Best Copy Trading Platforms UK 2024

Do you wish to earn like the professionals and experts? Copy trading allows beginners to earn as much as a professional with equal risk. We have covered everything that you need to know to start copy trading with best copy trading platfoms in the UK.

Copying the trade orders of other traders to book profits or losses is called copy trading. It is the best ideal for the traders who wish to earn a side income through trading but cannot spend enough time and effort on the capital markets.

Copy-trading allows beginners to copy positions of experienced traders. This saves the time and effort of research and analysis and increases the chances to make better gains in forex trading.

Copy trading in CFDs lets you automatically copy the trades of experienced traders. Here’s how it works: First, you pick a trader to follow. Then, when that trader makes a trade, the same trade happens in your account. You can set limits to control your risk, and you can stop copying the trader anytime. This way, you can potentially benefit from their expertise.

However, if you are copying another trader, you will have no control over the positions. Opening, closing, or setting limits on the order will depend entirely on the trader that is being copied. Hence, this increases the risk in a capital market that already involves multiple risk factors.

A lot of brokers and trading platforms offer copy trading services in the UK. The charges, contract specifications, minimum volume, and various other features are different with each trading platform.

To assist the traders residing in the UK, we have created an unbiased list of the best copy trading platforms in the UK. We have prepared this list for copy trading on forex and CFD instruments after comparing 20+ platforms based on multiple factors.

List of Best Copy Trading Platforms UK. Following is the brief of the best copy trading platforms in the UK for forex and CFD copy trading.

#1 eToro – Good Copy Trading Broker for Beginners

eToro is an FCA-regulated broker that holds license number 583263 with the registered entity eToro (UK) Limited. They are also licensed by ASIC and CySEC in their respective jurisdiction.

eToro allows trading on 2500+ financial instruments through their proprietary trading platform only. Their proprietary platform is user-friendly and is ideal for beginners due to its simple interface. Copying any other is easiest and least complex with the eToro trading platform.

Spread is the only trading fee at eToro. Even with copy trading at eToro, the spread is the only trading fee as no additional commission is charged by eToro. It is the most popular forex and CFD trading platform for copy trading in the UK.

#2 AvaTrade – Best Copy Trading Broker with Multiple Platforms

AvaTrade is a forex and CFD broker that is not regulated by FCA in the UK. However, they are regulated by the ASIC of Australia, the FSCA of South Africa, the FSA of Japan, and the Central Bank of Ireland.

The clients residing in the UK are registered with B.V.I Financial Services Commission. The third-party risk of choosing AvaTrade is low as it holds top-tier regulation but higher compared to all other FCA-regulated brokers.

DupliTrade is a separate trading platform at AvaTrade apart from MT4 and MT5 that is specifically designed for social and copy trading. Traders can copy any of the master accounts through the account balance in the AvaTrade trading account. The trading positions, as well as trading strategies, can be copied.

Traders require a minimum deposit of $2000 to start copy trading through DupliTrade. No additional commission or monthly commission is incurred for this. Trading at AvaTrade can be started with a minimum deposit of $100 but copy trading requires a minimum deposit of $2000.

#3 Pepperstone – Good Forex Broker with Multiple Copy Trading Services

Pepperstone is regulated by the FCA of the UK and is also regulated by several other financial regulatory authorities globally. Pepperstone can be considered safe for copy trading in the UK.

The spreads at Pepperstone are comparatively lower than most of the FCA-regulated forex and CFD brokers. They allow trading on MT4, and MT5, as well as the cTrader platform.

Pepperstone offers three social trading services that can be used to copy trade positions and strategies of other traders. The three services are namely Myfxbook, MetaTrader Signals, and DupliTrade.

Myfxbook is an account mirroring service that allows clients to copy trading positions from successful and experienced traders. It does not involve any performance or management fee. No trading platform is required for Myfxbook.

MetaTrader signals is a strategy copying service that can be used on the MT4 and MT5 platforms. There are thousands of preset strategies that can be copied by any trader to open and close trading positions.

DupliTrade is a trading strategy marketplace where clients can automate their trading strategies by paying a premium for each available strategy.

#4 CMC Markets – Copy Trading Platform with Highest Range of Instruments

CMC Markets is regulated by the FCA with the name CMC Markets UK Plc under license number 173730. They are also regulated by top-tier regulatory authorities like ASIC of Australia and several other financial regulators.

The spreads at CMC Markets start from 0.7 pips which is comparatively lower than many other FCA-regulated forex and CFD brokers. They allow trading on the MT4 platform and their proprietary trading platform named Next Generation.

The Next Generation platform is ideal for copy traders. This platform allows convenient copy trading with no extra commission. The trading positions and strategies used by thousands of successful traders can be copied by any trader.

