Intro and winners
Find below the strengths of the best brokers for short selling available in for Europeans, updated for 2024:
- moomoo is the best broker for short selling real stocks for Europeans in 2024 - Commission-free stock and ETF trading. Fast and easy account opening. Quality analytical tools and excellent education services. Pays high interest on uninvested cash.
- Interactive Brokers - Extremely low fees. Wide range of products. Many great research tools.
- Webull - Free stock/ETF trading and high 5% interest on uninvested cash. Fast and easy account opening. Great trading platforms.
- Alpaca Trading - Great API trading service. Free stock & ETF trading. Fantastic charting tools.
- TradeZero - Commission-free stock and ETF trading above a certain volume. Quick and easy account opening. Excellent education and customer support.
- tastytrade - Low trading fees. Great educational materials. Good research tools.
- Merrill Edge - Low trading fees. Easy and seamless account opening. Strong parent company.
- Charles Schwab - Free stock and ETF trading. Outstanding research. Great customer service.
- Zacks Trade - Low fees. Extensive stock and ETF selection. Great customer service.
- ChoiceTrade - Commission-free stock and ETF trades. Fast and easy account opening. User-friendly mobile trading platform.
Key features of the best brokers for short selling
While many online brokers and trading platforms offer an excellent service, the ones in our toplist go the extra mile.
| Broker | Stock fee class | Minimum deposit |
|---|---|---|
| moomoo | Low | $0 |
| Interactive Brokers | Low | $0 |
| Webull | Low | $0 |
| Alpaca Trading | Low | $0 |
| TradeZero | Low | $250 |
| tastytrade | Low | $0 |
| Merrill Edge | Low | $0 |
| Charles Schwab | Low | $0 |
| Zacks Trade | Low | $0 |
| ChoiceTrade | Low | $100 |
Popularity of the best brokers for short selling for Europeans
Interested in what others think? Here's how many people chose these brokers at BrokerChooser in the last 6 months.
Trading fees at the best brokers for short selling
How much you have to pay for a trade in spreads, commissions and other trading costs is a key broker selection criteria. We calculated a benchmark fee for the most important stock fees, which you can see in the table below. This is the total of how much you have to pay in spreads, commissions and other costs for a trade in each asset class.
| Broker | US stock | German stock |
|---|---|---|
| moomoo | $0.0 | - |
| Interactive Brokers | $1.0 | $3.2 |
| Webull | $0.0 | - |
| Alpaca Trading | $0.0 | - |
| TradeZero | $0.0 | - |
| tastytrade | $0.0 | - |
| Merrill Edge | $0.0 | - |
| Charles Schwab | $0.0 | - |
| Zacks Trade | $1.0 | $13.0 |
| ChoiceTrade | $0.0 | - |
If you are unsure how brokerage fees work, check out our article on the various fees, charges and costs.
Non-trading fees at the top brokers for short selling
Non-trading fees are charges not directly related to a given trade and typically include the account maintenance fee, deposit/withdrawal fees, and the inactivity fee.
| Broker | Account fee | Inactivity fee |
|---|---|---|
| moomoo | ||
| Interactive Brokers | ||
| Webull | ||
| Alpaca Trading | ||
| TradeZero | ||
| tastytrade | ||
| Merrill Edge | ||
| Charles Schwab | ||
| Zacks Trade | ||
| ChoiceTrade |
Recommended for investors and traders looking for zero-commission trading and focusing on US markets
| moomoo snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of moomoo services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment
| Interactive Brokers snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of Interactive Brokers services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for investors and traders looking for zero-commission trading and easy platforms
| Webull snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of Webull services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for traders interested in algorithmic stock trading
| Alpaca Trading snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of Alpaca Trading services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for investors and traders interested in commission-free trading and a focus on US stocks and options
| TradeZero snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $250 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of TradeZero services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for options and futures traders focusing on US markets
| tastytrade snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of tastytrade services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for investors and traders looking for low fees, quick account opening and simple platforms
| Merrill Edge snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of Merrill Edge services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for investors and traders looking for solid research, low fees and great customer service
| Charles Schwab snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of Charles Schwab services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for traders and investors looking for comprehensive research tools, a wide product selection and low fees
| Zacks Trade snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of Zacks Trade services, check out our review for 2024 |
Recommended for stock and options traders looking for low trading fees and focusing on the US market
| ChoiceTrade snapshot | |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $100 |
| Withdrawal methods | Bank transfer |
| Deposit methods | Bank transfer |
| Read review | For a detailed analysis of ChoiceTrade services, check out our review for 2024 |
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How did BrokerChooser pick the best brokers for short selling?
