Interactive Brokers fees explained

Personally tested

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Independent

Overview of Interactive Brokers fees and charges

When trading or investing at an online broker, fees can have a big impact on your results, so it's good to know what kind of charges you'll be facing and how these compare to fees at other brokers.

If fees are your top concern, Interactive Brokers is a good choice, as it has low fees in general. Check our toplist for cheaper brokers.

I found Interactive Brokers's trading fees fairly low

Adam Nasli

Regulation • Fighting Scams • Market Analysis

I've personally tested dozens of global brokers, carefully looking at their fees not just on their website but also in the course of live trading. Here's how Interactive Brokers fared:

Interactive Brokers charges low fees for trading stocks and ETFs.
There is no inactivity fee even if you leave your account idle for a long time.
The basic withdrawal fee is $0, but some transactions may cost more.
Read our full review of Interactive Brokers for info on safety, trading platforms and funding.

Interactive Brokers fees at a glance
Assets	Fee level	Fee terms
US stock fee	Low	Fixed pricing: $0.005 per share, min. $1, max. 1% of trade value. Free for US clients choosing IBKR Lite plan.
EURUSD fee	Low	Trade value less than $1 billion: 0.2 bps * trade value; min. $2
US tech fund fee	Average	$14.95 per transaction or 3% of trade value, whichever is lower. There are also more than 18,000 funds with no transaction fee
Inactivity fee	Low	No inactivity fee

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Plans matter: Lite for free US stocks, Pro for active trading

US clients can choose the IBKR Lite plan. With this service plan, they can trade US-listed stocks and ETFs commission-free. However, there are some trade-offs, such as less favorable order routing, lower interest on cash and higher margin rates.

Clients from any country can opt for IBKR Pro, which comes with 2 pricing plans.

The fixed-rate price plan typically charges a fixed rate per contract or share. This charge covers all commissions and exchange fees.
The tiered price plan charges fees based on your monthly trading volume. The more you trade, the lower the commissions are. However, exchange, regulatory and clearing fees may be charged additionally.

We tested the fixed-rate plan.

IBKR Lite vs IBKR Pro

In the table below we summarized some of the main differences between the IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro plans for US clients.

IBKR Lite vs. IBKR Pro plan comparison
	IBKR Lite	IBKR Pro
Target group	Less active traders	Active traders and sophisticated investors
US stocks/ETFs	Commission-free	Fixed or tiered pricing
Order routing	PFOF* (benefits broker)	SMART (best price for client)
Interest paid on cash	Benchmark -1.5%	Benchmark - 0.5%
Margin rate	Benchmark +2.5%	Benchmark +1.5%
Trading platform	Simplified trading via platforms	Full suite of premier trading technology

*Payment for order flow: brokers are compensated by market makers for selling customer order flow

Low stock and ETF commission

For IBKR Pro clients, SMART routing continually scans competing markets and automatically routes orders directly to the best available market based on price while also taking into account factors such as the availability of automatic order execution.

Interactive Brokers stock and ETF fees by market
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
UK stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$3.8 Fixed £3 for trade value less than £6,000, 0.05% of trade value for more than £6,000	$3.8 0.08% of trade value with £3 min., but using VIP pricing the commission can be as low as 0.03% of trade value with £3 min.	$3.5 £2.75 per trade (£1.75 commission plus a £1 handling fee)
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$1.0 Fixed pricing: $0.005 per share, min. $1, max. 1% of trade value. Free for US clients choosing IBKR Lite plan.	$1.6 0.08% of trade value with $1 minimum, but using VIP pricing the commission can be as low as 0.03% of trade value with $1 minimum	$2.1 €2 per trade (€1 commission plus a €1 handling fee)
German stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade	$3.2 Fixed €3 for trade value less than €6,000, 0.05% of trade value for more than €6,000	$3.2 0.08% of trade value with €3 min., but using VIP pricing the commission can be as low as 0.03% of trade value with €3 min.	$5.1 €4.90 per trade (€3.90 commission plus a €1 handling fee)

The stock trading fee at Interactive Brokers is volume-based: it's calculated either per share or as a percentage of the trade value, with a minimum and maximum. ETF fees are the same as stock fees.
It's also great that Interactive Brokers provides fractional shares trading for US and European stocks and ETFs.

