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eToro Review
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CMC Invest RevieweToro Review
Written by Elizabeth Anderson
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Your capital is at risk.
EToro is an investing platform offering a wide range of assets and instruments. It is well-known for its ‘social trading’ approach, allowing users to see and copy other people’s portfolios. EToro has among the lowest fees and best mobile app experiences of brokers we tested in the U.K. We believe eToro offers a great starting point for those new to stock trading, but does appear to be more suited to short-term traders rather than long-term investors.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£50.0 -
ISA:
No -
SIPP:
No
eToro pros & cons
Pros
- Very cheap: Commission-free trading and no custody charges.
- Can open a virtual account to test and practice.
- Offers the chance to trade crypto and other complex instruments such as CFDs.
- Great mobile app.
Cons
- Limited investment options for everyday investors: no bonds, mutual funds or investment trusts.
- Some hidden fees, such as $5 withdrawal charge and FX charges for non-USD.
- No eToro ISA account or SIPP.
Overall summary
| Feature |
eToro
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Charges & Fees |
|
| Investment Choices |
|
| Mobile App |
|
| Website |
|
| Ease of Use |
|
| Education |
|
Charges and fees
EToro has the lowest fees of most of the brokers we review. It’s free to open and hold an account, there are no management fees or custody charges and there are no trading charges when buying or selling most investments. In contrast, Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell — two of the U.K.’s biggest DIY investment platforms — charge £11.95 and £9.95 per trade respectively. You can start investing at eToro from $10.
However, there are some hidden charges to be aware of. EToro makes its money by charging currency conversion fees, for enacting more complex trades such as crypto, and by charging for CFD positions held overnight. CFDs should only be traded by experienced investors willing to take a high risk – most everyday investors should not touch these.
EToro also charges a $5 fee for withdrawals from your account, with a minimum withdrawal amount of $30. All trading is done in U.S. dollars, meaning in the U.K. you’ll also pay currency conversion fees when paying money into your account or withdrawing money. A typical charge of $0.005 is applied on foreign exchange (FX) conversions.
As an example of fees you’ll pay, if you are depositing £2,000 into an eToro account you’ll pay a currency conversion fee of $7 (£5.70) with rates of $1.23 per £1. This same fee would apply if you withdraw your money, on top of the $5 withdrawal fee (around £4).
Scenario pricing: When calculating annual share dealing costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming a £30,000 portfolio in a traditional, taxable share dealing account, here are four scenarios of how much eToro would cost based on trade frequency:
- 5 trades per year = £0
- 12 trades per year = £0
- 36 trades per year = £0
- 120 trades per year = £0
- 3 fund trades per year = N/A
| Feature |
eToro
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £50.0 |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £0 |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £0 |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £0 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | £0 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £0 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | £0 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £0 |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | N/A |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | N/A |
| ETFs - Fee | £0 |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | N/A |
| Visit Site |
What type of trader are you?
Our guides can help you choose the right broker for you and the way you trade: whether you consider yourself an investing beginner, a more experienced active trader, or a mobile-first trading enthusiast.
Mobile trading apps
The eToro U.K. mobile app is very sophisticated and offers far more than the mobile app offering of traditional brokers including Halifax, Barclays and Fidelity. You can easily see your watch list, view markets, find investments and see what other traders are doing. You can even simulate the portfolio of investing legend Warren Buffet.
I found the eToro app one of the best among the brokers we reviewed as it’s easy to navigate and there are loads of features and functions. It’s easy to buy and sell stock through the app, and you can easily search by category such as ‘dividend’, recently added or popular stocks.
The charting tools are also very good on the mobile app – again, a feature not always offered by brokers on their mobile apps. EToro has more than 100 chart indicators and drawing tools available, such as the ability to switch to candlestick view and to add Bollinger Bands to help assess whether a share price is high or low.
Tap for a demo of eToro's U.K. trading app.
Website
The eToro website offers a great platform for people to manage their investments. There are clear links to upcoming earnings announcements that day and to big daily movers. The homepage is dominated by the social news feed, featuring updates from other users about their portfolios.
You can create a watch list to track stocks, crypto, indices and commodities, and explore global markets to see the biggest daily gainers and losers worldwide. The website also gives investments an ESG score (environmental, social and governance) when you select a stock or fund. This is a great feature for investors becoming more aware about the potential environmental impact of their investments.
| Feature |
eToro
|
|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes |
| iPhone App | Yes |
| Android App | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 105 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 19 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | No |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes |
Investment choices
In addition to share and ETF trading, eToro users can deal forex, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum. However, eToro does not offer mutual funds, bonds or investment trusts, which limits investor choice.
As there are thousands of investments to choose from on the eToro platform, I can see that it could feel overwhelming – especially if you are new to investing or stock trading. The good news is that you can open a virtual account through eToro so you can practice making trades and getting to grips with the platform. You’re given a hefty $100,000 in your practice account, making it easy to go on a virtual spending spree.
