Here are the 9 pros and cons:

Axi Fact sheet

*The negative balance protection is only available for traders which fall under the ASIC and FCA regulatory jurisdictions, for international traders who are under St. Vincent and Grenadines regulations there is no negative balance protection making it possible for traders to get into debt in case their balance falls below zero while trading with leverage.

Axi is regulated by three different overseeing bodies. These regulators, especially the Australian and UK ones, are known to be very strict regulators, and being under their license means Axi is a legit broker. These are the regulators of Axi:

• Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK
• Financial Services Authority of St. Vincent and Grenadines (SVGFSA)

Having this many regulators is not a small feat for any broker and Axi has the potential of becoming part of popular broker lists if they make their spreads and fees a tad lower. 

Policies that Axi follows

Negative balance protection occurs during leveraged trading when a trader overuses or abuses leverage and loses more than their account balance. Some brokers, especially those who provide traders with direct market access, tend not to have negative balance protection as they are only middlemen and not market makers. But still, many brokers provide negative balance protection which is a very good protective tool for traders who are using leveraged trading. Axi offers negative balance protection for traders from the UK and Australia, but not for international traders who fall under St. Vincent and Grenadines' jurisdiction. Traders have to exercise caution and make sure to check under which jurisdiction their account falls in order to be sure they are covered. 

Axi is part of a compensation fund and will provide its investors' refunds in case it becomes insolvent. Furthermore, all client funds are kept in segregated bank accounts as regulations suggest, which prevents the broker from touching and using client money for operational purposes.

Forex trading on Axi 

Forex is by far the most important and biggest financial market globally. With over 6 trillion dollars traded on a daily basis, it dwarfs all the other markets and is therefore a very attractive market for traders to seek out lucrative opportunities. Because of this, it is crucial that the broker offers Forex pairs with low spreads and competitive fees. Axi has numerous Forex pairs available for relatively low fees and offers several account types for different kinds of traders. Let’s see how low spreads are on some of the most popular Forex pairs. 

• EUR/USD - From 1.2 pips for standard and 0.1 pips for pro
• USD/JPY - From 1.6 pips and 0.7 pips
• GBP/USD - From 1.8 pips and 0.9 pips
• USD/CHF - From 1.9 pips and 0.9 pips

As we can see the spreads are most attractive on the EUR/USD pair, especially for scalping purposes. For scalpers, it is important to trade markets with the lowest spreads possible as they rely heavily on making many small profits throughout the day. Scalping EUR/USD on a Pro account could be the best option as the commission per 100k is 7 USD round turn. The leverage goes up to 1:500 meaning the buying power of the account balance is amplified 500 times, making it possible to trade with a tight budget. For other pairs, scalping is not recommended on Axi accounts. We will describe account types in more detail below. 

Stock CFDs trading on Axi

Axi provides access to EU, US, UK, and Hong Kong stock CFDs on its MetaTrader 4 platform. The maximum leverage for stock CFDs is set to 1:20. It will take a bit more capital to trade stock CFDs when compared to Forex which comes with higher leverage. CFDs, or contracts for difference, are derivatives that represent the underlying asset’s price and enable traders to go long or short on the price, making profits in both bull and bear market conditions without owning the underlying asset. This gives great flexibility to traders. Because of their nature, CFDs are great speculative instruments, they also tend to have very low latency and high execution speeds. Axi has 21 UK share CFDs, 23 EU share CFDs, 69 US share CFDs, and 30 Hong Kong share CFDs. 

Bullion and commodity CFDs trading on Axi

Bullion refers to trading metals, and with Axi they are traded as CFDs. The most popular are gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

The trading terms for hard commodities are as follows:

• XAG/USD (Silver vs USD) from 2.2 pips
• XAU/AUD (Gold vs AUD) from 0.67 pips
• XAU/CHF (Gold vs Swiss Franc) from 0.53 pips
• XAU/EUR (Gold vs Euro) from 0.49 pips 
• XAU/GBP (Gold vs GBP) from 0.48 pips
• XAU/USD (Gold vs USD) from 0.18 pips
• XPT/USD (Platinum vs USD) from 3.68 pips

As we can see Gold trading against USD has the lowest spread from bullion CFDs and is, therefore, the most attractive for trading. 

