Recently, I’ve been looking for investment apps to make money without having to put in a lot of upfront cash. Turns out there are several decent options I didn’t know existed.

MiTrade caught my attention because you can start with just 20 USD. The interface is clean—no unnecessary buttons—and that’s exactly what someone who’s just starting out needs. They have integrated TradingView charts, and you can trade stocks, forex, crypto—everything from a single account. The good thing is that they give you 50k in virtual money to practice fearlessly for 3 months.

Then there’s AvaTrade, which is more for experienced people. Founded in 2006, it offers a bunch of different platforms (MT4, MT5, and its own app) and has that automatic copy trading feature called ZuluTrade. If you want high leverage and more professional conditions, this is your thing. The minimum deposit is 100 USD.

Plus500 is pretty well-known—it’s listed in London and has about 2,800 different CFDs. Stocks, crypto, indices, commodities—everything. They recently expanded into the U.S. with futures and prediction markets. For active traders looking for variety, it’s strong. Minimum 100 USD.

XM has something I didn’t see in the others: leverage of up to 1000x. They offer micro accounts, standard, ultra-low… it depends on what you’re looking for. Since 2009, they’ve been doing this and support MT4 and MT5 without any trouble. The minimum deposit is ridiculously low—only 5 USD. If you’re an expert in risk management, this opens up a lot of possibilities.

And there’s eToro, the one everyone knows for copy trading. They launched this in 2007 and it was innovative. Basically, you automatically copy what more experienced traders do. For beginners who want to learn without reinventing the wheel, it works. Minimum deposit 50 USD.

What surprised me is that almost all of them have zero commissions on trades—you only pay the spread. All of them offer demo accounts to practice without risk. If you’re a beginner, MiTrade seems the most accessible. If you already know what you’re doing and want more tools, AvaTrade or XM are solid options.

One more thing: all of them are regulated by serious financial institutions (ASIC, CySEC, etc.), so it’s not just anything. But before putting in real money, you should practice a lot on the demo account and understand that trading with leverage carries risks. It’s not “get rich quick”—it’s more like getting access to markets that previously only people with a lot of capital could reach.