Overview of CapTrader fees and charges
It's safe to say that CapTrader's fees are low in general. They either don't charge a brokerage fee for things other brokers do charge for, or they only charge a small amount. This means that you can use CapTrader even in case you trade frequently like multiple times a week or daily.
Here's a high level overview of CapTrader's fees
| Assets | Fee level | Fee terms |
|---|---|---|
| US stock fee | Low | $0.01 per share; min. $2, max. 1% of trade value |
| EURUSD fee | High | Trade value less than $1 billion: 0.3 bps * trade value; min. $3.75 |
| US tech fund fee | Average | $14.95 per transaction or 3% of trade value, whichever is lower |
| Inactivity fee | Low | If your portfolio is below $1,000 and no trades have been carried out during the month, then a monthly fee of $1 applies |
CapTrader fees
CapTrader fees explained
Online brokerages in general charge much lower brokerage fees than traditional brokerages do - this is largely due to the fact that online brokerages' businesses can be much better scaled: From a purely technical standpoint it doesn't make that much of a difference for them if they have 100 or 5000 clients.
This is not to say however that they don't have any fees at all. They make money by charging you at various events for various rates. Usually you need to keep an eye on these 3 types of fees:
- Trading fees - these are brokerage fees that you pay when you actually do a trade. What you pay is either a commission, a spread or financing rate. Some brokers apply all of these.
- A commission is either based on the traded volume or it is fixed.
- A spread is the difference between the buy price and the sell price
- Financing rate or overnight rate is charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than one day.
- Non-trading fees. These occur related to some operations you make in your account, i.e. depositing money to your account, withdrawing money from it or not trading for an extended amount of time.
We compare CapTrader fees with its closest competitors, Saxo Bank and Swissquote.
CapTrader fees
CapTrader trading fees
CapTrader's trading fees are mid-tier which means you need to pay special attention to asset classes with high trading fees.
Let's break down the trading fees into the different asset classes available at CapTrader.
Trading fees
CapTrader's trading fees are low.
Stock fees and ETF fees
CapTrader has low stock trading fees.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US stock | $2.0 | $10.0 | $25.0 |
| UK stock | $11.2 | $11.2 | $35.0 |
| German stock | $4.8 | $12.0 | $30.0 |
Forex fees
CapTrader's forex fees are high.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $13.9 | $7.1 | $7.1 |
| EURGBP benchmark fee | $14.2 | $8.7 | $7.6 |
Fund fees
CapTrader fund fees are average.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mutual fund | $15.0 | $0.0 | $9.0 |
| EU mutual fund | - | - | $9.0 |
Bond fees
CapTrader has low bond fees.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Treasury bond | $5.0 | $96.0 | $75.0 |
| EU government bond | $10.0 | $96.0 | $60.0 |
Options fees
CapTrader's options fees are high.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US stock index options | $35.0 | $30.0 | $19.9 |
| UK stock index options | $49.0 | $42.0 | - |
| German stock index options | $24.0 | $48.0 | $12.0 |
Futures fees
CapTrader's futures fees are high.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US micro e-mini stock index futures | $35.0 | $40.0 | $19.9 |
| UK stock index futures | $49.0 | $42.0 | - |
| German e-mini stock index futures | $24.0 | $48.0 | $12.0 |
CFD fees
CapTrader has high CFD trading fees.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple CFD | $2.1 | $10.1 | - |
| Vodafone CFD | $6.0 | $11.6 | - |
| Germany | - | $11.4 | - |
Financing rates
CapTrader financing rates are low.
If you want to trade on margin and prefer to hold your positions long, financing costs can be significant.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple CFD financing rate | 1.6% | 3.6% | - |
| Vodafone CFD financing rate | 1.6% | 3.6% | - |
| EURUSD financing rate | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.2% |
| EURGBP financing rate | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.1% |
Leverage is a double-edged sword and can dramatically amplify your profits. It can also just as dramatically amplify your losses. Trading foreign exchange/CFDs with any level of leverage may not be suitable for all investors.
Currency conversion fee
CapTrader will charge a Currency Conversion Fee for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different to the currency of your account. The fee is charged as the following: Trade value less than $1 billion: 0.3 bps * trade value; min. $3.75.
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CapTrader fees
CapTrader non-trading fees
When it comes to looking at all the non-trading fees CapTrader is an average broker. This means that some of the non-trading fees are high, but the others are low or not charged at all.
Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at CapTrader that you pay not related to buying and selling assets. Among some others, typical non trading fees are withdrawal fee, deposit fee, inactivity fee and account fee.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $10 |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Inactivity fee | Yes | Yes | No |
| Account fee | No | No | No |
CapTrader fees
CapTrader deposit fee
Deposit fees are applied when you send money to your trading account from your bank account. Usually brokers don't charge money for that and CapTrader is not different: you will see the exact same amount on your brokerage account that you sent by any of the deposit methods CapTrader offers.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | No | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
CapTrader fees
CapTrader withdrawal fee
Unlike some online brokers we have reviewed CapTrader does not charge a withdrawal fee. This means that you'll see the same amount of money on your bank account that you transferred from your brokerage account.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | No | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee with bank transfer | $0 | $0 | $10 |
CapTrader fees
CapTrader inactivity fee
CapTrader does apply an inactivity fee and it is If your portfolio is below $1,000 and no trades have been carried out during the month, then a monthly fee of $1 applies. This means that you need to be strategic about your trading activity to avoid getting charged after a longer time of no trade. The fact that CapTrader charges an inactivity fee makes it less ideal for you if you are a buy and hold investor.
CapTrader has low inactivity fee.
| CapTrader | Saxo Bank | Swissquote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inactivity fee | Yes | Yes | No |
| Inactivity fee | If your portfolio is below $1,000 and no trades have been carried out during the month, then a monthly fee of $1 applies | In the UK, £25 after one quarter of inactivity. SIPP and ISA accounts are exempt from this fee. In non-UK countries, up to $150 after 6 months of inactivity. | No inactivity fee charged |
Read more about CapTrader inactivity fee on their own site.
