comdirect vs DEGIRO — which broker is better?

Pros

• The broadest product range of the three German incumbents: shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, certificates, warrants, CFDs and direct Eurex options and futures in one depot
• Excellent platform stack — ProTrader for real-time multi-monitor trading, O&F-Trader with a margin simulator, CFD Trader with a free demo, plus a documented REST API and stock3, TraderFox and Quant4you integrations
• Cash sits behind Commerzbank AG: statutory EdB cover of EUR 100,000 plus the voluntary BdB Einlagensicherungsfonds protecting private individuals up to EUR 3 million, with direct ECB supervision as a significant institution
• Custody is now free for depots opened from 15 July 2026, and the second depot has always been free
• Cheap Eurex derivatives pricing: EUR 1.50 per single-stock option contract and EUR 1.50 for the MicroDAX future, each with a EUR 9.90 execution minimum
• Fully tax-simple for German residents — automatic Abgeltungsteuer withholding, Freistellungsauftrag, loss-offset pots and free annual tax certificates
• A EUR 1.00 Pure Depot exists for investors who only need gettex and savings plans, and a 15% Viel-Trader discount rewards 125+ trades per half-year

Cons

• Standard commissions are among the highest in the market: EUR 4.90 plus 0.25% of order value, minimum EUR 9.90 and maximum EUR 59.90, plus a EUR 2.50 venue fee — roughly four times what flatex charges on a EUR 10,000 order
• Savings plans cost 1.50% of the amount invested per execution. On a EUR 500 monthly ETF plan that is EUR 7.50 a month, or EUR 90 a year, where Consorsbank and flatex both charge zero
• Customer service is the standout failure: 1.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot across 4,117 reviews, dominated by complaints about extremely long telephone hold times and unhelpful responses, despite the advertised 24/7 desk
• The advertised EUR 3.90 per trade applies only to new depot customers for 36 months, after which the full tariff returns — the headline number is not the price you end up paying
• The cheap Pure Depot is heavily restricted: gettex only, no off-exchange trading, no derivatives, no IPOs, no ProTrader, no securities credit, no joint or second depot
• No spot cryptocurrency and no wallet — exposure is limited to crypto certificates and ETNs, and foreign trades settle at Commerzbank reference rates rather than a published percentage markup; comdirect's own cost disclosure estimates the conversion at 1%

Pros

• ETF Core Selection trades cost EUR 0 commission plus the EUR 1.00 handling fee - among the cheapest ETF execution available to EU retail investors.
• US and Canadian shares are EUR 1.00 commission plus EUR 1.00 handling, flat, with no percentage component at any order size.
• Options and futures at EUR 0.75 per contract undercut nearly every European retail platform, across eight derivatives exchanges including Eurex and CME.
• No custody fee, no inactivity fee, no deposit or withdrawal fee, and a minimum deposit of EUR 0.01.
• Direct market access to more than 50 exchanges in 30 countries, so you own the actual listed line rather than a synthetic wrapper.
• Sits inside flatexDEGIRO Bank SE, a BaFin-supervised German bank, with cash covered to EUR 100,000 by the German statutory deposit guarantee.
• Parent flatexDEGIRO SE is listed in Frankfurt under FTK, so capital position, client numbers and profitability are published quarterly.

Cons

• The EUR 1.00 handling fee lands on almost every order, so a EUR 200 ETF purchase costs 0.5% before anything else. DEGIRO is cheap per order, not cheap per euro invested.
• AutoFX converts every non-euro trade at a 0.25% markup in both directions; the Manual FX alternative costs EUR 10.00 + 0.25% and only pays off on large conversions.
• The EUR 2.50 per-exchange annual connectivity fee is trivial in isolation but stacks quietly for anyone holding positions across five or six markets.
• No fractional shares and no demo account, which rules out small monthly contributions and leaves beginners nowhere to practise.
• Research is close to non-existent: no analyst ratings, no usable screener, and charting that stops well short of what an active trader needs.
• DEGIRO does not act as a withholding tax agent, so German and Austrian clients declare and pay capital gains tax themselves instead of having it handled at source.