Scalable Capital vs Trade Republic (2026):
the complete breakdown
Both brokers are marketed as free. The real comparison goes deeper: what you actually pay, what you get access to, and where each broker falls short — covering fees, savings plans, interest, crypto, bonds, customer support, and platform reliability.
Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you sign up through them. This does not affect our reviews or recommendations — we only feature products we genuinely believe are useful for investors. This site provides educational content only, not personalized investment advice. Investments can lose value and past performance does not guarantee future results. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and for confirming the tax and legal rules that apply in your country.
TL;DR
- You execute 5+ trades a month and PRIME+ pays for itself.
- You want a managed Scalable Wealth portfolio alongside self-directed investing.
- You want access to 3,500+ active funds beyond ETFs.
- You want securities-backed lending as an option.
- You prefer a full desktop web platform over mobile-first.
- You need human customer support you can actually reach.
- You run 1–4 savings plans and rarely trade manually.
- You want real crypto (not ETPs) or direct bond access.
- You want banking features: IBAN, debit card, €100k deposit protection.
- You prefer no monthly subscription and monthly interest payouts.
- You want immediate account access after verification.
- You want the widest ETF and stock catalogue available.
Full feature comparison
Scalable Capital has two plans (FREE and PRIME+) — both are shown separately where they differ significantly.
| Feature | Scalable FREE | Scalable PRIME+ | Trade Republic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | €0 | €4.99 / month | €0 |
| Trade fee | €0.99 / order | €0 (orders ≥ €250) | €1 / order |
| ETF savings plans | Free | Free | Free |
| Savings plan frequency | Weekly / bi-weekly / monthly | Weekly / bi-weekly / monthly | Weekly / bi-weekly / monthly |
| ETFs | 2,000+ | 2,000+ | 8,000+ |
| Stocks | 8,000+ | 8,000+ | 10,000+ |
| Active funds | 3,500+ | 3,500+ | None |
| Bonds (direct) | Bond ETFs only | Bond ETFs only | 500+ govt & corp bonds |
| Derivatives | 625,000+ | 625,000+ | 1.2 million+ |
| Fractional shares (manual) | No — savings plans only | No — savings plans only | Yes — from €1 |
| Crypto type | ETPs only (32 coins) | ETPs only (32 coins) | Real coins (50+) |
| Interest on cash | ECB-linked, capped at €100k | ECB-linked, no cap | ECB-linked, up to €50k |
| Interest payout frequency | Quarterly | Quarterly | Monthly |
| Cash deposit protection | €100k (banking licence) | €100k (banking licence) | |
| Managed portfolio | Yes — Scalable Wealth | Yes — Scalable Wealth | No |
| Securities-backed lending | Yes | Yes | No |
| Debit card / IBAN | No | No | Yes — full bank account |
| Web platform | Full desktop dashboard | Full desktop dashboard | Basic web view only |
| Account opening speed | Up to 3 banking days | Up to 3 banking days | Immediate after verification |
| Customer support | Chat + phone + email | Chat + phone + email | Chatbot + email only |
| Minimum deposit | €0 | €0 | €1 |
| Countries | DE, AT, GB, FR, IT, NL, ES | 17+ EU countries | |
FREE vs PRIME+ vs €1 flat: which model actually wins?
Scalable FREE and Trade Republic charge almost identical amounts per trade. The real question is whether PRIME+’s subscription justifies the monthly cost for your specific usage pattern.
At €1/trade (Trade Republic) vs €0 (PRIME+), the €4.99/month subscription breaks even at 5 trades per month. Active investors and anyone running multiple savings plans while rebalancing periodically will cross that threshold quickly.
The higher cash interest rate on PRIME+ also lowers the effective break-even point for anyone holding a meaningful cash buffer between investments.
For purely passive investors — one or two savings plans, rarely touching the portfolio — the FREE plan and Trade Republic are cost-equivalent. Savings plans are free on all three options.
The subscription cost makes Trade Republic cheaper for anyone executing 4 or fewer manual trades per month.
| Usage pattern | Scalable FREE (annual) | Scalable PRIME+ (annual) | Trade Republic (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive — 2 trades/mo | ~€24 | €60 (sub only) | ~€24 |
| Moderate — 6 trades/mo | ~€71 | €60 | ~€72 |
| Active — 15 trades/mo | ~€178 | €60 | ~€180 |
Savings plan executions excluded — free on all three options. PRIME+ zero-fee applies to orders ≥ €250 only; smaller orders cost €0.99 even on PRIME+.
