Best Binary Options Brokers in 2018

This is something that most traders ask. What are the best binary options brokers?

I made a list of the top 6 trading platforms on binary or digital options. I based this list not only on my reviews but on all major trading websites as well.

There is at least one broker for almost any country you live in.

Top 6 Binary Options Brokers

The following brokers are trustworthy and have very good platforms and features. I did a lot of research to make this list. Enjoy!

1. HighLow

First, HighLow has the fewest complaints about any broker. Not only is it not a scam, but I also think it is the best and most secure binary-options broker.

Pros

• AFSL/ASIC regulation (the best).
• Really simple, free demo account.
• Your money is secure and segregated with National Australia Bank (NAB).
• Fast withdrawals.
• Good trading simulator.

Con

• No live-chat support.

Summary

In conclusion, I am extremely satisfied with the HighLow broker. Hence, I would love to trade with them myself. Similar to many other traders, I rate them at 9.6/10.

Again, it is a very reliable binary-options broker, because your money is safe with them. Thus, it’s a great platform.

In my opinion, it’s the best binary broker out there. And I have tried them all. If you have any experiences or suggestions, then please leave your reviews here.

Full review Visit broker

2. Ayrex

Pros

• Really fast platform.
• Best for short-term options.
• Low minimum for trade.
• Unique platform.
• Exclusive features.
• Exclusive indicators.

Con

• Not regulated.

Summary

Ayrex is a fresh company that provides binary brokerage service. However, they’ve got what it takes to be a good binary broker.

Certainly, it could be perfect. The only thing I do not like is the lack of regulation, which is important.

Full review    Visit broker

3. Expert option

Pros

• Powerful trading platform.
• The best mobile apps on Android and iOS.
• A plethora of trading assets.
• Low minimum trade.
• Low minimum deposit.
• High payouts.
• One-click demo trading.

 Con

• Narrow range of expiry times.

Summary

ExpertOption is a leading binary options broker established in 2015. From the moment they opened their doors, their service delivery has been exemplary.

As a matter of fact, currently, they are among the best in the industry. Their demo-trading and up-to-date learning center is fantastic.

There are some complaints, but compared to other popular brokers, there aren’t that many.

Full review    Visit broker

4. Spectre.ai

* 0.1ETH costs $21 at the time of writing. Go here to convert ETH to US or EUR.

** For a Wallet account where no deposits are needed, the minimum trade size is $50.00

Pros

• Broker-less.
• Fraud-free! (the first of its kind)
• There is no broker–just secure smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Because of this, your trade outcomes and funds remain safe.
• Low minimum for trading.
• A wide range of assets and options (’til the end of 2018).
• Responsive customer support.
• Zero fees on trades and withdrawals.

Cons

• Need basic knowledge of Ethereum wallet and crypto-exchange.
• No early closing of options.

Summary

Spectre.ai is a modern, cutting-edge trading platform that uses Ethereum blockchain. Interestingly, it is fraud-free, broker-less, decentralized, and user-friendly.

It isn’t the best platform I’ve tried, though traders can trade a variety of smart options on long-term and short-term contracts. Customer support is multilingual. With a basic understanding of cryptocurrency wallets, you are good to go.

Full review    Visit broker

5. Binary.com

* depends on deposit method; details here

Pros

• Flexible trading conditions.
• Advanced and varied trading platforms.
• Flexible payment methods.
• Huge assets index.
• Trading available on weekends.

Cons

• Unattractive home page.
• No live-chat support.
• Their academy is kind of their official blog.
• No proper training or guidelines for traders.

Summary

In conclusion, I am extremely satisfied with Binary.com. It is a veteran broker that offers top-notch trading services to a global clientele. Additionally, they take pride in super-responsive and multilingual customer care.

Furthermore, they boast several trading platforms and extensive asset choices.

Finally, I love that you can pick your expiry times, and I also like the bot-creation tool. Because of these, you can follow almost any binary signal provider you want.

