Independent Review - RoboForex
Contents
Introduction and Comments
Website: https://roboforex.com/
Operated by the RoboForex Group, which also operates RoboMarkets. The RoboForex website is the global presence for the company, and because of that it is domiciled in Belize, even though the parent company has its headquarters in the European Union. The RoboForex website is licensed and regulated in Belize, operating under license number 000138/107.
The RoboForex brand has been around since 2009, and because it is a global brand it has become the most popular of the RoboForex Group brands with over 2,291,006 clients in more than 169 countries as of 2018.
Forex features heavily as an asset class at this broker, but it offers many other assets too. Clients can choose from eight different asset classes for their trading, which includes a variety of commodities, stocks, indices, and cryptocurrencies.
Staying with the theme of variety, the broker also gives clients the choice of six different trading platforms, including two excellent social trading platforms. Clients are spoiled for choice at RoboForex.
The broker comes with some excellent characteristics, which include the following:
- Spreads starting as low as 0 pips.
- Minimum 0.01 lot trade size.
- Six different trading platforms including MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, R Trader, and cTrader.
- A number of different promotions and bonuses.
- Regulation, insurance on deposits, and a secure platform.
The broker has become so popular because it offers its clients an excellent environment to conduct their trading, as you can see from the details already provided. In addition to offering more than 12,000 assets on six platforms, it is available in more than 169 countries and in 17 different languages. It is truly a global broker.
Plus, it’s a suitable broker for traders of all experience levels, from those who are brand new to financial markets to those with decades of experience.
One final positive for some is the fact that RoboForex, as you might have guessed from the name, embraces all kinds of automated trading.
Below we go into further detail regarding the various aspects of the broker’s business to help you decide if it is a suitable place for you to trade. Finally, we will conclude with our independent opinion based on the experience we’ve had reviewing dozens of other brokers.
A Quick Look at RoboForex
One of the keys to our research included registering for a demo account at RoboForex. This allowed us to test their trading platform, their mobile platform, and the responsiveness and utility of both. Creating this demo account took all of 60 seconds.
We immediately found that this broker is ideal for execution thanks to offering both STP and ECN access to the markets. It is also a great place to diversify holdings with its more than 12,000 different available assets.
Choice and flexibility are the keys at this broker. Multiple account types, multiple platforms, many different asset classes, and access to a variety of deposit and withdrawal options are just a start. The broker also operates in 18 different languages, has some of the lowest spreads in the industry, offers many different bonuses and promotions, has leverage up to 2000:1 on some assets, and provides insurance for client deposits. It should come as no surprise that the broker received 10 industry awards in 2019 alone.
Another important aspect of the broker is its focus on technical superiority. It is well aware that clients want technology that is robust, secure, and cutting edge, and they deliver. Every action we took on the platform went smoothly, there were no glitches or bugs that we discovered, and the platforms offer more features than nearly any trader will ever use.
Because of its flexibility and wide offerings RoboForex is a broker that’s suitable for traders of any level. Whether a beginner or a professional, clients will get what they need from this broker, from ease of use for beginners, to powerful analysis capabilities for those with more experience. Add to that small minimum deposits and trade sizes and you can see why so many traders have made the choice to trade with RoboForex.
Read on and get in-depth details regarding this broker and its features.
Regulations & Licenses
Countries/Regulators
RoboForex is fully licensed and registered by the IFSC in Belize. In addition, they also hold a license for trading financial securities and derivatives with the sequence number 000138/107.
Besides the license the broker has also procured a Category A regulation from The Financial Commission (TFC). This is an international licensed issued by TFC, which is in the U.K. and Hong Kong. It provides neutral arbitration if necessary, and provides each client with insurance of up to €20,000 in the event the broker would encounter financial distress.
They also hold a Category A regulation from TFC. This international license is issued by an organization with offices in Hong Kong and the U.K. The purpose of TFC is to provide a neutral arbitrator when needed, and to provide clients with insurance coverage up to €20,000 in the event of financial distress in the company.
