Best social trading platforms

To help you find the best social trading platforms in 2022, we went ahead and did the research for you. First, we selected 100 quality brokers that provide social trading. We then checked and compared basically every aspect of their offering: fees, available markets and products, trading platforms, deposit and withdrawal options and many more. To be selected among the best social trading platforms, service providers had to prove their excellence in multiple areas. We dug deep, so you won't have to.

5 brokers made it to the top. We highly recommend all 5 to you. And now, without further ado...

The top 5 picks for the best social trading platform in 2022:

1. eToro is the best social trading platform in 2022. Free stock and ETF trading. Seamless account opening. Social trading.
2. TD Ameritrade takes second place. Low trading fees (free stock and ETF trading). Superb desktop trading platform. Great customer support.
3. tastyworks rounds out the top three. Low trading fees. Great educational materials. Good research tools.
4. AvaTrade, numero quattro. Easy and fast account opening. Free deposit and withdrawal options. Great research tools.
5. Vantage just made it to the list at number five. Low fees. Super fast account opening. Seamless deposit and withdrawal.

What makes a good social trading platform? Obviously, they need to provide great services in all areas, but above all, they need to offer fair fees and have a good safety score. Processes for opening an account and depositing money should be user-friendly. They should also provide access to a wide range of products and have solid educational tools.

These features are easy to list, but hard to figure out. We are testing brokers based on almost 500 criteria, using real accounts and real money. We know what's up. You can find all the ranking criteria in our methodology.

Not sure which broker to choose? For a tailored recommendation, check out our broker finder tool. If you enter the name of your country and your preferences, it will display the best relevant matches. Want more details? Compare brokers with the help of our in-depth comparison table.

And now, let's see the best social trading platforms in 2022 one by one, starting with the winner, eToro.

eToro review summary

eToro is a well-known Israeli fintech company and a social trading broker, established in 2007.

eToro serves UK clients through a unit regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Australians through an Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)-regulated entity. All other customers are served by a Cypriot unit that is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

eToro is not listed on any stock exchange, does not disclose its annual report on its website and does not have a bank parent.

Being regulated by the top-tier FCA and ASIC is a good sign for eToro's safety.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Recommended for traders interested in social trading (i.e. copying other investors’ trades) and zero commission stock trading

Visit broker
Your capital is at risk

#1 eToro
Fees

4.3

eToro offers free stock and ETF trading, while forex and CFD fees are low. On the negative side, non-trading fees are high, including a $5 withdrawal fee.

All spreads, commissions and financing rates (if applicable) for opening a position, holding it for a week and closing it.

Visit broker More
Your capital is at risk

#1 eToro
Account opening

5.0

Account opening at eToro is seamless and very fast, and the minimum deposit is relatively low for most countries.

Visit broker More
Your capital is at risk

#1 eToro
Deposit and withdrawal

3.9

Depositing money is easy, with a lot of available options, although there is a $5 withdrawal fee. As only USD accounts are available, you may pay a high conversion fee if you deposit or withdraw in another currency, like EUR or GBP.

Visit broker More
Your capital is at risk

#1 eToro
Markets and products

4.3

At eToro, you can trade CFDs and forex, as well as real stocks, ETFs and many cryptos. Innovative services like social trading and Smart Portfolios are also available.

Visit broker More
Your capital is at risk

#1 eToro
Web trading platform

4.4

eToro offers a user-friendly and well-designed web trading platform, where social trading is also available. On the other hand, the platform's customizability is limited.

Visit broker More
Your capital is at risk

#1 eToro
Education

4.3

eToro has various educational tools available in different formats, but the overall quality is mediocre.

Visit broker More
Your capital is at risk

#1 eToro
Verdict

How does eToro work? eToro offers zero-commission stock trading. The account opening is swift and seamless. It has a lot of innovative features, like social trading and copying other (successful) traders. Furthermore, eToro offers many cryptos to trade.

It has some drawbacks, though. There is a $5 withdrawal fee and eToro only allows USD accounts, which means that conversion costs on deposits and withdrawals can be high if your funding currency is not USD. It's difficult to contact customer support and their educational materials could be better.

So is eToro good? Overall, we would recommend eToro for its social trading feature, crypto offering and zero-commission stock trading. If you are a long-term stock investor, a traditional stockbroker might make more sense to you as some of the drawbacks of eToro (like not applying reduced withholding tax on US dividends) might outweigh the benefits of free trading.

Risk disclaimer

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.

Copy trading is a portfolio management service, provided by eToro (Europe) Ltd., which is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cryptoasset investing is unregulated in some EU countries and the UK. No consumer protection. Your capital is at risk.

eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.

Visit broker More
Your capital is at risk

If you are an experienced trader looking for solid research and a well-equipped desktop trading platform, we definitely recommend TD Ameritrade.

Founded in 1975, TD is one of the biggest US-based stockbrokers and is regulated by top-tier authorities like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

This online broker is considered safe as it has a long track record, is listed on a stock exchange, has a banking background, discloses its financials and is overseen by top-tier regulators.

