Yes, in most scenarios IBKR is cheaper — especially on FX conversion (~0.002% manual vs Saxo’s 0.25%) and there are no custody fees at IBKR. Saxo charges up to 0.15%/year plus 25% VAT on Classic accounts where the fee still applies, though this is fully avoidable via the stock lending programme and has been removed entirely in France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. For investors who primarily hold EUR-denominated UCITS ETFs and don’t do frequent currency conversions, the cost gap narrows considerably.

In some markets, yes. Saxo has a direct banking presence in several EU countries and handles certain withholding taxes and transaction levies automatically. In Belgium, for example, Saxo withholds the transaction tax (TOB), dividend tax, and the Reynders tax on ETF capital gains — you don’t need to declare these separately. Where Saxo operates locally, investors also typically don’t need to register their account with local financial authorities. IBKR does not administer taxes on your behalf in any EU market — all reporting and calculations are your responsibility.

Saxo has three tiers: Classic (no minimum), Platinum (~$200,000), and VIP (~$1,000,000). Higher tiers unlock lower commissions, dedicated account managers, and SaxoTraderPRO access. Importantly, the FX conversion rate stays at 0.25% regardless of tier — that’s the one cost that doesn’t improve with Saxo’s tier system. Tiers can also be reached via Saxo Rewards points earned through trading activity, though passive investors are unlikely to earn enough to tier up this way.

Saxo’s SaxoTraderGO is more polished, intuitive, and comes with better built-in research tools — including native TradingView integration, daily market commentary, and in-platform screeners. IBKR Desktop is now the recommended starting point for new IBKR accounts as of 2025 and is a significant improvement over the old Trader Workstation — but Saxo remains the cleaner day-to-day experience overall. For simple ETF investing, most EU users will find Saxo easier to navigate.

It depends on your country of residence. Saxo has removed the custody fee entirely in France, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands (2024–2025) and Switzerland (February 2025). Where the fee still applies, the Classic rate is 0.15% p.a. plus 25% Danish VAT (effective ~0.1875%), with a minimum of €5/month. Where it still applies, the fee can be fully waived by opting into Saxo’s stock lending programme — Saxo lends your securities to institutions and splits the lending income 50/50. Always verify on your regional Saxo pricing page before opening.

IBKR offers two routes: manual Spot FX via IDEALPRO at ~0.002% with a $2 minimum per conversion, and auto-conversion when buying a foreign-currency asset at ~0.03% with no minimum. For amounts below roughly €6,500, auto-conversion is actually cheaper due to the $2 floor on manual conversions. Saxo charges a flat 0.25% at every tier — no route around it. On a €10,000 EUR-to-USD manual conversion: ~€3 at IBKR vs ~€25 at Saxo. Over ten years of €500/month contributions, that compounds to a difference of roughly €1,500 in total FX drag. For investors primarily in EUR-denominated ETFs, this gap is much smaller in practice.

Both typically take 1–3 business days for approval after you submit your documentation. The process differs meaningfully in effort: Saxo’s onboarding is clean and guided — straightforward on both mobile and desktop. IBKR’s process is more involved, with multiple verification and suitability steps that are best handled on a desktop rather than mobile. Budget more time and patience for IBKR’s setup, especially if it’s your first time dealing with a non-neobroker platform.

EU retail investors at both brokers are generally limited to UCITS ETFs due to PRIIPs/KID regulations — US-listed ETFs like VTI or SPY cannot be marketed to EU retail clients without a KID document, which US funds don’t produce. Both brokers offer a professional investor reclassification route under MiFID II for eligible clients, which unlocks access to US-listed ETFs. Most EU investors will build portfolios around UCITS equivalents at both platforms — same underlying index exposure, compliant wrapper.

For most long-term EU ETF investors buying USD-denominated assets, IBKR wins on total cost — particularly FX conversion, which compounds significantly over time. Saxo is the better choice if you value platform quality, want automatic tax handling in your market, prefer a fully licensed bank with €100k cash protection, or have a large enough portfolio to access Platinum pricing. Note that neither broker offers zero-commission automated savings plans for EU clients — for that use case, Trade Republic or Trading 212 are the better starting point. The real decision between IBKR and Saxo lives in FX cost, tax admin, and platform experience.