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DEGIRO Review for Beginners for 2023

Your expert
Adam N.
Fact checked by
Updated
Feb 2024
Personally tested Personally tested
Data-driven Data-driven
Independent Independent

Intro

DEGIRO is a German-Dutch online broker established in 2008. The company merged with flatexDEGIRO Bank AG in early 2021, creating Europe's biggest online execution-only broker (meaning that financial advice is not available, just trading).

We selected DEGIRO as the Best discount broker and the Best broker for stock trading for 2024, based on an in-depth analysis of 90+ online brokers that included testing their live accounts. Check out the complete list of award winners.

Snapshot of key data
🗺 Country of regulationGermany
💰 US stock fee€2 per trade (€1 commission plus a €1 handling fee)
💰 Inactivity fee chargedNo
💰 Withdrawal fee$0
💰 Minimum deposit$0
💵 Available base currenciesCHF, DKK, GBP, SEK, EUR, CZK, PLN
💵 Conversion fee of deposits in non-base currencyAuto FX conversion is 0.25% mark-up, manual conversion is 10.00€ + 0.25% of the amount converted
💳 Deposit with bank cardNot available
🕖 Time to open an account1 day
🎮 Demo account providedNo
🛍️ Products offeredStock, ETF, Fund, Bond, Options, Futures
Fees
Deposit & Withdrawal
Safety

If you want more in-depth information about DEGIRO, check out our detailed review!

DEGIRO offers one of the lowest fees on the market in all asset classes. Its web and mobile trading platforms are well-designed and easy to use. You can easily fund your account via bank transfer, while deposits and withdrawals are free of charge. These are the main reasons why we think DEGIRO is useful and easy to use even for beginners. On the downside, forex trading is not available, research tools are quite limited, and credit/debit card deposit is not possible.

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

At DEGIRO, you can access many markets and trade a lot of different products. CFDs (contracts for difference, an instrument that allows traders to bet on the price movements of an asset) and forex are not available, though. DEGIRO's stock selection is really competitive, as is its selection of options and futures (these are so-called derivative products, offering the opportunity to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined future date and price). The broker's fund and bond selections, however, are quite average.

DEGIRO is regulated by top-tier financial authorities such as Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, or BaFin).

If you are unsure what some of these financial terms mean, don't worry, we put together a short glossary at the end of the review for better understanding!

Disclaimer: Investing involves the risk of loss

Can you open an account?

No, you can't open an account at DEGIRO if you live in the United States!
the United States

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If you can't open an account in your country, try our broker finder tool, where, after answering a few quick questions, we can show brokers available in your country that are the most suitable for you.

BrokerChooser score
4.6 4.6 /5
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Fees

Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates or conversion fees.

Here is an overview of the fees charged by DEGIRO:

DEGIRO fees snapshot
US stock fees class
Low
EURUSD fees class
-
Mutual fund fees class
Low
Inactivity fees class
Low
DEGIRO non-trading fees
Withdrawal fee
$0
Deposit fee
$0
Inactivity fee
No
Account fee
No

DEGIRO's trading fees are low for all asset classes. DEGIRO also has low non-trading fees, as there is no account fee, inactivity fee, withdrawal fee, deposit fee or custody fee.

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 have 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 at any time 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).

Deposit & Withdrawal

DEGIRO deposit options
Bank transfer
Yes
Credit/debit card
No
Electronic wallets
No

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, and DEGIRO does not accept deposits from digital banks such as Wise, Revolut, Monese, Currencies Direct, Currency Cloud or PayPal; such transfers will bounce back immediately. This means that you can't save on currency conversion fees by using a digital bank.

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.

There is no minimum deposit. This is great if you want to invest small amounts only. At DEGIRO, you can choose from 9 base currencies.

Safety

DEGIRO is considered reliable as it is regulated by top-tier financial authorities and also comes with a banking background.

The legal entity behind the DEGIRO brand is flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch. As a German-regulated bank, flatexDEGIRO Bank AG is primarily supervised by the German financial regulator, the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin). We consider being regulated by a top-tier regulator a good sign of safety for investors, and a big plus is that DEGIRO now also has a banking background.

Investor protection means that up to a certain limit, you get your money back if the broker goes bankrupt or commits fraud. The investor protection amount defines the limit of protection. This can vary from country to country, and also depends on the regulator that oversees the broker.

Investor protection at DEGIRO
Country of clients Protection amount Regulator Legal entity
All countries €20,000 for securities and €100,000 for cash Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), Germany flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch

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.

Glossary

Here is a quick glossary to help you with some terms in our review:

Inactivity fee: a fee that is charged when a customer has not done any buying or selling on their brokerage account for a specific amount of time determined by the brokerage.

Deposit fee: this is charged when you send money to your trading account at a broker. The fee may differ depending on the method of transfer (i.e. bank card, bank transfer, e-wallets, etc.).

Withdrawal fee: an amount you need to pay when you withdraw money from your trading account, e.g. to your bank account.

Regulators: these are established by governments or other organizations to oversee the functioning and fairness of financial markets, including markets, exchanges and firms. They also oversee that investors are not fooled by scams, and in case of wrongdoing, they try to provide some level of financial and legal backing.

Investor protection: this means that up to a certain limit, you get your money back if the broker goes into bankruptcy or commits fraud.

Non-trading fees: charges not directly related to trading, such as deposit/withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

Trading fees: these are charged when you trade; for instance, in the form of a commission, spreads, financing rates, margin rates or a conversion fee.

BrokerChooser score
4.6 4.6 /5
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Where to find out more?

If you want to learn more about DEGIRO, go to our detailed review.

Learn about account opening at DEGIRO.

Read about DEGIRO's fees in detail.

Learn more about DEGIRO's safety features.

You can find out more about investor protection in our dedicated article.

To understand more about stock trading, go to our expert's explanation.

How do decide which shares to buy? Find the answer here.

How to start, how to buy shares online? Here you can find our tips.

In our article on brokerage fees, you can learn what these fees mean and what they entail.

Check out this short video for a behind-the-scenes peek into how our experts personally test and evaluate brokers.

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Author of this article

Adam Nasli

Financial Wizard | Trading • Safety • Market Analysis

I bring extensive financial expertise as one of BrokerChooser's earliest team members. Personally, I tested nearly all 100+ brokers on our site, opening real-money accounts, executing trades, assessing customer services, and providing firsthand assessment. My professional background includes roles in the banking sector and a degree from Central European University, where I teach finance. My passions lies in in-depth research of the financial industry, building trading algorithms, and managing long-term investments.

Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology.

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