The best alternatives to Interactive Brokers are
- Saxo Bank - Danish investment bank
- DEGIRO - Dutch discount broker
- Swissquote - Swiss investment bank
- Tradestation - US stockbroker
Let's see in a bit more detail how the Interactive Brokers alternatives compare to Interactive Brokers and each other:
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | Swissquote | Tradestation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Fees score | |||||
| Account opening score | |||||
| Deposit and withdrawal score | |||||
| Web platform score | |||||
| Markets and products score | |||||
| Visit broker | Visit broker | Visit broker | Visit broker | Visit broker |
Why are these brokers considered good alternatives to Interactive Brokers? There are many areas based on which Interactive Brokers can be compared with others. When we say a given online broker is a good alternative to Interactive Brokers we mean these brokers are comparable in the following areas:
- The products they offer, meaning you can buy mostly the same things, i.e. stocks, CFDs, options, etc.
- The type of clients they target, i.e. beginners, experienced investors, or day traders.
Interactive Brokers alternatives recommendations
Brokers are different in a number of ways, which means each of them may be suitable for different people. Here's how they compare overall:
- Interactive Brokers is recommended for traders who prefer low fees and a professional trading environment
- Saxo Bank is recommended for investors and traders looking for a great trading platform and solid research
- DEGIRO is recommended for price-sensitive buy and hold investors and traders looking for only execution
- Swissquote is recommended for beginners and investors
- Tradestation is recommended for traders wanting great research tools and preferring the us markets
Important factors of finding Interactive Brokers alternatives
So far Brokerchooser has reviewed 29 online brokers in detail, which gives this comparison a solid starting point.
Not only that, but all of these brokers are reviewed using the exact same broker review methodology, which makes everything easily comparable. For each broker, we
- open a live account
- check over 100 criteria, with weighting based on readers' preferences
- refresh data regularly
Whether Interactive Brokers or one of its alternatives is the best choice for you is on the following five broker characteristics that most interest people:
Fees. There are different types of fees that your online brokerage may charge, and both the number and the size of these fees may vary significantly from broker to broker. Both of these aspects can impact your returns and your overall experience. Interactive Brokers is one of the cheaper brokers, so if this is an important consideration for you, make sure you pick a similarly low-cost Interactive Brokers alternative.
Deposit/withdrawal. The number of ways that you can deposit or withdraw money to or from your account matters a lot. For example, while you cannot make a deposit with your credit card at Interactive Brokers, some alternatives might allow you to do that.
Web trading platform. While online brokers are usually available on various platforms like mobile apps, tablet apps or desktop software, most people use them through their web platform in a browser. User-friendly trading platforms that offer many different resources can significantly increase your trading comfort.
Markets and products. A lot of people have specific products they would like to invest in. Knowing whether stocks, forex, mutual funds, and other products are available at the given Interactive Brokers alternative is a must.
Now let's dive into the details of how Interactive Brokers and its alternatives perform in the most important areas!
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers was founded in 1978 and it is one of the biggest US-based discount brokers. It is regulated by several regulators globally, including top-tier authorities like FCA and SEC. Interactive Brokers Group is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Interactive Brokers is considered safe because it has a long track record, is listed on a stock exchange, discloses its financials, and is regulated by top-tier regulators.
Best online broker
Recommended for traders who prefer low fees and a professional trading environment
- Broad product portfolio
- Low fees
- Great and diverse research tools
- Funding and withdrawal only through bank transfer
- Complicated account opening process
- Not user-friendly and complicated desktop trading platform
Interactive Brokers
Fees
4 stars
Interactive Brokers has low trading fees and high non-trading fees. The fees are transparent.
- Low trading fees
- Transparent fee structure
- Inactivity fee
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | Swissquote | Tradestation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple benchmark fee | $2.2 | $20.0 | $1.4 | $30.2 | $2.2 |
| Vodafone benchmark fee | $17.9 | $15.0 | $11.1 | $73.0 | - |
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $23.0 | $58.4 | - | $18.9 | - |
Includes spreads, commissions and financing rate for opening a position, holding for a week, and closing.
Position sizes: $2k for stocks and $20k for FX
Interactive Brokers
Account opening
3 stars
The account opening process is fully digital, but slow and complicated.
- Fully digital account opening
- No minimum deposit for most accounts
- Slow account opening
- Not user-friendly
- Confusing messages throughout the process
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | Swissquote | Tradestation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $725 | $0 | $0 | $500 |
| Time to open account | 1-3 days | 1-3 days | 1 day | 1 day | 1-3 days |
Learn more about the Interactive Brokers minimum deposit here.
