Keytrade Bank vs comdirect — which broker is better?

Pros

• Euronext Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris orders from EUR 2.45 up to EUR 250 and EUR 5.95 up to EUR 2,500; US orders on the same ladder in USD up to USD 10,000
• No custody fee on securities for private individuals, no account management fees and no minimum deposit
• Belgian tax handling built in: the TOB and the 30% dividend withholding tax are collected, and from 1 June 2026 the 10% capital gains tax is withheld unless you opt out
• A bank under French ACPR supervision inside a group the ECB supervises directly; FGDR cover up to EUR 100,000 for deposits and EUR 70,000 for securities
• One institution for everything: current account, regulated savings accounts, cards, securities, Keyplan fund savings from EUR 25, pension savings and discretionary management from EUR 15,000
• Broad listed range: shares on Euronext, Xetra, London, Zurich, the Nordic exchanges, the US and Toronto, more than 3,200 trackers, more than 660 funds, options on Euronext, Eurex and US markets
• Free SEPA and instant SEPA transfers, and real-time transfers between your own Keytrade accounts

Cons

• Expensive outside Euronext and the US: EUR 24.95 per order on Xetra, Milan and Madrid, GBP 29.95 in London, CHF 49.95 in Zurich
• 0.50% change costs on every securities trade that involves a currency conversion
• Real-time quotes cost EUR 2.50 to EUR 20 a month per market group unless you make 3 trades a month there; Madrid, Toronto and Oslo are delayed only
• No futures in the tariff list, and we found no fractional shares, demo account or public trading API
• Only for Belgian residents, Belgian tax residents and Belgian citizens; the EUR 100,000 deposit ceiling is shared with Fortuneo, the same bank

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%