CTrader Forex Brokers

Written by Miro Nikolov

Miro Nikolov

Miro Nikolov is the co-founder of TradingPedia.com and BestBrokers.com. His mission is to help people make profitable investments by giving them access to educational resources and analytics tools.

, | Updated: September 15, 2025

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• Jump to:
• Main features of the best cTrader Forex brokers
• Spotware Systems
• Interface and Workspace
• Order Execution
• Account Management
• Charting Capabilities
• Copy Trading
• Other Useful Features
• Product Lineup
• cTrader for Desktop
• cTrader Web
• cTrader Mobile
›

cTrader is one of the most commonly used forex platforms and there are many reasons for its popularity. For starters, the company that developed it, Spotware Systems, hails from Cyprus, a small island country in the Mediterranean that has emerged as a well-established European financial centre. The team of fintech experts behind it has been driven by the idea of creating a fair trading environment that is beneficial to both brokers and traders worldwide.

The platform is widely implemented by ECN brokers, enabling users to trade directly with liquidity providers without the involvement of a dealing desk. The platform was first launched by FxPro in 2011, and it remains one of the top brokers to this day.

Presently, cTrader is used by many other trading companies, including the well-known Pepperstone, Fondex, IC Markets and Liquid Markets. The platform serves two main functions – charting and the execution of trades. Copy and automated trading are also available across a broad range of financial instruments, including currency pairs, commodities, shares, cryptocurrencies and indices.

1. 

   Plus500 US

   Rating: 4

   This content applies only to Plus500 US and clients from the United States. Trading futures involves the risk of loss.

2. 

   eToro

   Rating: 4.2

   61% of retail investor accounts lose money

3. 

   Fusion Markets

   Rating: 4.8

   74-89% of retail's CFD accounts lose money

4. 

   FP Markets

   Rating: 4.9

   73.85% of retail investor accounts lose money

5. 

   Pepperstone

   Rating: 4.4

   75.5% of retail investor accounts lose money

6. 

   FxPro

   Rating: 4

   74% of retail investor accounts lose money

In this publication, you can find information on the main features of the best cTrader forex brokers, along with two comparison tables. We rank the brands based on several factors, including regulation, spreads and commissions, Trustpilot rating, trading instruments, trading platforms, and deposit and withdrawal methods.

Our team has thoroughly evaluated all brokers listed below using TradingPedia’s exclusive methodology.

Main features of the best cTrader forex brokers

Spotware Systems – the developer behind the cTrader platform

The cTrader platform is the flagship product of Spotware Systems. The company was founded by fintech pundit and entrepreneur Andrey Pavlov in 2010 and has its headquarters in Limassol, the second-largest city on the isle of Cyprus.

Spotware Systems has expanded considerably over the past ten years. It currently employs a team of more than 110 fintech experts who share over a hundred years of cumulative experience in the financial industry.

The Cyprus-based company developed its flagship cTrader with one clear goal in mind: to offer traders and brokers alike a premium platform that provides them with ultimate functionality, transparency and flexibility.

In the spring of 2011, FxPro became the first broker to make use of cTrader under the terms of an exclusive agreement with Spotware Systems. Some of the world’s largest brokerages soon followed suit.

Always in pursuit of excellence, Spotware Systems has introduced many improvements to its flagship product over the past decade. The most recent updates came in December 2019 when the company rolled out an updated desktop version of cTrader that features better drawing tools, a new zooming function on charts and improved trading robots for better backtesting.

cTrader interface and workspace

One of the main attractions of cTrader is its clean and straightforward design. The interface is easy on the eye and uncluttered, which ensures intuitive navigation for all end users. Compared to other popular platforms like MetaTrader, for example, cTrader is significantly easier to work with and navigate.

Traders can acquaint themselves with the platform and its features in under an hour, even if they have never used it before. The workspace is just as intuitive, with the main toolbar placed centrally. It gives access to several tools for configuring the UI and to the charts. cTrader for Windows has four main applications – trading, copy trading, automated trading and the analysis section, and switching between them can be done via the main menu in the upper left. From there, traders can easily manage their deposits and withdrawals, as well as open the cTrader settings.

The Account Bar, in the upper right-hand section, enables users to switch between the different accounts connected to the cTrader ID (cTID). The Active Symbol Panel (ASP) is right below the Account Bar. Here, traders can create orders, check the Market Sentiment and the allowed leverage, among other things. The MarketWatch, conveniently located to the left, enables traders to select symbols, execute trades, create and manage the watchlists.

Creating orders, managing the available balance, reviewing historical deals and feedback can be done from the TradeWatch section. The Instruments toolbar is where traders can alternate between chart modes and set price alerts, among other functionalities.

Most windows are dockable, allowing users to move them around. Towards the bottom, you will find all the relevant information you need to manage your account efficiently, including your currently available balance, equity, margin level, and unrealised profits and losses. At the very bottom, the software shows you which foreign exchange markets are currently open, which is a nice touch.

