DEGIRO Review 2020

DEGIRO has low trading and non-trading fees. In most asset classes, it is the best on the market. There are some ETFs that you can trade once a month for free, which is a great deal for buy-and-hold investors.

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

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo 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, commissions are the most important fees.

We also compared DEGIRO's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank. 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 one of the lowest for all asset classes.

We analyzed the fees of DEGIRO UK. However, the fees vary a bit from country to country.

Stock fees and ETF fees

DEGIRO offers one of the lowest stock and ETF commissions on the market.

There is also a list of ETFs which can be traded for free once a month, i.e. either one buy or sell transaction. It is also free to carry out additional ETF transactions within the same month, for the same product, but only if they are the same kind of transactions (i.e. buy or sell) as the first one and the trade is at least $/€1,000.

At DEGIRO, the stock, ETF and warrant fees are the same.

The trading fee is usually calculated as a flat fee plus a percentage of the traded volume, except for the US and Canada, where you are charged based on the number of shares traded. The flat fee for Asian and smaller European markets is higher.

Fund fees

DEGIRO has generally low fund fees. 

Similarly to stocks, DEGIRO charges a flat and a volume-based fee for funds. The flat fees are especially high for some non-listed funds.

Bond fees

DEGIRO has generally low bond fees. They are noticeably lower than Saxo Bank's and almost the same as at IB.

Check out the volume-based pricing in the following table:

Options fees

DEGIRO's options fees are low. Its competitors charge a higher trading fee for this asset class.

DEGIRO options fees are volume-based, i.e. the fee you pay depends on the number of contracts you buy. 

Futures fees

DEGIRO's futures fees are low as well. They beat Saxo in all areas, while compared to IB, they are lower on the US and the German markets, but higher in the UK market. 

Similarly to the options, the futures fees are calculated based on the number of contracts:

Crypto fees

At DEGIRO you can buy cryptos only through ETNs (exchange-traded notes). At the time of our DEGIRO review, you can trade with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. DEGIRO's trading cost here is 0.058% + €4, but maximum €60. If you want to understand what is a crypto ETN check out our crypto blogpost.

Non-trading fees

DEGIRO has low non-trading fees. There is no account fee, inactivity fee, withdrawal fee, deposit fee, or custody fee.

On the downside, however, there is an unusual fee category, called an "Exchange Connectivity Fee." This is charged for trading outside of your home market. You will pay a maximum of 0.25% of the total account value (with a maximum charge of €2.50) per the calendar year for each exchange with the exception of the London Stock Exchange. The connectivity fee for US options is €5 per exchange per calendar month.

If your account currency differs from the currency of the asset you want to buy, a currency conversion fee is charged. At DEGIRO you can do this either automatically or manually, but the fees for the two options are different:

• For automatic currency conversion, DEGIRO charges 0.1% of the transaction value.
• For manual currency conversion, DEGIRO charges €10 plus 0.02% of the amount.

You should avoid the latter option since the fees here are very high for lower amounts.

DEGIRO has an easy and fast account opening process. 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 smaller amounts.

Account types

DEGIRO offers the following account types:

• Custody
• Basic
• Active
• Trader
• Day Trader

You can access more products and features as you go down the list, i.e. Custody offers the least and Day Trader the most services. Trading fees are the same for each profile.

For a summary of profiles, take a look at this table: 

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

Some other aspects of the different profile types:

• Tax: at the time of our review, DEGIRO does not provide tax-free account options like DEGIRO ISA or others available in some European countries. Two exceptions are Sweden, where ISK accounts is available and the Netherlands, where a pension account can be opened.
• Joint account: available, contact your local customer support.
• Corporate account: account owned by a legal entity, available.
• Account for minors: available, contact local customer support.

How to open your account

Account opening is seamless, fast, and fully digital. Your account will be ready in about one day.

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 you will have three additional tasks before your account is activated and you can trade:

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. On the other hand, you cannot deposit with 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, the base currency of your account is always the currency of your home country. This means for example that you will have a GBP account if you register at www.degiro.co.uk as a UK citizen. You cannot have more than one base currency for one account.

However, you can have an additional 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 have an account in Swedish krona if you have a bank account in Sweden. In this case, you have to apply for a DEGIRO trading account on the local DEGIRO website.

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

Deposit fees and options

You can fund your DEGIRO account via bank transfer or Trustly, an instant deposit service provider. For Dutch accounts, iDEAL and Sofort are available as instant deposit options. On the downside, the convenient and fast option of credit and debit card depositing is not available.

The bank transfer usually takes 2-3 business days, while Trustly takes around 30 minutes. 

DEGIRO charges no deposit fees.

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

DEGIRO withdrawal fees and options

DEGIRO charges no withdrawal fees.

You can withdraw only via bank transfer, Trustly is not an option. DEGIRO's withdrawal options are the same as at its main competitors.

