eToro vs DEGIRO: Which is best for investing in 2026?

Both eToro and DEGIRO are among the best-known online brokers in Europe. eToro became famous for social trading and massive advertising. DEGIRO was one of the first to bring low commissions to European investors.

So which one is better? What we've noticed is that each has its own unique features, advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we'll share our experience with both.

The goal is to help you understand which of these two platforms might be more suitable for your needs. We'll explore in detail everything eToro and DEGIRO have to offer.

Summary:

• eToro: Best for those who value the social component and Copy Trading, fractional shares from $10, commission-free ETFs (many are offered via CFDs) and interest on uninvested cash (in USD only).
• DEGIRO: Best for those who want to operate natively in euros, with predictable costs, and for those looking for a wider range of "real" instruments, including bonds, options and futures.

eToro stands out for its social side: you can follow and automatically copy other investors, invest in fractional shares from $10 and practise in a demo account with $100,000 in virtual funds. It also pays interest on uninvested cash, but only in USD. It is a Nasdaq-listed company, with more than 40 million users in around 75 countries.

DEGIRO, on the other hand, operates natively in euros, with no intermediate conversions into dollars, and gives access to a broader range of "real" products: stocks, ETFs, bonds, options and futures. It has a banking licence (flatexDEGIRO Bank AG), is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and does not offer CFDs, which can be an advantage if you do not identify with this type of instrument.

If you are looking for the social experience, fractional shares and interest on dollars, eToro has the edge. If you prefer to invest in euros, with predictable costs and no CFDs in the mix, DEGIRO may be better for you.

_{Important note: many of the products marketed by eToro are made available through CFDs, and not the real asset. This information only appears clearly in the order menu, which we consider less than transparent. Read our article on the differences between a CFD and a "real" ETF.}

General comparison table

eToro - overview

Founded in 2007, eToro revolutionised the way people invest by introducing the concept of "social investing". The platform combines social network elements with investing, allowing users to follow, communicate with and automatically copy the trades of other investors. Today it has more than 40 million users in around 75 countries and is listed on the Nasdaq (ticker ETOR).

For EU investors, the relevant entity is eToro (Europe) Ltd, regulated by CySEC (Cyprus), which passports its services across the Union.

eToro stands out for letting you invest in fractional shares from just $10, in commission-free ETFs and in a wide selection of cryptocurrencies. After logging in, you find a dashboard with your account value, portfolio, watchlist and access to the Popular Investors:

One thing you should know before going further: beyond traditional investing, eToro offers CFDs, and many ETFs (especially US-domiciled ones), indices, forex and commodities are made available through CFDs, and not the real asset. This information only appears clearly in the order menu, which we consider less than transparent. Read our article on the differences between a CFD and a "real" ETF.

Want to know more about eToro? Read our full eToro Europe review.

eToro pros and cons

Pros

• Copy Trading and a social component that is unique in the market
• Fractional shares from $10
• Low fees on stocks ($1 or $2) and $0 on ETFs
• Free demo account with $100,000 in virtual funds
• Interest on uninvested cash (USD only)
• eToro Academy with educational content
• Nasdaq-listed company with a strong financial position
• Private insurance from Lloyd's of London up to €1,000,000 (Platinum clients and above)

Cons

• Trades funded from the EUR account are routed through USD, with a 0.75% conversion whenever the asset is not denominated in euros
• Does not pay interest on euros
• $5 withdrawal fee on USD accounts (free on the EUR account)
• The EUR account cannot fund CFDs, CopyTrader or Smart Portfolios
• Many ETFs, indices and commodities are offered via CFDs, with little transparency
• Does not offer bonds, options or futures
• No phone support and no local offices in most countries
• No banking licence, and its main regulator (CySEC) is less demanding than the German or Dutch regulators

DEGIRO - overview

Founded in 2008, DEGIRO was one of the first brokers to offer low commissions to investors in Europe. It is headquartered in the Netherlands, is part of the flatexDEGIRO group (which holds a banking licence) and is supervised by European financial authorities, such as the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).

DEGIRO is publicly listed (flatexDEGIRO SE, on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ISIN DE000FTG1111) and passported across the EU.

DEGIRO stands out for its low-cost model and the breadth of "real" instruments: stocks, ETFs, bonds, options and futures on several international exchanges, all on a simple, euro-based platform:

Want to know more about DEGIRO? Read our full DEGIRO review.

DEGIRO pros and cons

Pros

• Operates natively in euros, with no intermediate conversions into USD
• Core selection of popular ETFs (external fees apply)
• Wide range of instruments: bonds, options and futures
• Low, predictable overall fee structure
• No inactivity or withdrawal fees
• Uninvested cash covered by the German deposit guarantee scheme up to €100,000
• Customer support in several European languages, including by phone
• Banking licence and publicly listed company
• Educational material: Investor's Academy

Cons

• Does not pay interest on uninvested cash
• €1 handling fee per trade
• €2.50 (annual) connectivity fee per exchange you are invested in
• 0.25% currency conversion fee
• Does not offer fractional shares or a demo account
• Does not offer copy trading or a social component
• Customer support of inconsistent quality

Regulation and safety

Both are publicly listed companies, which guarantees more rigorous public scrutiny of their financial reports. Following its Nasdaq listing, eToro reports having no net debt and a comfortable liquidity position.