There are also commodity cash CFDs that include USOIL and UKOIL which have the same spreads, from 3 pips. Commodity future CFDs have more instruments, 9 in total, with soft and hard commodities included and spreads starting from as low as 0.4 pips for BRENT.fs, SILVER.fs, and WTI.fs.

Indices trading on Axi

What makes Axi different from other brokers is how clearly they specify all their tradable instruments with spreads and how easy it is to find what you are getting if you start trading on its platform. Indices are useful for evaluating a sector or a major part of certain markets. The S&P 500, for example, will show the overall performance of the US stock market, and traders and investors use it on a daily basis to analyze the health of the US stock market and US companies. There are 17 index cash CFDs offered by Axi and the lowest spreads are for NETH25 (Netherlands 25) from 0.2 pips, SGFREE (Singapore Free) from 0.25 pips, and US2000 from 0.4 pips. CFDs for indices enable traders to speculate on the basket of underlying assets’ prices easily. 

The S&P 500 is only available as a futures CFD and the spread starts from 0.9 pips. There are 14 index futures CFDs and their spreads are generally higher than for index cash CFDs.

Axi has three account types available each for different types of trading. The accounts are Standard, Pro, and Elite accounts. The Standard account is targeted to a general audience with average spreads and no trading volume commissions. The minimum spreads start from 1.2 pips for the EUR/USD pair and the leverage for Forex pairs is set to 1:500. The leverage is the same for all three accounts and only depends on the asset class traded. For stock CFDs, the maximum allowed leverage is only 1:20 which is pretty attractive considering many brokers are offering 1:5 leverage. Axi Elite is a VIP account that offers lower spreads and commissions than the other two account types. It starts from a 25,000 USD initial deposit and is targeted at experienced traders with significant budgets. Additionally, there is a free demo account and Islamic accounts available. The demo account is free and useful for beginners to learn trading skills and experienced traders to test their new strategies. Islamic accounts enable Islamic traders to trade financial markets while following their religious beliefs. 

Pros & cons of Axi account types

Axi Standard Account

Let’s discuss the Axi Standard account and see what it has to offer. The leverage is set to a 1:500 maximum and the minimum trading lot size is 0.01 lots. With a 0 USD initial deposit requirement, this account offers the ability to trade Forex and other CFD markets with the lowest possible budget. Spreads start from 1.2 pips for EUR/USD and are slightly higher than the industry average of 1 pip. Despite this, the spreads are really attractive and this account type is suitable for beginners who want to day trade the markets without breaking the bank. Both hedging and Expert Advisors (EAs) are allowed. EAs are automated trading algorithms that can fully automate the trading process for traders and are compatible with MetaTrader 4 (MT4). This account does not have any commission for trading Forex, only spreads. 

Axi Pro Account

What differentiates the Pro account from the Standard is the low spreads and trading commissions applied to trading volumes. The spreads start from 0.2 pips on major pairs, but there is a commission of $7 round turn per 100k traded. The standard contract is 100,000 USD. All other terms are the same as for the Standard account. The base account currencies are AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, and USD, just like in the case of the Standard account. For traders with at least 25,000 USD, There is an Elite account that offers even lower commissions from 3.5 USD per lot round turn, but all other terms are the same as the other two accounts.

Getting started on Axi – Main steps

For traders who are interested in opening a trading account for trading or practicing purposes, below are the steps required to open and operate a trading account at Axi.

Step 1: Open an account

After clicking on the button called “Open Account” users will be redirected to the page with the registration form. First name, last name, phone number, and email are the main personal details the broker requires in order to initialize the account opening process. 

Step 2: Time to verify your account

After the initial personal data has been entered, it is required that you verify your identity to finish the registration process. The verification process can be done by uploading a picture of a valid government-issued ID card or passport. All of this can be done electronically. Proof of residence is also required and can be verified by providing a utility bill or bank statement that has to also be uploaded. 

