Best Stock Brokers for European Investors in 2024
The largest part of my investment portfolio is in the stock market, which is why I spend a lot of time researching about what are the best stock brokers to use. As a European investor, there are many options out there, but it's essential to pick the right brokers for your portfolio so your money is safe, but also so you can easily manage your portfolio. We are going to see what are the best stock brokers for European investors at the moment, why you should pick them, and at the end I'll tell you what is my favourite one.
Also note that I am a long-term investor on the stock market, so I will review those brokers with this in mind (rather than looking at them for day trading applications for example).
Without further due, here is the list of what I consider to be the best stock brokers for European investors:
How to pick a good online stock broker?
Let's first see what is important to look at when picking an online stock broker. I see three main criteria: safety of your funds, the fees on the platform, and finally how easy it is to use the platform.
In terms of security of the investors funds, the broker clearly has to be registered as an investment firm in its country of operation, and the funds secured by a partner bank if the company is not a bank itself. This will ensure that you are eligible to a guarantee of up to 100,000 Euros on the money you deposit on the broker, as it's the European law.
I also always make sure that fees are as low as possible. First, I look at the fees on buying/selling stocks. Many platforms now offer very low flat fees on those basic operations, and that's even free on several platforms we'll cover in this article. If you still see commissions that are a percentage of the amount traded, run away. I also make sure that are no fees on dividends distributed, as well as no inactivity fees.
Finally, I am looking for an online stock broker that is easy to use, especially for a long-term investor like myself. It used to be really difficult to create a brokerage account, so I am definitely looking now for brokers that allow an easy signup in less than 5 minutes, with a fully automated process. Then, I am looking for a broker that has a clear and easy to use interface. A mobile app is also now a must-have to be able to easily check & manage your portfolio on the go.
Trade Republic
Let's start by mentioning Trade Republic, which is an online broker that I really like. They are an investment firm based in Germany, and are fully regulated in this country, meaning investors are eligible for the protection scheme for up to 100,000 Euros. They already have 1 million customers, and this number is growing rapidly.
They offer over 9,000 stocks and ETFs on their platform, which is the largest selection of all the platforms of this article. They do have fees on trading stocks, of just 1 Euro per operation, and no commissions on trading stocks. Keeping the account open is also completely free
The whole process of opening an account on Trade Republic was really easy, and they have a great interface & mobile app as well. One limitation to note however: they are not yet available in every European countries, but they are expanding rapidly.
Trading 212
The next platform I wanted to mention in this article is Trading 212, that I tried more recently. It is a quite a large broker with over 1.5 million clients already, with very good ratings and an excellent security for investors.
Indeed, they have an insurance from the Lloyds bank, and guarantees the funds of investors up to 1 million Euros, which is one of the best protection in this article.
Trading 212 also offers over 7000 stocks on their platform, which is one of the largest offering of this article. They also have no fees on trading, allow to invest in fractional shares as well, and also propose an auto-invest function based on your preferences.
I actually signed up using their mobile app, and the whole process on Trading 212 was a breeze. It took me less than 3 minutes to register, and it was all done automatically including the ID verification. The app itself is also really easy to use, and all functions are accessible from the mobile application.
eToro
I couldn't not mention eToro in this article - as it's one of the best known broker all around the world. This broker got famous for copy trading - meaning you can automatically follow the trades made by other people. Whereas I am not personally a fan of such feature, it allowed the platform to also offer thematic automated portfolios that use this feature to automatic create portfolios based on the best performing portfolios on the platforms.
eToro also delivers in the field of the safety of investors funds, as they are a completely regulated broker and offer insurance on the deposited funds up to 1M Euros, which is much higher than what the European law is providing. So that's definitely a very good point for eToro.
They also have no commissions on stocks, and no fees to keep the account open. They offer over 2000 stocks on their platform, which is good enough for most investors.
Finally, the process to open an account on eToro was really easy, and took me under 5 minutes using their website. They have a super easy to use interface, and the mobile app is really easy to use as well.
Freedom24
The next broker I wanted to mention here is Freedom24 - which is a platform that makes it really easy to invest on the stock market.
Freedom24 is also a regulated broker, meaning your funds will be completely safe on this platform.
Compared to other brokers in this article, Freedom24 also makes it really easy to invest in IPOs, which is something really unique to this platform.
They also have really low commissions on stocks, and no fees to keep the account open. Freedom24 offers over 40,000 different stocks and 1500 ETFs on their platform, which is more than enough for most investors.
Finally, the process to open an account on Freedom24 was really fast and easy, and took me under 5 minutes using their mobile application. Their interface is also really easy to use, both on the web and with the mobile application.
Degiro
I also wanted to mention in this article Degiro, which is actually the first (good) online stock broker that I ever used. The platform is based in the Netherlands, and it is one of the largest stock brokers in Europe. They are present in most European countries, and have an interface that it translated in several languages.
Degiro is a registered investment firm in the Netherlands, and therefore your funds will be safe with this platform.
It's also one with the largest offering of stocks and ETFs, and even if it's not free like other platforms they have very low fees on buying & selling stocks.
The interface on Degiro is also really easy to use, however it's something a bit crowded as they have a lot of options for day traders as well. They also have a great mobile app. Their process to open an account is a bit outdated however, as it requires some manual verification of some documents.
Bitpanda
I could not end this article without talking about Bitpanda, one of my favourite online stock broker. It is a German investment firm, that offers stocks, ETFs, and also allow to invest in cryptocurrencies and commodities. This broker is available on most European countries, and Bitpanda is also a regulated investment firm - meaning your money is safe on this platform.
They are different from other brokers I mention in this article as you don't invest directly in stocks, but in digital tokens that mimic the prices of stocks. This allows the platform to offer cool features like 24/7 investing in those assets, which is something you can't do on a normal brokerage platform.
They also offer a large selection of stocks to invest in, and there are no fees whatsoever to invest on the platform. They also have a very cool feature called fractional shares - meaning you can invest in a fraction of a share of a given stock (for example, 0.1 shares of the Apple stock). This is great for reinvest and diversification.
The signup process on Bitpanda is also very modern and fully automated, and it took me less than 5 minutes using their mobile app. The interface of the website & the app also feels very modern, and is really easy to use.
Which Online Broker to Choose?
If I had one broker to choose, especially for beginners, I'd go for Trade Republic without hesitation, as they have everything that's required in terms of safety of your deposited funds, no fees, a super easy to use app, and also some really cool features like investing in fractional shares. They are not yet available for every European countries, but they are expanding rapidly.
If you are already at a more advanced level and want to diversify your portfolio, I'll more go towards Degiro as they have more advanced functions and more stocks & ETFs to choose from. However they are also not available yet in every European country, which can be an issue for some investors.
For sure if you have over 100,000 Euros to invest (or if you know you'll get there eventually), I'd also recommend opening several accounts to always be protected by the deposit scheme and make sure your money is always safe.