Last updated: 18th Jun 2025
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Investing gurus like Warren Buffett urge careful homework. He said he spends around 5-6 hours every day reading newspapers, financial filings, and company annual reports.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time (or desire) to study securities, commodities, forex or crypto markets in-depth.
And while products like index funds make it easier to plan portfolios for long-term horizons, shorter-term active trading seems out of reach.
Enter copy trading platforms.
Copytrading allows you to mirror the portfolio of a more experienced or professional trader, with automatic adjustments and trades executed on your behalf.
Copy trading is legal in Australia, provided the platform holds a financial services licence issued by the regulator, ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission).
But it is not low risk:
- You’ll make gains if the trader you’re copying makes a profitable trade, but you’ll also share in the same losses if they make a bad call.
- Copied traders (aka ‘signal providers’) get paid commissions, which can incentivise high risk strategies to boost performance and appeal.
That means it’s vital to choose a copy trading platform that’s regulated and has transparent fees, data on signal providers’ success rates, and risk management features.
Below are my thoughts on the pros and cons of reputable copy trading platforms available in Australia.
1. eToro.
Best copy trading platform in Australia.
A great all-in-one trading platform, eToro gives you access to stocks and ETFs from 17 exchanges globally.
You also get access to commodities, currencies, and crypto.
Like all copy trading platforms in this review, eToro is regulated by watchdogs in Australia (ASIC), the UK, and Europe.
Pros.
Social trading – where novice investors can learn from others – is native to eToro’s platform.
No integration or add-ons required.
Once you’ve created an account, you’re ready to begin copy trading immediately. And eToro is known for being easy to use, so it’s a convenient option for beginners.
You also aren’t limited to contracts for difference (CFDs) on eToro, unlike many other copy trading platforms.
That means you can own and hold assets like stocks, in line with experts you follow.
Important!
Speed of trade execution is important if you’re copying a high-volume trader. eToro claims its copy trades are executed within a second of when the signal provider makes a move.
You can search available signal providers based on various filters, and then drill down into their profile to see details including:
- The assets and percentage allocation within their portfolio.
- Returns and losses over time, including how it compares to major indices.
- Historical volatility of their portfolio, expressed as a risk score between 1-10.
- Average trading frequency and average holding time.
Each ‘popular investor’ listed on eToro also has a social feed where they can post updates about their approach/decisions and respond to comments and questions.
You’ll need to allocate $200 minimum to copy another trader, so there’s a low barrier to entry. Opening and closing copy trades is straightforward, and you can:
- Start, stop and pause copying at any time, and copy up to 100 traders at once.
- Set stop loss limits for a copied trade (40% by default, but editable to up to 95%).
- Close a specific position within a copied portfolio without ending the copy relationship.
- Add or withdraw funds from your copied allocations as needed.
- Sell everything when you stop copying, or move the assets into your own portfolio.
The popularity of eToro is another clear advantage.
The trading platform is well-known and used by more than 20 million people around the world.
This means successful signal providers have a good reason to share their expertise on eToro, and you have a lot of traders to choose from.
Cons.
Some critics of eToro argue the formula used by the platform to calculate a trader’s monthly returns is questionable, and open to manipulation.
For instance, that a trader can minimise losses by depositing additional funds.
Personally, I don’t blindly follow a trader without exploring their strategy and stats, and also developing at least a basic understanding of the assets they’re invested in.
While you don’t pay anything extra for a copied trade, and only pay $2 commission per side on stock trades, the 1.5% currency conversion fee is steep.
The platform operates in USD, so you’ll need to pay this fee every time you deposit funds.
Important!
eToro will reduce the fee by 25% and 50% once your portfolio reaches US$5K and US$25K, respectively. Blow past US$250K and eToro will waive 100% of its currency conversion fees.
Verdict.
I ranked eToro as the #1 copy trading platform in Australia. Why? Its copy trading features are better – and easier to use – than those of any other platform.
Yes, the currency conversion fee stings.
But context is important:
- The fee reduces quickly as the portfolio grows. February’s surge in the S&P 500 tipped mine over $50K, and my new rate of 0.75% is far more sensible.
- Time is money. The way I look at it is – if I charge $100+ an hour, and eToro’s copy trading features allow me not to spend 10 hours a month researching stocks, I’m way ahead.