Interactive Brokers
Deposit and withdrawal
2 stars
Interactive Brokers offers a lot of base currencies and one withdrawal per month is free. On the negative side, only bank transfer is available.
- Several account base currencies
- No charge for the first withdrawal each month
- Credit/Debit card deposit and withdrawal not available
- Slow funding and withdrawal - over 3 days
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | Swissquote | Tradestation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | No | No | No | No | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | $10 | $35 |
Interactive Brokers
Web trading platform
4 stars
The Interactive Brokers web platform is simple and easy to use, even for beginners. On the negative side, it is a bit complicated to customize.
- User-friendly
- Clear fee report
- Two-step (safe) login
- Limited customizability (for charts, workspace)
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | Swissquote | Tradestation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web platform score | |||||
| Mobile platform score | |||||
| Desktop platform score | - | - |
Learn more about Interactive Brokers's web trading platform in the detailed Interactive Brokers review.
Interactive Brokers
Markets and products
5 stars
Interactive Brokers allows you access to a very wide range of markets and you can trade with all product types. IB's product range is the widest available.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | Swissquote | Tradestation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ETF | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Fund | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bond | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Options | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Futures | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CFD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Crypto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
#1 Interactive Brokers alternative - Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a Danish investment bank providing online trading and investments. It is a leading European retail brokerage innovator. Saxo is privately owned, established in 1992, and headquartered in Copenhagen.
Saxo is considered safe as it is regulated worldwide by more than 10 financial regulators, including top-tier regulators, like the UK FCA.
Best trading platform
Recommended for investors and traders looking for a great trading platform and solid research
- Outstanding research
- Great trading platform
- Broad product portfolio
- High forex, bond, options, and futures fees
- Slow account opening
- Missing live chat
Saxo Bank
Fees
3 stars
Saxo Bank has average trading and non-trading fees.
- No withdrawal fee
- Transparent fee structure
- Lower fees for Platinum and VIP clients
- Inactivity fee
- High financing rate
- High forex, bond, options, and futures fees
| Saxo Bank | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple benchmark fee | $20.0 | $2.2 |
| Vodafone benchmark fee | $15.0 | $17.9 |
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $58.4 | $23.0 |
Includes spreads, commissions and financing rate for opening a position, holding for a week, and closing.
Position sizes: $2k for stocks and $20k for FX
Saxo Bank
Account opening
3 stars
Account opening is available for almost all residents and is fully digital.
- Fast account opening
- Fully digital account opening
- Available for almost all residents
- Minimum account balance is higher than $500
- Sales team pushy
- Only single currency account available at classic accounts
| Saxo Bank | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $725 | $0 |
| Time to open account | 1-3 days | 1-3 days |
If you are interested more in Saxo Bank minimum deposit, this overview will help you.
Saxo Bank
Deposit and withdrawal
5 stars
Saxo provides multiple deposit and withdraw options free of charge on a user-friendly interface.
- Free withdrawal
- No deposit fee
- Several account base currencies
- Credit/Debit card deposit and withdrawal not available
| Saxo Bank | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Transfer | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | No | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 |
Saxo Bank
Web trading platform
5 stars
Saxo Bank's web trading platform is easy-to-use and well-designed. However, it doesn't provide a two-step login and the customizability is limited.
- User-friendly
- Good search function
- Looks nice
- No two-step (safe) login
- Limited customizability (for charts, workspace)
| Saxo Bank | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Web platform score | ||
| Mobile platform score | ||
| Desktop platform score |
Learn more about Saxo Bank's web trading platform in the detailed Saxo Bank review.
Saxo Bank
Markets and products
4 stars
At Saxo Bank you can reach many markets and trade with a lot of different products except for funds.
| Saxo Bank | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Yes | Yes |
| ETF | Yes | Yes |
| Forex | Yes | Yes |
| Fund | No | Yes |
| Bond | Yes | Yes |
| Options | Yes | Yes |
| Futures | Yes | Yes |
| CFD | Yes | Yes |
| Crypto | Yes | Yes |
#2 Interactive Brokers alternative - DEGIRO
DEGIRO
DEGIRO is a trending Dutch online discount broker. It is privately owned and was established in 2013 by former employees of another brokerage company.
DEGIRO is considered safe as it is regulated by top-tier financial regulators, the Dutch AFM and DNB. It is registered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Amsterdam under number 34342820.
