Broker Total Cost Calculator
“Commission-free” is rarely free. This calculator estimates your real all-in broker cost — commissions, FX conversion, bid-ask spreads, and custody fees — based on how you actually invest.
Last reviewed: May 2026 · Broker fee schedules change — always verify current terms before switching.
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.
What this calculator covers
- Trading commissions (with minimums)
- FX conversion — markup and fixed fee
- Bid/ask spread drag on each buy
- Platform and custody fees over time
- Annual drag in basis points for comparison
- Lost growth — what fees cost after compounding
- ETF-level costs (TER, tracking difference)
- Dividend withholding tax layers
- Cash drag on uninvested balances
- Rebates, cashback, or tiered pricing
- Execution quality beyond spread assumptions
How to use this calculator
Three inputs drive most of your result: contribution size, FX frequency, and spread assumption. Get those right first.
Enter your real contribution amount and frequency. This determines how many times you pay each repeatable fee over the horizon.
Fill in commissions, FX markup, and custody fees from your broker’s fee schedule. Use 0 for anything that doesn’t apply.
The results panel ranks each cost component. Fix the largest one first — it’s usually FX or spreads, rarely the headline commission rate.
Estimate your all-in broker cost
Used only to estimate average balance for the bps number. Vary fee inputs to compare brokers, not this field.
Modelled as half-spread on each buy. 0.10% = typical liquid UCITS ETF (IWDA, CSPX).
Batching reduces fixed fees but creates cash drag between conversions.
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How to act on the result
Batch conversions quarterly instead of monthly, or switch to a broker with institutional FX rates. Interactive Brokers charges roughly 0.002% at scale — most neobrokers charge 10–100× that. Even batching alone can cut FX drag by 50–75%.
Use limit orders on the way in. Avoid trading in the first and last 15 minutes of the session. Prefer high-AUM ETFs — IWDA and CSPX regularly trade at under 0.03% during normal hours. Thin ETFs in the same index can trade 5–10× wider.
Consolidate buys: fewer, larger contributions save money when a minimum commission applies. Or use a commission-free broker (Trading 212, Trade Republic) for small recurring contributions and move to IBKR as the portfolio scales.
Percentage custody grows as your portfolio grows — it’s the cost that matters most at scale. Moving to a flat-fee or custody-free broker (IBKR, DEGIRO) above a certain portfolio size typically saves a meaningful amount per year. Calculate the crossover point.
Why “commission-free” isn’t the same as cheap
The phrase “zero commission” describes one line item on a fee schedule — not your total cost. Here’s where the revenue actually goes.
On every trade you buy at the ask and sell at the bid. Some brokers widen this gap slightly before routing your order. On a liquid UCITS ETF you might pay 0.10–0.25% more than mid-price — invisibly, on every contribution. That’s the “free” broker taking their margin.
For any investor buying assets in a different currency, the FX markup is often the single largest cost over a multi-year horizon. It applies to every contribution, not just once — so a 0.50% markup paid monthly for 10 years is easily more damaging than a €1 commission ever was.
Some brokers route orders to market makers who pay for that flow, typically in exchange for slightly inferior execution. The EU restricted PFOF for retail investors from 2026, but equivalent mechanisms — such as internalisation with wide spreads — persist under different names.
What your biggest leak looks like in practice
Three investor profiles that illustrate where the cost actually ends up — and what to do about it.
- Commission: €0
- FX (0.20%, monthly): ~€120 over 10 years
- Spread (0.10%): ~€300 over 10 years
- Biggest leak: Spread — happens on every buy regardless of broker
- Fix: Use limit orders. VWCE’s real spread is often under 0.04% on Xetra during core hours.
- Commission: minimal
- Custody (0.25%): €500/year — €5,000+ over 10 years before growth
- Biggest leak: Custody — scales with the portfolio, not with trades
- Fix: IBKR and DEGIRO charge zero custody on most ETFs. The break-even migration cost is near-instant at this portfolio size.
- Commission: €0
- FX (0.50%, monthly): ~€300 over 10 years on €500/month
- Biggest leak: FX — paid on every single contribution
- Fix: Switch to EUR-denominated UCITS equivalents (CSPX, EQQQ) or use IBKR at 0.002% FX. Either eliminates most of this drag entirely.
Broker-level costs this calculator doesn’t cover
These fees exist at the broker level but aren’t modelled here — either because they’re rare for passive ETF investors or highly broker-specific. Know which apply to you.
France levies 0.3% on French large-cap stocks, Italy 0.2% on Italian equities, Spain 0.2% on Spanish large-caps, and the UK 0.5% stamp duty on UK shares. These apply to individual stocks bought through any broker — not to broad UCITS ETFs, which pay the tax internally at the fund level. If you trade individual stocks in these markets, add the applicable rate to your effective buy cost.
