Stake Review 2023

Stake trading fees

Stake trading fees are low.

We appreciated the fully transparent fee structure.

We compared the fees at Stake with two similar brokers we selected, Freetrade and Alpaca Trading. These competitors were selected based on objective factors like products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed comparison of Stake alternatives.

Stock and ETF fees

Stake has generally low stock and ETF trading fees (commissions).

Australian stocks are available for Australian users only.

Non-trading fees

Stake has low non-trading fees.

The deposit and withdrawal fees below are calculated for $2,000 transfers.

Though there is no deposit or withdrawal fee as such when you deposit in your own currency, Stake charges other non-trading fees, e.g. currency exchange fee, U.S. tax form fee, etc., as described below:

• Express deposit means that you will have access to your USD funds:
  • immediately after the confirmation of the deposit funding request for UK customers,
  • during the next US trading day for Australian customers,
  • immediately after the confirmation of the deposit funding request for New Zealand customers,
  • immediately after confirming the exchange rate of your transfer, if it is before 2 pm (Brasilia time) for Brazilian customers.
• There is a minimum withdrawal amount of $10 in New Zealand

Stake charges no inactivity fee and the basic account has no monthly fee. Clients can choose a premium plan called Stake Black for a monthly fee of $9 (or a yearly fee of $90), which offers some additional services but has a similar fee structure.

How we ranked fees

We ranked Stake's fees as low, average or high based on how they compare to those charged by all the brokers reviewed by us.

There are two basic types of broker fees:

• Trading fees are charged when you trade and may include commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, such as withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

Can you open an account?

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At the time of the review, Stake's services were only available in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the UK.

What is the minimum deposit at Stake?

The required Stake minimum deposit is $50.

That is definitely low compared to some other brokers where the minimum deposit can be $2,000 or more.

Account types

At Stake, clients can choose from two account types. Besides the standard account, you can open a Stake Black account for a monthly fee of $9 ($90 when charged annually). Both types offer an unlimited number of commission-free trades. Stake Black has the same fee structure as the standard account but it also offers a few premium services:

• you can promptly re-invest the proceeds from the sale of your stocks;
• access to detailed fundamental data (company financials, analyst ratings and price targets);
• around 100 OTC stocks to trade.

How to open your account

Clients can open an account on Stake's website or download the Stake App on their phones first.
The process is simple, straightforward and takes only a few minutes. You need to enter your personal data and some additional info (e.g. income and employment details).

Account base currencies

At Stake, the only available base currency is USD.

If you have a personal bank account in a currency other than USD, then you will be charged a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

Stake charges no deposit fees.

Stake charges a deposit fee. Clients from various countries are charged as follows:

• An FX fee, which is 0.5% or minimum $2 for UK customers and the sport rate plus 70 basis points or minimum $2 for AU or NZ clients.
• An extra 0.5% is charged for express top-up, which guarantees that the deposited amount will arrive to your account by the next business day.
• If you transfer USD funds directly to Stake, it will cost you $5 per transfer.

A bank transfer can take several business days. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Credit/debit card deposit is only available for customers from New Zealand.
You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Stake withdrawal fees and options

Stake charges a $2 withdrawal fee for New Zealand clients, otherwise withdrawal is free. However, expect the same FX fees as charged when you deposit.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

*Calculated for a $2,000 withdrawal.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Stake? It could take up to 4 business days.

How do you withdraw money from Stake? Follow the steps described below:

• Go to 'Wallet'
• Click on 'Withdraw'
• Set the amount and the target account
• The FX rate and all applicable fees will appear on the screen before you initiate the transaction

The web trading platform is available in the following languages:

• English
• Portuguese

Look and feel

Login and security

Stake provides a safer, two-step login.

Bear in mind that this is not set by default, you need to download an authenticator app first and enable the feature on your profile page.

Search functions

The search functions are OK.

It is easy to find individual stocks and ETFs, however, the search function lacks any additional features (e.g. filters).

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop

For now, clients cannot set order time limits. Limit orders expire at the end of the U.S. trading day (Stake plans to roll out Good-Till-Cancel orders in the near future). Stop orders expire after 90 days if not executed.

If you are unfamiliar with some of these terms or want to learn more, read our overview of order types.