At eToro, EU clients are served by eToro (Europe) Ltd (Cyprus) and assets are protected by the Cypriot investor compensation fund (ICF) up to €20,000. eToro also indicates that, in certain cases, client money deposited at eligible European banks benefits from the deposit guarantee scheme (DGS) up to €100,000 per depositor, per bank. Note that funds held in the eToro EUR local currency account are a separate matter: eToro Money Malta states that they are safeguarded under regulatory standards but are not covered by Malta's Depositor Compensation Scheme.

At DEGIRO, securities are protected by the German investor compensation scheme (90% of assets, capped at €20,000). Because cash is held at flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, a licensed German bank, uninvested cash is additionally covered by the German deposit guarantee scheme up to €100,000 per depositor. That is a meaningfully different protection from eToro's, where the euro balance sits with a payment institution rather than a bank. Note also that CySEC is generally considered a less demanding regulator than the Dutch and German regulators supervising DEGIRO.

Financial instruments

DEGIRO offers a wider range of "real" instruments: bonds, options, futures, mutual funds and structured products, ideal for anyone who wants to build a diversified portfolio with assets they actually own.

eToro compensates with its social component (Copy Trading and Smart Portfolios), fractional shares and a larger selection of cryptocurrencies. However, a good part of the offer (US ETFs, indices, forex and commodities) is made available through CFDs.

_{Important note: For legal reasons, US-domiciled ETFs cannot be sold directly to retail investors in Europe. On eToro, these ETFs are offered through CFDs, which merely replicate the performance of the original fund. CFDs are complex derivative products, with additional costs (spreads, overnight fees), and this information only appears in the final order menu. DEGIRO does not offer CFDs.}

Base currency: dollars vs euros

This is probably the most important difference between the two brokers for a euro-based investor.

eToro operates in dollars (USD). There is now a EUR local currency account (provided by eToro Money Malta) for EU residents, which lets you deposit and withdraw in euros via SEPA with no conversion fee. The mechanics of a trade are worth understanding: when you open a position with funds from your EUR account, those funds are routed through USD in the investment account, whatever the asset's currency. What that costs you depends on the asset. If the asset is denominated in euros, eToro charges no conversion fee at all. If it is denominated in dollars, a 0.75% conversion applies to that trade.

Three limits are worth knowing before you rely on the EUR account. It only funds trades in real stocks, ETFs and cryptoassets: CFDs, CopyTrader and Smart Portfolios can only be funded in USD. Popular Investors cannot trade with EUR funds at all. And positions worth more than $50,000 cannot be closed back to the EUR account, so the proceeds stay in dollars.

DEGIRO operates natively in euros. You only pay currency conversion (0.25%) when you buy assets quoted in other currencies, such as US stocks in USD. There is no intermediate conversion on deposits, withdrawals or purchases of euro-denominated assets.

In practice, for anyone investing mainly in European, euro-denominated assets, DEGIRO is still simpler: the money never leaves euros. At eToro the FX cost on those same assets is now zero too, but the routing through USD stays, and with it the timing exposure eToro itself warns about, since moves in the USD rate while a euro-denominated order is pending can change the price you end up paying. The gap is narrower than it used to be, and it reopens as soon as you buy US-denominated assets, where DEGIRO's 0.25% beats eToro's 0.75%.

Copy Trading: the feature that sets eToro apart

Copy Trading lets you automatically copy the positions of other investors (the "Popular Investors"), from $200 per copied investor. It is the feature that made eToro famous and that DEGIRO does not offer.

It can be interesting for anyone who wants to start without analysing markets on their own, but it carries relevant risks: the tendency to pick investors with extraordinary past returns (survivorship bias), costs accumulated across the various trades (spreads and conversions) and lack of control over the positions taken. Note also that copied positions can only be funded in USD, not from your EUR account. We explain everything in detail in our eToro review.

Investment platforms

Both platforms are simple and suitable for beginners, but with different philosophies: eToro bets on the social and community component (news feed, comments from other investors on each asset), while DEGIRO offers a more traditional, sober brokerage experience. eToro's demo account, with $100,000 in virtual funds, is a good way to try the platform without risking real money.

One practical difference for anyone investing every month: eToro lets you schedule automatic deposits and purchases (Recurring Investments), while at DEGIRO purchases have to be made manually, one by one.

Fees

^{*The $2 fee applies only to some exchanges (Australia, Hong Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Tokyo). For most European clients, the majority of exchanges carry a $1 fee per trade (to open and to close the position). Check eToro's website for the current fees.}

At first glance, the trading fees of the two brokers are similar: $1 per stock trade at eToro against around €2 (commission + handling) at DEGIRO, and cheaper ETFs at eToro ($0 against €1 handling at DEGIRO).