Some brokers charge a monthly fee if you make fewer than a minimum number of trades. Saxo Bank and older versions of Interactive Brokers have had inactivity charges — though IBKR removed its monthly minimum fee for most accounts in 2021. Worth checking if you plan to invest infrequently or hold without trading for extended periods.
Several low-cost brokers lend out your holdings to short sellers in exchange for a fee, a portion of which flows back to you. DEGIRO does this by default on its Basic account. It’s not a direct cost — it can generate a small income — but your securities may not always be fully available for immediate recall, and you carry counterparty risk on the collateral. Upgrade to Custody account at DEGIRO to opt out.
Some brokers charge per cash withdrawal or per SWIFT transfer. A few charge for outbound portfolio transfers (ACATS/in-specie). These are typically one-off costs — negligible for long-term holders, but worth factoring in if you’re switching brokers and plan to transfer positions rather than selling and rebying.
Want the full cost model in a spreadsheet?
The EU Investor Cost Toolkit goes further: broker comparison across three scenarios, UCITS vs US ETF drag with withholding tax layers, 30-year projection with charts, and a full cost dashboard — all in one .xlsx file with 11 tabs and no macros.
30-day money-back guarantee. Educational content only — not personalized investment or tax advice.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
What counts as “total cost” for a broker?
For long-term investors it’s usually the repeatable leaks: FX conversion, spreads, platform/custody fees, and trade minimums. This calculator estimates those using your actual cadence. ETF-level costs (TER, tracking difference) and dividend withholding tax are fund-level costs that layer on top — they’re not included here.
Why does FX conversion come out so high?
Because you pay it on every contribution. A 0.20% markup is roughly €1 per €500 — small in isolation. But paid monthly for 10 years that’s €120+ before compounding effects. The fix is batching conversions quarterly or using a broker with institutional FX rates. Interactive Brokers charges roughly 0.002% at scale; most neobrokers are 0.15–0.50%.
Is spread cost real if I plan to hold forever?
Yes. You pay it on the way in — you buy at the ask, which sits above mid-price. Even if you never sell, each contribution buys slightly fewer units than at mid. Over hundreds of contributions this adds up to a real shortfall in units accumulated.
What does “annual drag in basis points” mean?
It converts your total lifetime fees into an approximate annualised drag using the estimated average balance. One basis point equals 0.01%. It’s designed as a comparison number: run the same inputs for two different brokers and compare the bps figure. It’s not a return forecast.
What does “lost to compounding” mean?
It’s the difference between your estimated ending balance with no fees and your ending balance after fees — at the same assumed growth rate. It’s larger than the raw fee total because capital paid in fees doesn’t get to compound. For example, €500 paid in fees in year 1 of a 10-year horizon at 7% return represents roughly €1,000 of missed final value. The “lost to compounding” tile shows this full opportunity cost in one number.
What should I optimise first?
The largest repeatable leak in your breakdown. Usually that’s FX frequency or spread assumptions. Commissions are rarely the main issue on contributions above €200–300. Fixed platform fees hurt small accounts most; percentage custody fees hurt large accounts over long horizons. Fix the line at the top of the breakdown chart.
Do commission-free brokers have hidden costs?
“Zero commission” describes one line item on a fee schedule, not your total cost. Brokers that charge no trading commission typically recover revenue through spread markup (widening the bid-ask gap before routing your order), FX conversion fees on cross-currency buys, or payment for order flow. For an EU investor making monthly EUR contributions to buy assets in another currency, the FX markup alone can exceed any commission savings over a 10-year horizon. This calculator makes those costs visible so you can compare brokers on what actually matters.
What is a financial transaction tax and does it affect my cost?
A financial transaction tax (FTT) is a government levy applied to purchases of certain securities. France charges 0.3% on French large-cap stocks, Italy 0.2% on Italian equities, Spain 0.2% on Spanish large-caps, and the UK 0.5% stamp duty on UK shares. These taxes apply to individual stocks — most broad UCITS ETFs are not subject to FTT at the investor level, since the tax is handled internally within the fund on underlying shares. If you trade individual stocks in these markets, add the applicable rate to your effective buy cost. This calculator does not model FTT.
Why isn’t ETF TER included?
TER is a fund-level cost, not a broker-level cost. This calculator focuses on broker execution costs so you can compare brokers and workflows independently. For a complete cost picture — including TER, tracking difference, and withholding tax layers — use the EU Investor Cost Toolkit, which models all layers together in one spreadsheet.
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. Calculator outputs are estimates based on your inputs and simplified modelling assumptions — real costs depend on execution quality, exact fee schedules, rebates, and account type. Spread assumptions in particular can vary significantly from actual execution. Always review each broker’s current terms and fee schedule before making decisions. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and for confirming the tax and legal rules that apply in your country.