The safety dossier

Safety first

STARTRADER review

Who regulates STARTRADER, under which licence, and what that means for your money.

Last checked

STARTRADER offers some protection if it fails and not all of it, which is the ordinary offshore trade-off: you gain leverage and lose the safety net. Regulated by ASIC (421210); FSCA (52464); Mauritius FSC (GB24203371); Seychelles FSA (SD049); UAE CMA (20200000241, Category 5 introduction/promotion only), offering MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, STARTRADER WebTrader, STARTRADER App.

Our rating

★★★½

One rating, identical across our sites - only the way it is shown changes. It averages six assessments: regulation, trading costs, platforms, markets, support and education.

Regulation and safety

Regulated by
ASIC (421210); FSCA (52464); Mauritius FSC (GB24203371); Seychelles FSA (SD049); UAE CMA (20200000241, Category 5 introduction/promotion only)
Regulator tier
Tier 1
Register entry
ASIC Professional Registers, AFSL 421210
Client money segregated
Yes
Held at
Regulated banking institutions
Negative balance protection
Yes
Compensation scheme
Financial Commission compensation fund up to €20,000 per eligible client; no statutory compensation scheme for the Seychelles/Mauritius entities
Audited by
Independent external auditors
Not available to
United States and other jurisdictions where STARTRADER services are prohibited or restricted

The licence is what decides where your money sits and who is obliged to do something about it.

STARTRADER holds a tier-one authorisation from ASIC. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

It also operates an offshore entity (FSC and FSA). Which one you are onboarded to depends on where you live, and the two carry very different protections - worth confirming before you deposit.

ASIC caps retail leverage at 1:30, requires negative balance protection, and obliges the broker to hold client money in a separate trust account.

The FSCA licenses derivative providers in South Africa without a fixed retail leverage cap, so headline leverage is often higher than an FCA or ASIC entity may offer.

An FSC licence (Mauritius or Belize, depending on the entity) is an offshore authorisation with lighter reporting duties than a tier-one regulator.

Check the licence yourself: ASIC Connect, the FSCA list of regulated entities, the Mauritius FSC register of licensees, the Seychelles FSA list of regulated entities.

The company behind the brand

Legal entity
STARTRADER Limited
Company number
8427362-1
Headquarters
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Founded
2012
Publicly listed
No
Parent company
STARTRADER Group
Employees
200+
Also trades as
STARTRADER; Star Trader

What it costs to trade

Spread from
0.0 pips
EUR/USD spread
Approx. 0.2 pips, ECN
GBP/USD spread
Approx. 0.4 pips, ECN
Commission
$3.50 per side / $7 round turn, ECN
All-in cost, EUR/USD
Approx. 0.9 pips
Spread type
Variable
Overnight swap
Both: overnight swaps may be charged or credited; swap-free accounts available
Withdrawal fee
None in most countries; international bank transfer charges may apply
Currency conversion
Currency conversion at applicable exchange rate

Cost is the last thing to weigh here, and never the thing that should decide it.

A quoted spread from 0.0 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

STARTRADER lists a minimum deposit of $50. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Platforms and tools

Platforms
MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, STARTRADER WebTrader, STARTRADER App
Own platform
Yes, STARTRADER WebTrader/App
Mobile app
Both proprietary and third-party
Browser trading
Yes
Automated trading
Yes; MT4/MT5 Expert Advisors and algorithmic trading
Copy trading
Yes, Copy Trade and Pro-Link
Indicators
30+ MT4; 38+ MT5; custom indicators supported
Third-party tools
MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, VPS
API access
Yes, institutional/partner connectivity

MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.

MetaTrader 5 handles more asset classes and order types than MT4, but expert advisors are not compatible between the two - an MT4 EA will not run on it.

Markets and execution

Markets
Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities, Metals, ETFs
Currency pairs
50+
Total instruments
1,000+
Crypto CFDs
Yes
Maximum leverage
1:1000
Execution model
STP / ECN / no dealing desk
Execution speed
Under 100ms
Order types
Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop
Servers
Global financial data-centre infrastructure

Leverage up to 1:1000 is available on this entity. High leverage does not increase your expected return - it increases position size for the same deposit, and shortens the move needed to close you out.

STARTRADER covers forex, shares, indices, commodities, metals, etfs. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: visa, mastercard, bank transfer, apple pay, google pay, e-wallets, cryptocurrency, local bank transfer. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Accounts

Minimum deposit
$50
Account types
Standard, ECN, Prime ECN, Swap-Free, Demo
Account currencies
AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, USD, NZD
Islamic account
Yes
Demo account
Yes
Professional account
Yes, Prime ECN
Minimum trade size
0.01 lots
Time to open
Typically a few minutes

Deposits and withdrawals

Deposit methods
Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, e-wallets, cryptocurrency, local bank transfer
Withdrawal methods
Bank transfer, cards, e-wallets, cryptocurrency and supported original funding methods
Deposit time
Instant for most electronic methods; bank wire 3-5 business days
Withdrawal time
Same-day processing when submitted before cutoff; bank wire typically 3-5 business days
Minimum withdrawal
$50
Local payment methods
Local bank transfer; Apple Pay; Google Pay and jurisdiction-specific electronic payment methods

Support and education

Support hours
24/5
Contact channels
Live chat, email, contact form
Languages
Multilingual
Telephone
+44 800 368 9785
Email
info@startrader.com
Live chat response
Typically under 2 minutes
Education
Extensive: trading guides, educational articles, platform tutorials, webinars and trading knowledge centre
Research
Market analysis, technical/fundamental commentary, trading insights, calculators and market news

Questions people ask about STARTRADER

What happens to my money if STARTRADER goes bust?

STARTRADER sits behind Financial Commission compensation fund up to €20,000 per eligible client; no statutory compensation scheme for the Seychelles/Mauritius entities. A scheme covers eligible clients of the entity that holds the licence, so the entity you were onboarded to decides whether it covers you.

Is my money kept separate from STARTRADER's own?

Yes. STARTRADER holds client money in accounts kept apart from the firm's own. Segregation is what stops a broker's creditors reaching your balance if the firm fails, which is why it matters more than any headline spread. We do not hold the name of the bank it uses.

Can I lose more than I deposit with STARTRADER?

STARTRADER provides negative balance protection, so a gap through your stop should not leave you owing money. It is usually a rule of the regulator rather than a favour from the broker, which means it can differ between the entities one brand operates.