eToro vs Interactive Brokers (2026):
Which is better for EU investors?
eToro is app-first and social: $0 commission on ETFs, CopyTrader, and crypto in the same account. Interactive Brokers is a professional-grade broker: 0.03% automatic FX conversion, options and bonds, and cash held in up to 29 currencies. Which one is cheaper depends on what you buy and in which currency — this page works it out for a monthly investor.
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
- Monthly buyers of EUR-listed UCITS ETFs — $0 commission against IBKR’s €3.00 Fixed minimum.
- Investors who want to copy other traders through CopyTrader ($200 minimum per trader).
- Anyone who wants crypto alongside ETFs in one app.
- Beginners who prefer a guided, social app over a professional trading platform.
- Regular buyers of USD-denominated assets — 0.03% automatic FX conversion against eToro’s 0.75% at the Bronze tier.
- Investors who need options or bonds, neither of which is in eToro Europe’s service list.
- Multi-currency investors — deposit and trade in up to 29 currencies.
- Active investors who want conditional, VWAP and algorithmic orders.
At a glance: key features
| Feature | eToro | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| EU entity and regulator | eToro (Europe) Ltd — CySEC, licence 109/10 | Interactive Brokers Ireland Ltd — Central Bank of Ireland |
| Minimum first deposit | $50 in most EU countries (eToro may change it) | None |
| ETF commission | $0 | €3.00 min (Fixed) · €1.25 min plus exchange fees (Tiered) |
| Stock commission | $1 per side ($2 on AU, HK, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Tokyo exchanges) | €3.00 min (Fixed, most euro markets) · €1.25 min plus exchange fees (Tiered) |
| FX on trades (EUR ↔ USD) | 0.75% (Bronze); 0.60%–0.15% with Club discounts | 0.03% automatic · 0.20 bps spot order (USD 2.00 min) |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 from EUR account · $5 from USD account ($30 min) · $0 at Platinum and above | 2 free per month, then €1 (SEPA) or €8 (wire) |
| Inactivity fee | None | None |
| Custody fee | None | None |
| Options | Not in eToro Europe’s service list | US from $0.15 (Tiered) / $0.65 (Fixed) per contract |
| Bonds | Not in eToro Europe’s service list | ✓ |
| Futures | Beta, limited audience | US from $0.25 (Tiered) / $0.85 (Fixed) per contract |
| Margin | Stock Margin: 0.15% on opening and closing, plus overnight fee on the borrowed amount | IBKR Pro: benchmark rate + 1.5%, lower for larger loans |
| Interest on cash | USD cash only, opt-in: 3% (total balance up to $50,000) / 3.80% (above) for EU residents — rate as at 22 September 2026 | EUR: 0% on the first €10,000, 1.697% above, scaled down for accounts under USD 100,000 NAV — rate as read 31 August 2026 |
| Currencies | USD trading account; local accounts in EUR, GBP, AUD or DKK | Deposit and trade in up to 29 currencies |
Source: eToro fees, conversion fees, Club, interest-on-balance and deposit pages and EU client terms, verified September 2026.
Source: Interactive Brokers European commission schedule, Ireland entity interest-rate page and FX pricing page, verified August–September 2026. Both brokers’ terms change — verify before opening an account.
Real cost comparison for EU investors
Commission headlines don’t tell the full story. Here’s what a European investor actually pays across trades, conversions and withdrawals.
Commission and account fees
| Fee type | eToro | Interactive Brokers | Who’s cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU-listed UCITS ETF | $0 | €3.00 min (Fixed); €3.75 on Euronext Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels including the €0.75 ETF exchange fee · €1.25 min plus exchange and clearing fees (Tiered), about €2.40 all-in on Xetra | eToro |
| EU stock | $1 per side | €3.00 min (Fixed) · €1.25 min plus exchange and clearing fees (Tiered) | eToro, at the minimum ticket |
| US stock | $1 per side, plus 0.75% conversion from EUR (Bronze) | USD 1.00 min (Fixed) · USD 0.35 min plus pass-through fees (Tiered), plus 0.03% conversion | IBKR, once conversion is included |
| Options (per contract) | Not offered | US $0.15–$0.65 · EU stock options from €1.00 (Tiered) | IBKR (eToro doesn’t offer them) |
| Futures (per contract) | Beta: micro futures $0.75 plus exchange and clearing fees; spot-quoted futures $1.22 | US $0.25–$0.85 | Depends on the contract |
| Withdrawal | $0 from EUR account · $5 from USD account ($30 min) · $0 at Platinum and above | 2 free per month, then €1 (SEPA) or €8 (wire) | eToro, via the EUR account |
| Inactivity fee | None | None | Tie |
| Custody fee | None | None (IBKR notes third parties may charge custody) | Tie |
Source: eToro fees page and currency-accounts page, verified September 2026.