Best discount broker
Recommended for price-sensitive buy and hold investors and traders looking for only execution
- One of the lowest fees in the market
- Broad access to international markets
- Easy to use web and mobile platform
- Limited research and no education
- No forex trading
- No credit/debit card deposit and withdrawal
DEGIRO
Fees
5 stars
DEGIRO has low trading and non-trading fees. In most asset classes, it is the best in the market. There is one free ETF trading per month, a great offer for buy-and-hold investors.
- Low trading fees
- Low non-trading fees
- No withdrawal fee
- One free ETF trade per month
- Yearly service fee for mutual funds
- Higher trading fees for Asian and smaller European stock exchanges
| DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple benchmark fee | $1.4 | $2.2 |
| Vodafone benchmark fee | $11.1 | $17.9 |
| EURUSD benchmark fee | - | $23.0 |
Includes spreads, commissions and financing rate for opening a position, holding for a week, and closing.
Position sizes: $2k for stocks and $20k for FX
DEGIRO
Account opening
5 stars
DEGIRO has an easy and fast account opening process. Also, there is no minimum deposit.
- Fully digital account opening
- No minimum account balance
- User-friendly
| DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $0 |
| Time to open account | 1 day | 1-3 days |
If you are interested more in DEGIRO minimum deposit, this overview will help you.
DEGIRO
Deposit and withdrawal
3 stars
DEGIRO deposit and withdrawal is free of charge via bank transfer and SOFORT. On the other hand, you cannot deposit with credit or debit card.
- Free withdrawal
- No deposit fee
- Several account base currencies
- Credit/Debit card deposit and withdrawal not available
| DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Transfer | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | No | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 |
DEGIRO
Web trading platform
4 stars
DEGIRO’s web platform is simple and easy to use. Even beginners can easily navigate it and buy stocks. On the negative side, it is a bit complicated to customize.
- User-friendly
- Two-step (safe) login
- Looks nice
- Limited customizability (for charts, workspace)
- No price alerts
| DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Web platform score | ||
| Mobile platform score | ||
| Desktop platform score | - |
Learn more about DEGIRO's web trading platform in the detailed DEGIRO review.
DEGIRO
Markets and products
3 stars
At DEGIRO you can access many markets and trade with a lot of different products, except for forex.
| DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Yes | Yes |
| ETF | Yes | Yes |
| Forex | No | Yes |
| Fund | Yes | Yes |
| Bond | Yes | Yes |
| Options | Yes | Yes |
| Futures | Yes | Yes |
| CFD | Yes | Yes |
| Crypto | Yes | Yes |
#3 Interactive Brokers alternative - Swissquote
Swissquote
Swissquote is a Swiss investment bank, established in 1996. It has two main arms:
The Swiss arm for stocks, funds, options, and futures
The UK arm for CFDs, and FX
Formally, Swissquote Bank Ltd is based in Switzerland and regulated by FINMA, the Swiss financial regulator. This one offers stocks, funds, bonds, futures and options. The other, Swissquote Ltd is UK based, regulated by the FCA, the UK financial regulator, and offers CFDs and FX.
Swissquote is considered safe because Swissquote Bank Ltd has a banking license, it is listed on the Swiss stock exchange, and discloses detailed financials regularly.
For clarity, we will call the Switzerland Swissquote for stocks "Swissquote (CH)", and the UK Swissquote for CFDs and FX "SwissquoteForex (UK)".
Best for funds
Recommended for beginners and investors
- Extensive market and product access
- High investor protection amount
- Digital account opening
- High trading fees
- Overcomplicated trading platform
- Better part of the research not free
Swissquote
Fees
2 stars
Swissquote has high trading fees and average non-trading fees. As a plus, there is no inactivity fee.
- No inactivity fee
- High trading fees
- Withdrawal fee
| Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple benchmark fee | $30.2 | $2.2 |
| Vodafone benchmark fee | $73.0 | $17.9 |
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $18.9 | $23.0 |
Includes spreads, commissions and financing rate for opening a position, holding for a week, and closing.
Position sizes: $2k for stocks and $20k for FX
Swissquote
Account opening
5 stars
Swissquote offers a fast, easy, and fully digital account opening. Also, there is no minimum account balance requirement.
- Fast account opening
- Fully digital account opening
- No minimum account balance
- Video identification of documents may not be available for some locations
| Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $0 |
| Time to open account | 1 day | 1-3 days |
If you are interested more in Swissquote minimum deposit, this overview will help you.
Swissquote
Deposit and withdrawal
4 stars
The depsoit is fast and user-friendly. On the flip side, you can only withdraw by bank transfer.
