Is a neobroker better than a traditional bank?

On cost, almost always. Branch banks often charge 0.25% to 1% per order plus custody fees; neobrokers charge zero to EUR 4. Across 20 orders a year that difference runs into the hundreds. In exchange, neobrokers typically offer fewer venues and thinner service.

What does trading US stocks really cost?

Beyond commission there is nearly always an FX markup, between 0.15% and 2% depending on the broker. On a EUR 5,000 order that is EUR 7.50 to EUR 100. Brokers offering a real USD sub-account avoid the markup on every trade and pay off from roughly ten US orders a year.

Ranking

Best stock brokers 2026

Three cost blocks decide stock investing, and most comparisons only show one: the commission, the FX markup when you buy foreign shares, and any custody fee. A broker with zero-commission orders but a 1.5% FX markup is more expensive on US stocks than one charging EUR 5 plus 0.25% conversion. We add all three together, then weight the number of accessible exchanges on top.

Investor's country

Shows only brokers that accept clients from the selected country.

brokers rated: 53
Data as of: 30 Aug 2026

Country of residence:No country of residence chosen — all offers are shown.

Stocks

The top 3 in detail

Why these three lead — derived from the criteria this category weights most heavily.

Advertising disclosure: where a partnership is active, we may earn a commission through broker links. The provider’s terms apply. Commissions do not influence our ratings; paid placements are separately labelled as sponsored.

Interactive Brokers

The cheapest serious route to almost every market on earth — if you can live with the learning curve.

Ahead on Fees (4.9) and Product range (5.0) — together those two carry 50% of this category's weighting.

US stocks from USD 0.0035 per share on the Tiered plan, minimum USD 0.35 per order and capped at 1% of trade value
Currency conversion at 0.20 basis points (minimum USD 2) — an order of magnitude cheaper than most European brokers' 0.25%–1.5%
Roughly 160 market destinations in 36 countries from a single multi-currency account, with 28 settlement currencies
No inactivity fee since 2021, plus no custody fee and no platform fee

Group index 90/100Protection depends on your legal entity

SECFCACBIASIC

StocksETFsOptionsFuturesForexCFDsCryptoBonds+4

4.7

Category score

Overall score: 4.5 / 5

Strengths in this category

Fees30%

4.9

Product range20%

5.0

Safety & regulation18%

4.8

Trading platform15%

4.8

Stocks (per order): 0.05 %
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 0 %

Open account Read review

Investing involves risk. Your capital is at risk.

Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Charles Schwab

The full-service US giant that also owns thinkorswim, a professional-grade trading platform.

4.6

Ahead on Fees (4.6) and Safety & regulation (4.9) — together those two carry 48% of this category's weighting.

USD 0 commission on every online listed US stock and ETF order, with no share cap and no proprietary-fund restrictions
thinkorswim desktop, web and mobile are included free — full options chains, thinkScript, backtesting and paperMoney simulation
Options at USD 0.65 per contract, with the fee waived on buy-to-close orders at USD 0.05 or less

Group index 93/100Protection depends on your legal entity

SECFINRA

StocksETFsOptionsFuturesForex+4

Strengths in this category

Fees30%

4.6

Product range20%

4.2

Safety & regulation18%

4.9

Stocks (per order): Free
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 1 %

Open account Read review

Investing involves risk. Your capital is at risk.

Fidelity Investments

The research-and-education benchmark for US investors, with the cheapest funds in the industry attached.

4.5

Ahead on Fees (4.7) and Research (4.9) — together those two carry 40% of this category's weighting.

USD 0 online US stock and ETF commissions, and Fidelity does not accept payment for order flow on equity orders
Zero-expense-ratio index mutual funds (the FZROX family) — no other major US broker matches this on fund cost
Options exercise and assignment cost USD 0, and buy-to-close orders at USD 0.65 or less are free

Group index 73/100Protection depends on your legal entity

SECFINRA

StocksETFsOptionsCryptoBonds+2

Strengths in this category

Fees30%

4.7

Product range20%

3.9

Safety & regulation18%

4.7

Stocks (per order): Free
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 1 %

Open account Read review

Investing involves risk. Your capital is at risk.

Also worth a look

Rank 4 and below, ordered by category score.

IG

4.5

The most complete leveraged-trading operation in Europe — and it prices like it knows that.

Experienced CFD and spread bet traders
Multi-asset traders who want one account

Volume rebate — CFD volume rebate at the Bermuda entity

Stocks (per order): Free
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 0.8 %

StocksETFsOptionsFutures+9

Pros: Around 17,000 tradable markets in a single account — shares, indices, FX, commodities, bonds, ETFs, turbo warrants and crypto CFDs, subject to regional restrictions
Cons: The 0.8% currency conversion mark-up on foreign-currency CFD and spread bet trades is where much of the real cost hides — on a USD position round-trip it comfortably exceeds the spread

Group index 100/100

FCABaFin

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

Saxo

4.4

A Danish bank that trades like a professional platform — broad, polished, and no longer expensive.