In the table below you can find the fixed price with IB SmartRouting, where it's available.

Interactive Brokers stock fees
Market	Commission	Min	Max
*North America*
US	$0.005 / share	$1	1% of the trade value
Canada	CAD 0.01 / share	CAD 1	0.5% of the trade value
Mexico	0.1 % of the trade value	MXN 60	No
*Europe*
UK	0.05% of the trade value	£3	No
Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands	0.05% of the trade value	€3	No
Switzerland	0.05% of the trade value	CHF 5	No
Austria	0.05% of the trade value	€3	No
Poland	0.1% of the trade value	PLN 15	No
Norway, Sweden	0.05% of the trade value	NOK/SEK 49	No
Denmark	0.05% of the trade value	DKK 49	No
Portugal	0.15% of the trade value	€6	No
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania	0.2% of the trade value	€10	No
Hungary	0.1% of the trade value for selling and 0.4% for buying	HUF 200	No
*Asia-Pacific*
Australia	0.08% of the trade value	AUD 6	No
Hong Kong	0.08% of the trade value	HKD 18	No
Japan	0.08% of the trade value	JPY 80	No
Singapore	0.08% of the trade value	SGD 2.5	No
India	0.01% of the trade value	INR 6	INR 20

New

Stock Fee Calculator

Confused about fees? Use this tool to see what the commission fee of a specific stock trade would be at Interactive Brokers. To check and compare fees at other brokers, go to our main Fee calculator page.

Before doing so, check out our Privacy Policy and our General Terms and Conditions.

Low margin rates

Interactive Brokers's margin rates are one of the best in the industry for IBKR Pro customers. However, if you choose the IBKR Lite plan, you'll be charged a higher annual rate – for example, the markup is 2.5% for IBKR Lite under $100k, while it's 1.5% in the case of IBKR Pro.

Interactive Brokers annual margin rates
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
USD margin rate	6.1% Tiered margin rate. Lowest tier has a rate of 6.08% at IBKR PRO (7.08% at IBKR Lite)	- Margin stock trading is not available to most clients. Clients from Hong Kong can use margin lending.	6.9% Unallocated debit rate (USD) is 6.9%
GBP margin rate	6.5% Tiered margin rate. Lowest tier has a rate of 6.453% at IBKR PRO (7.453% at IBKR Lite)	- Margin stock trading is not available to most clients. Clients from Hong Kong can use margin lending.	6.9% Unallocated debit rate (GBP) is 6.9%
EUR margin rate	4.9% Tiered margin rate. Lowest tier has a rate of 4.904% at IBKR PRO (5.904% at IBKR Lite)	- Margin stock trading is not available to most clients. Clients from Hong Kong can use margin lending.	6.9% Unallocated debit rate (EUR) is 6.9%

Margin rates are lower for higher debit balances.

IBKR Pro annual margin rates for USD (as of Nov 12, 2023)
Debit balance	Rate (%)
$200,000,000+ -	5.83%
$50,000,000.01 - $200,000,000	5.83%
$1,000,000.01 - $50,000,000	6.08%
$100,000.01 - $1,000,000	6.33%
Under $100,000	6.83%

Margin rates vary based on the amount and the currency of the borrowed money.

Low options commission

Interactive Brokers stock index options commission
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$6.5 Less than 10,000 contract per month and for a 10 contracts trade: $0.65 per contract with $1 min	$20.0 $2 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be $0.75 per contract	$7.5 $0.75 per contract
UK stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$21.4 £1.7 per contract with £1.7 min	$37.8 £3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be £1 per contract	- Not available
German stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$17.9 €1.7 per contract with €1.7 min	$7.9 €0.75 per contract FOR all accounts	$9.5 €0.75 per contract

You pay options fees depending on the number of contracts you traded in the given month.