#5 IG Markets – Best Copy Trading Platform with zero commission

IG Markets Ltd is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK under license number 195355. They are also regulated by the ASIC of Australia, FSCA of South Africa, and CFTC of the USA. Hence, it can be considered safe with very low third-party risk in the UK.

There is only a single account type with a spread-only pricing structure. The average typical spread for the EUR/USD currency pair is 1 pip. No commission is incurred on copy trading. Stock CFDs trading will incur a commission. The inactivity fee is $12 per month after 2 years of inactivity.

IG Markets support multiple trading platforms including MT4, ProRealTime, L2 Dealer, etc. Copy trading at IG Markets can be done by connecting with a social trading board like IG Community. IG Markets allow trading on more than 12,000 financial instruments including 90 forex pairs.

How to Start Copy Trading in the UK?

Most beginners in forex and CFD trading begin their journey through copy trading. It is a simple method to gain the same profits as professional and experienced traders. On the downside, there are also some risks associated with copy trading that must be acknowledged before starting copy trading.

1. When you copy trade orders or strategies of other traders, you do not have control over the trading positions. A stop-loss or take-profit limit can be helpful to limit the risk exposure but the complete control of the order lies with the master that is being copied.
2. To start copy trading in the UK, the first thing a trader needs to do is select a broker. We have separately explained the major aspects that should be considered while choosing a broker.
3. Clients must ensure that the broker offers convenient copy trading services before they open their accounts with any of the brokers. The next step is to make a deposit. Most brokers require a higher initial deposit for copy trading compared to the ordinary trading account. For eg Pepperstone allows trading with an initial deposit of $200 but requires $2000 to start copy trading.
4. Before copying any trader, it is important to look out for the strategies used by the master trader that will be copied. Their performance in the past and returns generated is a major aspect but shouldn’t be the only reason to copy them. The risk they are taking and the instruments that they are dealing with the need to be checked before copying.
5. All brokers and trading platforms that offer copy trading services provide details of the traders that can be copied in the UK. Traders must check and compare the average returns in a certain time period and compare them with the indices. The risk the master traders are taking can be acknowledged by the instruments they are dealing with and the volatility in their trading positions.
6. After copying the trading positions and strategies, clients must monitor the positions and the price movements. Copy traders must not only go for the master trader that has provided the highest returns in the past. Detailed analysis must be done before risking your hard-earned money in capital markets.

Pros and Cons of Copy Trading

Following are the pros and cons of copy trading:

How to Choose a Copy Trading Platform?

Due to a substantial increase in the number of traders, a lot of financial services providers have started to offer copy trading services in the UK. A trader needs to be smart enough to know which broker is safe and best suited for themselves.

The following are the most important factors that traders must look for while choosing a copy trading platform in the UK.

1) FCA Regulation

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the financial regulatory authority in the UK. It safeguards the traders and investors in capital markets and overlooks the activities of registered entities in the UK. Trading with an FCA-regulated broker can greatly reduce the third-party risk in the UK as those who are not regulated by FCA are very likely to be fake.

Traders must check the authenticity of the FCA license as some fake brokers can use a cloned or fake FCA license to convince the traders. The details of each FCA-regulated broker are stored in a register of legal entities. The name and license number of the broker (mostly mentioned in the footnote of a website) can be used to cross-check the license.

2) Copy Trading Fees

Each forex and CFD broker can incur different fees for copy trading. The commonly involved trading fees include spread, performance fees, commission, and overnight charges.

Spread is the difference between the bid and ask price and is also the major source of revenue for most brokers and liquidity providers. The trading fees can also be built into commission with a low spread.

The performance fee is a unique fee that is only involved in copy trading. A performance fee is a predefined part of the profits made that is incurred from the copiers and is paid wholly or partially to the master traders that are being copied.

Each trading platform can have a different method for the calculation of performance fees. Some platforms allow masters to decide the performance fee. A performance fee can be fixed or variable but is mostly a small percentage of the profit amount. However, the broker who offers free copy trading services like eToro does not incur any performance fee.

3) Transparency

Copy traders need to choose the trader whose trade orders will be copied. A broker must provide fair details of the traders that are available for copying. Copy traders should be able to see the gains in the past, risk exposure, asset classes, strategies, profit and loss in pips, etc. To compare all the available master traders, it is important for the broker to provide all the details of the master traders.

Copy traders should be able to see their profits and losses in real-time with the details of possible gains and losses due to positions opened by master traders. Professional traders use advanced strategies with significant capital, in such cases, the gains for the copy traders with small deposit amounts will be very low. At times, copy traders lose all capital as their position is closed automatically due to a lack of funds.