These 2 features are unique these days in the binary options industry. Due to this, I would love to trade with them myself.

Full review    Visit broker

6. IQ Option

There are many complaints about IQ Option, but it’s the most popular broker.

Importantly, it is a serious business that will give you your money back. Unfortunately, there are complaints about withdrawal delays and blocked accounts/winnings.

It is one of the most serious trading companies, in my opinion. Most noteworthy is how they constantly improve their services and even create new trading ways. In fact, they follow CySEC (regulator) rules the day they change them.

Pros

• The best trading platform for all devices.
• Has the most trading features.
• Constantly adding new features.
• You can trade everything: CFDs, Forex, binary/digital options, cryptocurrencies, and more.

Cons

• Many complaints in general.
• Complaints about withdrawal delays.
• “Account managers” call traders to deposit money.

Summary

In conclusion, it is the best broker for many traders but very bad for many others. This is another favorite for binary options and another one for Forex and CFDs.

IQ Option follows all the CySEC rules, but CySEC regulation is not the strictest. Certainly, they are not here just to make money and leave.

If you like lots of features and many ways to trade, then this is the one for you. Above all, it is one of the best trading platforms—on any device.

Full review    Visit broker

Best Brokers by Country

Best Binary Options Brokers for European Traders

The best broker that accept traders from almost all European countries is Ayrex (number 2).

It accepts almost all European countries. That includes France, Germany, Romania, Georgia, Cyprus and many more. It does not accept U.K., Russian, or Ukrainian residents, though.

Spectre(4) also accepts all European traders except for the U.K.

Binary.com(5) and IQ Option(6) accept only professional traders from the EEA countries. IQ Option does not accept traders from France and Belgium at all.

Best Binary Options Brokers for U.K., Russian, And Ukrainian Traders

Binary.com(5) and IQ Option(6) accept only professional traders from the U.K.

Unfortunately, not even one trusted broker accepts non-professional traders from the U.K. You can try Raceoption, Binarymate, Binarycent, and Finrally, for example.

But if I were you, I would avoid them. These are the only four that accept U.K. traders. You may also find a copy-site of any of them that it will be the same with another name.

Fortunately for Russian and Ukrainian traders, ExpertOption(3) fills that gap. It is specially promoted for the Russian market and has a Russian regulator. It is a really good and very trusted broker.

Only one more from the top of the list accepts Russian and Ukrainian traders. This is Spectre. No other. Not even Ayrex, which accepts traders from almost all over the world.

Best Binary Options Brokers for Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, and Other African Traders

Most brokers accept traders from African countries.

HighLow, which is the best, accepts traders from South Africa and some other countries. (here the accepted countries by Highlow)

Number 2, Ayrex, accepts almost all African countries. This includes Botswana, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, and more. (here the accepted countries by Ayrex)

ExpertOption(3), Binary.com(5), and IQ Option(6) accept all African traders. Spectre(4) accepts everyone except for traders from Somalia.

Best Binary Options Brokers in the U.S. and Canada

Unfortunately, there are no good binary options brokers for U.S. or Canadian traders. Only Nadex accepts U.S. traders, but it is not so good, as you can read in my Nadex review. But it is the only trusted and regulated.

Avoid brokers that accept U.S. or Canadian traders, because 99% of them are unregulated.

As I said above about U.K. traders, you can try Raceoption, Binarymate, Binarycent, and Finrally.

All four have this form of the screenshot below:

But if you are from the U.S. and you do not check the box, nothing happens. You can still sign up and trade.

Canadians, you are free to go.

As I say in their reviews, if I were you, I would avoid all of them—and any other broker that may accept US or Canadian traders. It will have to be unregulated and probably scammy to accept traders from the U.S. or Canada.

Best Binary Options Brokers in Australia, Indonesia, and Oceania in General

The number-one broker, HighLow, is based in Australia. It also accepts traders from New Zealand, Indonesia, Fiji, and other Oceanic countries.

Ayrex(2) accepts these countries ,as well.