Source: Interactive Brokers European, US, options and other-fees commission pages, verified August 2026. The €2.40 Xetra figure is the Tiered minimum plus IBKR’s listed exchange, clearing and regulatory fees.
The hidden cost: FX conversion
For European investors funding in EUR and buying USD-denominated assets, this is where the real long-run gap opens up.
| Scenario | eToro cost | IBKR cost |
|---|---|---|
| EUR deposit or withdrawal | €0 via the local EUR account | €0 (IBKR holds EUR) |
| EUR deposit into eToro’s USD account | 150 pips (eToro prices this in pips, not a percentage) | Not applicable |
| €10,000 converted EUR → USD for a trade | €75 (Bronze) · €60 (Silver, Gold) · €45 (Platinum, Platinum+) · €15 (Diamond) | €3 (automatic) · about €0.20, but at least USD 2.00 per order (spot order) |
| 12 monthly conversions of €833, one year | €75 (Bronze) · €45 (Platinum) · €15 (Diamond) | €3 (automatic) · USD 24 (spot order, 12 × USD 2.00 minimum) |
Source: eToro conversion-fees and Club pages, verified September 2026. Tier figures are our calculation: eToro’s 0.75% local-account rate less its published Europe Club discounts of 20%, 40% and 80%.
Source: Interactive Brokers FX pricing page, verified September 2026 — automatic conversion 3 basis points; spot FX order from 0.20 basis points, minimum USD 2.00 per order.
What a €833-a-month ETF investor pays in a year
Twelve monthly buys of €833 (€9,996 a year), no sells. Commissions and conversion fees only; market spreads excluded. The eToro Club tier and IBKR’s routing are assumptions, so each is shown as a range rather than a single answer.
| Scenario | eToro, per year | IBKR, per year | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. EUR-listed UCITS ETF, bought from EUR | €0 (up to €15 if every buy executes as a CFD at 0.15%) | €36 (Fixed, Xetra) · €45 (Fixed, Euronext) · about €28.80 (Tiered, Xetra) · €15 floor (fractional minimum) | eToro, under every assumption |
| B. USD-denominated UCITS ETF such as CSPX (London, USD), bought from EUR | €75 (Bronze) · €60 (Silver, Gold) · €45 (Platinum) · €15 (Diamond) | USD 48 + €3 (Fixed, USD 4.00 minimum) · USD 20.40 + €3 floor (fractional USD 1.70 minimum) | IBKR at Bronze, Silver and Gold · close at Platinum · eToro at Diamond |
Our calculation from the fee tables above, September 2026. IBKR’s recurring-investment feature uses fractional orders, which carry the lower minimum, but IBKR describes the feature as covering shares and does not state whether ETFs qualify — so the whole-share Fixed figure is the conservative case and the fractional minimum the floor. USD amounts are left in USD because no exchange rate is assumed.
Execution, order types and platform
For a monthly ETF buyer this rarely matters. For anyone placing conditional or large orders, the two brokers work very differently.
- Under its EU client terms, eToro sets its own prices, may act as your counterparty, may hedge and keep the profit, and executes off-venue with your consent.
- 24/5 trading on selected stocks; in extended hours, stop-loss and take-profit may be disabled, spreads may be wider and prices may gap.
- Charts powered by TradingView, plus the Tori AI assistant.
- Community news feed and CopyTrader built into the app.
- $100,000 virtual demo account — until you fund it, your account sits with eToro’s unregulated parent company.
- Order types include market, limit, stop, VWAP, conditional, market-on-open and algorithmic orders.
- SmartRouting across venues; on IBKR Pro, exchange rebates are passed back to you in part or in full.
- API access for directed and SmartRouted orders.
- Cost trap for small investors: a modified order counts as a new order, and an order left open overnight counts as a new order for commission minimums — partial fills can each pay a minimum.
Source: eToro EU client terms, market-hours page and Club page, verified September 2026.
Source: Interactive Brokers European commission schedule and order-type pages, verified August 2026.