✔ Best-in-class copy trading features
✔ $0 commissions on ETFs
✔ Fantastic range of tradable assets
✘ Currency conversion fees sting (unless you qualify for a discount)
eToro AUS Capital Limited AFSL 491139. eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision. Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk. eToro AUS Capital Limited ACN 612 791 803 AFSL 491139. Crypto assets are unregulated and highly speculative. There is no consumer protection. You risk losing all of your capital. Refer to our Terms and Conditions. See full disclaimer. eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilising publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.
| How eToro Stacks Up | Score |
|---|---|
| Market Access | 5.0 |
| Fees | 4.0 |
| Ease Of Use | 5.0 |
| Customer Service | 4.0 |
| Copy Trading Features | 5.0 |
| OVERALL | 4.6 |
2. Pepperstone.
Best CFD-only copy trading platform.
Pepperstone is a contracts-for-difference (CFD) and foreign exchange (FX) trading platform, used by over 400,000 traders globally.
The company operates internationally, with its headquarters located in Melbourne, Australia.
It’s multi-regulated, including having an Australian Financial Services Licence issued by ASIC – as well as licenses from FCA, SCB, DFSA, CMA, CySec, and BaFin.
Pros.
The biggest upside to using Pepperstone as your copy trading platform is the ability to combine copy trading with an Australian-based, locally supported CFD and Forex offering.
Cost-wise, it’s excellent value for high-volume trading, with spreads as low as 0.0 pip on major FX pairs and commissions per side of 0.07% on Australian share CFDs.
You also have options for accessing traders to copy.
You can set up third-party integrations that connect with your Pepperstone MT4 or MT5 account via apps including:
- MetaTrader Signals.
- DupliTrade.
Important!
The broker also launched its own ‘CopyTrading by Pepperstone’ mobile app for Android and iOS in 2024. It’s essentially a white labelled version of Pelican Trading, which boasts over 5,000 signal providers.
Within Metatrader, you can browse thousands of available signal providers, view their performance metrics and then subscribe to automatically replicate their trades.
Your account is updated in almost real-time as the traders you’re copying take action.
Auto-execution of copied trades is also a key feature of DupliTrade.
By connecting DupliTrade to your Pepperstone MTX4/5 account you can also control the exact proportion of a signal provider’s trade sizes to copy.
So, you could copy just 25% of a professional trader’s positions, for example.
Cons.
Linking an add-on copy trading app to your Pepperstone MT4/5 account adds more passwords, and more complexity – and Pepperstone isn’t as easy to navigate as some other brokers listed here.
While trade execution on Pepperstone is cost-effective, depending on which social trading tool you connect to your brokerage account, and the signal providers you copy, you may also have to pay:
- Connection fees and/or monthly subscription fees to access specific signals.
- Performance fees, calculated and charged daily as a percentage of the total profits made.
A disappointing aspect for fans of cTrader, which Pepperstone supports, is that the platform’s copy trading feature, cTrader Copy, is not supported by the broker.
Important!
While it’s widely used by regulated FX brokers, DupliTrade has very mixed reviews from users – 62% of reviews on Trustpilot are just 1-star. While many of those low reviews come from people who lost money, a number of people had gripes about fees, delays and glitches.
Verdict.
If you’re an intermediate forex trader committed to learning from more experienced traders as a way to grow your own analytical and technical skills, Pepperstone is a good option because the broker supports copy trading via Metatrader.
For Australians, Pepperstone’s local roots could also offer greater peace of mind.
✔ Great 3rd-party copy trading features
✔ Fast execution
✔ Excellent range of trading platforms
✘ Access to CFDs only
| How Pepperstone Stacks Up | Score |
|---|---|
| Market Access | 4.0 |
| Fees | 4.0 |
| Ease Of Use | 4.0 |
| Customer Service | 4.0 |
| Copy Trading Features | 4.0 |
| OVERALL | 4.0 |
CFDs are complex instruments with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89 % of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to risk losing your money.
3. AvaTrade.
Decent alternative to Pepperstone.
AvaTrade is a multi-award-winning CFD trading platform founded in 2006.
With over 1,250 instruments available to trade, it’s a popular option for people interested in trading forex, crypto, stock, commodities and indices.
It’s a multi-national brokerage, regulated in Europe, Australia, Japan, British Virgin Islands and South Africa. In addition to being ASIC-regulated in Australia, AvaTrade has a physical office located in Sydney.
Pros:
Like Pepperstone, AvaTrade offers a choice of social trading apps that integrate with the trading platforms it offers, including AvaTrade’s proprietary WebTrader tool and MT4.
