DEGIRO Review 2022

DEGIRO has low trading fees for all asset classes. Non-trading fees are also low, as there are no inactivity or withdrawal fees. On the negative side, trading US options or futures will come with a €5 monthly fee. If you need currency conversion, a 0.25% fee will apply.

How we ranked fees

We ranked DEGIRO's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of DEGIRO for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing the most important fees are commissions.

We also compared DEGIRO's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Comdirect and LYNX. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of DEGIRO alternatives.

To have a clear overview of DEGIRO, let's start with the trading fees.

DEGIRO trading fees

DEGIRO's trading fees are low for all asset classes. We analyzed the fees of DEGIRO UK; please note though that fees vary a bit from country to country.

Stock fees and ETF fees

DEGIRO offers low stock and ETF commissions. DEGIRO doesn't charge any commission if you trade on US and Canadian stock exchanges. However, a €0.50 fee per trade handling charge still applies.

There's also a list of ETFs that can be traded for free once a month (conditions apply - more information at DEGIRO), meaning either one buy or one sell transaction. Additional transactions for the same ETF product within the same month may also be free, as long as they are the same type of transaction (i.e. buy or sell) as the first one, and the trade is at least $/€1,000.

If you have dividend-paying stocks, you should avoid opening a so-called custody account, as it has a very high processing fee for dividends: €1 + 3% of the dividend amount. Click here to see other available account types that don't have this fee.

DEGIRO now has fixed commission+handling fees on all stock markets, regardless of the volume fo the trade.

Note the table below refers to charges for UK customers and there is usually a discounted rate for trading on your home market (e.g. investors from Spain trading on the Spanish market, etc.)

*€2.50 exchange connection fee may apply if you buy outside your home market. Also, currency FX fees may be charged if your account currency differs from the currency of the product.

If you prefer stock trading on margin, you should check DEGIRO's margin rates.

Margin rates are charged when you trade on margin. This basically means that you borrow money from your broker to trade, for which you have to pay interest.

The unallocated interest rate is 4%, calculated annually and charged monthly.

Fund fees

DEGIRO has low fees for funds.

For investment funds, DEGIRO charges a flat €3.90 fee  Any entrance or exit fees the fund provider might charge are passed on to the client by DEGIRO.

Custody fees are charged monthly (DEGIRO calls them a "service fee"), based on the value of your investment fund portfolio on the last day of the month. It adds up to 0.2% for a year, with the exception of FundShare Cash Funds / Morgan Stanley Liquidity Funds, where no such charge is levied.

Bond fees

DEGIRO has generally low bond fees.

See the details of DEGIRO's bond commissions in the following table:

Options fees

DEGIRO's options fees are low. Its competitors charge a higher trading fee for this asset class. However, DEGIRO charges a connectivity fee of €5 per calendar month for using US stock index options markets. This fee will be charged for trading and holding positions on these markets, irrespective of the number and size of transactions.

Unlike some brokers, DEGIRO has a charge for Exercise/Assignment/Cash settlement of options, although it is only €1 per contract.

DEGIRO options fees are volume-based, i.e. the fee you pay depends on the number of contracts you buy. Exchange costs are not included in the commission (for example, exchange costs are SEK3.50/contract for indices on Sweden's OMX exchange).

Futures fees

DEGIRO's futures fees are also low.

However, DEGIRO charges a connectivity fee of €5 per calendar month for using US futures markets (CME, CBOT, CBOE, COMEX, NYMEX). This fee will be charged for trading and holding positions on these markets, irrespective of the number and size of transactions.

Unlike some brokers, DEGIRO has a charge for Exercise/Assignment/Cash settlement of futures, although it is only €1 per contract.

Similar to options, futures fees are calculated based on the number of contracts. Exchange costs are not included in the commission for US and Nordic markets (for example, exchange costs are SEK3.50/contract for indices on Sweden's OMX exchange).

Non-trading fees

DEGIRO has low non-trading fees. There is no account fee, inactivity fee, withdrawal fee, deposit fee or custody fee (with the exception of a service fee for mutual funds, levied monthly).

On the downside, there is an unusual fee category called the "Exchange Connectivity Fee". This is charged for trading outside of your home market.

You will pay a maximum of €2.50 per calendar year for each stock exchange you used with the exception of your home market. For example, as a UK investor, you wouldn't have to pay for using the London Stock Exchange. However, an investor from Germany or France would need to pay €2.50 each year if they used the London Stock Exchange and another €2.50 for using the Stockholm Stock Exchange, etc. These charges will be applied if you carry out a transaction or hold a position on the specific exchange during the calendar year.

In addition, the connectivity fee for US options markets is €5 per exchange per calendar month, so this would add up to €60 per year if you were to trade on one of these markets every month. The same is true for US futures markets.

