Head to head

ThinkMarkets vs Axi — which broker is better?

ThinkMarkets or Axi? Fees, regulation, platform and product range compared side by side — with a verdict drawn from the data.

Risk warning: CFDs and leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly. Investments can fall in value. Past performance is not an indicator of future results.

ThinkMarkets

Raw-spread pricing, six licences and the best mobile app in the CFD category - held back by its withdrawal record.

4,1

Group index 79/100Protection depends on your legal entity

FCAASICJFSA+3

Stocks (per order): in the spread
Minimum deposit: None
EUR/USD spread: 1.1 pips

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Axi

A 2007-vintage Australian FX broker that has quietly become one of the better all-round CFD platforms — if you check which entity you sign with.

3,9

Group index 71/100Protection depends on your legal entity

ASICFCADFSA+1

Stocks (per order): in the spread
Minimum deposit: US$100
EUR/USD spread: 0.7 pips

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Advertising disclosure: where a partnership is active, we may earn a commission through broker links. The provider’s terms apply. Commissions do not influence our ratings; paid placements are separately labelled as sponsored.

The verdict in numbers

Four decision axes, each derived from the recorded data.

Overall ThinkMarkets takes it, 4.1 against 3.9 out of 5. On commissions there is little between them — €5.00 against €5.00 for a reference EUR 5,000 order. ThinkMarkets scores 79 against 71 out of 100 on the group index. Your account's protection depends on its legal entity. Both cover 8 of 14 asset classes. On platform and app ThinkMarkets is ahead, 4.4 against 4.3 out of 5. Which one is right depends on which of these axes matters for your trading profile.

Overall score

ThinkMarkets: 4.1 — Better
Axi: 3.9

CostsTie

ThinkMarkets: €5.00
Axi: €5.00

Group indexNo winner

ThinkMarkets: 79 of 100
Axi: 71 of 100

Product rangeTie

ThinkMarkets: 8/14
Axi: 8/14

Platform & app

ThinkMarkets: 4.4 — Better
Axi: 4.3

Compare brokers side by side

Up to four brokers at once — every row a decision point.

Data as of: 30 Aug 2026

Best value in the row

ThinkMarkets · Axi
Criterion	ThinkMarkets 4,1 Visit broker	Axi 3,9 Visit broker

Overall score	4.1 — Better	3.9
Group index	79 of 100	71 of 100
Best for	Active FX tradersMobile-first tradersRaw-spread scalpingShare CFD breadthCopy trading	Active FX and CFD tradersCopy-trading followers and signal providersTraders chasing funded capitalMulti-currency account holdersMetaTrader EA users

Regulation	FCAASICJFSACySECFSCAFSA	ASICFCADFSAFSA
Top-tier licences	3 — Better	2
Investor protection	£85,000	£85,000
Listed group	No	No
Banking licence	No	No
Segregated client accounts	Yes	Yes
Negative balance protection	Yes	Yes
Audited financials	No	No
Disclosed regulatory actions	None	1
Founded	2010	2007
Headquarters	London, GB	Sydney, AU

Fees	4.4 — Better	4.1
Safety & regulation	4.1 — Better	3.4
Trading platform	4.3 — Better	4.2
Product range	3.9 — Better	3.6
Mobile app	4.5 — Better	4.3
Research	3.6	3.8 — Better
Customer support	3.9	4.2 — Better
Deposit & withdrawal	3.8	4.3 — Better
Account opening	4.4 — Better	4.2
Education	3.2	4.0 — Better