If you choose the IBKR Pro tiered plan and use limit orders when trading US listed options, you'll often find that fees will be lower than 65 cents/contract or might be even negative. That's because IBKR's SmartRouting uses many exchanges and some of them give you a rebate for adding liquidity to the market.

If you trade option spreads, IBKR Pro's SmartRouting is very beneficial for you as this order type submits each leg at the best possible venue for execution.

Interactive Brokers options fees for stock index options
Market	Commission	Minimum
*North America - all options*
US, monthly contracts <= 10,000	$0.65 / contract	$1.0
Canada, monthly contracts <= 10,000	CAD 1.25 / contract	CAD 1.5
Mexico (AMXL)	MXN 25 / contract	MXN 25
*Europe - index options*
UK	GBP 1.7 / contract	GBP 1.7
Germany	€1.7 / contract	€1.7
Belgium, France	€1.5 / contract	€1.5
Italy	€3.0 / contract	€3.0
Netherlands	€1.5 / contract	€1.5
Spain	€0.8 / contract	No
Switzerland	CHF 2.8 / contract	CHF 2.8
*Asia-Pacific - index options*
Australia	AUD 2.0 / contract	AUD 2.0
Hong Kong	HKD 30 / contract	HKD 30
India	0.01% of the trade value	INR 6
Japan	JPY 90 / contract	JPY 90
Singapore	$2.85 / contract	$2.85
South Korea	0.2% of option value	KRW 1,000

No inactivity fee, no withdrawal fee

Interactive Brokers does not have a monthly inactivity fee, and it doesn't charge an account or deposit fee, either. The first withdrawal each month is free of charge while subsequent withdrawals carry a fee (e.g. $10 in case of USD withdrawal).

Interactive Brokers inactivity, withdrawal and other fees
Broker	Inactivity fee	Withdrawal fee
Interactive Brokers		$0
Saxo		$0
DEGIRO		$0

Other commissions and fees

You can find Interactive Brokers's fees for other asset classes below. Click 'Show more' for details.

Average mutual fund commission

If you're not a US resident, you can purchase thousands of non-US mutual funds with no transaction fee while most other funds are priced at €4.95.

In a similar fashion, thousands of US mutual funds (including funds from Allianz, Blackrock and Schroder) may be purchased without a transaction fee if you're a US resident.

The minimum size of initial fund orders is $3,000 while the subsequent minimum order size is $100.

When you purchase a fund that is not in the 'free to buy' category, a simple price structure applies that includes all regulatory and exchange fees.

Fees for a $2,000 fund purchase
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	$15.0 $14.95 per transaction or 3% of trade value, whichever is lower. There are also more than 18,000 funds with no transaction fee	$0.0 Mutual funds are available only in certain countries. The broker doesn't charge any fee for mutual fund trading.	$4.1 €3.9 and 0.2% annual administration fee
EU mutual fund Subscription fee of a $2,000 face value European stock fund	$4.4 0.1% of trade value with €4 min and €29 max	- Not available	$10.3 0.1% + €7.5 and 0.2% yearly administration fee

The fee structure is percentage-based and can have a minimum and a maximum. Note that for European mutual funds, the pricing is a bit different:

Interactive Brokers fund fees
Country of the fund	Fee	Min	Max
US funds	3% of the trade value or $14.95, whichever is lower	$3	$14.95
US funds with no transaction fees	0%	$0	$0
Euronext Fixed Pricing Structure	0.1% of the trade value for EUR-denominated products	€4	€29.00
Fund Settle Exchange Pricing	Tier 1: €19, €5 in other tiers	-	-

Low futures fees

Stock index futures fee for 10 contracts
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
US micro e-mini stock index futures Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$2.5 $0.25 per contract	$30.0 $3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as $1 per contract	$7.5 $0.75 per contract
UK stock index futures Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$21.4 £1.7 per contract with £1.7 min	$37.8 £3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as £1 per contract	- Not available
German e-mini stock index futures Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$8.4 €0.80 per contract with €0.80 min	$42.0 €3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as €1 per contract	$7.9 €0.75 per contract

Similarly to options, you pay a commission based on the number of contracts you trade.

