Written by StockBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of eToro vs CMC Invest, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, investment options, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
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 CMC Invest 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 £0 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.
12 trades per year - eToro would cost £0 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.
36 trades per year - eToro would cost £0 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.
120 trades per year - eToro would cost £0 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.
3 fund trades per year - eToro would cost $50 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 per year.
What type of trader are you?
New to the world of investing? See our picks for the Best UK Trading Platforms for Beginners. More experienced traders should read our guide to the Best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders.
When comparing eToro and CMC Invest, both platforms offer appealing investment choices for UK investors. eToro provides opportunities in share trading, crypto trading, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and contracts for difference (CFDs), though it doesn't cater to funds trading or investment trusts. In contrast, CMC Invest features share trading and ETFs, but adds funds trading and investment trusts to their offerings, albeit without the options for crypto or CFD trading. Neither platform supports spread betting, corporate bonds, or gilts trading.
Both platforms share a commendable rating of 4.5 stars for investment options by UK.StockBrokers.com, highlighting their solid offering in the sector. However, slight differences in rankings place CMC Invest at #14 and eToro at #15 out of 21 brokers, reflecting the nuanced variations in available products and services, making personal preference and investment strategy key factors in choosing the right platform.
| Feature |
eToro
|
CMC Invest
|
|---|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes | No |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Funds | No | Yes |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | No | No |
| Investment Trusts | No | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No | No |
| Crypto Trading | Yes | No |
| Advisor Services | No | No |
| Investment Choices |
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Low-cost US and UK shares.
Professional’s Gateway to the World’s Markets.
For UK investors seeking a comprehensive trading toolkit, eToro stands out with its wide range of features compared to CMC Invest. eToro offers an impressive 56 drawing tools and 106 technical indicators for in-depth charting analysis, while CMC Invest does not provide these charting enhancements. Moreover, eToro allows users to add notes, stock overlays, and index overlays directly onto their charts, offering a more enriched trading experience, whereas CMC Invest lacks these capabilities. Both platforms, however, fail to display corporate events on charts.
In terms of platform accessibility and functionality, eToro leads with a user-friendly browser-based trading platform, while CMC Invest does not offer this feature. Both platforms share the ability to create alerts for stock price updates and provide real-time market data, ensuring investors stay informed of market movements. Nonetheless, eToro’s extensive range of charting and analysis tools makes it a more versatile option for traders looking for advanced functionalities in their trading platform.
| Feature |
eToro
|
CMC Invest
|
|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | No |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 106 | 0 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 56 | 0 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | No |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | No | No |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | No |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | No |
When comparing online brokers in the UK, eToro and CMC Invest both offer Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) to help you efficiently manage your investments with tax benefits. However, a key difference lies in their retirement account options: CMC Invest provides a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) account, allowing for more flexibility in managing your retirement savings, whereas eToro currently does not offer SIPP accounts. This distinction may influence your choice depending on your retirement planning needs, making CMC Invest a more suitable option if you're interested in both ISAs and SIPPs.
Dive deeper: Best SIPP Providers, Best Stocks and Shares ISA Providers.
For UK investors eyeing a reliable online broker with a solid mobile app offering, both eToro and CMC Invest cater to iPhone and Android users with dedicated apps. eToro shines with a top rating of 5 stars for its mobile app from UK.StockBrokers.com, securing an impressive 5th place among 21 brokers. On the other hand, CMC Invest also offers quality mobile trading but falls slightly behind with a rating of 4.5 stars, positioning it at 11th place. Whether you're trading on-the-go or managing your portfolio from your phone, both platforms deliver, with eToro having a slight edge in terms of app quality and ranking.
Dive deeper: Best Stock Trading Apps UK.