As a further protection the broker has obtained additional insurance to meet the obligations to its clients at all times. In short, they have implemented a Civil Liability insurance program for a limit of 5,000,000 EUR, which includes market-leading coverage against omissions, fraud, errors, negligence, and other risks that may lead to financial losses of clients.
NOTE: RoboForex do not provide their services to residents of the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.
Languages
As an international broker RoboForex offers its website in 18 different languages and support in 12 different languages. This means many clients can trade and receive support in their own native language.
Account Types
Retail Trader Accounts
Like many online brokers RoboForex has several account tiers that offer different levels of service and trading conditions. These range from a Pro-Standard/Pro-Cent account level up to the Prime account level.
Pro-Standard Account: This is the base level account at the broker, and it is east accessible as it has a low minimum deposit of just $10. Floating spreads begin at just 1.3 pips, leverage goes up to 2000:1 on some asset classes, and there are no additional fees or commissions levied.
Pro-Cent Account: This account is a “smaller” version of the Pro-Standard account and is meant for beginning traders or for those who wish to test strategies with small trades. It also has a $10 minimum, but the trade size is just 1/10 that of the Pro-Standard account. Leverage is also reduced to 2000:1. To note RoboForex is the market maker for the accounts and takes the other side on all trades.
ECN Account: The minimum deposit on this account is still $10, but we think the trading environment is improved by the ECN trading. Floating spreads here begin at 0 pips, which is offset somewhat by a commission of $20 per $1 million traded. This is still an improvement over the far larger spreads on the Pro-Standard and Pro-Cent accounts. Leverage is lowered to 500:1, but that should be plenty for anyone. The account is also not able to take advantage of the bonuses offered at RoboForex, but it does come with a 15% cash-back on commissions.
Prime Account: This is the top tier account and differs from others with a $10 minimum deposit. It keeps the 0 pip starting spreads, and the 2000:1 leverage, but commissions are reduced to $15 per $1 million traded. It also offers 5% Cashback (Rebates), effectively lowering the commission rate to $14.25 per $1 million traded. One other difference is that Prime accounts are limited to the MetaTrader 4, R WebTrader trading platform, making this account best for forex traders.
R-Trader Account: This is the fifth and final account type, and it is only for clients who choose to use the R-Trader platform, which is RoboForex’s proprietary platform. This does offer some benefit to traders since there are far more assets offered on the R-Trader platform, currently 12,000. The minimum deposit for the account is $100, but Stocks leverage is up to 1:20 and the account is not eligible to receive bonuses.
In addition to the account tiers each trader is eligible to join the VIP program. This program has three levels – Silver, Gold, and Platinum, with each giving an increase in bonuses and cash-back. The Bronze level is activated once a client’s account balance reaches $3,000 and it gives a 20% cash-back bonus, a dedicated account manager, and improved order conditions for those using a VPS. Higher levels increase the cash-back and other bonuses.
Demo Account
Demo accounts are available to everyone to practice trading or test strategies without risking any real money. Prospective traders can test any of the trading platforms in the demo account, and the cash-back rewards also apply to demo accounts, which allow traders to see how this cash-back reward affects their trading results. Demo accounts do expire after 90 days, but users are allowed to open as many demo accounts as they like.
Fees, Costs & Spreads
RoboForex does not impose additional fees on its clients and is very upfront about the spreads and commissions charged on accounts and on all the different assets offered. Spreads start at 0 pips for ECN accounts, and 1.3 pips for STP accounts. In addition, the ECN accounts are subject to commissions of $15-20 per $1 million traded. RoboForex also receives a small portion of the spread and a small commission from its liquidity provider, but this has no impact on traders.
Besides the basic spreads and commissions there are financing costs associated with leveraged positions, and any positions held overnight are subject to swap charges or credits. Clients also receive any corporate actions such as dividends credited to their account.
Deposits & Withdrawals
There are nearly two dozen deposit and withdrawal methods at RoboForex, which is right in line with the broker’s obvious focus on flexibility and choice for its clients. In all cases there are no fees imposed for deposits, while there are different fee structures for each withdrawal method.