Recommended for investors and traders looking for solid research and a well-equipped desktop trading platform

Visit broker

#2 TD Ameritrade
Fees

4.2

TD Ameritrade offers free stock and ETF trading, while forex, bond and options fees are also low. On the other hand, it charges high fees for futures.

All spreads, commissions and financing rates (if applicable) for opening a position, holding it for a week and closing it.

Visit broker More

#2 TD Ameritrade
Account opening

3.7

TD Ameritrade offers many different account types and there is no minimum deposit for US citizens.

Visit broker More

#2 TD Ameritrade
Deposit and withdrawal

1.9

The account funding is user-friendly with no deposit fees; however, USD is the only available base currency and wire transfers incur a high fee.

Visit broker More

#2 TD Ameritrade
Markets and products

3.7

You can trade many asset classes, from stocks to futures and forex, while nice extras include social trading and robo-advisory. On the other hand, only the US market is covered.

Visit broker More

#2 TD Ameritrade
Web trading platform

4.3

TD Ameritrade offers a good web trading platform with a clean design. On the flip side, the platform is not customizable.

Visit broker More

#2 TD Ameritrade
Education

5.0

TD Ameritrade offers great educational materials such as webcasts and articles, and its excellent thinkorswim desktop platform has a demo account.

Visit broker More

#2 TD Ameritrade
Verdict

TD is one of the biggest US online brokers and it charges no commission on stock and ETF trades.

Research and education are outstanding, the thinkorswim desktop platform is one of the best on the market, and customer service is great.

There are a few drawbacks, most notably high financing (margin) rates, and the fact that credit/debit cards and electronic wallets are not accepted for money transfers. Furthermore, the product portfolio covers only US markets.

We definitely recommend giving TD a try, especially as their education tools include a demo account.

Visit broker More

tastyworks is a young, up-and-coming US broker focusing on options trading. It is regulated by the top-tier Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for Australian clients.

The people behind tastyworks are the same experts who built the thinkorswim trading platform, now operated by TD Ameritrade. tastyworks is privately owned; it was established in 2017 and is headquartered in Chicago.

Recommended for options and futures traders focusing on us markets

Visit broker

#3 tastyworks
Fees

4.3

tastyworks has low trading fees and there is no inactivity fee. On the other hand, you have to pay a high withdrawal fee for wire transfers and margin rates are quite high.

All spreads, commissions and financing rates (if applicable) for opening a position, holding it for a week and closing it.

Visit broker More

#3 tastyworks
Account opening

5.0

tastyworks account opening is user-friendly, fast, fully digital, and involves no minimum deposit.

Visit broker More

#3 tastyworks
Deposit and withdrawal

1.9

tastyworks's deposit and withdrawal functions are easy to use and there's no deposit fee, but you can use only bank transfer, and withdrawals can be expensive especially for non-US clients.

Visit broker More

#3 tastyworks
Markets and products

3.1

At tastyworks, you can trade US stocks, ETFs, options and some futures. Other popular asset classes like mutual funds or bonds are missing, as are international assets.

Visit broker More

#3 tastyworks
Web trading platform

3.4

The tastyworks web platform is great for experienced traders, especially for options trading. However, it takes time to figure out how its functions work, and its customizability is limited.

Visit broker More

#3 tastyworks
Education

4.5

tastyworks has superb educational materials on options trading on its tastytrade platform. On the other hand, there is no demo account.

Visit broker More

#3 tastyworks
Verdict

tastyworks is an excellent broker for options trading, but it is a bit complicated if you want to trade stocks only.  

tastyworks's trading fees are low, with free stock and ETF trading fees. Its trading platform is aimed at experienced options traders and can be intimidating for beginners. However, its educational and research tools are great for learning. Deposit and withdrawal processes could be better, and a demo account would also be great for practice purposes.

As there is no minimum deposit, no inactivity fee, or monthly fee, and the account opening process is seamless, you should feel free to try it.

Visit broker More

AvaTrade is a global CFD and forex broker founded in 2006. It is regulated by several financial authorities, such as the Central Bank of Ireland.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Recommended for forex and cfd traders looking for an option to use metatrader platforms

Visit broker
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#4 AvaTrade
Fees

3.8

AvaTrade has low CFD and average forex fees. Withdrawals are free of charge, but inactivity fees are quite high.

All spreads, commissions and financing rates (if applicable) for opening a position, holding it for a week and closing it.

Visit broker More
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#4 AvaTrade
Account opening

5.0

Account opening at AvaTrade is seamless and fully digital. You can start trading literally in minutes.

Visit broker More
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#4 AvaTrade
Deposit and withdrawal

4.5

AvaTrade offers several free options for deposit and withdrawal. On the negative side, withdrawal took us 3 business days, and debit card deposits can also be slow.

Visit broker More
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#4 AvaTrade
Markets and products

2.3

AvaTrade offers only forex and CFDs, such as stock, index, forex and commodity CFDs. It doesn't offer other popular asset classes such as real stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

Visit broker More
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#4 AvaTrade
Web trading platform

3.8

AvaTrade's web platform is user-friendly, well-designed, and has a unique order type to protect you from losses. However, it lacks customizability, two-step login and price alerts.

