Saxo | Swissquote | |
---|---|---|
Overall Rating | 4.4 | 4.4 |
Trust | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Fees | 4.1 | 3.8 |
Platforms and Tools | 4.6 | 4.5 |
Tradable Instruments | 4.5 | 4.9 |
Customer Support | 4.3 | 4.5 |
Research | 5.0 | 4.8 |
Deposit and Withdrawal | 3.6 | 3.4 |
Account Types and Terms | 3.8 | 2.9 |
Education | 4.4 | 5.0 |
Regulators & Max Leverage | 1:30 (FSA UK), 1:30 (CONSOB), 1:25 (JFSA), 1:20 (SFC), 1:30 (ASIC), 1:50 (AFM), 1:30 (FCA), 1:20 (MAS), 1:100 (FINMA) | 1:100 (FINMA), 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (DFSA), 1:20 (SFC), 1:30 (MFSA), 1:20 (MAS), 1:30 (CSSF), 1:30 (CySEC) |
Foundation Year | 1992 | 1996 |
Fees Test | Medium | Medium |
Tradable Instruments | 36071 | 506 |
Trading Platforms | SaxoTrader | MT5, MT4, CFXD |
Minimum Deposit | $0 | $1000 |
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After testing both brokers, I found that Saxo stands out for its platform tools and advanced solutions, while Swissquote is better suited for high-frequency trading. Below, I’ve summarized the key reasons for these conclusions:
Saxo Best for Platform Tools and Solutions |
Swissquote Best for High-frequency Trading |
Professional-grade proprietary platform | Average execution speed around 9 milliseconds |
Multiple ways to enhance its performance | Feature-rich proprietary platform + MT4, MT5 |
72,000+ instruments | FIX API offering |
Robust research content | Robust research content |
Autochartist, Dynamic Trend, and Update third-party tools | Trading signals from Autochartist |
Extremely high protection level | Choice of millions of instruments |
Saxo is a Danish investment bank founded in 1992. It is licensed exclusively by Tier-1 regulators, reinforcing its strong trustworthiness. Saxo stands out with its versatile proprietary platform, which I found to be among the best in the industry. The bank offers an extensive range of over 72,000 tradable instruments, catering to both traders and investors.
Saxo is best suited for wealthy investors seeking to diversify their portfolios. It offers a mix of speculative trading instruments and dividend-paying assets, allowing traders to capitalize on both short-term opportunities and long-term investments.
The standout feature of Saxo is its versatile proprietary platform, SaxoTraderGo, which also has a Pro version for seasoned professionals. The platform is highly customizable, with clear, detailed charts that enhance price action analysis. Additionally, Saxo’s OpenAPI supports algorithmic traders, providing high-precision trading capabilities.
Recommended in 5 best broker guides: |
ASIC | Mac Trading | Big Accounts | Futures | Forex Apps in Europe |
Founded in 1996 and headquartered near Geneva, Swissquote is another industry veteran. The broker provides clients with millions of tradable and investment instruments across multiple markets. Its proprietary CFXD platform is versatile and feature-rich, offering advanced technical analysis tools and efficient order execution.
I found that Swissquote is particularly well-suited for intraday traders and scalpers. The broker offers lightning-fast execution speeds, minimizing the risk of negative slippage and enabling high-precision trading.
Swissquote stands out for its exceptional order execution speeds, averaging around 9 milliseconds. This is possible because Swissquote operates as a bank, granting it access to deep interbank liquidity. Additionally, the broker offers a FIX API, further enhancing its capabilities for low-latency trading.
Recommended in 8 best broker guides: |
Forex | Platforms | Regulated | MT4 | MT5 | Scalping | Commodities | Share CFDs in Europe |
Trust Rank | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Regulators & Max Leverage | 1:30 (FSA UK), 1:30 (CONSOB), 1:25 (JFSA), 1:20 (SFC), 1:30 (ASIC), 1:50 (AFM), 1:30 (FCA), 1:20 (MAS), 1:100 (FINMA) | 1:100 (FINMA), 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (DFSA), 1:20 (SFC), 1:30 (MFSA), 1:20 (MAS), 1:30 (CSSF), 1:30 (CySEC) |
Foundation Year | 1992 | 1996 |
Publicly Traded | ||
Has a Bank |
Saxo is regulated by nine top-tier financial authorities, ensuring compliance with the industry’s strictest safety standards. The bank guarantees segregation of client funds, provides negative balance protection, and participates in client compensation schemes. Additionally, Saxo maintains a positive A- rating by S&P Global Ratings, further reinforcing its stability and transparency.
