eToro vs Barclays 2023

Aside from some hidden fees and a limited research area, eToro does a very good job. It offers a functional and easy-to-use platform, with the bonus of an excellent copy trading option as well as zero-commission stock trades. Its only other limitation is that it doesn’t offer the same breadth of investments as many of the more traditional brokers.

Barclays Smart Investor offers average share dealing commissions (£6 per trade) alongside a good selection of research tools and education. However, there is no dedicated mobile app for share dealing, and the trading tools offered are just average.

Alongside the cost per trade, most UK online brokers also charge a monthly, quarterly, or annual management fee, which varies based on the account type and balance. Based on our thorough review, eToro offers better pricing than Barclays for share dealing.

Assuming a £30,000 portfolio size, here are the total annual costs for share dealing with both brokers, given different monthly activity scenarios.

5 trades per year - eToro would cost £154 per year, while Barclays would cost £60 per year.

12 trades per year - eToro would cost £154 per year, while Barclays would cost £102 per year.

36 trades per year - eToro would cost £154 per year, while Barclays would cost £246 per year.

120 trades per year - eToro would cost £154 per year, while Barclays would cost £750 per year.

3 fund trades per year - eToro would cost £50.0 per year, while Barclays would cost £0.0 per year.

eToro requires a minimum deposit of £50.0, while Barclays requires a minimum deposit of £0.0. From our testing we found for accounts between £0 - £250,000 eToro charges annual custody fees of £0 (Other Fees Apply), while Barclays charges annual custody fees of 0.2% (minimum £48).

eToro offers investors access to Share Trading, CFD Trading, ETFs and Crypto Trading, while Barclays offers investors access to ISA, SIPP, Share Trading, Funds, ETFs, Bonds - Corporate, Bonds - Government (Gilts), Investment Trusts and Advisor Services. Neither have Spread Betting. Investing encompasses a wide variety of asset classes, so finding a broker that offers every investment type you are interested in is important.

Self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) and individual savings accounts (ISAs) are tax-advantaged savings accounts that are an important tool for many individual investors. You can read more about how these accounts operate at Gov.UK: Click here for SIPP information and here for ISA information. Our analysis finds that eToro offers traders access to neither of these accounts, while Barclays offers traders access to SIPP and ISA accounts.

In our analysis of top brokers for share dealing in the U.K., we research whether each broker offers the ability to trade cash cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ethereum, which is still a somewhat rare offering amongst major U.K. brokers. Our review finds that neither eToro and Barclays offer crypto investing.

Our testing concluded that eToro is better for research than Barclays. eToro offers more research options, including research reports, articles, and analyst ratings.

To compare the trading platforms of both eToro and Barclays, we tested each broker's website, trading platform, trading tools and stock trading app. All features compared, our analysis finds that eToro offers a better share dealing platform and eToro offers a better stock app for mobile trading.

Educational offerings are of particular importance to those who are newer to investing, and we examine the availability of several different types of educational materials in our analysis. Our research finds that eToro offers traders access to Client Webinars, Client Webinars (Archived) and Education (Share Trading), while Barclays offers access to Client Webinars, Client Webinars (Archived), Education (Share Trading), Education (Funds) and Education (Retirement).