DEGIRO ensures that the withdrawn amount is transferred to your bank account within 3 business days. We tested it and received the amount within one business day.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from DEGIRO?

• Click on the 'Deposit/Withdraw Funds' button and click on the 'Withdrawal' tab.
• Select your desired DEGIRO and bank accounts for the transaction.
• Enter the amount and a description.
• Click 'Transfer.'

More funding and withdrawal info

DEGIRO's web platform is simple and easy to use. Even beginners can easily navigate it and buy stocks. On the negative side, you cannot set price alerts.

DEGIRO's web platform is 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 great for executing trades, but it's not the most advanced we've seen. 

It is well designed and user-friendly but it lacks any customization options.

Login and security

You can choose between a one-step or a two-step login. The two-step option is available through Google Authenticator.

We recommend the latter one as it is more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

When you type in the name of a product, a list of matching products will appear, categorized 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.

Placing orders

You can select 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

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

You can also use two order terms:

• Day
• Good-till-cancelled (GTC)

Alerts and notifications

You can receive an order confirmations by email, but text message notification is not available. There is also 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 the transactions.

Visit web platform page

DEGIRO's mobile platform 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 intuitive.

Login and security

DEGIRO provides a safe login. You can set up two-step authentication through the web platform. 

However, you can't log in using biometric authentication. Providing this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

The search functions are OK, but they are the weakest link of the DEGIRO app. You can search based on asset class. However, if you type "Apple," you do not know whether you're selecting an equity or an option.

Placing orders

Order management is the same as on the web platform.

Alerts and notifications

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

Visit mobile platform page

DEGIRO does not provide a desktop trading platform.

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At DEGIRO you can access many markets and trade with a lot of different products. CFD and forex are not available.

DEGIRO has a good product portfolio. From stocks to futures, you will find everything, except for forex and CFDs. In terms of stocks, options and futures, DEGIRO is really competitive. The broker's fund and bond selection, however, is average.

Stocks and ETFs

DEGIRO gives you access to 32 stock exchanges and more than 5,000 ETFs. The selection includes the biggest international markets as well as the smaller stock exchanges in Europe. You can also trade with penny stocks.

DEGIRO's stock and ETF selection are between that of Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank.

Funds

DEGIRO's selection of fund providers is narrow compared to Interactive Brokers. You can choose from mutual funds offered by big players like BlackRock or Vanguard.

Bonds

DEGIRO has an OK lineup of corporate and government bonds, but it compares poorly to IB or Saxo Bank in this respect.

Options

You can trade on 13 options markets at DEGIRO. This is a competitive selection, especially in comparison with Saxo.

Futures

DEGIRO has a relatively narrow futures market coverage compared to Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank.

Cryptos

You can invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum through ETN instruments traded on the Swedish stock exchange. If you want to know more about crypto investing, we recommend our crypto blogpost

DEGIRO provides limited research functions. There is a basic news feed and a simple charting tool.

Trading ideas

DEGIRO does not provide trading ideas at the moment. However, they will soon be available.

Fundamental data

Fundamental data is available only for some products.

Charting

The charting tool is rather basic, but enough for an execution-only trading platform. It is easy to use and comes with more than 20 technical indicators, and they can also be saved.

News feed

You can access a basic news panel with short but informative market news both on 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 with news related to them.

Compare research pros and cons

Customer support is average at DEGIRO. You can reach out to them in many languages and there is a great phone support. On the other hand, there is no live chat and 24/7 availability.

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

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

DEGIRO'S customer support was OK. The phone support's response time was fast and we got relevant answers. The email support is mediocre, 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. on weekdays.

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DEGIRO's education services could be better. The broker provides a limited set of tools that are available only through the Dutch and UK websites.

At DEGIRO you can learn in the following ways:

• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos

There are videos that cover basic topics like asset classes and order terms. There are also videos about the trading platform, for example on how you can buy stocks via the DEGIRO web platform.

We missed services like a demo account, webinars and educational articles.

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DEGIRO is a licensed investment firm regulated by top-tier financial authorities.

Is DEGIRO regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and the Dutch Central Bank (DNB). Regulators of other countries where DEGIRO offers its services are also notified by DEGIRO and are aware of its operations. For example, in the UK, Degiro is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

DEGIRO is based in the Netherlands and was founded in 2008.

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 get investor protection for up to €20,000.

Negative balance protection is not available.

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.

Most of the products you can trade with DEGIRO, like stocks and ETFs, are exchange-traded. Therefore you do not run a counterparty risk with DEGIRO. This is good news, as it means that if DEGIRO defaults your assets will still be safe.

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.

It is far cheaper than its big European competitors and only Interactive Brokers comes close to competing with DEGIRO's fees. The account opening process is also fast, you will usually have your account ready to use within a day. It is also one of the best trading platforms for Europeans.

However, its low prices come with some shortfalls. Education and research tools are limited, there is no forex trading, and you can only deposit and withdraw money 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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