You can easily track your open positions, active orders, trading history, and deposit/withdrawal transactions with the buttons located under the chart section. This section is centrally located, allowing users to add as many charts as they need and trade directly from there. There is also the option to tailor workspaces to your preferences and save them for future use. Less important control elements are not intrusive and do not get in your way while you trade.

Order execution with cTrader

The success of every trader partially depends on how quickly their broker fills their orders. Traders will experience no delays with brokers using cTrader since the platform fills orders in a matter of milliseconds.

Furthermore, there is a decent choice of order types here, including Market, Limit, Stop-Limit, Take-Profit, Stop orders, Good Till Day, and One Cancels the Other orders. It is possible to process multiple orders simultaneously without an order queue. Placing orders is made easy with this intuitive platform, with several different ways available to traders. It can be done by clicking the New Order button, by right-clicking on the corresponding symbol in the Symbols list, or simply by pressing F9, among other ways.

There is a vertical watchlist with a drop-down menu where you can find the full list of instruments along with their current buy/sell prices. Select your preferred pair or instrument and enter the desired parameters for your order.

The active and pending orders are displayed in the window below the chart section. Another way to execute a trade is via the New Order dialogue box. This dialogue also shows you helpful information about the respective instrument, including the required margin, its market hours, pip value, and the daily changes in its price.

cTrader account management

With cTrader, it is no longer necessary to store usernames and passwords for individual demo and live accounts. The platform enables its users to manage multiple accounts with great ease and convenience. All your sign-in information is stored in the cloud for quick and hassle-free access, along with your custom-made watchlists and workspaces.

Your accounts are linked to the same user ID. This gives users the flexibility that comes with managing their trading activities from different devices. If a trader creates a custom watchlist with the instruments they want to track on their desktop computer, they will be able to load the same watchlist on their tablet or smartphone.

Once traders sign in with their unique cTrader IDs, they have immediate access to all their trading accounts and the full range of Spotware Systems products. There is no need to log into cTrader and cTrader Automate separately, for example.

It is possible to jump from one account to another in a few simple steps. You can select the Switch Account option from the Spotware cTrader context menu and switch from a demo to a live account in a split second.

cTrader charting capabilities

The cTrader platform has powerful capabilities for charting, with a neatly designed charting area and a rich selection of chart types to fit different strategies. cTrader supports eight chart types in total, including bar, candlestick, dot, line, HLC, Heikin Ashi, Renko and Range charts.

These can be displayed in three different modes. The software shows you one chart at a time in single-chart mode or several charts in multi-chart mode. There is also the free-chart mode, which enables you to detach a chart and see it in an entirely separate window.

The cTrader platform also features a comprehensive set of functions and tools for drawing on your charts. You can draw trend, vertical or horizontal lines, for example. Other useful functionalities include trading channels on your charts with the help of the Equidistant Price Channel, finding fork patterns with the Pitchfork function, and adding objects or text to your charts.

It is also possible to set price alerts directly on charts in case you wish to implement Limit and Stop orders at a given price. The feature enables you to set up sound notifications, which is particularly useful if you are away from your desktop computer.

Chartshot is another useful function, allowing you to take and save screenshots of your charts. The Watchlist section contains a small coloured icon next to the drop-down menu with the instruments. It enables you to link instruments to charts based on colour. Trading directly through charts is also possible in cTrader.

Copy trading with cTrader

Copy trading is easily one of the most appealing features of cTrader, especially in the eyes of beginners who are yet to master the peculiarities of the markets. The social trading service is facilitated by cTrader Copy. An overhaul of the cMirror trading service, it enables users to register either as investors (i.e. regular traders) or as strategy providers.

The service is also available via the web-based version of cTrader. All you have to do is click the Copy button in the vertical menu on the left-hand side of the screen. Investors can follow strategy providers and copy their trades directly in their portfolios.

There are convenient filters you can use to find providers based on specific parameters, including performance fees, the number of copiers, trading volume, and Return on Investment (ROI). Copiers can choose what portion of their available balance to allocate to each strategy they follow. However, the allocated amount should be higher than the minimum set by the provider who has devised the strategy. When you click on the name of a given strategy provider, the software shows you important information such as their all-time ROI and capital, the minimum required investment for the respective strategy, and when it was created.

There is a search box that enables you to quickly and conveniently find specific strategies. Providers, on the other hand, can start offering their strategies without any induction period. They can determine what commissions to charge their copiers and collect the fees on a day-to-day basis. It is also possible for them to choose whether their strategies are public or available through invitations only.

Other useful features you will find in cTrader

Apart from trade execution, social trading, and charting capabilities, cTrader is also loaded with a plethora of other great features intended to further enhance users’ trading experience. Some of these functionalities aim at facilitating speed, convenience and efficiency, while others help with analysis, allowing you to make more intelligent trading decisions.