ExpertOption accepts every Oceanian country besides Australia and New Zealand.

Traders from Oceania can register with IQ Option as well. Only Australians are forbidden here.

Best Binary Options Brokers in India, Malaysia, Middle East, and Asia in General

HighLow (number 1) accepts many Asian countries. This includes Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and more. But it does not include India and many others.

Many Middle East countries are accepted as well. These are Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, but the U.A.E. Lebanon is not accepted, for example.

Ayrex(2) accepts these countries and many more, India and Lebanon included.

ExpertOption(3) accepts them all, except for Israel, Japan, North Korea and Sudan.

Spectre(4) does not accept Iran, Syria, Yemen, and North Korea. Every other country is okay.

IQ Option accepts all Asian traders, apart from Japan, Turkey, Israel, Syria, Sudan, and Iran. Traders from India and rest of Middle East are welcome.

Best Binary Options Brokers for Latin America

The best broker, HighLow, accepts some of them. These are Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Belize, and Puerto Rico.

Ayrex(2) accepts almost all of them, including Colombia.

ExpertOption, Spectre, and Binary.com have very few exceptions. IQ Option accepts all traders from Latin America.

Best Brokers by Features

Best Binary Options Brokers with Low Minimum Deposit

The good thing is that all top brokers have a low minimum deposit.

The lowest deposit comes from Binary.com, the oldest one. Only $5.It is followed by IQ Option, the most popular one. Only $10.

The top 3 have a slightly higher, but still low overall, minimum deposit. Ayrex has $25, ExpertOption has $50, and HighLow has $50, as well.

Consider that some years ago, most of the best brokers were offering a $200 minimum deposit.

Spectre.ai accepts deposits in ETH cryptocurrency. The minimum accepted is 0.1ETH. You can easily convert here.

Best Binary Options Brokers with Demo Accounts

Luckily, the top 3 brokers offer demo-trading with one click from their home page.

No account, no registration, no login. Nothing. Just one click.

The next 3 offer a demo account after you register with them.

Best Regulated Binary Options Brokers

Out of the top 6, 5 are regulated. The only unregulated broker is Ayrex. However, as I say in its review, it is better than many regulated brokers, as safe as they are.

The people behind Ayrex are very careful. They stay unregulated just to be able to accept traders from many countries that it would be otherwise impossible, like European traders, for example.

This does not mean that they want to take your money illegally. You will find a lot fewer complaints about Ayrex all over the Internet than many regulated brokers.

What are the best binary options brokers for beginners?

If you are a beginner, you have to be very careful. In fact, 95% of beginners lose their money fast. Trade on demo accounts for at least one month before getting into it for real.

All the above brokers’ platforms are easy to understand.

Binary.com is a bit more complicated, because it offers more platforms and features. However, it has simple guides that anyone can understand for each platform and each trade style.

For example, on the SmartTrader platform and High/Low trading, this is what you see:

Spectre.ai needs deposits in ETH cryptocurrency. This is the only difficult part for those with no idea about crypto. I have posted a beginners’ guide for how to trade with Spectre.ai and a crypto wallet.

All the other platforms are easy. This does not mean you will make easy money, though.

Best Bitcoin, Ethereum, & Crypto-Trading Brokers

Best Binary Options Cryptocurrency Trading Brokers

All the above binary options brokers offer also the best binary options cryptocurrency trading. Choose the right broker that accepts your country (look at the “Accepted nationalities” of each broker) and start trading.

Which is the best platform for actual (not binary options) Cryptocurrency trading?

Unlike most financial brokers, IQ Option offers crypto-trading to its clientele. Notably, IQ Option’s trading is straightforward and doesn’t require prior experience.

However, to start trading, you have to register an account with them, as long as you make a deposit using one of their available banking methods.

They accept deposits from a wide range of credit and debit cards as well as wire transfer. They also use e-wallets such as Skrill, NETELLER, and Yandex.

Furthermore, they also offer custom payment methods upon request. After making a deposit, you can buy any amount of cryptocurrency you want.

