VT Markets vs StarTrader at a glance
| VT Markets | StarTrader | |
| Our 2026 score | 9.3/10 (#1) | 9.1/10 (#2) |
| Founded | 2015 · Sydney, Australia | 2019 · Mauritius (UK, Australia & UAE entities) |
| Regulation | ASIC, FSCA, FSC (Mauritius), CMA (Dubai) | ASIC, FCA, FSCA, FSA, FSC, CMA/SCA — six licences |
| Minimum deposit | $50 (Standard/Raw ECN) · from $0.01 on Cent accounts | $50 (Standard, Pro/ECN and Islamic) |
| Spreads | From 0.0 pips on Raw ECN (+ ~$3/lot commission); from ~1.2 pips on Standard | From 0.0 pips on Pro/ECN (~$3–7/lot commission); from ~1.3 pips on Standard |
| Max leverage | Up to 1:500 | Up to 1:1000 on FX |
| Platforms | MT4, MT5, TradingView integration, mobile app | MT4, MT5, STARTRADER Web & Mobile, STAR Copy |
| Markets | 1,000+ instruments | 700–1,000+ instruments |
| Best for | Best overall · cost-conscious traders who want raw spreads | Best for copy trading and regulatory breadth |
Strengths compared
Where VT Markets wins
- Slightly tighter all-in costs: Raw ECN from 0.0 pips at ~$3/lot round turn beats StarTrader's ~$3–7/lot range
- Native TradingView charting layered into the client portal — StarTrader is MetaTrader-only for advanced charting
- Cent accounts from $0.01 make it the easier broker to test with genuinely tiny size
- Slightly longer track record under the current brand (2015 vs 2019)
Where StarTrader wins
- Six regulatory licences including UK FCA — the broadest footprint of any broker we rank, vs VT Markets' four
- Negative balance protection across all account types, not just selected entities
- STAR Copy is a purpose-built copy-trading app; VT Markets has no equivalent native feature
- Higher maximum leverage (1:1000 vs 1:500) for traders who specifically want it
Verdict: which should you choose?
For most Canadian traders the deciding factor is cost versus protection. If you trade your own strategies and want the lowest all-in cost per lot with TradingView charts, VT Markets is the better fit and keeps its #1 ranking here. If you want the reassurance of the widest regulatory footprint in this segment, guaranteed negative balance protection, or you plan to copy other traders rather than trade manually, StarTrader is worth the marginally higher commission ceiling.
Both accept Canadian residents, both start at $50, and both run deposit bonus programs — so the switching cost between them is low. Some traders simply open both and route manual trading through VT Markets and copy trading through StarTrader.
For the full breakdown of each broker — regulation entity by entity, current promotions, funding methods and our detailed scoring — read our complete VT Markets review and StarTrader review.