The fee for simply holding an account
Trading costs get the attention, but the fee for holding an account is easier to check and easier to forget. eToro charges an account fee of $0 and a management fee of 0%, and the account types it lists include isa. Read that carefully: the fee attaches to the wrapper you choose, not to any single investment inside it. XTB charges an account fee of €0 and describes its pricing as commission free and low fees.
Holding costs are where the two brands part company. XTB applies an inactivity fee of €10, which matters if you open an account and then forget it. Across the brokers on our lists, inactivity fees run €0 to €21.92, so the useful question is not whether a fee exists but what triggers it and how long you must stay away. Read the XTB review alongside the brokers suited to beginners ranking before you commit.
What a trade actually costs
Both brands sell a commission-free model. eToro is listed as commission free with a stock trade fee of $0, and XTB as commission free and low fees with a stock trade fee of €0. Stock trade fees across the market run €0 to €12.30, so a fee of nothing sits at the friendly end of the range rather than standing out as unusual.
Currency is where a commission-free headline can still cost you money. XTB sets a foreign exchange fee of 0.5% on currency trades. Ask each broker for its currency conversion margin, because that figure, not the stock trade fee, decides what a deposit in pounds or euros costs you in dollars. Both eToro's review and XTB's review set out how each one prices the same trade.
Minimums, deposits and getting money out
The smallest sensible commitment comes first. eToro's entry point is a minimum investment of $500, and it offers portfolios built around etf, esg and cash. XTB's minimum deposit is €0, and minimum deposits across the market run €0 to €1,162.18, so both brands sit at the accessible end of the scale.
For a beginner, getting money out matters more than getting money in. XTB's deposit and withdrawal charges are Free deposits; free withdrawals above 100 EUR/USD. Turn that into questions worth asking in writing: is there a minimum withdrawal, does a fee attach to each transaction or to inactivity, and how long does a payout take. If a broker answers vaguely, move to the next name in the beginners ranking.
Who regulates the firm, and what protects the cash
Begin with the legal entity, because that is the company you are contracting with. eToro's is eToro (Europe) Ltd, headquartered in CY and listed with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and SIPC. Its registration reads MiCA CASP 213800GIFQMSV7HROS23, and its SIPC membership SIPC member 70212. XTB contracts through XTB Limited, also headquartered in CY, with regulators listed as CySEC, FCA and KNF.
Track record is a softer signal, though still worth a glance: eToro has operated since 2007 and XTB since 2002.
Compensation is separate from regulation, and beginners often blur the two. Both brands list cover under the EU investor compensation scheme (EU ICS) as their investor protection. Look the firm up on your regulator's public register yourself, and check whether your money sits in a segregated client account, which is a different protection from a compensation scheme. The same checks apply to any name you shortlist, such as in a further beginner option review.
Whether the account fits how you will trade
Both brands name beginners as a target audience: beginners at eToro, beginners at XTB. eToro's feature list, crypto, demo account and fractional shares, covers fractional shares and copy trading on top of the demo account, mobile app and crypto that XTB's list, demo account, mobile app and crypto, also names. A demo account is the single most useful feature for a beginner, since it lets you rehearse an order before it costs anything.
Platforms and support differ in ways that shape daily use. XTB supplies xStation 5 and xStation Mobile. On help, eToro runs a help centre, while XTB offers email, chat and phone. Being able to reach a person matters more than an extra feature, so weigh the support channel early.
Markets differ too. eToro's markets are stocks, etfs and forex, and XTB's are stocks, etfs and forex. The asset class eToro adds is futures, and futures carry leverage, so a broader market list is not automatically a better one for a first account.
Leverage and the risk you are taking on
XTB lists retail leverage of 1:30. Leverage magnifies a loss as efficiently as a gain, which is why it belongs at the end of a beginner's checklist rather than the start of one.
Then read the retail loss warnings, because they are the most honest numbers on any comparison page. XTB's is 77%, and the spread across the brokers we compare is 66.43% to 81%. A high share of retail accounts losing money is not a flaw in a particular brand, it is the base rate of leveraged trading, and it is the reason a modest, regular contribution beats a large first trade.
A shortlist routine that fits in one sitting
Work the sections in order and write the figures down: the account fee and the inactivity fee, the stock trade fee and the currency conversion margin, the minimum deposit and the withdrawal terms, then the legal entity, the regulator and the protection scheme, and finally the platform, the support channel and the retail loss warning. Comparing in that order stops a headline commission-free model from hiding a quiet inactivity charge.
Once the shortlist is short, read the full write-ups rather than the summary tables. Our brokers suited to beginners page groups the options by account type, and the individual reviews, from XTB to another beginner option review, set out the fee schedules in detail. Whichever name you pick, fund it with money you can leave invested, keep the demo account open until the platform feels ordinary, and revisit the inactivity and withdrawal terms once a year.