ETF range, active funds, and savings plans
The headline catalogue difference — 8,000+ (Trade Republic) vs 2,000+ (Scalable Capital) — rarely affects passive investors. The real distinctions are in what lives outside the ETF aisle.
For a standard two- or three-fund portfolio (MSCI World + S&P 500 UCITS + bond allocation), both brokers have you covered. The 6,000-ETF difference only matters for niche thematic ETFs, specific factor tilts, or unusual geographic exposures most passive investors don’t need.
Fractional share exposure also differs: Trade Republic allows fractional buys from €1 on manual one-off orders. On Scalable Capital, fractional exposure is only possible through savings plans — you cannot buy a fractional amount of an ETF in a single manual trade.
Scalable Capital offers access to 3,500+ active funds (managed mutual funds) alongside its ETF catalogue. Trade Republic carries none. For investors whose strategy includes active funds — or who are gradually shifting from active to passive — this is a real differentiator.
These are not products most passive ETF investors need day-to-day, but they give Scalable a meaningfully broader shelf than the ETF headcount alone implies.
- Both waive the execution fee on savings plans entirely — €0 on all plans.
- Both support weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly intervals with a €1 minimum.
- Scalable Capital offers slightly more scheduling flexibility; Trade Republic’s savings plan UX is more streamlined for beginners.
- Savings plan catalogue: 2,000+ ETFs (Scalable) vs 8,000+ ETFs and stocks including bonds and crypto (Trade Republic).
Bond access: a clear Trade Republic advantage
As interest rates normalised in Europe, direct bond access became a genuine portfolio tool again. The two brokers approach this very differently.
No direct bond trading on Scalable Capital. Fixed income exposure is available exclusively through bond ETFs and active funds that hold bonds. For most passive investors building a diversified allocation, a total bond market UCITS ETF achieves similar exposure at low cost — this is not a meaningful gap for that group.
Investors who want to hold individual government or corporate bonds to a specific maturity — a laddering strategy, for example — cannot do this on Scalable Capital.
Direct access to 500+ government and corporate bonds, including eurozone government bonds, German Bundesanleihen, and major corporate issuers. A meaningful differentiator for investors who want fixed income exposure without the ETF wrapper.
Bonds can also be included in savings plans — meaning you can build a bond ladder automatically over time. Very few neobrokers offer this.
Interest on uninvested cash: rate, cap, and payout timing
Both brokers pay ECB-linked interest on uninvested cash. The rate, the balance cap, the payout frequency, and the protection structure all differ — and each detail compounds over time.
- FREE plan: ECB-linked rate, capped at €100,000 balance
- PRIME+: higher ECB-linked rate, no balance cap
- Interest accrues daily
- Paid quarterly — three months of interest sits idle before it compounds
- Cash deposit protection: €100,000 (banking licence)
- ECB deposit rate tracked closely (variable)
- Paid on balances up to €50,000
- Interest accrues daily
- Paid monthly — begins compounding the following month
- Cash deposit protection: €100,000 (banking licence)
- Cash sweeps into omnibus accounts across Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Citibank
Crypto: real coins vs ETPs — a critical distinction
Both brokers offer crypto exposure, but the underlying structure is fundamentally different. This matters for ownership rights, tax treatment, and what you can actually do with your holdings.
Scalable Capital offers crypto exposure through Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) on 32 coins. ETPs are exchange-listed securities that track the price of the underlying cryptocurrency — you do not own the actual coins.
- No wallet, no withdrawal to self-custody
- Tax treatment follows securities rules in most EU countries
- Cannot be transferred to an external wallet or exchange
- Counterparty risk sits with the ETP issuer, not the underlying blockchain
Trade Republic offers real cryptocurrency on 50+ coins. You hold actual digital assets, not a security tracking their price. This is a meaningful structural difference.
- Can be included in savings plans (buy crypto automatically each month)
- Tax treatment follows crypto rules in your country — verify locally
- Held in Trade Republic’s custody; no self-custody withdrawal currently
- Wider selection than Scalable’s 32-coin ETP range
Scalable Wealth and securities-backed lending
Two product categories Trade Republic does not offer at all — and that define a meaningful share of Scalable Capital’s user base.
Scalable Capital launched as a robo-advisor in 2016. The product is now branded as Scalable Wealth — automated UCITS ETF portfolios (typically iShares and Xtrackers) built and rebalanced based on a risk questionnaire you complete at setup.
