Is Saxo free?

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Is Saxo free as of December 2024?

Saxo 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 Saxo 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).

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Stock Fee Calculator

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

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Saxo

4.8/5

Minimum deposit

Stock fee

Low

FX fee

Low

Inactivity fee

Account opening

1 day

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62% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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Overview of Saxo fees and charges

When it comes to brokerage fees, Saxo is a mixed bag. To see how they may affect you, first you need to figure out your approach to trading - i.e. whether you are more of a buy-and-hold investor or if you want to trade frequently; or what type of assets and in what volumes you'll want to trade. Alternatively, use our questionnaire to help you tell whether Saxo fees are beneficial for you. Continue reading about Saxo fees and charges to see if this is the right broker for you, or if a similar broker like Swissquote or Interactive Brokers might suit you better.

Here's a high-level overview of Saxo's fees

Saxo Fees snapshot
Assets	Fee level	Fee terms
US stock fee	Low	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
EURUSD fee	Low	Classic account: the fees are built into the spread, 0.9 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. Using VIP pricing the spread can be as low as 0.4 pips.
US mutual fund fees	Low	Mutual funds are available only in certain countries. The broker doesn't charge any fee for mutual fund trading.
Inactivity fee	Low	No inactivity fee

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Saxo 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 Saxo fees with its closest competitors, Swissquote and Interactive Brokers.

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Saxo trading fees

Saxo's trading fees are mixed, which means that some asset classes come with high trading fees - be sure to check these carefully.

Let's break down trading fees according to the different asset classes available at Saxo.

Trading fees

Saxo's trading fees are average.

Stock fees and ETF fees

Saxo has low stock trading fees.

Stock fees of a $2,000 trade
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
US stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$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	$10.0 Volume-tiered commission ranging between $3 and $190 and a charge of 0.85 is added to each transaction in the corresponding currency.	$1.0 Fixed pricing: $0.005 per share, min. $1, max. 1% of trade value. Free for US clients choosing IBKR Lite plan.
UK stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade, assuming a $50 stock price	$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.	$12.6 Tiered commission depending on the trade value, min £3, max £190	$3.8 Fixed £3 for trade value less than £6,000, 0.05% of trade value for more than £6,000
German stock Estimated commission of a $2,000 trade	$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.	$10.5 Tiered commission depending on the trade value, min €5, max €190	$3.2 Fixed €3 for trade value less than €6,000, 0.05% of trade value for more than €6,000

Data updated on December 23, 2024

Forex fees

Saxo's forex fees are low.

Forex fees of a $20,000 30:1 position (open, 1-week-hold and close)
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
EURUSD benchmark fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $20,000 30:1 position open, 1-week-hold, and close	$12.5	$10.8	$13.7
EURGBP benchmark fee Includes all fees (spread, commission, financing rate) of a $20,000 30:1 position open, 1-week-hold, and close	$13.4	$12.5	$14.3

Data updated on December 23, 2024

Fund fees

Saxo fund fees are low.

Fees of a $2,000 fund purchase
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
Mutual fund Estimated commission of a $2,000 US domiciled fund trade	$0.0 Mutual funds are available only in certain countries. The broker doesn't charge any fee for mutual fund trading.	$9.0 $9 per trade from Prime Partners (BlackRock, Fidelity, HSBC, etc.) and $0 per trade for funds under Swissquote's custody	$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
EU mutual fund Subscription fee of a $2,000 face value European stock fund	- Not available	$9.0 $9 per trade	$4.4 0.1% of trade value with €4 min and €29 max

Data updated on December 23, 2024

Bond fees

Saxo has low bond fees.

Fees of a $10,000 bond trade
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
US Treasury bond Estimated commission of a $10,000 US treasury bond trade	$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	$75.0 0.3% of trade value with $75 min	$5.0 For the first $1,000,000 face value: 0.002% of trade value with $5 min.
EU/UK government bond Estimated commission of a $10k EU or UK government bond trade	$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	$52.5 0.3% of trade value with €50 min	$10.0 First €10,000 face value: 0.1% of trade value. Above €10,000 face value: 0.025% of trade value.

Data updated on December 23, 2024

Options fees

Saxo's options fees are high.

Options fees for 10 contracts
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
US stock options Estimated commission for opening 10 contracts	$20.0 $2 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be $0.75 per contract	$15.0 $1.5 per contract and no minimum	$6.5 Less than 10,000 contracts per month and for a 10 contract trade: $0.65 per contract with a $1 minimum fee
US stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$20.0 $2 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be $0.75 per contract	$19.9 $1.99 per contract commission with $5 min	$6.5 Less than 10,000 contract per month and for a 10 contracts trade: $0.65 per contract with $1 min
UK stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$37.8 £3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be £1 per contract	- Telephone only	$21.4 £1.7 per contract with £1.7 min
German stock index options Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$7.9 €0.75 per contract FOR all accounts	$15.8 €1.5 per contract commission with €5 min	$17.9 €1.7 per contract with €1.7 min

Data updated on December 23, 2024

Futures fees

Saxo's futures fees are high.