Interactive Brokers futures fees for stock index futures
Futures	Commission
North America
US Future and Future Options	$0.85 / contract
US - MES, MNQ, M2K, VOLQ, MYM, 2YY, 5YY, 10Y, 30Y, MCL, MRB, MGC, SIL, VXM, MHO	$0.25 / contract
Canada	CAD 2.4 / contract (min CAD 2.4)
Mexico - AMXL, CEMEXCPO, FEMSAUBD, GCARSOA1, TELMEXL, FX Futures (EUR)	MXN 25/ contract (min MXN 25)
*Europe*
Belgium	€4.5 / contract (min €4.5)
France	€0.40 - 2.00 / contract
Germany	€0.80 - 2.00 / contract
Italy	€0.40 - 3.00 / contract
Netherlands	€0.55 - 6.00 / contract
Spain	€0.90 - 3.00 / contract
Switzerland	CHF 1.00 - 4.00 / contract
UK	GBP 1.7 / contract (min GPB 1.7)
*Asia-Pacific*
Australia	AUD 1.00 - 6.00 / contract
Hong Kong	HKD 17.00 - 30.00 / contract
Japan	JPY 14.00 - 400.00 / contract
Singapore	SGD 3.25 - 5.00 / contract

Average FX fees

Interactive Brokers forex fees
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
commission per lot	2.00	-	-
EURUSD spread Usual spread in pips	0.1	0.9	- EURUSD is not available
GBPUSD spread	0.3	1.0	- GBPUSD is not available
AUDUSD spread	0.2	0.9	- AUDUSD is not available
EURCHF spread	0.3	1.5	- EURCHF is not available
EURGBP spread Usual spread in pips	0.2	1.0	- EURGBP is not available

When you trade forex, IB charges a volume-based commission. The higher the volume of your trades, the lower commission you pay.

Interactive Brokers forex commissions
Monthly traded amount	Commission	Min
USD ≤ 1,000,000,000	0.20 basis point of the trade value	$2.00
USD 1,000,000,001 - 2,000,000,000	0.15 basis point of the trade value	$1.50
USD 2,000,000,001 - 5,000,000,000	0.10 basis point of the trade value	$1.25
USD > 5,000,000,000	0.08 basis point of the trade value	$1.00

Low spot crypto fees

Low bond commission

Fees for a $10,000 bond trade
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	$5.0 For the first $1,000,000 face value: 0.002% of trade value with $5 min.	$21.0 0.2% of trade value with €20 min, but with VIP pricing it can be as low as 0.05% of trade value and min €20	- Not available
EU/UK government bond Estimated commission of a $10k EU or UK government bond trade	$10.0 First €10,000 face value: 0.1% of trade value. Above €10,000 face value: 0.025% of trade value.	$21.0 0.2% of trade value with €20 min, but with VIP pricing it can be as low as 0.05% of trade value and min €20	$3.2 €3 (€2.00 fee + a €1 handling fee)

Interactive Brokers charges a volume-based commission with a minimum amount.

