Top stock and ETF brokers compared

About Top stock and ETF brokers compared

Choosing a stock and ETF broker comes down to what a trade costs, what happens to your money if the firm behind it fails, and how the account behaves day to day. This ranking orders 572 brands, and the members below sit at the front of it. All of them list stocks and ETFs, so the real separation happens elsewhere: the price of a single share, the charges around moving money in and out, and the protection attached to the balance. The main trade-off is cost against safety. A commission-free model keeps the per-trade number low, while a low-fee model shows a tighter headline figure and can cost more once spread, currency and inactivity charges are counted. Deposit thresholds matter just as much, running €0 to €105,876.12 across the brokers in our data, and stock trade fees run €0 to €17.54. A further split opens up lower down the list, between multi-asset trading platforms and app-first equity accounts with a flat per-trade fee. Read the per-brand figures below rather than the headline label, and check the legal entity your account would sit with.

How we picked

Scores are built from weighted inputs. Cost carries 35%, the breadth of what you can buy carries 25%, and trust carries 40%. Cost covers the stock trade fee, the account fee, deposit and withdrawal charges, any inactivity fee and the currency conversion charge. Trust leans on the regulator named for each entity, the protection scheme standing behind the balance, and the share of retail client accounts that lose money. Offer covers the markets on the platform, the trading platforms, and features such as fractional shares, a demo account, copy trading, a mobile app and crypto alongside equities. Figures come from each provider's own fee schedules and product pages, plus the regulatory and compensation scheme registers that list the legal entity behind each brand. Where a provider publishes a range, the range is carried through rather than collapsed into one rounded number, and retail loss figures keep the exact spread each regulator publishes. Brands that pay to be listed appear first, and the rest follow on score, so the order reflects commercial agreements as well as measured performance. Where members look similar on price, the deciding factors are the protection scheme and how the account is run.

Our top picks

1. 3. XTB

   XTB ranks fourth in this ranking because it covers both pricing models at once, commission-free and low-fees, with a stock trade fee of €0, an account fee of €0 and a minimum deposit of €0. Paying in and out is listed as Free deposits; free withdrawals above 100 EUR/USD, and the currency conversion charge is 0.5%, which matters once a balance holds more than one currency. The entity is XTB Limited, with the FCA and the KNF named alongside the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and balances covered by EU ICS up to EUR 20,000. Cautions sit against that: the inactivity fee of €10 on a dormant account, against the $0 at Vantage above, and a retail loss figure of 77%. Support reaches email, chat and phone, the widest mix in this ranking, and trading runs through the xStation platform and its mobile app. LiteFinance below sits in the same cost band but asks for a higher deposit minimum.

   • Minimum deposit: €0
   • Stock trade fee: €0
   • Account fee: €0

   Pros

   • Account fee of €0 on the standard account, and stock trades cost €0.
   • Minimum deposit of €0, so the account opens without a funding floor.
   • Regulated by CySEC, the FCA and KNF across Cyprus, the UK and Poland.
   • Free deposits, with withdrawals free above the stated threshold on Free deposits; free withdrawals above 100 EUR/USD.
   • Markets span stocks, ETFs, forex, CFDs and crypto on xStation 5 and xStation Mobile.

   Cons

   • An inactivity fee of €10 applies, unlike eToro, which has no such charge.
   • Forex and CFD trading is not cost free: fx trading costs 0.5%.
   • CFDs carry a high proportion of losing retail accounts, and XTB's own figure is 77%.
   • Leverage reaches 1:30 on retail accounts, so losses can build faster than on an unleveraged account.

2. 6. eToro

   Second place in this ranking goes to eToro, which keeps the commission-free model, charges $0 on a stock trade and $0 for the account, then adds structure around it. The ISA account type is the part most UK readers notice, since it wraps holdings for tax purposes, and fractional shares let a small balance spread across several positions rather than sit in one. Its market list is the widest of the names at the head of the list, covering stocks, ETFs, forex, CFDs, crypto and futures, with copy trading and a demo account alongside. The entity is eToro (Europe) Ltd, regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with SIPC named alongside, and balances covered by EU ICS up to EUR 20,000. Support runs on help centre only, thinner than the mix at XTB further down. Vantage, ranked next, prices a similar market list on a low-fee model instead.