Swissquote is publicly listed on a major stock exchange – the SIX Swiss Exchange – with a market capitalization of CHF 3.65 billion. It is licensed by seven Tier-1 regulators, including the FCA, FINMA, CySEC, and CSSF. The broker meets all essential safety requirements, including negative balance protection, ensuring a high level of client security.
Fees Rank | 4.1 | 3.8 |
Inactivity Fee |
Saxo’s Classic account is the most accessible in terms of minimum deposit requirements, featuring floating spreads from 0.9 pips. However, a fixed round-turn commission of $6.00 applies to trades under $50,000, which may be less favorable for small account holders. This commission is waived for larger trades, making it more suitable for traders with higher account balances. Additionally, interest is payable on unused account balances starting from €10,000.
Swissquote’s Standard account offers commission-free trading with floating spreads from 1.4 pips. Compared to the broader industry, its trading fees range from average to high. Swap fees are slightly above the industry average, and the broker imposes a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000 for the Standard account.
For more options, you can also check out our list of the best forex brokers with the lowest spreads and lowest swap fees.
Platform Rank | 4.6 | 4.5 |
Trading Platforms | SaxoTrader | MT5, MT4, CFXD |
Mobile Apps | Android, iOS | Android, iOS |
Saxo has developed the excellent SaxoTraderGo and SaxoTraderPro proprietary platforms, which I consider among the best in the industry due to their intuitive and highly customizable designs. SaxoTraderGo is a web-based platform featuring advanced charting, one-click trading, and account stop-out levels, making it ideal for short-term traders. It also includes trading signals from Autochartist, built-in market research, and educational resources, catering to beginners. The SaxoTraderGo mobile app provides the same functionality as the web platform. SaxoTraderPRO, a fully customizable desktop platform, is designed for professional multi-asset traders, offering options chains and multi-channel linking. Saxo also integrates TradingView and Dynamic Trend for additional market insights.
Swissquote has heavily invested in its proprietary CFXD platform, which includes 150+ analytical tools for advanced technical analysis. CFXD’s TradingView-powered charts ensure a seamless trading experience, and the platform supports advanced order types like OCO orders. Additionally, Swissquote offers the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 suite, with Autochartist integrated directly into CFXD and available as an MT4/MT5 plugin. For traders requiring low-latency execution, Swissquote also provides a FIX API.
Tradable Instruments Rank | 4.5 | 4.9 |
# Tradable Instruments | 36071 | 506 |
# Currency Pairs | 194 | 83 |
# Commodities | 55 | 25 |
# Crypto | 126 | 35 |
# Stocks | 23500 | 335 |
# Indices | 56 | 25 |
Saxo offers over 72,000 trading and investing instruments. The broker strikes a fine balance between higher-yield/risk assets, such as share CFDs, indices, and cryptocurrencies, and lower-risk securities like bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds. Its clients can use this diversity to implement a wide variety of trading strategies and better manage their market exposure.
Swissquote shines in the instruments category, offering its clients access to over 3 million trading and investing instruments. Traders can choose from lower-risk securities, such as ETFs and bonds, as well as higher-yield/risk assets, like share CFDs and cryptocurrencies.
Customer Support Rank | 4.3 | 4.5 |
Availability | Available 24/5 | Available 24/5 |
Live Chat |
Saxo’s customer support is surprisingly disappointing, given the bank’s excellent performance in other categories. There is no live chat option, phone support, or email form for general inquiries. The only source of information is the broker’s exhaustive FAQ section, which contains answers to most general types of questions.
Swissquote provides 24/5 customer support through email and over the phone. Live chat is available for registered clients. Additionally, there is an intuitive chatbot that proves quite helpful for more general queries. For questions sent via email, one can expect a response from Swissquote within one business day. Overall, I find Swissquote’s customer support to be fairly reliable.
