Written by StockBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of eToro vs Interactive Brokers, 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 Interactive Brokers 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 Interactive Brokers would cost £15 per year.
12 trades per year - eToro would cost £0 per year, while Interactive Brokers would cost £36 per year.
36 trades per year - eToro would cost £0 per year, while Interactive Brokers would cost £108 per year.
120 trades per year - eToro would cost £0 per year, while Interactive Brokers would cost £360 per year.
3 fund trades per year - eToro would cost $50 per year, while Interactive Brokers 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 online brokers eToro and Interactive Brokers, investors have distinct choices based on their trading needs. Both platforms offer share trading and ETF trading, providing a solid foundation for investors in equities and funds. Additionally, both eToro and Interactive Brokers support CFD trading, catering to those interested in leveraged products. However, eToro stands out by offering cryptocurrency trading, which is not available with Interactive Brokers, while neither broker provides spread betting or advisor services.
Interactive Brokers excels with a broader spectrum of investment options, including access to funds, corporate bonds, government bonds (gilts), and investment trusts, categories where eToro does not participate. This comprehensive offering is reflected in their higher rating of 5 stars from UK.StockBrokers.com for investment choices, compared to eToro's 4.5 stars. Consequently, Interactive Brokers ranks #2 out of 18 brokers, while eToro holds the #9 position, highlighting Interactive Brokers as a favored choice for a more diversified investment portfolio.
| Feature |
eToro
|
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes | Yes |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Funds | No | Yes |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | No | Yes |
| Investment Trusts | No | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No | No |
| Crypto Trading | Yes | No |
| Advisor Services | No | No |
| Investment Choices |
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Professional’s Gateway to the World’s Markets.
Low-cost US and UK shares.
When it comes to evaluating trading tools, eToro and Interactive Brokers each have unique strengths that cater to different trader needs. eToro shines with an impressive lineup of 106 technical indicators for charting, surpassing Interactive Brokers' offering of 96. It also provides real-time market data, a crucial feature for traders seeking timely insights, which Interactive Brokers does not offer. Both platforms allow users to personalize their charts with stock and index overlays, chart notes, and browser-based trading access, ensuring a comprehensive trading experience.
Interactive Brokers, on the other hand, sets itself apart by allowing the overlay of corporate events—such as earnings, splits, and dividends—directly on charts, a feature not available with eToro. For traders who value expansive chart customization, Interactive Brokers offers 80 drawing tools, compared to eToro's 56. Both brokers support creating alerts for stock price updates, providing essential tools for active traders. Overall, the choice between eToro and Interactive Brokers may come down to prioritizing real-time data and ease of charting with eToro, versus enhanced chart details and drawing capabilities with Interactive Brokers.
| Feature |
eToro
|
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 106 | 96 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 56 | 80 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | No | Yes |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | Yes |
When comparing eToro and Interactive Brokers for retirement accounts, both platforms offer Individual Savings Accounts (ISA), providing users with tax-efficient options to grow their investments. However, when it comes to Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP), only Interactive Brokers provides this option, making it a more versatile choice for those looking for a broader range of retirement account solutions. eToro, on the other hand, does not offer SIPP accounts, which may limit retirement investment strategies for some users. Choose wisely based on the retirement investment features that align with your financial goals.
Dive deeper: Best SIPP Providers, Best Stocks and Shares ISA Providers.
Both eToro and Interactive Brokers offer mobile apps for iPhone and Android users, ensuring seamless trading experiences via smartphones. According to UK.StockBrokers.com, both platforms have received an outstanding 5-star rating for their mobile apps, showcasing their high performance and user satisfaction. However, when ranked among 18 brokers, Interactive Brokers slightly edges ahead, coming in at the #2 spot, while eToro follows closely at #5. This comparison highlights that while both brokerages provide robust mobile platforms, Interactive Brokers might offer a slight advantage in terms of user preference and ranking.
Dive deeper: Best Stock Trading Apps UK.
When comparing eToro and Interactive Brokers for beginner investor educational resources, there are notable differences. While both platforms offer education on share trading, Interactive Brokers provides additional resources covering funds and retirement topics, which eToro does not. Additionally, Interactive Brokers hosts and archives educational webinars for clients to view on demand, a feature that eToro lacks. Despite these differences, both eToro and Interactive Brokers share a commendable 4.5-star rating for beginner education from UK.StockBrokers.com. However, in rankings, eToro holds the 10th position out of 18 brokers, slightly ahead of Interactive Brokers, which ranks 12th.
| Feature |
eToro
|
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|---|
| Client Webinars | No | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | Yes |
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | No | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | No | Yes |
| Education |
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Dive deeper: Best UK Trading Platforms for Beginners.
When comparing eToro and Interactive Brokers for market research features, both platforms show strengths in various areas. eToro provides robust research tools for shares, ETFs, and CFDs, while allowing users to view portfolio allocation by asset class. However, it falls short in delivering research reports for funds and bonds. On the other hand, Interactive Brokers offers comprehensive research capabilities, covering shares, ETFs, funds, CFDs, and bonds. Additionally, like eToro, it enables users to view their portfolio allocation by asset class. For investors who prioritize extensive research reports, particularly in funds and bonds, Interactive Brokers presents a more complete package. Meanwhile, eToro appeals to those focused predominantly on shares, ETFs, and CFDs, offering a user-friendly research experience.
| Feature |
eToro
|
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | Yes |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Research - Bonds | No | Yes |
| Research - Funds | No | Yes |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | No | Yes |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | Yes |
Which broker is better overall, eToro or Interactive Brokers? 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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Interactive Brokers
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|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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While eToro provides the advantage of crypto trading for users seeking exposure to digital currencies, Interactive Brokers currently does not offer this feature, making eToro a preferable choice for cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
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| Review | eToro Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
| Investments | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISA | Yes | Yes | |
| SIPP | No | Yes | |
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| CFD Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Funds | No | Yes | |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Bonds - Corporate | No | Yes | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | No | Yes | |
| Investment Trusts | No | Yes | |
| Spread Betting | No | No | |
| Crypto Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Advisor Services | No | No |
| Trading Fees | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $50 | £0 | |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £0 | £3 | |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £0 | £3 | |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £0 | £3 | |
| 5 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £15 | |
| 12 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £36 | |
| 36 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £108 | |
| 120 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 | £360 | |
| 3 fund trades per year (£30k portfolio) | N/A | £0 / £14.85 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | £0 | 0 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £0 | 0 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | £0 | 0 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £0 | 0 | |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | N/A | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | N/A | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) | |
| ETFs - Fee | £0 | £3 | |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A | N/A | |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | N/A | £25 |
| Broker Screenshots | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
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| Website Gallery (click to expand) |
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| Education Gallery (click to expand) |
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| Platforms & Tools | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| iPhone App | Yes | Yes | |
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 106 | 96 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 56 | 80 | |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | No | Yes | |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | Yes |
| Research | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - Funds | No | Yes | |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | No | Yes | |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - Bonds | No | Yes | |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | Yes |
| Education | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes | |
| Education (Funds) | No | Yes | |
| Education (Retirement) | No | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | No | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No | Yes |
| Overall Summary | eToro | Interactive Brokers | |
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| Review | eToro Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
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