This enables a hybrid approach: a managed core for long-term accumulation, plus a self-directed satellite for individual ETF picks — all within one account. Trade Republic has no equivalent. If you want a managed allocation, Scalable Capital is the only choice between these two.
Around €4.5 billion is currently invested in Scalable Wealth portfolios.
Scalable Capital offers a Lombard loan — a credit facility secured against your securities portfolio. This lets you access liquidity without selling your holdings: useful for bridging a short-term cash need while keeping market exposure intact.
Most retail investors won’t use this — but it illustrates the breadth of Scalable Capital’s product ambitions relative to Trade Republic’s focus on simplicity. Trade Republic offers no lending product of any kind.
Banking features, account scope, and opening speed
Both brokers now hold banking licences — but they use them for entirely different purposes. Account access speed is also a practical differentiator that matters at the start.
- Full web dashboard + iOS/Android app (desktop-first UX)
- Banking licence used for: Lombard lending and cash interest infrastructure
- No debit card, no personal IBAN
- Account opening: up to 3 banking days after identity verification
- ID options: video (eID, WebID) or in-person at a post office
- Available in: DE, AT, GB, FR, IT, NL, ES
- Mobile-first (iOS/Android); basic web view available
- Banking licence used for: full current account, IBAN, debit card
- Trade Republic card + personal IBAN — spend your cash balance directly in shops and online
- Account opening: immediate after identity verification
- ID via app video only (multiple providers supported)
- Available in 17+ European countries
Customer support: the sharpest gap between these two brokers
Support quality is easy to ignore when opening an account and critical when something goes wrong. The two brokers are not comparable here.
Scalable Capital offers live chat with human agents, a direct email line, and telephone support. For standard queries, response times are typically measured in business days. English-speaking support is generally available.
One known limitation: certain operations — particularly specific tax form submissions or account structure changes — require Scalable to route requests through partner custodians like Baader Bank. These can be slower, as Scalable acts as intermediary rather than having direct access. Factor this in for time-sensitive compliance requests.
Trade Republic’s support is chatbot and email-based only. There is no phone line for trading or account issues. The only phone number is a card-block emergency line for lost or stolen debit cards.
For straightforward queries the automated system generally resolves issues adequately. For complex problems — frozen accounts, tax documentation disputes, or edge cases — users frequently report extended waits in automated email loops with template responses. At 10+ million customers, Trade Republic’s support infrastructure has not scaled proportionally with its user base.
Platform stability during market stress
Both brokers have experienced infrastructure failures during high-volatility periods. This is a known risk category for neobrokers that belongs in any honest comparison.
During the market sell-off triggered by the US tariff announcements in spring 2025, both Scalable Capital and Trade Republic reported slowdowns, access issues, and temporary trading outages. The surge in user activity overwhelmed infrastructure at both platforms. Legal proceedings from affected users are ongoing in German courts.
This was not isolated. Trade Republic also restricted trading in specific securities during the GameStop rally in February 2021. Scalable Capital experienced multi-day restrictions on individual securities during a large-scale internal infrastructure migration in 2025, when customer deposits moved from Baader Bank to Scalable’s own systems.
Rapid growth — Trade Republic now serves 10+ million customers, Scalable Capital over 1 million — creates ongoing tension between product ambition and infrastructure capacity at both platforms.
If your strategy is monthly savings plans and annual rebalancing, platform outages during volatile periods matter very little in practice. You are not trying to execute at specific moments. The outage risk is real but largely irrelevant for this investor profile.
If you need guaranteed execution during market dislocations — when prices move fast and timing matters — neither broker is designed for this. Interactive Brokers provides significantly more robust institutional infrastructure for this use case.
Who each broker actually fits
- Active investors executing 5+ trades/month — PRIME+ saves money immediately.
- Investors wanting a managed Scalable Wealth portfolio alongside their own ETF picks.
- Hybrid investors: managed core + self-directed satellite in one account.
- Investors who want access to active funds alongside ETFs.
- Desktop-first users who prefer a full web dashboard over a mobile app.
- Investors who may want securities-backed lending as a future option.
- Anyone who values reachable, human customer support.
- Passive investors running 1–4 savings plans with minimal manual trading.
- ETF investors who want the widest possible catalogue — or direct bond access.
- Crypto investors who want real coin ownership, not ETPs.
- Investors who want banking features: card, IBAN, full current account functionality.