- We checked whether the broker is regulated by a trusted regulator,
- Compared fees, especially for stocks and options (including spreads, withdrawal fee, commission),
- Took a close look at margin rates,
- Checked the dekstop platform,
- We looked at the overall profile of the broker (other products, trading platforms, account opening process),
- Opened an account and tested the platform (charting, features, usability) with real money.
Save hours of research!
Our expert team has done all the work for you, and reviewed brokers based on BrokerChooser's unique methodology
BrokerChooser evaluates 9 key areas for all brokers including fees, safety, ease of account opening, education, and trading platforms. We check more than 600 criteria for each broker and finetune our methodology every year based on our own and our users' experiences. We have more than 100 brokers reviewed on our site and our team of analysts examines more than 60,000 data points overall.
FAQ
What is short selling?
A short sale (or 'shorting') is when you sell a stock you borrowed at the current price, in the hope of buying it back later for less money and pocketing the difference. It is the opposite of taking a 'long' position, i.e. buying a stock, in the hope that its price will increase. In order to do this, you need to have a margin account.
The first step in short selling is borrowing a stock from somebody and selling it immediately at the current price. Eventually you will have to buy the stock in order to give it back to the lender and close the positon. So you are hoping that the future price will be lower than the current price because the difference would be your gain. Who would loan you the stock? Your broker.
As this is a loan, your broker will charge you interest. Remember, the stock is not yours, you just borrow it. You would only short sell a stock if you firmly believe that its price will drop. In this case you hope that you can buy the stock back at that lower price in the future and pocket the difference. As the price of the stock rises, so do the unrealized (or floating) losses on your open position.
What makes a good broker for short selling?
Most importantly, they need to offer fair margin fees. To size them up in this regard, we checked the margin costs of trading real stocks. Second, they should offer fair stock fees. A great desktop platform that makes technical analysis easy also weighed into our ranking. Last, but not least, we prefer brokers with a great overall service quality and score.
Can short selling be profitable?
Yes, short selling can be profitable and traders may make handsome profits. Nevertheless, short selling real stocks are very risky, especially because these assets are borrowed from your broker in the form of a loan. You need to have a margin account which allows you to invest a much larger amount of money. Short selling is by no means a guarantee for getting rich overnight.
Is short selling good for beginners?
Short selling can be complicated for the first time, so in this sense it is not good for beginners.
Which broker is best for short selling?
These are the top brokers for short selling in your country in 2024:
- moomoo - Commission-free stock and ETF trading. Fast and easy account opening. Quality analytical tools and excellent education services. Pays high interest on uninvested cash.
- Interactive Brokers - Extremely low fees. Wide range of products. Many great research tools.
- Webull - Free stock/ETF trading and high 5% interest on uninvested cash. Fast and easy account opening. Great trading platforms.
- Alpaca Trading - Great API trading service. Free stock & ETF trading. Fantastic charting tools.
- TradeZero - Commission-free stock and ETF trading above a certain volume. Quick and easy account opening. Excellent education and customer support.
- tastytrade - Low trading fees. Great educational materials. Good research tools.
- Merrill Edge - Low trading fees. Easy and seamless account opening. Strong parent company.
- Charles Schwab - Free stock and ETF trading. Outstanding research. Great customer service.
- Zacks Trade - Low fees. Extensive stock and ETF selection. Great customer service.
- ChoiceTrade - Commission-free stock and ETF trades. Fast and easy account opening. User-friendly mobile trading platform.
Are these brokers reliable?
Absolutely. You can be sure that none of them is a scam. They are all regulated by at least one top-tier financial authority.
Want to understand short selling in more detail?
Check out these articles written by our broker and trading experts:
Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology.