If your account currency differs from the currency of the asset you want to buy, a currency conversion fee is charged, DEGIRO charges 0.25% of the transaction value (above the current spot rate).  Your account is by default set to "auto FX" meaning DEGIRO will simply do the conversion automatically when you buy or sell an asset. For example, if you have a GBP account and you sell a stock denominated in EUR, you won't end up with a EUR balance, because it will be automatically converted back to your base currency (GBP in this case).

It is possible to initiate a manual currency conversion but it costs more: €10 + 0.25% of the transaction value.

The account opening process at DEGIRO is fast, fully digital, and no minimum deposit is required.

Can you open an account?

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What is the minimum deposit at DEGIRO?

There is no minimum deposit. This is great if you want to invest only smaller amounts.

Account types

DEGIRO offers the following account types:

• Custody
• Basic
• Active
• Trader
• Day Trader

You can access an increasing number of products and features as you go down the list; Custody offers the fewest and Day Trader the most services. Trading fees are the same across all profiles, though there are some minor exceptions for Custody accounts.

As a rule of thumb, only open a Custody account if you have a specific reason to do so.

For a summary of profiles, see the table below:

Some of the profiles may not be available in some countries. You can read more about DEGIRO profiles here.

At the time of our review, DEGIRO generally does not provide tax-free account options like an Individual Savings Account (ISA) or equivalent. Two exceptions to this are Sweden, where ISK accounts are available; and the Netherlands, where a pension account can be opened.

How to open your account

Account opening is fully digital. In our latest test, it took us 1 business day to open a new account.

For the initial registration you need:

• a copy of your passport or ID card
• the bank account number from which you will fund the investment account.

After the initial registration, there are three more steps to complete before your account is activated and ready for trading:

1. Complete an appropriateness test.
2. Agree to the conditions for real-time prices.
3. Transfer money to your investment account.

DEGIRO deposits and withdrawals are free of charge via bank transfer. A big drawback though is that you can't deposit funds using a credit or debit card.

Account base currencies

At DEGIRO, you can choose from 9 base currencies. The available base currencies are CHF, DKK, GBP, NOK, SEK, EUR, CZK, PLN and HUF.

At DEGIRO, as a general rule, the base currency of your account is the currency of your home country. This means that, for example, you will have a GBP account if you register at www.degiro.co.uk as a UK citizen. You can't have more than one base currency for an account.

Still, it's possible to open another DEGIRO account in a different currency if you have a bank account in your name in the country of that currency. For example, if you are a UK citizen, you can open an account in Swedish krona if you have a bank account in Sweden. In such a case, you'd need to apply for a DEGIRO trading account on the local (Swedish) DEGIRO website and could use DEGIRO in Swedish language only. A Swedish krona account at a UK bank wouldn't qualify.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account, or if you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

DEGIRO does not accept deposits from digital banks such as Wise; such transfers will bounce back immediately. This means that you can't save on currency fees by using a digital bank.

Deposit fees and options

You can easily fund your DEGIRO account via bank transfer. On the negative side, the convenient and fast option of depositing via credit or debit card is not available.

For some accounts, Trustly, iDEAL and/or Sofort might be available as instant deposit options, but this varies by country. In the UK, only bank transfer deposits are accepted at the moment.

Bank transfer deposits usually take 2-3 business days, while doing it via Trustly would take around 30 minutes.

DEGIRO charges no deposit fees.

DEGIRO has strict rules on bank transfer deposits. It only allows transfers from bank accounts that are in your name and only from the accepted countries.

Deposits via Wise, Revolut, Monese, Currencies Direct, Currency Cloud or PayPal are not allowed.

DEGIRO withdrawal fees and options

DEGIRO charges no withdrawal fees.

You can withdraw only via bank transfer. E-wallets are accepted only for residents of certain countries such as Germany or Spain.

In theory, the withdrawn amount should be transferred to your bank account within 3 business days. We tested it and actually received the money within 1 business day.

You can only withdraw money to accounts that are in your name.

How do you withdraw money from DEGIRO?

• Click the 'Deposit/Withdraw Funds' button and select the 'Withdrawal' tab.
• Select the appropriate DEGIRO account and bank account for the transaction.
• Enter the amount and a description.
• Click 'Transfer.'

DEGIRO's web platform is very basic and easy to use, even for beginners. On the negative side, you can't set price alerts.

DEGIRO's web platform is only available in your local language. For example, if you register from Germany, your platform language will be German.

Look and feel

DEGIRO's web trading platform is adequate for executing trades. It is well designed and user-friendly, but it lacks any customization options and tools for advanced traders.

Login and security

You can choose between one-step or two-step login. The two-step option is available through Google Authenticator. We recommend two-step login as it is more secure.

Search functions

The web platform's search functions are good.

When you type in the name of a product, a list of matching products will appear, grouped by asset class. You can also see the stock market and the currency the product is available in.