   • Stock trade fee: $0
   • Account fee: $0
   • Markets: Stocks, ETFs, Forex, and 3 more

   Pros

   • No commission on share dealing: stock trade fees are $0
   • No account fee on the standard dealing account: $0
   • Regulated in Cyprus by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, and a SIPC member in the US
   • One account spans stocks, etfs and forex
   • Fractional shares and a demo account let you start small and practise before committing money

   Cons

   • A separate management fee of 0% applies to the managed portfolio service, so headline dealing costs are not the whole bill
   • Support runs on help centre only, so there is no stated phone or live chat route for account problems
   • The same commission-free model at XTB comes with a stated stock trade fee of €0, so commission alone does not separate the two

3. 8. bunq

   bunq reaches ninth in this ranking as a mobile-first equities account, closer in shape to Vivid Standard than to the commission-free dealers near the head. Trading runs through the bunq app, the listed markets are stocks, ETFs and crypto, and the features that matter for small, frequent purchases are fractional shares and a mobile app, with a beginner audience in mind. The minimum deposit is €10. The named legal entity is BUNQ US BD LLC, the regulators listed are De Nederlandsche Bank and SIPC, and balances are covered by EU ICS up to EUR 20,000. Support reaches email and help centre. What sets it apart in this ranking is the single-app route into equities, and what it gives up against Bitpanda below is a second supervisor and a wider regulator list.

   • Minimum deposit: €10
   • Markets: Stocks, ETFs, Crypto
   • Regulators: De Nederlandsche Bank, SIPC

   Pros

   • The minimum deposit is €10.
   • The available features include fractional shares, crypto and a mobile app.
   • Regulatory listings include De Nederlandsche Bank in NL and SIPC in the US.
   • EU investor protection is EU ICS up to EUR 20,000.

   Cons

   • Support runs through email and help centre only.
   • The available markets cover stocks, ETFs and crypto.
   • The stated EU investor protection is EU ICS up to EUR 20,000.

4. 9. Mintos

   Mintos belongs in this ranking for the part of it that behaves like a savings account rather than a trading desk. Support reaches email, help centre and community, and the entity is SIA Mintos Payments, listed under Latvijas Banka, with balances covered by EU ICS up to EUR 20,000. What it does not offer is individual share dealing: its markets are bonds, etfs and crypto, so the €50 minimum deposit buys into that product set rather than a listed share. A dormancy charge of €4.90 applies on an inactive account. FXTM above covers shares, bonds, metals and futures on the same balance, which is why it sits higher in this ranking.

   • Minimum deposit: €50
   • Account fee: €0
   • Inactivity fee: €4.90

   Pros

   • The account fee is €0, and Mintos ranks at 1 of 138 brands on that measure
   • Investing is commission-free, and the minimum investment is €50
   • A secondary market is available, so loans can be sold before they mature
   • The target return is 9.2%, and cash held earns an interest rate of 2.5%
   • Support runs through email, help centre and community

   Cons

   • Card deposits cost Free bank transfer withdrawal; 2% card deposits, so topping up is dearer than a bank transfer
   • An inactivity fee of €4.90 applies, against an inactivity fee position of 33 of 56
   • The minimum deposit of €50 sits far above a site minimum deposit median of €4.64
   • Markets listed are bonds, etfs and crypto, so there is no share dealing here

What to look for

What a trade costs

The median stock trade fee in this ranking is €0 and the upper quartile is €1.23, so a commission-free model is the common case and a flat per-trade fee is the alternative. Read it together with the account fee and the currency conversion charge, since a commission-free model can still leave a cost on the way in.

Paying in and out

The median minimum deposit in this ranking is €6.17, the upper quartile is €87.70 and the widest is €105,876.12. Deposit and withdrawal charges vary more widely than the headline suggests, and card top-ups are the usual place a charge appears.

Safety of the balance

The regulator and the entity behind the account decide who stands behind the balance, and the scheme differs across this list. Where a brand names an FCA or CySEC registration, that is the first thing to check. Most European members here carry EU ICS up to EUR 20,000, so the cap alone does not separate them.

How much retail trading loses money

The median retail loss percentage in this ranking is 72.03%, with an upper quartile of 76.25% and a lowest reading of 40.3%. High figures are the norm in this category and describe clients as a group, not one account.

Idle money and account upkeep

The median account fee in this ranking is €0 and the median inactivity fee is €0, so a quiet account is usually free to keep and a minority charge for dormancy. Worth checking if you plan to buy and hold rather than trade.

What you can actually hold

Stocks and ETFs are the core of this category, appearing at 80.9% and 72.7% of ranked brokers, with crypto at 39%. A mobile app is close to standard at 94.2%, while fractional shares and copy trading are the features that split the field.

Frequently asked questions

Top stock and ETF brokers compared by country

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Singapore
• South Africa
• United Kingdom
• United States

Brokers compared head to head

• ActivTrades vs DKB (Deutsche Kreditbank)
• ActivTrades vs XTB
• ActivTrades vs NAGA
• DKB (Deutsche Kreditbank) vs XTB
• DKB (Deutsche Kreditbank) vs NAGA
• XTB vs NAGA

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV