Consorsbank vs NinjaTrader — which broker is better?

Pros

• All ETF savings plans run at 0% of the savings rate on more than 1,700 ETFs, permanently — the partners cover the fee, replacing the old 1.50% charge
• The deepest derivatives access of any German retail bank: Eurex options and futures with volume rebates down to EUR 2.00 per contract, plus CME, CBOT and OCC options and futures on a dedicated Margin account
• ActiveTrader professional software and the Trading API are both free, with real-time monitoring, one-click ordering and Iceberg orders on Xetra in the Pro version
• Free depot, free Verrechnungskonto, free sub-accounts and free depot transfers, with no inactivity fee
• Transparent, published FX conversion margins — Bloomberg BFIX plus USD 0.0030, GBP 0.0020, CHF 0.0030 — roughly 0.26% on the dollar (0.30% if the price page's percentage margin applies to securities trades), better than flatex's 0.35% and more transparent than comdirect, which publishes no percentage at all
• Free foreign-currency sub-accounts in eleven currencies plus EUR, so US or Swiss proceeds do not have to be converted back at a spread
• Backed by BNP Paribas S.A. under ECB, BaFin, ACPR and AMF supervision, with the voluntary BdB fund protecting private individuals up to EUR 3 million
• From the second partial execution only the percentage commission applies — base fee and venue cost drop away, which materially cuts the cost of large orders that fill in pieces

Cons

• The tiered pricing starts unremarkable and Consorsbank does not publish the volume thresholds for Silver, Gold and Platinum status on its public price pages, so a new customer cannot calculate what they will actually pay next year
• Direct foreign exchange access is priced punitively: EUR 34 for London, EUR 41 for Zurich, EUR 72 for Tokyo, EUR 121 for Singapore and EUR 136 for Wellington in venue costs per order, plus a EUR 21 USA Smart Order fee and EUR 69 for Canada
• Customer service scores 1.6 out of 5 on Trustpilot across 300 reviews, with reviewers reporting online-banking failures that blocked access to accounts and depots for weeks, and slow, unhelpful responses
• Share, certificate and ETC savings plans still cost 1.50% of the rate, so only the ETF plans are genuinely free once the twelve-month new-customer promotion expires
• ActiveTrader Pro costs up to EUR 119 a month for standard-status customers, and US derivatives market data adds EUR 5–29 a month — the professional tooling is only free once you are already trading heavily
• No CFDs, no spot forex and no spot crypto, and the Tagesgeld pays 1.00% p.a. outside promotional periods

Pros

• USD 0.09 per side on micro futures and USD 0.59 on standard contracts under the USD 1,499 lifetime licence — among the lowest retail futures commissions available
• Intraday day-trading margins of USD 50 per Micro E-mini and USD 500 per E-mini contract make small-account futures trading viable
• Market Replay plays back a full session tick by tick, synchronised across charts and the ladder — the best execution-rehearsal tool in retail futures
• NinjaScript is a real C# development framework, not a scripting toy, with an ecosystem of thousands of third-party indicators, strategies and add-ons
• Free simulated trading with the full platform, strategy backtesting and no funding requirement
• Support runs 24/5 plus weekends with a dedicated 24-hour trade desk, and the site is localised into seven languages
• No deposit minimum to open a futures account; ACH and debit card funding from USD 5

Cons

• Futures, options on futures, single stock futures and event contracts only — no shares, ETFs, bonds, funds, spot crypto or spot forex
• The headline commissions require paying for the platform: USD 1.29 per side on the free plan is ordinary, and the cheap rates cost USD 99 a month or USD 1,499 up front
• Customer funds are CFTC-segregated but carry no SIPC cover and no compensation scheme — segregation ring-fences money, it does not insure it
• Exchange, clearing and NFA fees are charged on top of every commission, and market depth or professional data feeds are billed separately
• The desktop platform is Windows-only and has a steep learning curve; the web and mobile builds are materially lighter
• A USD 35 Minimum Account Activity Fee hits free-plan accounts that log in but place no live trade within 30 days — USD 25 on plans held since before 20 June 2025
• NinjaTrader does not publish an eligible-country list on its public pages, so international applicants have to confirm their jurisdiction during onboarding