Estonia-based, multi-Tier-1-regulated broker with deep MetaTrader tooling and a real share/ETF investing option.
Admirals' homepage.
Admirals (rebranded from Admiral Markets in March 2021) has been operating since 2001 out of Tallinn, Estonia, and holds one of the broader regulatory footprints we cover: its home regulator, the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority, plus the FCA in the UK, CySEC in Cyprus, and ASIC in Australia, alongside a Seychelles entity for clients outside those regions. That regulatory breadth, combined with account flexibility that goes beyond pure CFD trading, is central to its strong standing in our comparison.
What sets Admirals apart from most brokers on this list is Invest.MT5: an account offering real share and ETF ownership (not just CFDs) with a minimum deposit as low as $1, alongside the more conventional Trade.MT5 and Zero.MT4/MT5 accounts for forex and CFD trading.
The standard Trade.MT5 account carries a headline EUR/USD spread of roughly 0.8-0.9 pips with no commission. The Zero account offers raw pricing plus a per-lot commission, functioning as the ECN-style option for higher-volume traders. Recent testing puts its EUR/USD average around 0.09 pips, among the tightest raw tiers we cover. Minimum deposit sits around €100 for Trade.MT5, though this can vary by account type and region.
Admirals is MetaTrader-only: MT4 and MT5, with no cTrader or proprietary all-in-one platform. Where it differentiates is depth of MetaTrader tooling. The free MetaTrader Supreme Edition plugin suite adds extra order-management and charting tools, and StereoTrader (a more advanced order-management add-on) is available free above a €4,000 equity threshold.
Admirals is a strong choice if you want the option of real investing (shares/ETFs) alongside forex trading under one broker, or want more MetaTrader tooling than the stock platform offers. The trade-off is a fee structure that takes more effort to fully understand than some simpler competitors, so read the account terms for your specific tier carefully before depositing.
| Regulated by | FCA (595450); CySEC (201/13); ASIC (AFSL 410681); FSCA (51311); Seychelles FSA (SD073); JSC Jordan (57026); CMA Kenya (178); EFSA (4.1-1/46) |
|---|---|
| Regulator tier | Tier 1 |
| Register entry | FCA Financial Services Register, FRN 595450 |
| Client money segregated | Yes |
| Held at | Reputable regulated banking institutions |
| Negative balance protection | Yes |
| Compensation scheme | FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; ICF up to €20,000 for eligible Cyprus clients; additional insurance up to €100,000 under applicable entity |
| Audited by | PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) |
| Not available to | United States, Canada, Japan, Belgium and other jurisdictions where services are restricted or prohibited |
| Spread from | 0.0 pips |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD spread | Approx. 0.1 pips on Zero account |
| GBP/USD spread | Approx. 0.6 pips on Zero account |
| Commission | From $3 per side / $6 round turn |
| All-in cost, EUR/USD | Approx. 0.7 pips |
| Spread type | Variable |
| Overnight swap | Both: overnight swaps apply; swap-free trading available |
| Inactivity fee | €10/month after 24 months inactivity |
| Deposit fee | None for most methods |
| Withdrawal fee | One free withdrawal per month; subsequent withdrawals may incur fees |
| Currency conversion | 1% |
| Minimum deposit | $25 |
|---|---|
| Account types | Trade.MT5, Zero.MT5, Trade.MT4, Zero.MT4, Invest.MT5, Demo |
| Account currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, BGN, CZK, HRK, HUF, PLN, RON, AUD and other entity-dependent currencies |
| Islamic account | Yes |
| Demo account | Yes; 30-day expiry with extension available |
| Professional account | Yes |
| Minimum trade size | 0.01 lots |
| Time to open | Typically a few minutes |
| Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Admirals Platform |
|---|---|
| Own platform | Yes, Admirals Platform |
| Mobile app | Both proprietary and third-party |
| Browser trading | Yes |
| Automated trading | Yes; Expert Advisors, automated trading, backtesting and VPS |
| Copy trading | Yes |
| Indicators | 38+ MT5 indicators; additional via MetaTrader Supreme Edition |
| Third-party tools | MetaTrader Supreme Edition, StereoTrader, Trading Central/Premium Analytics, VPS |
| API access | Yes |
| Markets | Forex, Shares, ETFs, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Bonds |
|---|---|
| Currency pairs | 80+ |
| Total instruments | 7,500+ |
| Crypto CFDs | Yes |
| Maximum leverage | 1:30 |
| Execution model | Market execution |
| Execution speed | Approx. 150ms |
| Order types | Market, limit, stop, stop-limit, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop, OCO, OCA |
| Servers | London and other global data centres |
| Deposit methods | Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Klarna, Trustly and local payment methods |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer, Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller and applicable local methods |
| Deposit time | Instant for cards and most e-wallets; bank transfers typically 1-3 business days |
| Withdrawal time | Typically same day to 3 business days depending on method |
| Minimum withdrawal | $1 |
| Local payment methods | Yes; extensive country-specific local payment methods |
| Support hours | 24/5 |
|---|---|
| Contact channels | Live chat, email, phone |
| Languages | 20+ languages |
| Telephone | +44 20 8157 7344 |
| global@admiralmarkets.com | |
| Live chat response | Typically under 2 minutes |
| Education | Extensive: courses, webinars, articles, tutorials, ebooks and videos |
| Research | Extensive: market news, fundamental and technical analysis, Premium Analytics, sentiment analysis, podcasts and forecasts |