Australians looking to copy expert traders can link their AvaTrade accounts to the well-known DupliTrade, or use the AvaSocial app.
Again, like Pepperstone’s native copy trading app, AvaSocial appears to be a rebranded version of Pelican Trading – which includes:
- Configurable copy trading settings such as stop limits and proportional mirroring.
- An engaging community discussion feature where you can chat with other traders.
Together with the broker’s robust features, it’s easy to see why you might choose it as your copy trading platform.
CFD trading is notoriously high-risk, but AvaTrade is appealing to experienced investors looking to access high leverage accounts.
For newer traders not necessarily looking to maximise leverage, AvaTrade’s main draws include:
- A strong suite of educational materials and reliable customer services.
- A good selection of industry-leading analytical and trading tools.
- A user-friendly interface and free demo account that mirrors real-time markets.
Cons.
AvaTrade’s trading fees are comparable to many other reputable brokers, but the devil is in the detail. Withdrawing your funds is a bit pricey, and they’ll also slap you with inactivity fees.
Its available copy trading apps can also add costs through performance fees charged by certain signal providers, which can be sizeable.
Verdict.
AvaTrade’s caters well to investors at all levels of experience, and enables automated copy trading platforms to boost convenience.
The differences between AvaTrade and Pepperstone aren’t major.
If I was hemming and hawing between the two, I’d suggest you base the decision on the likely fees (do the sums based on your expected amounts/volumes), platform usability, and how engaging you find their educational content.
4. IG Australia.
Another good copy trading platform.
IG is well-liked by Australian investors that want the convenience of owning shares and ETFs, in addition to CFD trading, from a single account.
IG Australia offers both ASX-listed and international stocks, and CFD trading across 17,000 markets.
IG’s local office is based in Melbourne and it holds an AFSL regulated by ASIC.
Its parent company, IG Group, operates across 18 countries and maintains compliance with key local financial regulations.
Pros.
IG is a top choice in terms of being established and trusted, offering competitive commissions and spreads, and having a substantial selection of markets and tradable instruments.
It takes fourth spot in this list on the strength of this solid foundation — with the ability to access signals a cherry on top.
Copy trading works a bit differently on IG Australia’s platform.
The platform doesn’t support integrations with a separate copy trading tool. Instead, it draws on expertise from two third-party providers to deliver buy and sell suggestions on its own trading platform, right within its desktop or mobile app.
From your standard IG account you can:
- Access signals for popular forex pairs, indices and commodities.
- Review underlying technical analysis or strategy provided by Autochartist or PIA-First.
It’s a handy approach for the risk-averse. You can easily explore ideas from professionals about positions to copy, but retain control over whether to make a trade.
Once you’ve found a signal you want to copy, you can select to ‘copy to Order’ within IG Markets and then complete your pre-populated order.
Cons.
Copy trading isn’t automated on IG Australia.
You’ll still save time – market analysis to identify promising trading opportunities is done for you. But you’ll need to do some work to review, create and monitor your orders.
IG Markets also closed down a dedicated community forum they used to offer to give traders space to share ideas about strategies. However, its website does indicate a replacement may be coming soon.
And you’ll obviously be out of luck if you were hoping to use a common third-party social trading app like DupliTrade, ZuluTrade or Metatrader Signals.
Verdict.
IG is a dependable choice with a powerful trading platform.
If you want professional trading expertise at your fingertips but you prefer to execute your own trades, IG’s copy trading feature is an effective alternative to traditional automated trading.
5. IC Markets.
Complex copy trading platform with basic copy trading features.
Online forex and CFD broker IC Markets is an Australian-owned platform, based in Sydney, with international reach. It’s regulated by ASIC in Australia and offers comprehensive customer support available 7 days a week.
IC Markets is a leading platform for CFD trading, with a broad range of trading platforms and account types to match varying strategies.
It also lets Aussies invest in over 2,200 ASX-listed stocks.
Pros.
Due to its quick execution, great volume pricing and accomodation of strategies like scalping, IC Markets is typically considered best for intermediate to experienced active traders.
You can deepen the benefits of IC Markets’ platform by integrating your account with either a DupliTrade or a ZuluTrade copy trading account.
The key benefits of access to ZuluTrade include:
- A massive community of signal providers: over two million.
- Free copy trading and social feeds to interact with investors.
- Customisable settings on copied trades for manual interventions.
- Simulation tool to test out potential trade ideas before you copy.