- No deposit fee
- Several account base currencies
- Credit/Debit card deposit
- Credit card withdrawal is not available
- Withdrawal is not user-friendly
| Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Transfer | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | No | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee | $10 | $0 |
Swissquote
Web trading platform
3 stars
The Swissquote (CH) platform has a lot of functions, even too many. It can get complicated. SwissquoteForex (UK)' MetaTrader 4 is a well thought out platform.
- Two-step (safe) login
- Price alerts
- Available in several languages
- Poor search function
- Limited order types
| Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Web platform score | ||
| Mobile platform score | ||
| Desktop platform score | - |
Learn more about Swissquote's web trading platform in the detailed Swissquote review.
Swissquote
Markets and products
4 stars
At Swissquote(CH) you can reach many markets and trade with a lot of different product types. At SwissquoteForex (UK) you can trade only Forex and some CFDs.
| Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Yes | Yes |
| ETF | Yes | Yes |
| Forex | Yes | Yes |
| Fund | Yes | Yes |
| Bond | Yes | Yes |
| Options | Yes | Yes |
| Futures | Yes | Yes |
| CFD | Yes | Yes |
| Crypto | Yes | Yes |
#4 Interactive Brokers alternative - Tradestation
Tradestation
TradeStation is a US broker with a long history dating back to 1982. Its parent company, the Monex Group is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.
TradeStation is considered safe as it is regulated by a top-tier regulator, the US FINRA. Clients are eligible for the SIPC investor protection scheme which offers up to $500,000 (cash up to $250,000) per account.
Recommended for traders wanting great research tools and preferring the us markets
- Great mobile trading platform
- Wide range of reserach tools
- High-quality educational tools
- Not user-friendly deposit and withdrawal
- No forex
- Bad customer service
Tradestation
Fees
4 stars
TradeStation has low trading fees and there are multiple fee structures to choose from. Non-trading fees, like inactivity fees are high.
- Low trading fees
- More fee structures you can choose from
- High non-trading fees
| Tradestation | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple benchmark fee | $2.2 | $2.2 |
| Vodafone benchmark fee | - | $17.9 |
| EURUSD benchmark fee | - | $23.0 |
Includes spreads, commissions and financing rate for opening a position, holding for a week, and closing.
Position sizes: $2k for stocks and $20k for FX
Tradestation
Account opening
4 stars
TradeStation account opening is fully digital and user-friendly. On the other hand, it takes more days until your account is approved.
- Fully digital account opening
- User-friendly
- Slow account opening
| Tradestation | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $500 | $0 |
| Time to open account | 1-3 days | 1-3 days |
If you are interested more in Tradestation minimum deposit, this overview will help you.
Tradestation
Deposit and withdrawal
2 stars
TradeStation deposit and withdrawal can be improved. As a plus, the deposit is free. However, you can use only bank transfer and there is a high, $35 withdrawal fee.
- No deposit fee
- Credit/Debit card deposit and withdrawal not available
- Not user-friendly
- High withdrawal fee (for non-US clients $35 /tansaction)
| Tradestation | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Transfer | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | No | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee | $35 | $0 |
Tradestation
Web trading platform
4 stars
TradeStation has a good web trading platform. It is user-friendly with and looks nice. It also offers a great order management. On the flip side, it lacks the alerts and the clear fee reports.
- User-friendly
- Good customizability (for charts, workspace)
- Good variety of order types
- No clear fee report available
- No price alerts
| Tradestation | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Web platform score | ||
| Mobile platform score | ||
| Desktop platform score |
Learn more about Tradestation's web trading platform in the detailed Tradestation review.
Tradestation
Markets and products
2 stars
TradeStation gives you access to a wide variety of US products. However, its non-US offer is not competitive. The forex, CFDs and cryptos are missing.
| Tradestation | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Yes | Yes |
| ETF | Yes | Yes |
| Forex | No | Yes |
| Fund | Yes | Yes |
| Bond | No | Yes |
| Options | Yes | Yes |
| Futures | Yes | Yes |
| CFD | No | Yes |
| Crypto | No | Yes |
Interactive Brokers alternatives
Bottom line
Based on our analysis, there are several good alternatives to Interactive Brokers. They all offer similar products and target similar customers. Here's a recap of the results in a table.
| Broker | Info | Recommended for |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers | US discount broker | Traders who prefer low fees and a professional trading environment |
| Saxo Bank | Danish investment bank | Investors and traders looking for a great trading platform and solid research |
| DEGIRO | Dutch discount broker | Price-sensitive buy and hold investors and traders looking for only execution |
| Swissquote | Swiss investment bank | Beginners and investors |
| Tradestation | US stockbroker | Traders wanting great research tools and preferring the US markets |
Still unsure? Use our broker finder and find the best broker for you or learn more about investing your money.