Visit broker More
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#4 AvaTrade
Education

5.0

AvaTrade is packed with lots of quality materials to educate yourself, and also offers a demo account.

Visit broker More
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#4 AvaTrade
Verdict

AvaTrade is regulated by several authorities globally, including the top-tier Central Bank of Ireland and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), therefore it is considered safe.

We liked the seamless and hassle-free account opening. You can use a lot of deposit and withdrawal options, all free of charge. We also liked that you can use many user-friendly tools for research.

AvaTrade has some drawbacks though. The product range is limited to forex, CFDs, and cryptos, and there is a high fee charged for inactivity. Lastly, there are better alternatives if forex trading fees are your main concern.

As there is only a small minimum deposit, and your account will be ready for trading quickly, feel free to try AvaTrade.

Visit broker More
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Australia-based Vantage is a global forex and CFD broker. It was founded in 2009 and it is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC).

Vantage is considered safe because it is regulated by the top-tier regulators like ASIC and FCA.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Recommended for forex and cfd traders familiar with the metatrader trading platforms

Visit broker
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#5 Vantage
Fees

4.2

Vantage has low forex trading fees and non-trading fees. The broker charges no inactivity fee. On the negative side, the financing rates/overnight fees and share CFD fees are relatively high.

All spreads, commissions and financing rates (if applicable) for opening a position, holding it for a week and closing it.

Visit broker More
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#5 Vantage
Account opening

5.0

The account opening at Vantage is super fast and fully digital. The brokerage delivers on its promise, you can open an account in less than 5 minutes.

Visit broker More
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#5 Vantage
Deposit and withdrawal

4.5

Vantage offers a great variety of deposit and withdrawal options, moving funds in and out is fast and easy. In most cases, there is no fee charged for money transfer. Nevertheless, if you use international bank withdrawal more than once in a month, a high withdrawal fee ($20, €20, etc.) is charged.

Visit broker More
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#5 Vantage
Markets and products

1.9

At Vantage you can only trade with forex and CFDs (commodities, stock indices, share CFDs, cryptos). However, many popular asset classes, like real stocks or ETFs, are missing.

Visit broker More
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#5 Vantage
Web trading platform

2.8

Vantage's web trading platform is provided by MetaTrader. It is highly customizable, available in many languages, and has a clear fee report. On the other hand, the platform lacks two-step login or price alerts and its design is outdated.

Visit broker More
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#5 Vantage
Education

5.0

In addition to an unlimited demo account, Vantage offers webinars and great video tutorials on various assets and trading platforms.

Visit broker More
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#5 Vantage
Verdict

Vantage is a forex and CFD broker, regulated by the top-tier ASIC.

It offers low forex and non-trading fees. The account opening and the deposit/withdrawal processes are seamless and most of them are free of charge.

On the other hand, the product offering at Vantage is limited to forex, CFDs, and cryptos. Their customer service could use some improvement. Lastly, investor protection in only in the UK for Vantage clients.

Feel free to give Vantage a try, as you will have an account within a day and there is no inactivity fee.

Visit broker More
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Now that you're familiar with the top 5, you're probably also curious how we came up with this list. Let's go through a few points quickly. What is a social trading platform? Why do we think these brokers are safe? What are the most important factors when selecting the best social trading platform?

What is a social trading platform?

Social trading is a form of investing whereby you copy the investment strategies of others using copy trading or mirror trading. It's suitable especially for people who don't want to spend too much time trying to find good trading opportunities or strategies. A social trading platform is a service that, in addition to normal trading, lets you copy other people's trades.

Are these brokers safe?

Each broker on our list is considered safe. You can be sure none of them is a scam. They are all regulated by at least one top-tier financial authority.

However, even otherwise safe and legit brokerage companies can go bust. Remember the collapse of Lehman Brothers? In such cases, it is important to know what happens to your securities and cash. Your funds are usually held in segregated accounts, so even if your broker goes bankrupt, your funds are safe.

If all goes wrong, and a situation arises when the broker can't pay your money back, the compensation fund of the country where the broker is regulated will be your last resort.

How did BrokerChooser pick the best social trading platforms?

At BrokerChooser, we test online brokers based on roughly 500 criteria, using real accounts and real money. We don't want to overwhelm you, so we will list only the five most important criteria.

We've shown you the details, now let's zoom out. Here are the best social trading platforms in 2022:

eToro is our winner, having been selected the best social trading platform in 2022. Free stock and ETF trading. Seamless account opening. Social trading.
All of these brokers are considered safe and a great choice. Pick the winner, or any of the runners-up, and take the next step in your trading journey. Let us know what you think in the comments section.
Still unsure? For a tailored recommendation, check out our broker finder tool. If you enter the name of your country and some trading preferences, it will show only those brokers that are relevant to you. Want more details? Compare brokers with the help of our detailed comparison table.