Reference order EUR 5,000	€5.00	€5.00
Minimum deposit	None — Better	US$100
Stocks (per order)	in the spread	in the spread
US stocks	in the spread	n/a
ETFs	in the spread	in the spread
Options	Not offered	Not offered
Futures	Not offered	Not offered
Crypto	in the spread	in the spread
Bonds (order)	n/a	n/a
Funds (order)	n/a	n/a
EUR/USD spread	1.1 pips	0.7 pips — Better
Index CFD spread	n/a	n/a
FX conversion	n/a	n/a
Inactivity fee	£10 · after 6 months	n/a
Custody fee	n/a	n/a
Withdrawal fee	free	free
Deposit fee	Free on every published method except PayPal deposits in Australia, which carry a 2.5 percent charge.	free
Overnight financing	n/a	n/a
Other fees	EUR/USD all-in cost (ThinkZero): About 0.8 pips - roughly a 0.1 pip raw spread plus USD 3.50 per lot per side EUR/USD spread (Standard): Around 1.1 pips as a monthly average, no separate commission ThinkZero commission: USD 3.50 per standard lot per side on forex and metals - USD 7 round turn ThinkZero minimum deposit: USD 100 Standard account minimum deposit: None Minimum withdrawal: USD 100 +2	Standard account: No commission; EUR/USD from 0.7 pips, gold from 16 cents, BTC/USD from USD 12, ETH/USD from USD 1.25. Minimum deposit USD 100. Pro account: EUR/USD from 0.0 pips plus USD 4.50 commission per standard lot round turn; gold from 9 cents. Minimum deposit USD 100. Elite account: EUR/USD from 0.0 pips plus USD 3.50 commission per standard lot round turn. Minimum deposit USD 25,000; base currencies limited to USD, EUR, GBP and AUD. Inactivity fee: Axi reserves the right to charge a monthly fee after 12 months with no trading activity and no open positions. The amount depends on your account currency and is stated only in the Product Schedule, not on the public fees page — we have not recorded a figure because none is published. Deposit and withdrawal fees: None charged by Axi; card issuers may apply cash-advance charges and receiving banks may charge on international wires Swap / overnight financing: Applied daily at the 17:00 New York close, can be positive or negative; triple swap on Wednesdays or Thursdays depending on the instrument +1

Asset classes (of 14)	8	8
Exchanges	n/a	n/a
Stocks	Yes	Yes
ETFs	Yes	Yes
Options	No	No
Futures	No	No
Forex	Yes	Yes
CFDs	Yes	Yes
Crypto	Yes	Yes
Bonds	No	No
Funds	No	No
Commodities	Yes	Yes
Indices	Yes	Yes
Warrants	No	No
Spread betting	No	No
Social trading	Yes	Yes

Platforms	ThinkTraderThinkTrader mobileMetaTrader 4MetaTrader 5TradingViewThinkCopy and ZuluTrade	Axi Trading PlatformMetaTrader 4MetaTrader 5Axi Copy TradingAxi mobile apps
Demo account	Yes	Yes
Fractional shares	No	No
Maximum leverage	1:30 · Pro 1:500	1:1000
Account opening	Fully digital, commonly approved the same business day	Fully online with ID and proof-of-address upload; most accounts approved the same or next business day
Account types	StandardThinkZeroIslamic (swap-free)Demo	StandardProEliteSwap-free (Islamic)

Payment methods	Bank transferSEPACredit cardDebit cardPayPalSkrillNetellerApple PayGoogle PayCrypto	Bank transferCredit cardDebit cardSkrillNetellerCrypto
Account currencies	USDEURGBPAUDCHFSGDNZD	AUDCADCHFEURGBPHKDJPYNZDPLNSGD+1
Deposit time	Instant for cards and e-wallets, 1-3 business days by bank transfer	Instant for cards and e-wallets; 1–3 business days for bank transfer. Local payment rails vary by region.
Withdrawal time	Processed within 24 hours by the broker, then 1-7 business days to reach your account	Same-day processing on most methods; 1–3 business days to reach the account
Free withdrawals	n/a	n/a

Languages	EnglishGermanSpanishFrenchItalianPortugueseChineseArabicJapaneseThai	EnglishGermanSpanishFrenchItalianPortuguesePolishArabicChineseThai+7
Channels	PhoneEmailLive chat	Live chatEmailPhoneWhatsApp
Availability	24/5 for clients of the FCA and ASIC entities	24/7 multilingual support, advertised across 17 languages

Strengths and weaknesses side by side

Editorial assessment based on the recorded data.