Around the trade, eToro has closed much of the gap: withdrawals from the EUR account are free, the inactivity fee was abolished in May 2026, and euro-denominated assets carry no conversion. What remains is the 0.75% conversion whenever you buy in another currency, against DEGIRO's cheaper 0.25%. DEGIRO, for its part, has no withdrawal or inactivity fees either, but charges the €2.50 connectivity fee per exchange, per year.

For anyone regularly investing in European (UCITS) ETFs in euros, DEGIRO tends to come out cheaper overall on commissions, while eToro's $0 on ETFs is hard to beat if you can live with the rest of the structure. For occasional purchases of US stocks in larger amounts, the conversion difference is what decides it.

Interest on uninvested cash

Here eToro has a clear advantage over DEGIRO, but with an important limitation: interest is paid only on dollars.

Note that the rate is determined by the total account balance (including the invested amount), but it is only applied to the available cash balance in USD. An EU investor with a total balance of up to $50,000 receives 2.75% on their dollar cash. Above that, 3.55%.

DEGIRO does not pay anything on idle cash. If interest on uninvested cash matters to you and you want to receive it in euros, brokers like Trade Republic or Trading 212 may be alternatives to consider.

What about dividends?

If you invest in dividend-paying stocks or ETFs, there is an important difference between owning the real asset and merely having exposure through a CFD.

At DEGIRO, and also with eToro's "real" stocks, you receive the true dividend. In the case of US stocks, the US withholds tax at source before the money reaches your account. Thanks to the tax treaties most European countries have with the US, that rate is typically 15% (instead of 30%), and both brokers handle the necessary paperwork (the W-8BEN form) during account opening.

At eToro, when the position is a CFD (as is the case with many US ETFs), you do not receive a true dividend, but rather an "equivalent payment" credited to your account. On US instruments, these payments can suffer a 30% withholding, instead of the 15% applicable to real stocks. It is one more reason to always confirm, before buying, whether you are acquiring the real asset or a CFD.

At both brokers, the dividends received must then be declared in your annual tax return. As a rule, the tax already withheld abroad can be recovered, in full or in part, through the international double taxation credit.

Taxes

On this point, the two brokers are on an equal footing: neither withholds tax at source in your country of residence.

At both eToro and DEGIRO, you are responsible for declaring capital gains, dividends and interest in your annual tax return, as foreign-sourced income, at the rates and under the rules of your country. The interest eToro pays on USD balances also generally needs to be declared as investment income.

At eToro there is an extra layer of complexity: since the investment account operates in dollars, you will have to convert the amounts into euros in your tax return, using the applicable exchange rate. The broker provides a tax statement that helps with this process.

If you do not declare this income, the risk of a tax discrepancy increases, since tax authorities across Europe receive information through the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). If you are unsure about your situation, check with a local tax adviser.

Customer support

eToro

eToro's support is available mainly through live chat with human agents. eToro Club members (Silver tier and above) get access to an exclusive WhatsApp line, and high-value accounts have dedicated managers.

eToro does not offer phone support for most European investors and has no local offices in most countries.

DEGIRO

DEGIRO's customer support is provided by email and phone, in several European languages but with limited hours. While functional, users frequently mention that the quality of the service is not consistent and that answers to more technical questions may not be the most complete.

Even so, the existence of phone support in local languages gives DEGIRO a slight edge on this criterion.

So, which one should you choose?

The choice between eToro and DEGIRO depends, above all, on your investor profile and what you value in a broker.

eToro is the natural choice for anyone who values the social component and Copy Trading, wants to start with little money through fractional shares (from $10), likes having a demo account to practise and wants to earn interest on uninvested cash in dollars. In return, you accept the operational routing through USD, the 0.75% conversion on non-euro assets, the fact that copied positions can only be funded in USD, and the less-than-transparent mix of real assets and CFDs.

DEGIRO is the ideal option for anyone who wants to invest in euros, without CFDs, with predictable costs and access to a wider range of real instruments, such as bonds, options and futures. It is a more "traditional" broker, with a banking licence that brings the €100,000 deposit guarantee on cash, phone support in several languages and no withdrawal or inactivity fees, but it pays no interest and offers no fractional shares.

Whichever you choose, both brokers are regulated in Europe and publicly listed. The most important thing is to analyse your financial goals and your investing style, and to explore the features of both before making a decision. eToro's free demo account can be a good way to experiment without risk.

If you want to explore other options, read our comparison of the best trading platforms in Europe, or our eToro vs Trading 212, XTB vs eToro and DEGIRO vs Trade Republic comparisons.

_{CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider (eToro). You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Disclaimer: No financial advice or investment recommendations are given. All content in this article is for information and educational purposes only. It is essential that you carry out your own analysis before making any investment. If necessary, you should seek independent financial advice from a qualified professional registered with your national regulator.}