ETF & asset selection
For European investors, UCITS ETF access is the critical variable. Here’s what each broker offers beyond it.
| Asset class | eToro | IBKR |
|---|---|---|
| UCITS ETFs | ✓ e.g. VWCE (Xetra), SWDA and CSPX (London) | ✓ Across European exchanges including Xetra, Euronext and London |
| US-listed ETFs (EU retail) | ✗ PRIIPs rules | ✗ PRIIPs rules |
| Options | ✗ Not in service list | ✓ US & EU options |
| Bonds | ✗ Not in service list | ✓ |
| Commodities | CFDs | ✓ Futures and physical metals |
| Margin | ✓ Stock Margin | ✓ |
Source: eToro EU client terms (services list), instrument pages and market-hours page, verified September 2026. eToro’s instrument pages were used for listings only.
Source: Interactive Brokers product and European commission pages, verified August 2026.
CopyTrader, Smart Portfolios & crypto
eToro’s defining features, and the main reasons investors pick it despite the FX cost.
- Copy up to 100 traders at once, from $200 per trader (maximum $2,000,000 per trader); copied positions under $1 are not opened.
- Your portfolio mirrors the copied trader’s trades in real time, in proportion to your realised equity.
- Copy stop-loss: 40% of the amount by default, adjustable from 5% to 95%; it closes the whole copy.
- No extra fee for copying — you pay the same spreads and overnight fees as on manual trades.
- Only members of eToro’s Pro Investor programme can be copied. eToro pays them (up to 1.5% a year on the assets copying them); copiers pay nothing extra.
- CopyTrader requires a suitability assessment and USD funding.
- $500 minimum, USD funding only.
- No management fee — the costs of the assets inside each portfolio still apply.
- Market, Top Trader and Partner portfolios; default stop-loss of 10%.
- 1% fee per position up to Gold tier, lower from Platinum by monthly volume — charged as a fee, not built into the spread.
- Moving crypto from the platform to the eToro Money wallet costs 2%.
- Some non-leveraged crypto buys may be executed as CFDs.
- Crypto is not covered by the Cyprus investor compensation fund.
Source: eToro CopyTrader, Pro Investor, fees, currency-accounts and regulation pages and EU client terms, verified September 2026.
Safety & regulation
- eToro (Europe) Ltd, regulated by CySEC (licence 109/10), with a MiCA licence for crypto granted by CySEC in January 2025.
- Parent company eToro Group Ltd is listed on NASDAQ (ETOR).
- Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund: up to €20,000; crypto not covered.
- Client money is held separately from eToro’s own, and may be pooled with other clients’ money in omnibus accounts, including outside the EEA.
- EUR account funds are held by eToro Money Malta and safeguarded, but not covered by Malta’s deposit compensation scheme.
- Private insurance: eToro states it is available only to Platinum, Platinum+ and Diamond Club members; its policy document applies a €20,000 retention and a €25m aggregate cap across all claimants, and eToro can withdraw it without notice.
- Interactive Brokers Ireland Ltd, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland; group entities are regulated by the FCA (UK) and the SEC, CFTC and FINRA (US).
- Irish Investor Compensation Scheme: 90% of the amount lost, up to €20,000, for private individuals only — it covers firm failure, not market losses.
- Client money is segregated for IBIE clients in pooled accounts at banks both inside and outside the EEA; some client securities are custodied with the US entity, which is a SIPC member.
- Group equity capital of USD 22.3 billion, over USD 13.9 billion above regulatory requirements, and no long-term debt (end of Q2 2026); S&P rates Interactive Brokers LLC A- (stable).
- IBKR is not a bank, so deposit guarantee schemes do not apply.
Source: eToro regulation, insurance and currency-accounts pages, eToro insurance disclosure document and EU client terms, verified August–September 2026.
Source: Interactive Brokers Ireland investor-protection and financial-strength pages, verified 31 August 2026.
Both brokers are EU-regulated and segregate client money. Neither compensation scheme is a deposit guarantee: each caps cover at €20,000, and IBKR’s scheme pays 90% of the loss within that cap. The structural difference is execution — eToro may act as your counterparty and sets its own prices, while IBKR routes orders to exchanges.
Who should choose which
- You buy EUR-listed UCITS ETFs monthly — $0 commission beats IBKR’s €3.00 Fixed minimum at any portfolio size.
- You’ll use the EUR account: no conversion fee on deposits, withdrawals and EUR-asset trades, and no withdrawal fee.