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set price alerts and notifications on the Stake web trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

Stake has clear fee reports.

You can find these reports if you click on 'Account' followed by 'Reports & Activity'.

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Stake has an in-house developed mobile trading platform. It is simple and easy to use. The platform is available in English and Portuguese.

The mobile trading platform is available in the following languages:

• English
• Portuguese

Look and feel

The Stake mobile trading platform is straightforward and user-friendly. You can easily find all the features it provides.

Login and security

Stake provides a safer, two-step login for its mobile platform.

You receive a one-time-password via email to be used in addition to your personal password when logging in. To get more security you can set up a passcode and enable Face/TouchID on a compatible device, which is a convenient feature.

You can log in using biometric authentication, which is a convenient feature.

Search functions

The search functions are OK.

The platform's search functions are easy to use; simply begin to type an asset's name or ticker to view relevant hits. You can also search for companies based on key-words (e.g. 'Oil Refineries', 'Banks', etc.), a feature we liked quite a bit.
One thing we missed was categorization. It would be great to filter companies based on market capitalization, price level, etc.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types on the mobile trading platform:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop

At the moment, you cannot set order time limits. Limit orders expire at the end of the U.S. trading day (Stake plans to roll out Good-Till-Cancel orders in the near future). Stop orders expire after 90 days if not executed.

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set alerts and notifications on the Stake mobile platform.

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This selection falls behind competing brokers. Both Freetrade and Alpaca Trading offer more stock markets to trade on.

Stake specializes in US stocks, ETFs, and ADRs.

Stocks and ETFs

Stake is specialized in the US market. You can trade more than 6000 stocks, ETFs and ADRs. Stake's team is adding new stocks continuously to the platform.

A great service at Stake is the possibility to buy fractional shares. Instead of buying a whole share, you can buy only a fraction of it; a handy feature for stocks that cost several hundred dollars apiece.

Trading ideas

Stake provides trading ideas.

For Stake Black users, Stake provides equity analyst ratings from various research houses. If you have a base account, you will not have access to these data.
Paid plan (Stake Black) users have access to a detailed overview of ratings and price targets.

Fundamental data

Stake offers fundamental data.

Stake Black users have access to detailed company financials.

Charting

Stake has poor charting tools. There is no technical indicator you can use.

Some other editing tools are also missing, such as a trendline editor.
You can only use a basic chart and view some limited key information, such as changes in the stock price during a given period and the trading range.

News feed

Stake provides news feed from third-party news providers, like Bloomberg or CNBC. If you click on an asset, you'll find the relevant news to that asset. It's great.

Compare research pros and cons

You can contact Stake via:

• email

We received fast responses to our e-email inquiries and the answers were more or less OK.
We missed the 24/7 availability though.
All in all, there is certainly room for improvement in Stake's customer service options.

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At Stake you can learn through the following ways:

• Quality educational articles

You can find a few short educational articles on Stake's website in the 'Stake Academy' section. Besides that, the only educational tool you have is under the 'Support' section of the webpage. There is a selection of easy-to-understand articles about the platform and how the US stock market operates (e.g. market hours, settlement time, taxation, etc.)
We missed other educational tools, like webinars or videos.

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Is Stake regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Is Stake safe?

To be certain that a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• the background of the broker.

How you are protected

Stake transmits client orders to DriveWealth LLC, a company that provides brokerage and execution services to Stake and its customers.
DriveWealth falls under US federal regulation overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Stake's clients are protected up to $500,000 (including up to $250,000 cash) under the Securities Investment Protection Corporation's (SIPC) insurance.

Background

Stake is a young company, established in 2017 in Australia. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Being regulated by multiple top-tier authorities is a good indication for the reliability of Stake.

Find your safe broker

We recommend Stake for beginners and investors looking for free us stocks/etfs and a simple, easy to use trading platform.

Below you can find links to all aspects of Stake in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Stake fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the Stake minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your Stake account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the Stake account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the Stake trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Stake customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Stake legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether Stake is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Stake good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Stake?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Stake guide

I want to trade options, are they available at Stake?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Stake?

What is the minimum account balance at Stake?

Check out the current account balance requirements at Stake in our What is the minimum account balance at Stake article.

Looking for commission and fees data for Stake?

We collected them in Stake commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from Stake?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Stake.