Importantly, besides offering the traditional buy-and-store, they also offer crypto CFDs. With these, you stand to make profit, regardless of the crypto’s trajectory.

With the buy-and-store approach, you buy any amount of crypto and sell it on a later date. The prevailing market dictates prices, so a crypto can gain or lose value in the process.

On the positive side, when trading cryptocurrencies as CFDs, you stand to gain a profit. In fact, this is true even if the market price of the crypto falls or rises—provided you made a correct prediction.

To make a dime trading crypto CFDs, you have to correctly predict if the prices will rise or fall.

Cryptocurrencies available on IQ Option platform:

• Bitcoin.
• Ethereum.
• Litecoin.
• Dash.
• IOTA.
• Ripple.
• Bitcoin Cash.
• Monero.
• ZCash.

Full review    Visit broker

Cryptocurrency Wallet and Exchange

IQ Option has a partnership with Hodly, a pioneer in online crypto-exchange.

Hodly is an all-in-one cryptocurrency exchange platform and wallet. Because of this, traders can use their wallet to buy, sell, and send crypto to other wallets.

Also, Hodly uses cold storage to keep your cryptos safe from hackers. To keep track of your cryptos, Hodly has a versatile mobile platform for iOS and Android devices.

Read the Hodly review here.

Full wallet review    Visit wallet official page

Top Brokers for Both Binary Options and CFD/Forex

If you want to trade both on the same platform, these are the best choices.

1. Spectre.ai

Spectre.ai is the best and safest binary options and Forex/CFD broker. To offer top-notch trading services, Spectre.ai offers an innovative trading platform that uses sophisticated technologies for fast trade executions.

It offers many binary options features and reasonable spread on Forex and CFD trades compared to other brokers. Even better, they don’t levy hidden fees on new or existing trade positions (more above).

Full review    Visit broker

2. IQ Option

Note: IQ Option offers binary options only for professional traders in EEA (Earopean Economic Area).

IQ Option is a leading binary-options broker. In addition, it includes CFD and Forex trading. IQ Option offers a fast-paced trading experience. Likewise, it makes it easy to leverage on the slightest of market movements.

To rank among the best brokers, IQ Option gives a superior trading experience. Likewise, they provide good customer support, extensive financial securities, and flexible banking.

Also, trading at IQ Option starts as low as $1. Due to this, they are ideal for traders from all walks of life, while offering CFD margin-trading makes them ideal for both advanced and new traders.

Undoubtedly, IQ Option is one of the leading brokers for both binary options and CFD/Forex (more above).

Full review    Visit broker

3. Binary.com

Note: Binary.com offers binary options only for professional traders in EEA (European Economic Area).

Since its creation in 1999, Binary.com has revolutionized the financial trading space. This is thanks to their unique offerings. I started online-trading almost a decade ago. With this in mind, I’ve never seen a broker offer a wider range of tools.

Having said that, the tools allow for easy customization. In particular, this is great for different trading styles.

To add to that, they offer a fairly easy-to-use trading bot to automate trading. Also, they offer an extensive list of assets for traders.

Apart from the lack of live-chat, the customer support offered is exemplary. In addition to leading in binary options, Binary.com is an outstanding CFD broker.

Above all, it offers favorable margin trading. It provides a top-of-the-line robot for custom CFD trades (more above).

Full review    Visit broker

These were the most important categories. Leave comments below if you want me to add something.

Popular Questions & Answers

Here are some frequently asked questions about binary options brokers.

How do binary options brokers make money?

This is a very popular question. I have published a separate post about how binary options brokers make money..

Can you really make money with binary options?

This is a tricky question. Some traders make money. But you have to know that there are many more traders that lose money than those who make money.

You can read more here whether you can make money with binary options.

Are binary options legitimate?

Of course they are. There are some unregulated brokers. That does not mean that the binary options trading is illegal.

It is completely legal to trade binary options. You just have to pick a good broker.

You can read an extensive reply whether binary options are legal or not.