Best CFD brokers in Germany in 2024

While many online CFD brokers and trading platforms catering to German investors offer an excellent service, the ones in our toplist go the extra mile.

Popularity of the best CFD brokers in Germany

Interested in what others think? Here's how many people chose these brokers at BrokerChooser in the last 6 months.

How much you have to pay for a trade in spreads, commission and other trading costs is a key broker selection criteria. Check the spreads in the table below. In case of stock CFD, we calculate the fees for a $2,000 trade held for 1 week.

If you are unsure how brokerage fees work, check out this article on the various fees, charges and costs.

Service or 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.

Check out what types of CFDs you can trade at the best CFD brokers and CFD trading platforms.

CFD trading in Germany is overseen by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), which has put in place one of the strictest retail market regulations in the world.

The regulator prohibited the marketing, distribution and sale of CFDs with an additional payments obligation and laid out regulations regarding maximum permissible leverage, negative balance protection, restrictions on the incentives offered to trade CFDs and a requirement for risk warnings.

Retail investors may only be offered CFDs with the following leverage limits:

• 30:1 for CFDs on currency pairs with US dollars, euros, Japanese yen, pound sterling, Canadian dollar or Swiss franc as the underlying asset
• 20:1 for CFDs on all other currency pairs, selected standard indices (DAX30, EURO STOXX 50 etc.), and gold
• 10:1 for CFDs on all other commodities excluding gold and all other equity indices
• 2:1 for CFDs on cryptocurrencies
• 5:1 for CFDs on shares and all other CFDs.

Brokers and trading platforms offering CFDs must:

• ensure that CFDs are automatically closed in the event of significant negative price performance. This protective mechanism takes effect when the value of a CFD equals less than half of the investor’s initial margin (margin close-out rule);
• guarantee that investors cannot lose more than the value of their initial margin (negative balance protection);
• expressly state how many private customers lose money with the products (risk warnings).

The authority has repeatedly stressed that traders should pay close attention to the origin of the broker or trading platform they use for CFD trades. Even if a website is written in German and provides German telephone numbers for contacting the provider, this does not automatically mean that the company is based in Germany. Some providers may give the impression of being a German company or a company based in Germany, when in fact they do not have permission to do business on the German market. Check out BrokerChooser's list of not recommended brokers, which details some of the brokerages that our experts found not to be good options.

Any profits made from trading CFDs are subject to tax in the same way as profits from other investment transactions such as shares or funds. For tax purposes, CFDs are treated as futures transactions and are therefore subject to the final withholding tax, which has a flat rate of 25% plus church tax and solidarity surcharge, as applicable.

German brokers will automatically withhold the tax and pay it directly to the tax office. In the case of foreign brokers, the investor must take care of reporting and paying the taxes to the responsible tax office.

According to the latest tax law, German investors are allowed to offset losses from derivatives transactions up to only €20,000 per year. Losses that have not been offset can be carried over to subsequent years, whereby the limitation on the amount still applies

And now, let's see the top CFD brokers in Germany one by one, starting with the winner, XTB.

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76-83% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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72.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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62% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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70.64% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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Value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

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83.51% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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64% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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75% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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74% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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What is CFD trading?

CFDs, short for Contracts for Difference, are derivative products used to speculate on the price movements of a wide range of underlying assets. A CFD is a contract between two parties under which the seller pays the buyer the difference between the current value of an asset and its value at the time the contract is due.

When trading CFDs, you speculate on whether the price of a financial asset (i.e. stock, bond, commodity, etc.) will go up or down, without actually buying the asset itself. Instead of buying a Vodafone stock, at a CFD broker you will bet on the direction you think the Vodafone stock will go. If your bet is right, you will make profit on your CFD trade.

CFDs are leveraged products meaning that you trade with your own money and the money you borrow from your broker. This makes CFD trading extremely risky and not suitable for beginners. A very high percentage of retail traders lose money when trading CFDs.

CFD trading is illegal in the U.S. However, if you open an account at a European broker, you will be able to trade CFDs on U.S. assets.

To better understand CFDs and the risk involved, read this article on CFD trading tips compiled by our team of experts.

Is CFD trading legal in Germany?

CFD trading is fully legal in Germany, but the market is heavily regulated. BaFin, the country’s financial markets supervisor, prohibited CFDs with an additional payments obligation. Brokers and trading platforms offering CFDs are required to limit leverage on CFDs and the leverage varies between 30:1 and 2:1, depending on the underlying asset. All German investors trading CFDs are entitled to negative balance protection and the regulator requires that the margin close-out rule is enforced.

Do I pay taxes on CFD profits in Germany?

Under German tax regulations, any profit from CFD trading is subject to the final withholding tax. The effective tax rate that applies to German retail CFD traders is just above 26%. Losses from derivatives transactions can be offset up to only €20,000 per tax year.

Which are the best CFD brokers in Germany?

These are the top CFD brokers in Germany in 2024:

1. XTB - Commission-free stocks and ETFs (for trades up to €100k per month). Free and fast deposit and withdrawal. Easy and fast account opening. High interest paid on cash.
2. FP Markets - Low forex fees. Easy and fast account opening and funding. Great education tools.
3. Saxo - Great trading platform. Outstanding research. Broad product portfolio. Interest paid on uninvested cash.
4. IC Markets - Low forex fees. Easy and fast account opening. Free deposit and withdrawal. Offers standard and raw spread accounts.
5. eToro - Free stock and ETF trading. Seamless account opening. Social trading.
6. Capital.com - Low forex CFD fees. Great account opening experience. Excellent email and chat support.
7. Spreadex - Low forex fees. Good web platform. Helpful customer service.
8. Oanda - Great trading platforms. Outstanding research tools. Fast and user-friendly account opening.
9. FXTRADING.com - Low forex fees. Easy and fast account opening. Free deposit and withdrawal.
10. FxPro - Superb account opening process. Great customer service. Free deposit and withdrawal.