Online trading is becoming more and more popular over the years with novice and experienced traders alike worldwide. If you travel around Europe, you might be interested in knowing which European trading platforms rank among the most popular ones for their user friendliness, functionality and withdrawal speed. After gathering data from all the major European marketplaces, we’ve compiled a list of the top best online brokerages and trading platforms in Europe.
Choosing a broker is challenging enough. You have to sift through a ton of different sites and compare things like fees, platform, account minimums, and most importantly – their stock trading platform. But with so many brokers pulling the wool over your eyes you’ll need a hand before you pick a trading platform Europe.
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank, a Danish investment bank founded in 1992, provides online trading and investment services. The company is regulated by several financial authorities globally, including the Danish Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Saxo Bank is a global service provider and its subsidiaries are present in the form of separate legal entities in different regions of the world. The services offered by the various entities may differ slightly, especially with respect to fees and product portfolios. In this review, we tested Saxo Bank UK.
Saxo Bank is considered safe because it has a long track record, a banking background and is regulated by top-tier financial authorities.
Saxo Bank’s web trading platform is one of the best among online brokers. While it’s easy to use, the platform also provides features tailored for professionals, such as an advanced order panel.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • User-friendly | None |
| • Clear fee report | |
| • Two-step (safer) login |
Saxo Bank’s web trading platform is called SaxoTraderGO, its desktop trading platform runs under the name of SaxoTraderPRO. Both are developed by Saxo. However, you can also use other, third-party platforms for trading or managing your portfolio.
Interactive Brokers
After years of thorough research, I believe Interactive Brokers offers the best overall trading platform for Europeans as it has something for users of all levels. Interactive Brokers is a clear winner for everyday investors and active traders due to its 40+ years of history, strong capital position, low fees and commissions, a spectacular range of products, and its unmatched suite of sophisticated trading tools.
Special offer: Trade with zero monthly inactivity fees, no account minimums, and access to over 150 exchanges worldwide.
IBKR was founded in 1978 and has grown to become the largest U.S.-based brokerage in terms of daily trades, with 797,000 orders executed per day. Moreover, IBKR is the best regulated broker in the world, with licenses from 11 financial authorities across the globe, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
Highlights
- Available in most European countries
- Ultralow trading fees and commissions
- Trusted with $9 billion in equity capital and a history of 40+ years
- Supports 23 currencies
- Extremely wide range of global stocks, ETFs, options, futures, and currencies
- Rock-bottom low margin interest rates for active traders
- Regulated by 11 financial authorities
Things to keep in mind
- Platforms are not very intuitive for beginners
- Payment options are limited to bank transfers
IBKR is an excellent choice for retail investors who want to trade international stocks, exchange-traded funds, and bonds with a reputable broker. IBKR offers the beginner-friendly web-based Client Portal and the IBKR Mobile app that is easily navigated and clubbed with dozens of features.
Furthermore, IBKR is excellent for day trading, options trading, and futures trading in Europe, thanks to its rock-bottom margin rates, tiered pricing system, and multiple order types. Key among its advanced offerings is the flagship desktop software, the Traders Workstation. With highly customizable features, this scary but mighty goliath is superb for technical analysis.
For any user, beginner or professional, who values a secure broker with a proven track record and wants a large number of tradeable instruments, it’s safe to say IBKR is the number one candidate to go ahead with.
IG
IG was established in the UK in 1974 and is one of the biggest CFD brokers in the world. It is regulated by several bodies globally, including top-tier regulators like the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). IG Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
IG is considered safe because it is listed on a stock exchange, discloses its financials and is overseen by top-tier regulators.
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 66% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. CFDs are not provided for US clients. Forex trading involves risk. Losses can exceed deposits.
Recommended for traders of any experience level looking for an easy-to-use trading platform
IG’s web trading platform is great for both beginners and professional traders. It is easy to use, has all the necessary functions and can be customized.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • User-friendly | None |
| • Clear fee report | |
| • Two-step (safer) login |
You can use either IG’s trading own platform or MetaTrader 4, a third-party trading platform. In this review, we tested IG’s own trading platform.
The web trading platform is available only in English.
Look and feel
The IG trading platform is one of the most intuitive and well-designed web trading platforms we have seen.
You can easily customize the trading platform. The flexible design allows you to move windows around and save layouts. You can create watchlists and there is also a one-click trading feature.
IG review – Web trading platform
Login and security
You can easily set up two-factor authentication. You have to download the ‘IG Authentication’ app on your mobile and activate the two-factor authentication.
Search functions
You can search for products in the sidebar on the left. It works as you would expect. You can also browse available investment options by typing manually or browsing through the asset class categories.
NordFX
NordFX is a well-regarded Cyprus-based Forex broker that is regulated by the Cypress Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). This regulation ensures traders of a safe trading environment and extensive client protection measures.
NordFX is popular for its varied selection of account types, low minimum deposits, a demo account and MT4 integration, while many traders enjoy using the automated trading signals offered on the broker’s platform.
Pros and Cons
| PROS | CONS |
| Feature-rich trading platforms | Few analytical tools |
| High leverage offered | |
| Low minimum deposit |
Features
| Feature | Information |
| Regulation | VFSC, CySEC |
| Minimum deposit from | $10 |
| Average spread from | 0.0 pips |
| Commissions from | 0.0035% |
| Deposit/Withdrawal Fees | None |
| Maximum Leverage | 1:1000 |
| Bonuses | $8 No Deposit Bonus |
| Customer Support | 24/5 |
eToro
With over 15 million users worldwide, eToro joins the ranking as a great all-around broker for commission-free stock trading and cryptocurrencies, as well as for social trading. Since its launch in 2007, eToro has expanded significantly over the years and is now regulated by multiple top-tier authorities, including the FCA in the UK, CySEC in Cyprus, the ASIC in Australia.
For regular investors, eToro offers zero-commission stock and ETF trades for EU and UK clients. At the same time, traders get access to around 100 cryptocurrency-fiat pairs, a unique social trading experience, and the ability to short around 2,000 financial instruments.
Special offer: Try with $100,000 in virtual funds
With their proprietary trading platform, eToro makes a serious effort to give users a social trading experience and offers the ability to automatically mimic the trading decisions and portfolios of other traders through copytrading. You can also practice trades with the free, $100K demo account before staking real money.
Highlights
- Zero-commission real stocks and ETFs for EU and UK investors
- 1 million GBP/EUR additional portfolio insurance for EU and UK clients
- Large selection of cryptocurrencies
- Auto-copy trading strategies of others
- Beginner-friendly web and mobile trading platform
- Accepts multiple payment methods
Things to keep in mind
- High pips for forex trading
- Currency exchange fee
- Operates trades in USD exclusively
- $5 withdrawal fee
In a bid to attract long-term equity investors, eToro has joined the race to slash several fees to zero, offering commission-free stocks and ETFs for EU and UK citizens, with markups, no ticket fees, and no management fees.
Crypto traders enjoy a regulated environment with a full selection of cryptocurrency pairs, spreads from only 0.75% for Bitcoin, and their own wallet with private keys. Coins are tradable as real assets or as CFDs.
UK residents should note that cryptocurrency trading at eToro is not available to them due to FCA restrictions. In addition, cryptocurrency trading is also not available to residents of France (including French Territories), the Netherlands, and Russia.
Conclusion:
European trading platforms are well known for offering the best stock trading systems, their customer support service is second to none, and overall offer one of the best online trading experiences for investors. The Internet has opened up a whole new world for trading and investing and European Stock Trading Platforms is one of them which has made it possible for anyone anywhere to invest or trade online.