To make things a little easier for newer investors, eToro offers ‘Smart Portfolios,’ which are designed more for long-term investing. You can select a portfolio according to your interest, such as financial services, tech or real estate.
EToro is also well-known for its ‘CopyTrader’ system that allows users to follow and even replicate other people’s portfolios – for example, when they buy or sell shares, your account can be set to automatically do the same. This can be risky for investors, though, as it’s a gamble whether their moves will be profitable long-term. Personally, I would be wary of copy trading without doing a good deal of research into the trader’s track record — and even then, returns are of course never a certainty. Unlike funds that aim to achieve diversification, there is no governance or guarantee that risk management has been applied.
| Feature |
eToro
|
|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes |
| Funds | No |
| Research - ETFs | Yes |
| Bonds - Corporate | No |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | No |
| Investment Trusts | No |
| Spread Betting | No |
| Crypto Trading | Yes |
| Advisor Services | No |
Education
Research on stocks and ETFs at eToro is more limited than other platforms such as Barclays and Hargreaves Lansdown, which offer a huge array of research and educational material. There is not much detail on the investments you are considering, and it’s not easy to view and compare historical performance. When testing eToro, I found it a shame you can’t overlay two stocks on the same chart – although there is an option to access this chart function and more by depositing at least $5,000 in your account and getting access to ProCharts.
Full research is only available to those who have put money in their accounts, and don’t just hold a demo account. However, eToro’s ‘research’ tab is improving and it is useful to see analyst consensus on individual stocks – such as whether they think it is a good buy and their price target for the stock.
| Feature |
eToro
|
|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | No |
| Education (Retirement) | No |
| Client Webinars | No |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No |
Final thoughts
EToro U.K. offers a great experience for beginners. The platform is more suited to those looking to trade stocks than those looking to hold funds or invest long-term. It offers a good demo account to help people learn about trading without the prospect of losing any real money.
However, there are some hidden fees and the minimum amount required to open an account is $50. If you are looking to trade very small amounts, a platform such as Freetrade, CMC Invest or Trading 212 may be a better fit for you.
EToro also does not offer ISAs or SIPPs, meaning you are missing out on tax benefits by investing outside these accounts.
About eToro
As an early pioneer in social copy trading, eToro was founded in Israel in 2006 as a financial trading technology developer. The company remains based in Israel and is regulated in the U.K., Europe, Australia, Gibraltar and the U.S., and serves clients in over 170 countries.
Is eToro safe?
EToro is regulated by multiple regulators worldwide. In the U.K., it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This means it is trusted to look after your money, and you are protected for up to £85,000 should the company cease trading for any reason. EToro has two-factor authentication when logging into your account, reducing the risk of your account being hacked.
Is eToro good to use in the UK?
EToro offers a great service to many investors. If you are simply looking to trade company shares, then eToro is very competitive on price compared to the more traditional brokers. However, if you are looking for wider investment options, or your risk appetite is lower, then there may be better options for you with other brokers – such as Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor or Fidelity – where you can invest in mutual funds or ready-made portfolios put together by professionals.
What is the downside to eToro?
Downsides to eToro include the fact it doesn’t offer bonds, mutual trusts or investment trusts. There are also some fees, including for currency conversion and to withdraw money. Finally, eToro doesn’t offer a SIPP so you can’t benefit from tax relief offered by the government to Britons saving through a pension.
Does eToro have an ISA?
No, eToro does not offer an ISA directly. It has, however, partnered with U.K. investment platform Moneyfarm to offer an ISA product. Moneyfarm operates and manages the ISA externally, with the ISA integrated into eToro customers’ accounts so customers can view it in their accounts.
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Methodology
For the UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Review, we assessed, rated, and ranked 17 U.K. share dealing platforms over a 10-week time period. Each broker’s platforms and features were exhaustively tested by hand and graded on 53 different variables. In total, over 25,000 words of research were produced.
We thoroughly tested and compared features of prime interest to everyday investors, including but not limited to:
- Investment choices, such as whether the broker offers trading of shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, and CFDs; and offers SIPP and ISA accounts.
- The broker’s charges and fees for investing.
- Functionality and design of mobile apps and website platform, and a fluid experience moving between app and web.
- Usability of tools such as charting and watch lists.
- Market research, such as screening, news and analysis.
- Educational resources including tutorials, online courses, videos, webinars and articles.
Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Our lead researcher and writer, Elizabeth Anderson, has more than a decade’s experience as a financial journalist and market researcher. Elizabeth’s expertise is backed by a team of veteran fellow traders, data auditors, editors and project managers who work to ensure that UK.StockBrokers.com reviews and guides are the most unbiased and complete in the industry. Read more about our team.
Disclosures
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% 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.
Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.
Copy trading is a portfolio management service, provided by eToro (Europe) Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.
About the Editorial Team
Elizabeth Anderson, lead writer and researcher, has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. In addition to her work with UK.StockBrokers.com, she has written extensively for major publications including BBC, The Times and Bloomberg. A keen investor herself, she is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing.
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.
Carolyn Kimball is managing editor for Reink Media and the lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.