- Anyone who values immediate account access — no waiting period after verification.
- Beginners who prefer simplicity and no monthly subscription commitment.
- Investors who want monthly interest payouts that compound faster.
Both are neobrokers optimised for European retail simplicity. As portfolios grow beyond €50,000–€100,000 and multi-currency needs emerge — particularly for investors buying USD-denominated assets regularly — Interactive Brokers becomes worth evaluating seriously. The institutional FX workflow, multi-currency accounts, and execution capacity are structural advantages neither neobroker can match at scale.
For the majority of European investors in early-to-mid accumulation with a simple UCITS ETF strategy, either broker here is a cost-effective, legitimate choice. The decision between them is about feature fit, not safety or cost at the margin.
Ready to open an account?
Both brokers are available across most of Europe with no minimum deposit. Pick the one that matches your trading frequency, whether you need managed portfolios, active funds, bonds, or real crypto.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
Is Scalable Capital FREE actually free?
The FREE plan has no monthly fee but charges €0.99 per trade for manual orders. ETF savings plans are completely free on all plans. Upgrading to PRIME+ (€4.99/month) removes the per-trade fee for orders of €250 or more, and increases the interest rate on uninvested cash. Orders below €250 cost €0.99 even on PRIME+.
Which broker is better for ETF savings plans?
Both offer free savings plans with no execution fee. Scalable Capital covers 2,000+ ETFs plus 3,500+ active funds; Trade Republic covers 8,000+ ETFs and stocks including bonds. For a standard passive portfolio, both catalogues are more than adequate. Trade Republic has the wider raw catalogue; Scalable Capital offers slightly more scheduling flexibility. For most investors, savings plan cost and access are not a meaningful differentiator between the two — the choice comes down to everything else.
Do Scalable Capital and Trade Republic offer real crypto?
Only Trade Republic offers real cryptocurrency. Scalable Capital provides crypto exposure through ETPs (Exchange Traded Products) — exchange-listed securities that track crypto prices but do not give you ownership of the underlying coins. You cannot withdraw Scalable ETPs to a wallet. Trade Republic offers 50+ real coins, which can also be included in savings plans. If actual coin ownership matters to your strategy, Trade Republic is the only option between the two.
Which broker pays more interest on uninvested cash?
Scalable Capital PRIME+ typically offers the higher nominal rate with no balance cap. However, Trade Republic pays interest monthly while Scalable pays quarterly — meaning Trade Republic’s interest compounds faster even at the same headline rate. Trade Republic covers balances up to €50,000 while Scalable’s FREE plan caps at €100,000. Both brokers hold banking licences with €100,000 deposit protection on cash. Always verify the current published rate on each broker’s website — both are ECB-linked and variable.
Does Trade Republic have a robo-advisor or managed portfolios?
No. Trade Republic is a self-directed broker only. Scalable Capital offers managed portfolios under the Scalable Wealth brand — an automated service that builds and rebalances a UCITS ETF portfolio based on your risk profile. This is one of Scalable Capital’s most distinctive features and has no equivalent at Trade Republic.
Are both brokers reliable during market crashes?
Neither has a clean track record. During the spring 2025 market sell-off triggered by US tariff announcements, both platforms experienced slowdowns and access problems, with legal proceedings from affected users still ongoing. Trade Republic also suspended trading in specific securities during the GameStop rally in 2021. Scalable Capital experienced multi-day restrictions on individual securities during an internal infrastructure migration in 2025. For passive investors on savings plans, these episodes are largely irrelevant — you’re not trying to time individual trades. For active investors who need guaranteed execution during volatile periods, neither neobroker’s infrastructure matches an institutional platform like Interactive Brokers.
Which broker has better customer support?
Scalable Capital is meaningfully better. It offers live chat with human agents, a direct email line, and telephone support, with English-speaking agents generally available. Trade Republic is chatbot and email only, with no phone line for trading or account issues — the only number is a card-block emergency line. For complex or time-sensitive issues, Scalable Capital’s support access is a genuine practical advantage. Note that Scalable Capital’s partner custodian arrangement (Baader Bank) can slow down specific tax or compliance requests, as Scalable cannot action these directly.
QuantRoutine provides educational content only. Nothing on this page is an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security or to open an account with any specific broker. Investments can lose value, and past performance does not guarantee future results. You are responsible for your own investment, tax, and legal decisions. Always review each broker’s current terms, fees, and eligibility on their official website before opening or funding an account.