,000, and XM Trading – 1,000. With a forex leverage of 1:1,000, this means that if you deposit RM100, you can control up to RM100,000 worth of trade value.

Low spread forex brokers

Spread in forex trading is the difference between the bid price and the ask price of a currency pair.

The bid price is the price at which you can sell a currency. Ask price is the price at which you can buy a currency.

For example, if you want to buy euros (EUR) using US dollars (USD). Your forex broker may quote you the following prices for the EUR/USD currency pair:

-Bid price: 1.1050

-Ask price: 1.1052

The spread in this case is 2 pips, which is the difference between the bid price and the ask price.

The spread is essentially the broker’s fee for facilitating your trade. While it is a revenue source for forex brokers, it is a charge to you, the trading. To reduce your trading costs, it is best to trade with a broker that charges low spreads.

Choosing the right low-spread forex broker depends on various factors, including your trading style, budget, and desired features. Here’s a breakdown to help you navigate the options:

Top Low-Spread Forex Brokers in Philippines:

1) Tickmill: Offers tight spreads starting from 0.1 pips with commission-based accounts and raw spreads from 0.9 pips.

2) AvaTrade: Known for its consistently low spreads averaging around 0.9 pips on major pairs like EURUSD.

3) Octa: Provides tight spreads (as low as 0.9 pips on EUR/USD) and commission-free trading on all instruments.

How do forex trading apps make money?

Trading apps do not generate money independent of forex brokers. Most of the fees you will pay will go to your broker. It does not matter if the app is proprietary or from a third-party.

Brokers make money from trading apps in multiple ways. However, we can simplify all of them into trading and non-trading fees. Trading fees are the money you pay to your broker for every trade you make. It does not matter if you won the trade or lost. You will pay these fees.

Spreads, commissions, and swaps are the main trading fees charged by brokers on trading apps. Spread is the difference between the buy and sell price of the CFDs you are trading. Swap is the fee you pay for holding your trades overnight while commissions are usually charged where spread is low.

If you are trading on MT4/MT5 on your mobile device, you will see the amount commission and swap you are charged per trade. Non-trading fees are not connected to trading. They include account inactivity fees (if you don’t place a trade for a certain period), currency conversion fees, etc.

Finally, not all brokers have the same fee structure for their trading apps. A broker may have a low spread account on MetaTrader or offer a commission-free package on their proprietary trading app. Furthermore, inactivity fee is not the same too. Some brokers charge it, some don’t.

So make sure you research your broker’s fee structure before signing up on their trading app.

FAQs on Best Forex Trading Apps in the Philippines