Multi-asset portfolios
Bond investors

Tiered — Improved pricing at higher account tiers

Stocks (per order): 0.08 %
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 0.25 %

StocksETFsOptionsFutures+7

Pros: Full Danish banking licence (Finanstilsynet licence 1149) and SIFI designation — a stronger structural safeguard than a broker-only permission
Cons: Currency conversion costs 0.25% over mid-market for EU and Swiss clients, and up to 0.60% at the UK entity's Classic tier — the single largest hidden cost for cross-currency investors

Group index 96/100

DFSAFCA

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

CMC Markets

4.4

One of the best charting packages in retail CFD trading, wrapped around a narrower product range than the market count suggests.

Technical and chart-driven traders
UK and Irish spread betting

Stocks (per order): Free (CFD)
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 0.7 %

StocksETFsOptionsForex+6

Pros: Next Generation is one of the strongest charting suites bundled with a retail CFD account —115+ indicators, 70 chart patterns, 12 chart types and pattern-recognition scanners, at no extra cost
Cons: None of CMC's derivatives is exchange-traded: the options it quotes are OTC and cash-settled, and there are no cleared futures at all, so CMC is the counterparty on every derivative contract and no clearing house stands behind it

Group index 94/100

FCAASIC

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

moomoo

4.3

One of the most data-rich free trading platforms on the market — if you happen to live in one of the seven countries it serves.

Data-driven active traders
US options traders

Stocks (per order): Free
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: n/a

StocksETFsOptionsFutures+3

Pros: Free Nasdaq TotalView Level 2 depth on the US platform — Webull charges USD 3.99 per month for comparable data
Cons: Available to residents of only seven countries — the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand — with no EU, UK or DACH entity

Group index 86/100

FINRAMAS

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

Capital.com

4.3

A polished retail CFD platform in Europe, provided you accept that CFDs are the whole product.

Active CFD traders
Forex day trading

Stocks (per order): in the spread
Minimum deposit: US$20
FX conversion: 0.7 %

StocksETFsForexCFDs+4

Pros: No commission on any CFD and no inactivity fee whatsoever — unusual in the CySEC/FCA CFD segment
Cons: 0.7% currency conversion markup on every trade settled outside your base currency — the single largest hidden cost here

Group index 77/100

FCAASIC

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

XTB

4.3

One of the strongest trading platforms in the commission-free bracket - xStation 5 is a professional workspace attached to a zero-commission share account.

Serious charting on a budget
Commission-free European stocks

0% — 0% commission on stocks and ETFs up to the monthly volume cap

Stocks (per order): Free
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 0.5 %

StocksETFsOptionsForex+4

Pros: xStation 5 is one of the strongest platforms in the commission-free bracket - a real screener, market heat map, sentiment data, economic calendar and news in one workspace, on web, desktop and mobile with near-identical features.
Cons: The 0.5% currency conversion charge (0.8% at weekends and on public holidays) applies whenever the instrument currency differs from your account currency. For a EUR investor buying US stocks it is charged on the way in and again on the way out, and it dwarfs the commission it replaces.

Group index 72/100

FCAKNF

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

CapTrader

4.2

Interactive Brokers' market access wrapped in German regulation, German support and a German phone number.

German-speaking options and futures traders
Active traders who want IBKR pricing with German support

Stocks (per order): 0.1 %
Minimum deposit: €2,000
FX conversion: 0 %

StocksETFsOptionsFutures+7

Pros: BaFin-supervised German investment firm (institution number 10156708) with a Düsseldorf address, German contract law and a free German hotline until 20:00
Cons: No Abgeltungsteuer is withheld. German investors gain a compounding advantage but must declare everything themselves via Anlage KAP, and a Freistellungsauftrag is not possible — for many people that alone rules CapTrader out

Group index 81/100

BaFinCBI

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

Nordnet

4.2

The Nordic default: a listed Swedish bank with SEK 1 minimum commissions — if you live in the right four countries.

Nordic residents
Long-term ISK savers

Stocks (per order): tiered
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 0.25 %

StocksETFsOptionsFutures+4

Pros: Commission from 0.25% with a SEK 1 minimum on Nordic orders up to SEK 15,600 — small monthly share purchases are genuinely viable
Cons: Residents of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland only — there is no route in from Germany, Austria, Switzerland or the rest of the EU

Group index 93/100

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

Risk warning: investing in securities involves risk. You may lose some or all of the capital you invest.

Questrade

4.2

Canada's biggest independent broker, now genuinely commission-free — with a 1.5% currency spread as the sting in the tail.