ThinkMarkets

Raw-spread pricing, six licences and the best mobile app in the CFD category - held back by its withdrawal record.

4,1

Pros

ThinkZero all-in EUR/USD cost of about 0.8 pips - raw spreads from 0.0 pips plus USD 3.50 per lot per side on forex and metals
Three top-tier licences - FCA 629628, ASIC AFSL 424700 and JFSA registration 0250 - alongside CySEC 215/13 and FSCA FSP 49835
Roughly 3,260 instruments on ThinkMarkets' own contract table, including 2,796 share CFDs and 324 ETF CFDs, which is unusually broad for a CFD-only broker
ThinkTrader mobile is a full trading client with proper charting, drawing tools and server-side alerts, and is consistently rated among the best mobile apps in the category
No minimum deposit on the Standard account and no broker fee on deposits or withdrawals on the published methods
Seven base currencies including CHF, AUD, SGD and NZD, which removes a conversion layer for clients outside the euro and dollar
Copy trading through both the in-house ThinkCopy layer and the ZuluTrade network, plus MT4, MT5 and TradingView on the same account

Cons

75 percent of ThinkMarkets UK retail accounts lose money trading CFDs, and disclosures across the group's entities have ranged from roughly 68 percent to 89 percent
Withdrawals are the recurring complaint in public reviews: repeated document requests on already-verified accounts, multi-week delays, and disputed payments marked as successful. A USD 100 minimum withdrawal adds friction on top
Dormancy is charged on the UK entity: GBP 10 per month from day 181 without a trade, for as long as the balance is positive. The CySEC, ASIC and offshore entities publish no comparable figure we could verify
No published currency conversion rate, so the true cost of trading a US share CFD from a EUR or GBP account cannot be modelled before you trade
The FG Acquisition Corp SPAC merger that would have listed the group in Toronto never completed, so there are no public accounts and no listed-company disclosure
No listed options, no exchange-traded futures, no bonds, no funds and no share ownership - the entire book is contracts for difference

Best for

Active FX tradersMobile-first tradersRaw-spread scalpingShare CFD breadthCopy trading

Axi

A 2007-vintage Australian FX broker that has quietly become one of the better all-round CFD platforms — if you check which entity you sign with.

3,9

Pros

Pro account at USD 4.50 round turn per standard lot on 0.0-pip spreads, available from a USD 100 minimum rather than a five-figure balance
Proprietary Axi Trading Platform covers 650+ markets with TradingView charting built in and true web-to-mobile position sync
Three distinct crypto routes — CFDs to 200:1, perpetual futures on around 150 coins, and spot crypto you actually own
Eleven account base currencies including CHF, PLN, HKD, JPY and SGD, which removes a conversion step for non-euro clients
24/7 support in 17 languages across live chat, phone, email and WhatsApp — better coverage than most brokers this size
Axi Select funded-trader programme is free to join, with six stages from USD 5,000 to USD 1,000,000 and profit splits rising to 80%
Long operating history since 2007 with tier-1 ASIC and FCA licences alongside a DFSA licence in the DIFC
Copy trading via a dedicated app where copiers control their own sizing and risk rather than buying into a managed pool

Cons

Most international clients are booked with AxiTrader LLC in St Vincent and the Grenadines — no prudential supervision, no compensation scheme, and The Financial Commission rather than a regulator as escalation
We found no EEA-licensed Axi entity in its published legal documentation, so EU residents are contracting offshore by default
An inactivity fee applies after 12 months of dormancy but the amount is disclosed only in the Product Schedule, never on the public fees page
Leverage up to 1000:1 on the offshore entity, and 200:1 on crypto CFDs, is a retail-harm profile rather than a genuine benefit
No real shares, no ETF units you can own, no bonds, no funds and no listed options — the equity and ETF range is CFD-only
No German Abgeltungsteuer or Austrian KESt withholding, and Axi's own UK disclosures show 66–72% of retail accounts losing money

Best for

Active FX and CFD tradersCopy-trading followers and signal providersTraders chasing funded capitalMulti-currency account holdersMetaTrader EA users

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