Is Interactive Brokers free?
Interactive Brokers does charge a commission for real stock trading on US markets, so in this sense it is not a free-to-trade broker. However, it might still be a reasonable choice for some of you, as there are many other aspects other than commissions that are important when you choose a broker. If you wish to stick with Interactive Brokers though, then you will find the fees they charge below. Alternatively, you could check our article detailing the best zero commission brokers and how their apps scored in our test.
We should note that the payment-for-order-flow model, which is used by some zero-commission brokers to generate income (rather than relying on commissions), could potentially create a conflict of interest between you and your broker. This could result in trade execution (like routing your orders to specific market makers) that might be unfavorable for you under certain market conditions, especially when using market orders (as opposed to limit orders, which seem to be less affected).
Interactive Brokers fees
Overview of Interactive Brokers fees and charges
It's safe to say that Interactive Brokers's fees are low in general. They either don't charge a brokerage fee for things that other brokers do, or they only charge a small amount.
Here's a high-level overview of Interactive Brokers's fees
| 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 mutual fund fees | Average | $14.95 per transaction or 3% of trade value, whichever is lower |
| Inactivity fee | Low | No inactivity fee |
Interactive Brokers fees
Interactive Brokers fees explained
Online brokerages in general charge much lower brokerage fees than traditional brokerages do - this is largely because online brokerages' businesses can be much better scaled: from a purely technical standpoint, it doesn't make that much of a difference for them if they have 100 or 5,000 clients.
This is not to say, however, that they don't charge any fees at all. They make money by charging you various rates for various actions or events. Usually you need to keep an eye on the following three types of fees:
- Trading fees - these are brokerage fees that you pay when you actually carry out a trade, like buying an Apple share or an ETF. What you pay is either a commission, a spread or a financing rate. Some brokers apply all of these.
- A commission is either fixed or based on the traded volume.
- A spread is the difference between the buy price and the sell price.
- A financing rate or overnight rate is charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than one day.
- Non-trading fees. These are usually related to some operations you carry out in your account, such as depositing money, withdrawing money, or not trading for an extended period.
We compare Interactive Brokers fees with its closest competitors, Saxo Bank and DEGIRO.
Interactive Brokers fees
Interactive Brokers trading fees
Interactive Brokers's trading fees are low, which makes it suitable for you even if you trade often (i.e. several times a week).
Let's break down trading fees according to the different asset classes available at Interactive Brokers.
Trading fees
Interactive Brokers's trading fees are low.
Stock fees and ETF fees
Interactive Brokers has low stock trading fees.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US stock | $1.0 | $10.0 | $1.0 |
| UK stock | $3.4 | $9.0 | $3.1 |
| German stock | $3.0 | $9.9 | $4.9 |
Forex fees
Interactive Brokers's forex fees are low.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $14.7 | $14.6 | - |
| EURGBP benchmark fee | $12.6 | $12.0 | - |
Fund fees
Interactive Brokers fund fees are average.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mutual fund | $15.0 | $0.0 | $3.9 |
| EU mutual fund | $4.4 | - | $10.3 |
Bond fees
Interactive Brokers has low bond fees.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Treasury bond | $5.0 | $79.2 | - |
| EU government bond | $10.0 | $79.2 | $3.0 |
Options fees
Interactive Brokers's options fees are low.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US stock options | $6.5 | $30.0 | - |
| US stock index options | $6.5 | $30.0 | $7.5 |
| UK stock index options | $19.2 | $28.3 | - |
| German stock index options | $16.8 | $39.6 | $8.9 |
Futures fees
Interactive Brokers's futures fees are low.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US micro e-mini stock index futures | $2.5 | $40.0 | $7.5 |
| UK stock index futures | $19.2 | $33.9 | - |
| German e-mini stock index futures | $7.9 | $39.6 | $7.4 |
CFD fees
Interactive Brokers has low CFD trading fees.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple CFD | $1.1 | $10.1 | - |
| Vodafone CFD | $3.8 | $9.4 | - |
| Germany | $3.4 | $11.4 | $5.7 |
Currency conversion fee
Interactive Brokers will charge a Currency Conversion Fee for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different to the currency of your account. The fee is charged as the following: Trade value less than $1 billion: 0.2 bps * trade value; min. $2.
Margin rates
Interactive Brokers margin rates are low.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD margin rate | 5.3% | - | 3.0% |
| EUR margin rate | 2.8% | - | 3.0% |
Interactive Brokers fees
Interactive Brokers non-trading fees
When it comes to non-trading fees, Interactive Brokers is a rather cheap broker.
Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at Interactive Brokers that are not related to buying or selling assets. This can be a withdrawal fee, deposit fee, inactivity fee or account fee.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Inactivity fee | No | Yes | No |
| Account fee | No | No | No |
Interactive Brokers fees
Interactive Brokers deposit fee
Usually, brokers don't charge anything for deposits, and Interactive Brokers is no different.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | No | Yes | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Interactive Brokers fees
Interactive Brokers withdrawal fee
Interactive Brokers generally doesn't charge a withdrawal fee.
| Interactive Brokers | Saxo Bank | DEGIRO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | No | Yes | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee for bank transfer | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Interactive Brokers fees
Interactive Brokers inactivity fee
Interactive Brokers does not apply an inactivity fee, which is great because your account won't be charged even if you do not trade for an extended period (like several months or years).
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