Canadian self-directed investors
Registered account investing (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, RESP)

Stocks (per order): Free
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: 1.5 %

StocksETFsOptionsForex+6

Pros: CAD 0 commission on every Canadian and US stock and ETF trade, on both the buy and the sell side, with no ECN fees at all on Canadian orders
Cons: The 1.5% CAD/USD conversion charge is high and unavoidable unless you deliberately manage currency; on a CAD 20,000 US-stock purchase it costs CAD 300, dwarfing any commission saving

Group index 76/100

CIROOSC

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

tastytrade

4.2

An options-specialist US broker: USD 1 per contract to open, closing commission-free — built by people who trade premium for a living.

Options premium sellers
High-volume multi-leg traders

USD 0 to close — No commission to close options positions

Stocks (per order): Free
Minimum deposit: None
FX conversion: n/a

StocksETFsOptionsFutures+5

Pros: Equity options are USD 1 per contract to open, USD 0 to close and capped at USD 10 per leg — large multi-leg orders scale for free
Cons: FINRA censured and fined tastytrade USD 850,000 in 2026 for failing to run adequate best-execution reviews on equity orders routed to five payment-for-order-flow market makers between 2020 and 2023

Group index 82/100

FINRASEC

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

Risk warning: investing in securities involves risk. You may lose some or all of the capital you invest.

Admirals (Admiral Markets)

4.1

The rare CFD broker that also settles real shares — broad, well-priced and unusually forgiving about dormant accounts.

Real share investing
MetaTrader users

Stocks (per order): US$0.02/share
Minimum deposit: €100
FX conversion: 0.3 %

StocksETFsForexCFDs+4

Pros: Real share and ETF ownership through Invest.MT5 — roughly 4,800 listed companies and 200-plus ETFs from USD 0.02 per share with a USD 1.00 minimum, with no custody or platform fee.
Cons: Support is weekday office hours only, with no weekend desk — a genuine gap for anyone holding crypto CFDs over a Saturday.

Group index 72/100

FCAASIC

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

Kraken

4.1

The most heavily licensed venue in crypto — and the only one that is also a chartered US bank.

Traders who prioritise regulatory quality
Crypto derivatives and margin traders

Stocks (per order): Free (US only)
Minimum deposit: €1
FX conversion: n/a

StocksETFsOptionsFutures+3

Pros: Wyoming SPDI bank charter through Kraken Financial — a full-reserve institution required to hold 100% unencumbered liquid assets against customer fiat, with a Federal Reserve limited-purpose master account
Cons: Entry-tier spot pricing of 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker is the most expensive base rate among major regulated venues, and you need USD 10,000 of 30-day volume before it drops below 0.40% taker

Group index 78/100

CBIFCA

Protection depends on your legal entity

Visit broker Read review

Quick comparison

The numbers that decide this category, side by side. Scroll right on narrow screens for every column.

Best stock brokers — Quick comparison
Broker	Category	Overall	Fees30%	Product range20%	Safety & regulation18%	Stocks (per order)	Minimum deposit	Regulation	Action
1Interactive Brokers	4.7	4.5	4.9	5.0	4.8	0.05 %	None	SECFCA, CBI, ASIC, MAS	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
2Charles Schwab	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.2	4.9	Free	None	SECFINRA, FDIC	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
3Fidelity Investments	4.5	4.6	4.7	3.9	4.7	Free	None	SECFINRA, FDIC	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
4IG	4.5	4.5	4.0	4.9	4.9	Free	None	FCABaFin, FINMA, ASIC, MAS, JFSA, DFSA	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
5Saxo	4.5	4.4	4.2	4.8	4.7	0.08 %	None	DFSAFCA, FINMA, MAS, JFSA	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
6CMC Markets	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.4	4.6	Free (CFD)	None	FCAASIC, BaFin, MAS	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
7moomoo	4.3	4.3	4.5	3.8	4.3	Free	None	FINRAMAS, ASIC, CIRO, SC	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
8Capital.com	4.2	4.3	4.4	3.6	4.3	in the spread	US$20	FCAASIC, CySEC	Visit broker Risk warning: CFDs and other leveraged products are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Our methodology

How we build this ranking

No editorial gut feeling — a published calculation. This category shifts the weights of our rating model towards what its audience actually needs.

Weighting in this category

53 brokers rated

The pale tick marks the weight in the general Brokaro model.

Category weight
Base model

The formula

The category score is 70% the category-specific weighting and 30% the general overall score. A strong all-rounder therefore does not drop out simply because it fails to lead one single criterion.

Category score = 0.7 × Σ(w_i × s_i) + 0.3 × Overall score

Full methodology

Requirements to be listed

A broker that misses these never appears in this list, no matter how it scores.

The broker has to actually offer Stocks — not merely advertise it.

Frequently asked questions about this category

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