The time frame for crediting deposits and processing withdrawals also differs based on the method used. Deposits from credit cards are instantaneous, but deposits from other sources might take several business days to process. Withdrawals can see delays of up to 10 business days in the case of bank transfers or credit cards.
Fees range from 1.6% for bank transfers to 0.8% for WebMoney. In the case of Netteller there is a 1.9% withdrawal fee, while Skrill withdrawals are subject to a 1% fee.
In all cases you can only deposit from and withdraw to an account that is in your name.
Trading Platforms
Clients at Roboforex can choose from six different trading platforms, which includes the two social trading platforms offered at the broker. Basic trading platforms include both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, the broker’s proprietary R-Trader platform, and the popular cTrader.
MetaTrader 4: This is the well-known, popular, award winning platform that’s considered the standard for technical charting. It not only comes with a powerful set of indicators, it is also extremely extensible, and there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of third-party add-ons created for the platform. These include the Expert Advisors which make automated trading possible using MetaTrader 4.
MetaTrader 5: This is the newest version of the MetaTrader platform, and despite it being touted as an improvement, it isn’t. There is no backward compatibility with MetaTrader 4, and there is no way to use hedging strategies with MetaTrader 5. It is called the most technologically advanced platform, but its predecessor MetaTrader 4 remains more popular because it is the better platform.
cTrader: This is another very popular trading platform, and it works very well with the ECN account because it was created specifically for ECN trading. The platform fully supports automated trading, and it allows for the easy creation of all sorts of technical indicators. Many brokers do not offer cTrader because it is more expensive to license versus MetaTrader’s platforms.
R-Trader: This is the proprietary RoboForex platform and it gives clients access to the complete range of more than 12,000 different assets. Those who expect to trade stocks here will almost certainly want to choose R-Trader as their platform because the equity offerings for the other platforms are significantly limited. If there’s no strong need for the automated trading features that come with MetaTrader 4 or cTrader it’s best to choose R-Trader. There is even a built-in robot creator for clients to create and test automated strategies within R-Trader.
R WebTrader - https://roboforex.com/forex-trading/terminals/webtrader/
Mobile Trading Platforms
There are mobile versions of all the platforms talked about above, and they are available for both Android and iOS users. Roboforex has links to download all the various versions on their website, or clients can go to the respective app stores to download the mobile platform they prefer.
The benefits of using these mobile apps are as follows:
- The ability to access trading account to place buy and sell orders anywhere and anytime.
- Notifications and alerts.
- Charting and analysis on the go.
- Multiple languages available.
- Advanced account and order management.
Other RoboForex Platforms
Besides the four direct trading platforms offered to clients there are an additional two social trading platforms that clients can take advantage of at RoboForex. The most popular of these is the CopyFX platform, where clients can copy the trades of other RoboForex clients. It’s one way for clients to access markets and enjoy excellent performance without the huge time investment of performing their own research.
There is a minimum investment of $100 to access the CopyFX platform, but once inside there are literally thousands of other traders whose performance can be mirrored, so there’s always some good trading opportunities to mirror.
Assets Available
In total there are more than 12,000 assets available, but only the R-Trader accounts have access to all of them. Other account types will see varied access to the assets on offer. For example, most account types have access to 36 different currency pairs. They also have CFDs on several stocks, indices, crude oil, and cryptocurrencies. The Pro-Cent platform only has access to the 36 currency pairs, metals, and cryptocurrencies.
Notification and Alerts
All of the trading platforms offered by RoboForex have a notification system built in. Clients can set alerts based on price levels of various assets, or take advantage of alerts on economic news, technical indicators, or their own custom automated trade alerts. Besides setting the conditions that trigger an alert, traders can also choose to have them sent via email or SMS.
Risk Management Tools
Clients have several features that can function as risk management tools. There are both regular stop orders and trailing stops that can both be used to limit potential losses. The notifications and alerts provided on all the trading platforms can also serve as risk management tools.