You can even filter your search based on the asset class you're interested in (e.g. only ETFs).

Placing orders

We liked that you can see the total fee for your transaction before executing it. You can choose from several order types, although not all of them are available for every tradable instrument. The following order types are available:

• Limit
• Market
• Stop loss
• Stop limit
• Trailing Stop - this one only on German exchanges

If you're not familiar with the basic order types, read this overview.

You can also use two order time limits:

• Day
• Good 'til canceled (GTC)

Alerts and notifications

You can receive order confirmations by email, but text message notification is not available. There is no price alert function.

Portfolio and fee reports

DEGIRO's portfolio and fee reports are well organized. They are transparent, and you can easily see what products you own and the fees you paid for each transaction.

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DEGIRO's mobile app has a basic but good design and is pretty straightforward to use.

The mobile trading platform is available in the language of your account.

Look and feel

DEGIRO's mobile trading platform has a great and clear design and is fairly intuitive.

Login and security

The DEGIRO mobile platform provides a safe login. You can set up two-step authentication through the web platform you then need to download the Google Authenticator app on your mobile, which will generate a temporary passcode each time you want to log in.

DEGIRO can be set up for access through Touch or Face ID on mobile devices that support these features. Enter the login screen of the app and select the icon in the bottom left corner. You will have to provide your passcode to set up either Touch or Face ID.

Search functions

The mobile platform's search functions are good.

When you type in the name of a product, a list of matching products will appear, grouped by asset class. You can also see the stock market and the currency the product is available in.

You can even filter your search based on the asset class you're interested in (e.g. only options).

Placing orders

Order management is the same as on the web platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can receive order confirmation messages via email, but price alerts are not available.

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DEGIRO does not provide a desktop trading platform.

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At DEGIRO, you can access many markets and trade a lot of different products. CFDs and forex are not available, though.

DEGIRO has a solid product portfolio, although forex and CFDs are not available. In terms of stocks, options and futures, DEGIRO is really competitive. The broker's fund and bond selections, however, are quite average.

Stocks and ETFs

When measured against some direct competitors, DEGIRO's stock and ETF selection is smaller than LYNX's but slightly better than Comdirect's.

DEGIRO gives you access to 31 stock exchanges and more than 5,000 ETFs. This selection includes the biggest international markets, as well as several smaller European stock exchanges.

Unlike at some other brokers, at DEGIRO you can trade almost all listed companies, not just a select few. On the other hand, it does not offer access to American Pink Sheets or US over-the-counter (OTC) markets at the moment.

Short selling is restricted on certain products, such as US securities.

Funds

DEGIRO's selection of fund providers is not the best on the market. Nevertheless, you can choose from mutual funds offered by big players such as BlackRock or Vanguard.

Bonds

DEGIRO has an OK lineup of corporate and government bonds, but it compares poorly to competitors such as Comdirect or LYNX.

Options

You can trade on 12 options markets at DEGIRO. This is considered a competitive selection, though not the best on the market.

Futures

DEGIRO's futures market coverage is also good, though it still lags behind that of LYNX.

DEGIRO provides only limited research functions. These include a basic news feed, OK charting tools and some fundamental data on stocks, though no trading ideas.

Trading ideas

DEGIRO does not provide trading ideas at the moment.

For equities, in the 'Analyst Views' tab, you can see how many buy/sell/hold recommendations a specific stock currently has or had in the past. However, we missed the actual price targets. At some of DEGIRO competitors, such as LYNX, this function is available, showing you who gave the recommendation and what price target they have (e.g. Morgan Stanley, Sell, price target €10).

Fundamental data

DEGIRO provides fundamental data for stocks. When you select a stock, the key figures and ratios will appear under the chart. If you select the 'Financials' tab, you can compare metrics reported on the company's income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement.

Charting

The charting tool is rather basic, but sufficient for an execution-only trading platform. It is easy to use and comes with more than 10 technical indicators.

News feed

You can access a news panel with short news items on both the web and the mobile platforms. These are available on the main page of the trading platform, and also in the information sheet of products that have any news related to them.

Among DEGIRO's competitors, the news feature is implemented better on LYNX's TWS platform, where the news flow is compiled from a wider range of sources.

Compare research pros and cons

Customer support is of mixed quality at DEGIRO. You can reach customer service in many languages, and phone support is great. However, there's no live chat or 24/7 availability.

Phone and email support are available, but there is no live chat service.

A big advantage is that you can contact customer service in your own language if you're from one of the 18 countries supported.

Overall, the quality of DEGIRO'S customer support was OK. The response time of phone support was fast, and we got useful and relevant answers. Email support is mediocre, though, as its average response time was around 2 days.

We missed 24/7 availability. DEGIRO's customer support is only available between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time on weekdays.

