How reliable are avatrade and etoro really during market stress events?

I’m leaning toward one of these two brokers but reliability matters to me more than saving a fraction of a pip on spreads. I’ve read some horror stories online about platforms going down during volatile news events, and that’s the last thing I want when I’m in a live trade.

I know regulations matter, but honestly, I’m more interested in what actually happens on the ground. Can you stay logged in? Do orders execute? What’s the real experience from people who’ve been through volatile days on these platforms?

I’m also wondering about customer support response times if something goes wrong. Does it matter which broker you pick in that regard?

What’s been your actual experience with platform stability on both of these during high-stress market events?

Avatrade stayed up during FOMC. eToro slowed down.

eToro support responds faster usually.

Platform stability during volatility matters more than you’d think. Both brokers have solid regulation, but execution is where it shows. Avatrade’s infrastructure handles news events better from what I’ve seen. eToro’s platform is more stable overall, but liquidity issues pop up during extreme moves. For reliability, test during a scheduled news event with small positions. Watch order execution, requote frequency, and whether the platform stays responsive. That tells you more than any review.

Both seem fine during normal trading. Haven’t tested them during major news.

This is the question that actually matters. I switched from eToro to Avatrade specifically because of platform performance during NFP releases.

With eToro, I got requoted constantly during news. Avatrade didn’t. That single difference changed my trading results more than any rebate would have.

Both brokers are regulated, so protection is similar. But Avatrade’s servers seem to handle the load better. eToro’s customer support is friendlier and responds faster, but that only helps if your order already went through correctly.

Do a real test: trade both during an economic release you care about. Track how many requotes you get and whether fills happen at the price you saw.

One detail most people overlook: check the maximum slippage you’ve experienced on each platform during your actual trading times. That’s your real reliability metric. A platform that doesn’t crash but slips you 2 pips on news events is less reliable for your bottom line than one that might briefly get slow but executes at the price you see.