Trading Tools and Analysis
The broker provides several trading and analysis tools for clients, such as free technical indicator signals. That gives a variety of technical signals based on various length moving averages, several other indicators, and even a markets sentiment chart. Clients can also take advantage of the analytical feed that provides commercial news, weekly forecasts, Fibonacci and wave analysis, and the general market overview.
There’s also a useful video section that has 5-7-minute currency overviews for major pairs. It’s a great timesaver for when clients don’t have time to do more time-consuming research.
Of course, there’s also an economic calendar available that covers a wide array of upcoming events. There’s also a complete set of fundamental data in this section, including indicators, giving clients a complete fundamental picture in one spot.
Education and Training
In addition to all the tools mentioned above clients also get access to a wealth of educational materials provided by MetaQuotes, the parent company of the MetaTrader platforms. This includes trading strategies, short and long-term, video tutorials, and a few other videos covering VPS hosting, signals, and robo-advisors.
Bonuses and Promotions
RoboForex entices new clients with three different bonuses. These are the Welcome Bonus, the Classic Bonus, and the Profit Share Bonus.
Welcome Bonus: New clients on the Pro-Standard and Pro-Cent accounts can take advantage of this bonus. It’s as easy as registering an account and depositing the $10 minimum either by credit card or debit card. The bonus is $30, which can be used for trading and during drawdown. The bonus itself can’t ever be withdrawn, but any profits made with it can be withdrawn.
Classic Bonus: With the Classic bonus clients can receive a 120% bonus on their first deposit, and on all following deposits. The bonus amount increases based on the amount deposited.
The bonus is designed to increase trading volume in accounts and can only be claimed by Pro-Standard and Pro-Cent accounts using the MT4, MT5, WebTrader platforms. There is a lifetime cap of $50,000 on the Classic bonus, and it cannot be combined with the Profit Share bonus. In addition, it cannot be used for drawdown, however the bonus is eligible to be withdrawn once a certain trading volume is met. This volume requirement is for one full lot traded for every bonus dollar received. That condition is for one full lot for each dollar of bonus received. So a trader who deposited $300 and received a $150 bonus must trade 150 lots to be eligible to withdraw the bonus monies.
Profit Share Bonus: Like the previous bonuses, the Profit Share bonus is only available to Pro-Standard and Pro-Cent account holders who use the MT4, MT5, WebTrader trading platform. This is a bonus on initial deposits, and it can’t be combined with the Classic bonus. The bonus is 25% of the initial deposit of $300 or less, or 60% for initial deposits of more than $300. There is a maximum cap of $10,000 per account and $20,000 per individual for this bonus. The bonus can be used for drawdown, but it cannot be withdrawn, although the profits made using it can be withdrawn.
Customer Support
As you might imagine, the customer support staff at RoboForex is just as professional as is everything else at the broker.
The customer support team is available via online chat, through email, via telephone, or through a webform. Clients can also request a callback if they wish to speak directly to support, but don’t want to bear the cost of the call. Support is provided in twelve different languages, and on a 24/7 basis. Our test of the support staff showed them to be knowledgeable and responsive.
Independent Opinion & Rating
RoboForex has grown to more than 2,291,006 clients since its inception in 2009, which we think goes to show just how popular the broker is, and how well regarded by clients and prospective clients. It’s gained its excellent reputation by sticking solidly to a mission of customer service and satisfaction, and that’s a principle it continues to operate by today.
There are few brokers that can combine a huge variety of assets, multiple excellent platforms, VIP programs and bonuses, award winning programs, top notch customer support, low spreads, and more.
We were also favorably impressed with the CopyFX and RAMM social trading platforms. Both look to be very useful for those who want a more directed trading experience. And the R-Trader platform gives hands-on traders access to more than 12,000 different assets. Not many brokers offer such a wide variety of assets.
All the above, combined with trustworthiness, reliability, regulation, and insured deposits makes RoboForex a broker worth trading with, in our opinion.
Summary
Company Information
IFSC Belize
Account Options
STP
Market Maker
Funding
Bonuses
Customer Service
Trading Software
Trading
Information Services
Instruments / Contracts
Also Available
RoboForex Ltd Special Forexlive Offer:
Welcome Bonus 30 USD