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DEGIRO has OK educational tools about investing and on how to use its platform, though we missed a demo account.

At DEGIRO, you can learn in the following ways:

• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos about investing
• Blog
• Product guides
• Documentary series on the basis of investing

DEGIRO's education materials can be found under the 'Knowledge' tab on their website. It has an 'Investor's Academy' consisting of 10 fundamental lessons to kickstart your investor journey with texts and videos.

The 'Products' section introduces you to all the asset classes available at DEGIRO, while 'Strategies' will teach you how to use technical and fundamental analysis, how to trade options, and much more.

The site also has general videos that cover basic topics like asset classes, diversification and order terms.

Under the 'Investing with DEGIRO' menu, you'll find videos about the trading platforms; explaining, for example, how you can buy stocks via the DEGIRO web platform.

If you dig deeper, you will see a 'Documentary' menu. DEGIRO teamed up with Discovery to create a 4 part docuseries covering topics lice active versus passive investing, diversification, crises and bubbles and impact investments. They are of good quality, great starters for beginners.

DEGIRO also has a blog with quality articles about the markets, updated every month.

Still, we missed additional services that could boost DEGIRO's education section, such as a demo account or webinars. We think that having an option to open a demo account is the best way to learn how the platform works.

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DEGIRO is a licensed investment firm regulated by top-tier financial authorities, and now comes with a newly secured banking background.

Is DEGIRO regulated?

Yes, it is regulated.

The legal entity behind the DEGIRO name is flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, which is the Dutch branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank AG.

As a German regulated bank, flatexDEGIRO Bank AG is primarily supervised by the German financial regulator, the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin). Regulators of other countries where DEGIRO offers its services are also notified by DEGIRO and are aware of its operations. In the Netherlands, the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) is tasked with the integrity supervision of DEGIRO. DEGIRO is deemed authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

In addition, flatexDEGIRO Bank AG falls under the indirect supervision of the European Central Bank (ECB).

DEGIRO B.V. merged with flatexDEGIRO Bank AG in early 2021, creating the biggest online execution-only broker in Europe with its own banking license.

Is DEGIRO safe?

To be certain, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected?

When you open an account with DEGIRO, you are eligible for investor protection for up to €20,000 in securities and, additionally, up to €100,000 of any uninvested cash in your DEGIRO Cash Account.

DEGIRO clients' assets are segregated in separate entities and thus protected in the case of DEGIRO's insolvency. In the unlikely event that the segregated assets cannot be returned to clients, DEGIRO falls under the German Investor Compensation Scheme, which compensates any losses from non-returned assets up to 90% (with a maximum of €20,000). Furthermore, any money deposited in a DEGIRO Cash Account with flatexDEGIRO Bank AG will be guaranteed up to an amount of €100,000 under the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme. This is thanks to DEGIRO's banking background.

Negative balance protection is not available, but we don't think this should be a concern as DEGIRO is not a CFD/Forex broker.

Your uninvested money will be held in a segregated personal bank account with a personal IBAN. This Cash Account will be directly connected to your existing DEGIRO investment account. It is not possible to use this Cash Account for other general banking purposes. You can only use it to hold money so that it is readily available for investments on your DEGIRO account.

Background

DEGIRO was established in 2008. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises. In 2013, DEGIRO launched its services for retail clients in the Netherlands. In December 2019, flatex (a German broker) announced it would acquire DEGIRO but keep the existing DEGIRO brand.

Find your safe broker

DEGIRO is a good choice if you want a simple platform and don’t want to spend too much on fees.

Transaction costs are generally very low. In addition, the account opening process is fast.

On the other hand, as DEGIRO is an execution-only broker, its research tools are limited. We should also mention that it offers no forex trading, and most clients can only deposit and withdraw by bank transfer.

All in all, DEGIRO is a great online broker. There is no minimum deposit and no inactivity fee, so feel free to go ahead and give it a try.

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Below you can find links to all aspects of DEGIRO in this comprehensive collection.

We recommend DEGIRO for traders and investors looking for execution only.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our DEGIRO fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the DEGIRO minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your DEGIRO account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the DEGIRO account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the DEGIRO trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the DEGIRO customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is DEGIRO legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether DEGIRO is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is DEGIRO good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on DEGIRO?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on DEGIRO guide

I want to trade options, are they available at DEGIRO?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on DEGIRO?

What is the minimum account balance at DEGIRO?

Check out the current account balance requirements at DEGIRO in our What is the minimum account balance at DEGIRO article.

Looking for commission and fees data for DEGIRO?

We collected them in DEGIRO commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from DEGIRO?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on DEGIRO.

Related articles

• How to buy on DEGIRO?
• Can you short sell on DEGIRO?
• Can I have two DEGIRO accounts?
• How does DEGIRO pay dividends?
• How to delete DEGIRO account?