Step 3: Make your deposit and start trading

After verification, there are only two steps remaining: funding the account and starting trading. For funding purposes, there are numerous methods supported, many of which are fast and reliable electronic systems. Axi has a button on their website called “quick links” where funding, withdrawal, and an MT4 download can all be done with one click. 

Comparing Axi fees with other brokers

Axi fees compared to Interactive Brokers fees

*Inactivity fee was eliminated by IB in 2021, it used to be $20/m

Axi fees compared to CM Trading fees

Axi fees compared to plus500 fees

Axi fees compared to XM fees

Axi fees compared to AvaTrade fees

Axi fees compared to Capital.com fees

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is the main trading platform of Axi which comes with several advantageous features including free VPS, Myfxbook copy trading, and the Autochartist tool. It is possible to fully automate the trading process with MT4 as it offers advanced inbuilt and custom indicators and robots. There are countless trading robots and indicators available for free on the marketplace and paid ones can be tested before purchasing. MT4 is one of the best platforms on the market today as it offers not only advanced tools but also the ability to customize the platform according to user needs. 

MT4 is the app Axi provides for mobile and tablet devices. It is a bit limited when compared to its desktop counterpart, but still offers decent functionality for those looking to trade on the go. You can easily open, close, and manage positions from the app, but doing analyses on a small screen can be a bit of a challenge. As such it is ideal as a companion to the desktop version, but lacks the robustness of being used as a stand-alone platform.

Many brokers offer educational materials and research tools that can aid traders in becoming better at trading and beginners to gain basic knowledge of financial markets. Axi provides educational content on its website together with various tools that will help traders of all levels make more accurate trading decisions. The educational materials offered include:

• MT4 video tutorials
• Webinars and seminars
• Academy and blog
• Free eBooks and glossary

Video tutorials are best to learn about MT4 as it is more practical and requires some time and effort to get used to its advanced features.

The most useful educational materials are eBooks, webinars, and seminars as they unite practical and theoretical knowledge about trading which is essential for a financial trading career. There are many practical tutorials offered for free by Axi which is great for beginners. Axi also has an extensive knowledge base dedicated to cryptos and blockchain that will appeal to crypto enthusiasts. In Axi’s academy, beginners can take trading courses for gold, shares, Forex, and crypto trading to enrich their knowledge or to start from scratch. 

There are several tools provided by Axi which are very useful for beginners and pros alike. The broker amplifies the MT4 trading experience with free VPS hosting and various third-party signal providers. VPS hosting enables traders to run their EAs or automated trading software on the cloud 24/7 enabling them to fully automate the trading process without interruptions. Myfxbook Autotrade offers trading signals from other traders which can be employed by those who have less free time available for trading. The broker also offers Autochartist to scan markets 24 hours a day without needing to stare at the screen all the time. While these tools are great to help traders save time and increase their accuracy while trading, they still require a lot of attention, and caution is needed when following any signal. An economic calendar and currency calculators enable traders to monitor and control their trading even better. 

It is also possible to see all the previous webinars on Axi’s YouTube channel enabling traders not to miss their lectures.

Live chat is the fastest way to contact the broker’s support team and they are polite, responsive, and knowledgeable. The other forms of support include phone and email support, and the option to leave a message on WhatsApp. The support is multilingual and the broker offers a mobile numbers list for international traders. Overall customer support is among the best in the business and both support and the website are multilingual. 

Axi (previously known as AxiTrader) is a reliable and heavily-regulated brokerage firm that offers access to numerous financial markets, including FX, CFDs, cryptos, commodities, and indices. Axi has average spreads and commissions and has attracted traders worldwide to its platform. The broker provides demo and Islamic accounts and offers several educational resources to assist traders. However, it is important to note that negative balance protection is only available for traders under certain regulatory jurisdictions. Axi is regulated by the ASIC, FCA, and SVGSFA, making it a legit broker and also part of a compensation fund, which offers refunds in case of insolvency. Axi has a low minimum deposit requirement, and low spreads, for average commissions, making it very suitable for scalpers who have a low budget. In the end, Axi has the potential to become a popular broker if it continues to lower fees.