Interactive Brokers bond fees
Bonds	Volume	Commission	Min	Max
US Corporate	Face value ≤ 10,000	0.10% * face value	$1	$250 or 1% of trade value, whichever is lower
US Treasuries	Face value ≤ 1,000,000	0.002% * face value	$5	No
Europe	Trade value ≤ 50,000	0.10% * trade value	€2	No
Hong Kong Government	Trade value ≤ 15,000,000	0.08% * trade value	HKD 18	No

Average CFD fees

Spread and commission for a $2,000 CFD trade
	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers	Saxo Saxo	DEGIRO DEGIRO
S&P 500 index CFD fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $2,000 20:1 position open, 1-week-hold, and close	$4.6	$3.3	- S&P 500 index CFD is not available
Euro Stoxx 50 index CFD fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $2,000, 20:1 position: open, hold for 1 week, and close	$4.5	$3.4	- Europe 50 index CFD is not available
Apple CFD fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $2,000, 20:1 position: open, hold for 1 week, and close	$4.5	$11.3	- Apple stock CFD is not available
Vodafone CFD fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $2,000 20:1 position open, 1-week-hold, and close	$11.1	$24.4	- Vodafone stock CFD is not available

In the case of stock index CFDs, all fees are incorporated into the spreads. When you trade stock CFDs, you pay a volume-tiered commission.

Interactive Brokers stock CFD fees
CFDs	Monthly traded amount	Commission	Min
US share CFDs	≤ $300,000	$0.005 per share	$1.0
European share CFDs	≤ €10,000,000	0.05%	€3.0
Australian share CFDs	≤ AUD 10,000,000	0.05%	AUD 5.0
Hong Kong Share CFDs	≤ HKD 300,000,000	0.05%	HKD 12.0
Japanese Share CFDs	≤ 9,000,000,000	0.03%	JPY 100.0
US 500 index CFD	-	0.005%	$1.0
UK 100 index CFD	-	0.005%	GBP 1.0
Japan 225 index CFD	-	0.01%	JPY 40.0
Forex CFD	≤ 1,000,000,000	0.20 basis points * trade value	$2.0

Interest on cash balances

Interactive Brokers offers attractive interest rates on the uninvested cash balances of clients. As an example, the rate is 4.1% for USD for international IBKR Pro clients. However, strict requirements and conditions apply.

Exact rates differ by the country of the client, currency and by the total value of a client's assets, as well as whether the client has an IBKR Lite or IBKR Pro account. To be eligible, accounts must have more than $10,000 (or equivalent) cash in the account.

No interest is paid on the first $10,000. Above that, interest is paid proportionally: to get the maximum interest, you need an account value of $100,000 (or equivalent).

In addition, your idle cash must be held in the securities segment of your account. Cash held in the commodities segment does not earn any interest.

See the table below for interest rates for selected currencies, or check out IB's interest rates page for the latest rates and more details.

Interactive Brokers maximum interest rates for idle cash (as of December 12, 2024)
Currency	IBKR Lite	IBKR Pro
USD	3.1%	4.1%
EUR	1.7%	2.7%
GBP	3.2%	4.2%
AED	2.9%	3.9%
AUD	2.9%	4.2%
CAD	2.1%	3.1%
CHF	0.0%	0.3%
CNH	0.5%	0.5%
CZK	0.7%	1.7%
DKK	1.3%	2.3%
HKD	2.5%	3.5%
HUF	2.3%	3.3%
ILS	0.0%	0.0%
INR	0.0%	0.0%
JPY	-1.2%	-0.2%
KRW	0.5%	1.5%
MXN	8.4%	9.4%
NOK	1.5%	2.5%
NZD	1.1%	2.1%
PLN	2.7%	3.7%
SAR	3.3%	4.3%
SEK	1.1%	2.1%
SGD	1.4%	2.4%
TRY	4.0%	5.0%
ZAR	6.6%	6.8%

Asset management service

Interactive Brokers provides an asset management service called Interactive Advisors. It is a mix of mutual funds and a robo-advisor. It may be suitable for you if you don't want to manage your investments on your own or just need a bit more confidence in investing.
Besides the usual brokerage commissions, there is an annual management fee ranging from 0.08% to 0.75%, depending on the amount you invest. The required minimum investment amount is $100.

There are two ways to invest with Interactive Advisors:

Answer a couple of questions, based on which Interactive Advisors will compile a portfolio that is automatically rebalanced from time to time.
Choose from among several pre-set portfolios managed by professional portfolio managers.

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

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