Research Rank | 5.0 | 4.8 |
News (Top-Tier Sources) | ||
Economic calendar | ||
Videos/Webinars | ||
Trading Central (Recognia) | ||
Autochartist |
Saxo offers diverse and highly practical research content. Clients have access to a wide variety of market breakdowns, trading analyses, webinars, podcasts, and seminars. Additionally, actionable trading ideas from Autochartist, one of the most trusted market analysis providers in the industry, are incorporated directly into the SaxoTraderGo platform. This integration helps intraday traders make fast and well-informed decisions.
Swissquote’s research content is multifaceted, offering both beginners and seasoned traders a probing outlook into current market developments. Swissquote provides plenty of unconventional research materials developed in-house, such as its proprietary magazine and actionable trading signals from Autochartist. This diversity provides traders with a 360-degree overview of market trends and trading opportunities.
Deposit and Withdrawal Rank | 3.6 | 3.4 |
Deposit Options | Wire Transfer, Credit Card, Debit Card | Wire Transfer, Credit Card, Visa, Mastercard |
Withdrawal Options | Wire Transfer | Wire Transfer, Credit Card, Visa, Mastercard |
Withdrawal Fee |
Saxo accepts payments via credit/debit cards and bank wire transfers, but does not support e-wallets or crypto wallets. The broker does not charge handling fees for deposits and withdrawals, though third-party banking fees may apply. Transactions are typically processed within the same business day, except for bank wire transfers, which may take 2 to 5 business days.
Payments to and from Swissquote can be made via bank wire, credit card, or debit card. Deposits are free of charge; however, withdrawals incur a handling fee, which varies depending on the account’s base currency. Swissquote processes payment requests within one business day.
Account Types and Terms | 3.8 | 2.9 |
# Base Currencies | 194 | 83 |
Islamic Account | ||
Demo Account | ||
Minimum Deposit | $0 | $1000 |
Saxo provides three retail account types: Classic, Platinum, and VIP, with minimum deposit requirements of €0, €200,000, and €1,000,000, respectively. All accounts follow the same pricing structure, featuring a $6 round-turn commission and floating spreads starting from 0.7 pips. Islamic (swap-free) accounts are not available.
Swissquote offers three retail account types, each designed to support high-frequency trading. The Standard account requires a relatively high minimum deposit of $1,000 but comes with many perks, such as free access to content from Autochartist. Traders are protected by Swissquote’s additional safety mechanisms, including a margin call at 100% and stop-out at 30%. The broker offers a choice of 10 base currencies, as well as swap-free trading options via its Islamic accounts.
Education Rank | 4.4 | 5.0 |
Videos | ||
Webinars |
Saxo’s educational materials are well-balanced and diverse. They comprise mostly educational articles and videos covering a wide range of topics – from the basics of technical and fundamental analysis to the intricacies of risk management and trading psychology. There are also multiple videos explaining how to use Saxo’s professional trading platforms.
Swissquote provides comprehensive educational materials primarily geared toward technical analysis. The content is diverse and available in multiple formats, including ebooks, courses, and articles that offer beginners balanced and highly informative insights into the ABCs of technical analysis. However, there is less emphasis on the intricacies of fundamental analysis or trading psychology.
Since 2011, FX Empire has developed a detailed methodology for evaluating CFD brokers, involving over 250 variables across nine crucial categories. Our team of experts, with deep industry knowledge, conducts live testing and research by interacting with the brokers directly. We check regulations, open accounts, test spreads, account costs, platform functionality, instrument variety, customer support reliability, and the quality of research and educational content. This granular analysis helps us identify each broker’s strengths and weaknesses, keeping our comparisons current with market trends and ensuring our guides meet traders’ needs.
We strive to evaluate each broker objectively, considering how their offerings align with the diverse trading goals and preferences of our readers. Our focus is on providing a balanced overview of each broker’s strengths and weaknesses. This method ensures that our readers receive clear, insightful comparisons to aid in making well-informed trading decisions.
We employ a comprehensive rating system across nine key categories:
In each category, we conduct an in-depth analysis for both brokers, outlining features, advantages, and disadvantages and determining their suitability for different trader profiles. By blending insights from our extensive reviews with first-hand experiences and observations, we ensure each comparison is balanced, informative, and tailored to the trader’s unique needs. You can read more about our review process here.