4) Trading Platform

All trades are executed by traders through trading platforms. However, copy trading may or may not require trading platforms. Some brokers offer a separate app for copy trading while many allow copy trading through the same platform. Copy trading is more convenient on cTrader and eToro platforms. It is easier to compare and check the details of master traders on cTrader and eToro compared to MetaTrader. Copy traders must use the platform where they can easily access all the available features and compare the master traders.

Tips to Become a Successful Copy Trader

Copy trading may sound lucrative to beginners and less experienced traders as they can benefit from the research and analysis of other traders. However, there are certain factors that must be considered while copy trading. Following are the tips that beginners in copy trading must consider.

1. Choose the Right Trader
There are plenty of traders available to be copied on the copy trading platforms. Each trader may follow different strategies and use different instruments to deliver returns. It is important to identify which trader is most ideal for you and suitable with the risk-to-reward ratio.

2. Diversify your Portfolio
It is always better to copy multiple traders instead of copying one. It is never a good idea to put all your money on one trader no matter how confident you are with the trader.

3. Keep an Eye on the Portfolio
You cannot close the platform after allocating a certain amount in copy trading. It is important to regularly check the profits and losses booked by the trader you are copying. Copying the trades can be stopped anytime if the outcome is not as expected.

4. Keep up with the Market
Even in copy trading, traders must be aware of the news and events that can affect the prices. It is possible that you get to a piece of certain news before the trader you are copying. In such cases, copy traders can stop copying and place their own trade. In any case, it is always good for a trader to stay updated with the market.

5. Understand the Strategy: Gain a clear understanding of the trading strategy employed by the trader you’re copying. Know their approach to risk management, position sizing, and the types of trades they execute.

6. Long-Term Perspective: Copy trading should be approached with a long-term perspective. Short-term fluctuations are common, and it’s important to give traders time to execute their strategies and potentially recover from temporary setbacks.

7. Leverage and Margin:
Understanding Leverage: Being aware of the leverage used by the trader and its implications on potential profits and losses.
Margin Requirements: Ensuring adequate capital to cover margin requirements and avoid margin calls.
Learning and Adaptation:

8. Market Analysis: While copy trading can be more passive, understanding market conditions can help in making informed adjustments to copy trading settings.
Adapting Strategy: Being flexible to change copying strategies or traders based on market changes or performance.

9. Use of Technology: Copy Trading Platforms: Utilizing reputable platforms that offer robust tools for copy trading, including real-time monitoring, risk management features, and user-friendly interfaces.
Automated Controls: Employing platforms that allow for setting automatic rules for trade copying, such as pausing copying if the drawdown exceeds a certain percentage.

10. Risk Management: Capital Preservation: Prioritizing the protection of capital over the pursuit of high returns.
Understanding Correlations: Being mindful of correlations between markets or instruments to avoid magnifying risks.

Common Mistakes That Copy Traders Make

Following are the common mistakes that day traders make:

1. Copying Without Research: Blindly copying successful traders without understanding their strategies or conducting due diligence can be a mistake. It’s crucial to research the trader’s performance, risk management approach, and trading style before copying their trades.
2. Ignoring Risk Management: Failing to implement proper risk management is a significant mistake. Copy traders should set appropriate stop-loss levels and position sizes to protect their capital from significant losses.
3. Overlooking Diversification: Copying only one or a few traders can lead to a lack of diversification in the portfolio. It’s essential to spread investments across various successful traders to reduce risk.
4. Chasing High Returns: Copy traders may be tempted to follow traders with exceptionally high returns. However, past performance does not guarantee future success, and high returns often come with higher risk.
5. Not Staying Informed: Copy traders should stay updated on market conditions, economic events, and changes in copied traders’ strategies. Markets can be dynamic, and adjustments may be needed to the copied portfolio.
6. Emotional Decision-Making: Letting emotions drive trading decisions, such as panic-selling during market downturns, can lead to poor outcomes. It’s essential to remain disciplined and stick to the chosen copy trading strategy.
7. Copying Traders with Similar Strategies: Copy traders should seek diversification by selecting traders with different trading styles and approaches. Copying traders with similar strategies can increase exposure to specific market movements.
8. Failing to Monitor: Regularly monitoring the performance of copied traders is crucial. If a copied trader’s strategy is consistently underperforming or showing increased risk, it may be necessary to reevaluate the investment.
9. Copying Without a Plan: Having a clear plan and goals for copy trading is essential. Copy traders should define their risk tolerance, investment objectives, and time horizon.
10. Neglecting Fees and Costs: Copy trading often involves costs, such as spreads, commissions, and management fees. Overlooking these expenses can impact overall returns.

Comparison of Best Copy Trading Platforms UK 2024

FAQs on Best Copy Trading Platforms UK