For UK beginner investors weighing their options between eToro and CMC Invest, it's key to consider the educational resources each broker provides. Both platforms offer educational content on share trading, ensuring newcomers can grasp the basics of this essential topic. However, CMC Invest has an edge when it comes to broader educational offerings, with information on funds and retirement, areas where eToro falls short. Neither broker provides live or archived educational webinars, which might be a drawback for those who prefer interactive learning. UK.StockBrokers.com rates eToro slightly higher, at 4.5 stars, compared to CMC Invest's 4 stars for beginner education. Additionally, eToro ranks 11th out of 21 brokers, ahead of CMC Invest, which is positioned at 15th. Overall, while both platforms offer valuable insights for beginners, CMC Invest might appeal more to those interested in a wider range of investment topics.
| Feature |
eToro
|
CMC Invest
|
|---|---|---|
| Client Webinars | No | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | No |
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | No | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | No | Yes |
| Education |
|
|
Dive deeper: Best UK Trading Platforms for Beginners.
When it comes to market research features for UK investors, eToro and CMC Invest each provide unique strengths. eToro offers users the ability to see their portfolio allocation by asset class and provides comprehensive research on shares, ETFs, and CFDs. However, it lacks research reports for funds and bonds, which CMC Invest covers. CMC Invest does offer detailed research on shares, ETFs, and provides essential reports for funds, filling in the gaps where eToro falls short. However, it lacks the ability to view portfolio allocation by asset class and does not offer research on CFDs or bonds. Users can choose based on their preference for in-depth fund analysis or diversified asset class insights.
| Feature |
eToro
|
CMC Invest
|
|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | No |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Research - Bonds | No | No |
| Research - Funds | No | Yes |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | No | Yes |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | No |
Which broker is better overall, eToro or CMC Invest? After collecting more than 900 data points over a 10-week period, we found eToro to be a better trading platform overall.
eToro offers a wide range of assets and instruments and is well-known for its ‘social trading’ approach. It has among the lowest fees and best mobile app experiences of brokers we tested in the U.K., and offers a great starting point for those new to stock trading. Our analysis finds it better suited to short-term traders than long-term investors.
| Feature |
eToro
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CMC Invest
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Charges & Fees |
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| Mobile App |
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| Website |
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When comparing online brokers eToro and CMC Invest, eToro stands out by offering cryptocurrency trading, while CMC Invest does not provide this feature.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | eToro | CMC Invest | |
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| Review | eToro Review | CMC Invest Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
| Investments | eToro | CMC Invest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISA | Yes | Yes | |
| SIPP | No | Yes | |
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| CFD Trading | Yes | No | |
| Funds | No | Yes | |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Bonds - Corporate | No | No | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | No | No | |
| Investment Trusts | No | Yes | |
| Spread Betting | No | No | |
| Crypto Trading | Yes | No | |
| Advisor Services | No | No |
| Trading Fees | eToro | CMC Invest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $50 | £0 | |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £0 | £0 | |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £0 | £0 | |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £0 | £0 | |
| 5 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £0 / £120 / £300 | |
| 12 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £0 / £120 / £300 | |
| 36 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £0 / £120 / £300 | |
| 120 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £0 / £120 / £300 | |
| 3 fund trades per year (£30k portfolio) | N/A | £120 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | £0 | £120 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £0 | £120 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | £0 | £120 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £0 | £120 | |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | N/A | N/A | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | N/A | N/A | |
| ETFs - Fee | £0 | £0 | |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A | £0 | |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | N/A | £0 |
| Broker Screenshots | eToro | CMC Invest | |
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| Website Gallery (click to expand) |
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| Mobile Trading Apps Gallery (click to expand) |
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| Education Gallery (click to expand) |
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| Platforms & Tools | eToro | CMC Invest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | No | |
| iPhone App | Yes | Yes | |
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 106 | 0 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 56 | 0 | |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | No | |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | No | No | |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | No | |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | No |
| Research | eToro | CMC Invest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | No | |
| Research - Funds | No | Yes | |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | No | Yes | |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - Bonds | No | No | |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | No |
| Education | eToro | CMC Invest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes | |
| Education (Funds) | No | Yes | |
| Education (Retirement) | No | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | No | No | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | No |
| Overall Summary | eToro | CMC Invest | |
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| Review | eToro Review | CMC Invest Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
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