Stock index futures fees for 10 contracts
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
US micro e-mini stock index futures Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$30.0 $3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as $1 per contract	$19.9 $1.99 per contract commission with $5 min (E-Mini only)	$2.5 $0.25 per contract
UK stock index futures Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$37.8 £3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as £1 per contract	- Telephone only	$21.4 £1.7 per contract with £1.7 min
German e-mini stock index futures Estimated commission for 10 contracts	$42.0 €3 per contract, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as €1 per contract	$15.8 €1.5 per contract commission with €5min	$8.4 €0.80 per contract with €0.80 min

Data updated on December 23, 2024

CFD fees

Saxo has average CFD trading fees.

CFD fees and commissions on a $2,000 trade
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
Apple CFD Commission for a $2,000 stock CFD trade	$4.1 $0.02/share; min $4, but using VIP pricing the minimum can be as low as $1	- Not available	$1.1 Below $300,000 monthly volume: $0.005 per share with $1 min
Vodafone CFD Commission for a $2,000 stock CFD trade	$10.7 0.1% of trade value; min £8, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as 0.05% of trade value with £5 minimum	- Not available	$4.4 Below £8,900 monthly value: 0.05% of trade value with £3 min
Germany Commission for a $2,000 stock CFD trade	$11.4 0.1% of trade value; min €10, but using VIP pricing it can be as low as 0.05% of trade value with €6 minimum	- Not available	$3.4 Below €10,000,000 monthly value: 0.05% of trade value; min €3 per order

Data updated on December 23, 2024

Currency conversion fee

Saxo 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: FX spot rate +/- 0.25%.

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Saxo non-trading fees

Some of Saxo's non-trading fees are average.

Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at Saxo that are not related to buying or selling assets. This can be a withdrawal fee, deposit fee, inactivity fee or account fee.

A high-level overview of how Saxo stacks up in terms of non-trading fees
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
Withdrawal fee Fee for withdrawing money from the broker account. It is zero if you can withdraw money for free via any method, e.g. credit/debit card or bank transfer.	$0 Free withdrawal	$10 CHF 2/€2/$10 dependent on currency	$0 One free per month, after that $10
Deposit fee	$0 Free deposit	$0 Free bank deposit, but for credit/debit cards, between 2.2% and 2.5% charged	$0 Free deposit
Inactivity fee Fee applied if a customer does not trade for a certain length of time	No No inactivity fee	No The inactivity fee will be charged if you have no open positions and have not been trading during a period of 6 months or more. The inactivity fee amounts to a maximum of 10 units of your base currency or the equivalent of CHF 10	No No inactivity fee
Account fee Monthly account fee	No No account fee	No No account fee	No No account fee

Data updated on December 23, 2024

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62% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Saxo

4.8/5

Minimum deposit

Stock fee

Low

FX fee

Low

Inactivity fee

Account opening

1 day

Visit Saxo

62% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Want to unlock your perfect broker match?

Saxo deposit fee

Usually, brokers don't charge anything for deposits, and Saxo is no different.

Saxo deposit methods
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
Bank transfer Bank transfer is available for deposit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Credit/debit card Credit/debit cards are available for deposit	Yes Not available to CEE clients	Yes	No IBKR debit cards are available for US customers
Electronic wallets Electronic wallets are available for deposit	No	No	No
Deposit fee	$0 Free deposit	$0 Free bank deposit, but for credit/debit cards, between 2.2% and 2.5% charged	$0 Free deposit

Data updated on December 23, 2024

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62% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Saxo withdrawal fee

Saxo generally doesn't charge a withdrawal fee.

Saxo withdrawal fees and options compared
	Saxo Saxo	Swissquote Swissquote	Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
Bank transfer Bank transfer is available for deposit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Credit/debit card Credit/debit cards are available for deposit	Yes Not available to CEE clients	Yes	No IBKR debit cards are available for US customers
Electronic wallets Electronic wallets are available for deposit	No	No	No
Withdrawal fee for bank transfer Fee for withdrawing money from the broker account. It is zero if you can withdraw money for free via any method, e.g. credit/debit card or bank transfer.	$0 Free withdrawal	$10 CHF 2/€2/$10 dependent on currency	$0 One free per month, after that $10

Data updated on December 23, 2024

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62% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Saxo inactivity fee

Saxo 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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62% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 62% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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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.