- ZuluGuard™ for stop loss monitoring to protect your capital.
Cons.
IC Markets could be overwhelming for a beginner trader.
If you’re not using copy trading to learn or apply advanced strategies, a simpler platform might suit you better.
Many other platforms offer similar copy trading tools but with a more user-friendly interface.
Verdict.
IG Markets brings the reliability of an established broker to the automated trading space.
Its combination of copy trading and algorithmic capabilities makes them a versatile choice for a wide range of traders.
6. Darwinex.
Copy trading platform with a difference.
A bit of a dark horse, Darwinex is a broker worth looking at due to its singular focus on copy trading — but not as you know it.
Launched in 2012, Darwinex is regulated in Seychelles (FSA), the EU (CNMV) and the UK (FCA).
It encompasses CFD trading across over 1,500 instruments. Available assets include stocks, futures, ETFs, and forex.
Pros.
Darwinex’s proprietary system connects experienced and developing traders, with investors looking to benefit from their strategies.
But the platform doesn’t automatically copy trades on your behalf.
Trading strategies and portfolios, which it calls DARWINS, are wrapped as a managed index – which protects the intellectual property of traders vying to attract investment:
- You can diversify through strategies that are typically uncorrelated to traditional investments.
- The platform provides risk management measures to help you evaluate DARWINS.
- The platform equalises risk across its DARWIN indices to help protect your capital.
- You can easily compare DARWINS and monitor portfolio performance via its investor app.
The platform has a seed funding allocation feature that’s designed to build its stable of successful traders.
Essentially, traders using the platform who perform well attract financial rewards, and achieve rankings that enable their strategies to become investible.
Cons.
Darwinex isn’t licensed locally in Australia, and you’ll need to use its UK version which may make it more difficult to access any consumer protections if things go south.
Darwinex’s website is aimed squarely at traders looking to develop their own returns and reputation as someone to follow, and the benefits and features available to investors aren’t as clear-cut.
The minimum amount required to invest is €200 (AUD $350), which is affordable but not cheap.
As an investor, you’ll pay a 1.2% management fee to Darwinex and a 20% performance fee on your net, individual profits.
Verdict.
A unique take on copy trading, Darwinex boasts potential upside for investors of between 4-12% p.a. and offers a less traditional route to making gains based on the expertise of other traders.
7. Crypto Traders.
Best copy trading platform for crypto trading.
Crypto Traders’ offers a copy trading bot and social community, with integration for trade executions via the BloFin digital currency exchange.
Pros.
Crypto Traders’ copy trading bot and social community is delivered via the Discord social media platform.
It’s a genuine community forum, with lots of interaction and learning between members — in addition to providing automated copy trades managed by the bot.
Trades are executed via BloFin exchange, which offers crypto spot and futures trading.
The exchange is integrated with Chainalsysis’ crypto risk solution for real-time monitoring, and also claims 1:1 proof of reserves.
Within the Discord group, you can easily select traders to follow and pick signals to copy by selecting an emoji.
You’ll then be prompted to confirm via a direct message from the bot, and can adjust your stop-loss preferences at that time.
You can also:
- Review and adjust your balance, positions and copied traders by messaging the bot.
- Set a default USDT position size for each trader that you want to auto follow.
Cons.
Crypto Traders is a US-based app, but details are thin on the ground about the team or support behind the app and it’s not a regulated platform.
Accessing the copy trading bot requires a paid membership. If you join for a year, you’ll pay US$42 per month (~AUD$65) — which is a hefty chunk of change.
You’ll need a bit of time and technical savvy to set-up Crypto Traders copy trading platform as you to join Discord, create a linked BloFin account, become a Crypto Traders member, and then set-up API keys for the bot to activate it.
Verdict.
Crypto is unpredictable and less regulated, so it’s higher-risk.
Crypto Traders’ highly engaged social trading community gives you a good opportunity to sense-check your ideas as well as streamline copy trading.
Final Word On The Best Copy Trading Platforms In Australia.
Copy trading platforms fall into two camps.
The first is native. An example of this is eToro – its copy trading features are built into the platform, and allow you to copy moves of professional traders, effectively delegating your investing decisions to them.
The second is 3rd party. Providers like ZuluTrade, for example, integrate with platforms like Pepperstone to offer similar (but often less advanced) copy trading features.
Which option is best for you? Hopefully I was able to answer this question above. If I missed something, feel free to ask a question below.
Jody
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