- You want to use CopyTrader or Smart Portfolios (both need USD funding).
- You want crypto alongside ETFs.
- You want a social, community-driven app.
- You regularly buy USD-denominated assets — 0.03% automatic conversion against 0.75% at eToro’s Bronze tier.
- You trade options or bonds.
- You hold several currencies — IBKR supports up to 29.
- You want conditional, VWAP or algorithmic orders, or API access.
- You want orders routed to exchanges rather than priced by your broker.
Check the current terms before you open an account
Both are free to open. Fees, interest rates and Club benefits change — confirm the figures on each broker’s own pricing pages before opening or funding an account. Investing involves risk of loss.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
Is eToro or Interactive Brokers better for EU investors?
It depends on what you buy and in which currency, not on how large your portfolio is. For monthly purchases of EUR-listed UCITS ETFs, eToro charges $0 commission and no conversion fee from its EUR account, while IBKR’s Fixed minimum is €3.00 per trade, so eToro is cheaper at every portfolio size. For USD-denominated assets, IBKR’s 0.03% automatic conversion beats eToro’s 0.75% conversion fee at the Bronze tier. IBKR also offers options and bonds; eToro offers CopyTrader and crypto.
Does eToro really charge zero commission on ETFs?
Yes. eToro charges no commission on ETFs, whether you buy manually, through CopyTrader or through Smart Portfolios. Stocks cost $1 per side on most exchanges and $2 on Australian, Hong Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Tokyo exchanges. eToro states that some non-leveraged ETF and stock buys are executed as CFDs and incur its CFD fee instead of commission; the trade window marks these as CFD. Conversion fees apply when you trade an asset in a currency other than your account’s.
Does eToro charge a withdrawal fee?
Only from the USD account. Withdrawals from eToro’s local EUR account are free; withdrawals from the USD account cost $5, with a $30 minimum. Platinum, Platinum+ and Diamond Club members pay no withdrawal fees. IBKR allows two free withdrawal requests per calendar month, then charges €1 for a SEPA transfer or €8 for a wire.
Does IBKR charge an inactivity fee?
No. Interactive Brokers charges no inactivity fee, no custody fee and no account-opening fee. eToro also charges no inactivity fee and no custody fee.
What is IBKR’s minimum deposit for European investors?
Interactive Brokers has no minimum deposit and no minimum account balance. You pay commission per trade: on German, French, Dutch, Italian and most other euro markets, the Fixed minimum is €3.00 per whole-share order and the Tiered minimum is €1.25 plus exchange and clearing fees. Tiered pricing is not offered in Spain, and Portugal’s Fixed minimum is €6.00. eToro’s minimum first deposit is $50 in most EU countries, which eToro says it may change.
Can EU investors buy US ETFs like VOO or VTI on eToro or IBKR?
Generally no. Under the EU’s PRIIPs rules, retail investors generally cannot buy US-listed ETFs. This applies to retail accounts at both brokers. UCITS ETFs tracking the same indices are the standard alternative; eToro lists VWCE, SWDA and CSPX, for example.
How does the FX conversion cost compare between eToro and IBKR?
For EUR to USD, eToro charges 0.75% at the Bronze tier. Its Club discounts reduce that to 0.60% for Silver and Gold, 0.45% for Platinum and Platinum+ and 0.15% for Diamond on local-account routes (our calculation from eToro’s published rate and discounts). FX is not waived at any tier for EU clients. IBKR charges 0.03% on automatic conversion, or 0.20 basis points on a manual spot FX order with a USD 2.00 minimum per order. On €10,000 that is €75 at eToro Bronze against €3 at IBKR automatic. Deposits, withdrawals and EUR-asset trades through eToro’s EUR account carry no conversion fee.
Is CopyTrader on eToro worth using?
It can be useful as a learning tool or a small satellite allocation, not as a core strategy. You copy from $200 per trader, set a copy stop-loss (40% of the amount by default) and can stop at any time. CopyTrader must be funded in USD, so money coming from a EUR account pays a conversion fee. Past performance of copied investors does not guarantee future results, and you carry full market exposure. Review a trader’s drawdown history before copying, not just their headline return.
Can I transfer my portfolio from eToro to IBKR?
Generally not. eToro’s EU client terms state that positions generally cannot be transferred in or out; the only exception it names is crypto sent to supported wallets. Moving from eToro to IBKR normally means selling your positions and transferring cash.
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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.