Summary
Recommended for active CFD and FX traders, and investors preferring intuitive trading platforms
Trading 212 is a global CFD and FX broker, but clients can also invest in stock and ETF free of charge. The company was founded in 2004 and now headquartered in London. Trading 212 is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC).
Trading 212 is considered safe as it is regulated by the top-tier FCA.
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% 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.
Trading 212 pros and cons
Trading 212 provides commission-free stock and ETFs. The account opening is fully online, straightforward, and quick. Trading 212's web and mobile trading platforms are easy to use and well-designed.
On the negative side, the product portfolio is limited and popular asset classes, like options or bonds, are missing. The research tools for fundamental analysis are basic. Lastly, the fees for EURUSD are high.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Real stocks and ETFs are commission-free | • Limited product portfolio |
| • Quick and easy account opening | • Basic tools for fundamental analysis |
| • Great trading platform | • High EURUSD fee |
| 🗺️ Country of regulation | UK, Bulgaria |
| 💰 Trading fees class | Low |
| 💰 Inactivity fee charged | No |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee amount | $0 |
| 💰 Minimum deposit | $1 |
| 🕖 Time to open an account | 1 day |
| 💳 Deposit with credit/debit card | Available |
| 👛 Depositing with electronic wallet | Available |
| 💱 Number of base currencies supported | 9 |
| 🎮 Demo account provided | Yes |
| 🛍️ Products offered | Stock, ETF, Forex, CFD, Crypto |
Author of this review
Trading 212 review
Fees
Trading 212 has commission-free stock and ETFs and low CFD fees. It's also great that there are no fees for deposit, withdrawal, and inactivity. On the other hand, high fees are charged for EURUSD trading.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Free stock and ETF | • High fees for EURUSD |
| • Low CFD fees | |
| • No withdrawal and inactivity fee |
| Assets | Fee level | Fee terms |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 CFD | Low | The fees are built into spread, 0.1 is the average spread cost. |
| Europe 50 CFD | Low | The fees are built into spread, 4.2 is the average spread cost. |
| EURUSD | High | The fees are built into spread, 0.8 pips is the average spread cost. |
| Inactivity fee | Low | No inactivity fee |
How we ranked fees
We ranked Trading 212's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.
To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, and non-trading fees.
- Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
- Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.
In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of Trading 212 for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading the most important fees are spreads, commissions and financing rates.
We also compared Trading 212's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, eToro and XTB. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of Trading 212 alternatives.
To have a clear overview of Trading 212, let's start with the trading fees.
Trading 212 trading fees
Trading 212 trading fees are low. We also like how transparently Trading 212 displays the fees. For example, the daily swap rates are available and can be easily accessed through the website or the trading platform.
We know it's hard to compare trading fees for CFD brokers. So how did we approach the problem of making their fees clear and comparable? We compare brokers by calculating all the fees of a typical trade for selected products.
We have chosen popular instruments within each asset class:
- Stock index CFDs: SPX and EUSTX50
- Stock CFDs: Apple and Vodafone
- Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF and EURGBP
A typical trade means buying a leveraged position, holding it for one week and then selling. For the volume, we chose a $2,000 position for the stock index and stock CFDs and $20,000 for the forex transactions. The leverage we used was:
- 20:1 for stock index CFDs
- 5:1 for stock CFDs
- 30:1 for forex
These catch-all benchmark fees include spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers. Let's see the verdict for Trading 212 fees.
Stock and ETF fees
As a unique service on the market, Trading 212 offers zero-commission real stock and ETF. Trading 212, which is primarily a CFD broker, also lets you trade with real stocks and ETFs if you open a Trading 212 Invest account.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US stock | $0.0 | $0.0 | $10.0 |
| UK stock | $0.0 | $0.0 | $10.0 |
| German stock | $0.0 | $0.0 | $8.8 |
CFD fees
Trading 212 has generally low CFD trading fees. The fees are a bit higher than eToro's but much cheaper than XTB's.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 index CFD fee | $2.6 | $2.4 | $2.0 |
| Europe 50 index CFD fee | $3.9 | $2.7 | $2.2 |
| Apple CFD fee | $10.5 | $6.3 | $17.9 |
| Vodafone CFD fee | $4.5 | - | $20.9 |
Forex fees
Trading 212 forex fees are average. There are some currency pairs, such as GBPUSD or AUDUSD, which have competitive fees. However, some major currencies, like EURUSD has high fees.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $19.6 | $19.6 | $15.0 |
| GBPUSD benchmark fee | $12.8 | $16.2 | $11.1 |
| AUDUSD benchmark fee | $8.5 | $12.4 | $10.0 |
| EURCHF benchmark fee | $16.1 | $11.8 | $6.6 |
| EURGBP benchmark fee | $17.4 | $19.9 | $9.9 |
Non-trading fees
Trading 212 has low non-trading fees. It doesn't charge fees any account, inactivity, deposit, or withdrawal fee.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account fee | No | No | No |
| Inactivity fee | No | Yes | No |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $5 | $0 |
Trading 212 review
Account opening
The account opening process is straightforward, user friendly and quick. Our account was verified within one business day.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Fast | • Problems with verification |
| • Fully digital | |
| • No minimum deposit |
Can you open an account?
Accounts can be opened globally with Trading 212. There are some exceptions though, e.g. US or Canadian customers can't open an account.
What is the minimum deposit with Trading 212?
The required Trading 212 minimum deposit is $1 for CFD accounts and $10 for Invest or ISA accounts. It's great for customers to prefer trading or investing in small amounts. There are brokers, which require a $10,000 minimum deposit.
Account Types
Trading 212 provides three account types, which differ in the assets you can trade with and the countries where they're available in:
| CFD account | Invest account | ISA account | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Countries where available | All countries | All countries | UK |
| Available products | CFDs | Real stock and ETF | Real stock and ETF |
Unfortunately, corporate accounts are not available.
How to open your account
The account opening process is easy and fully digital. The account is usually verified within one business day for us. However, during one testing, we had problems with uploading the documents and the account opening took 3 business days.
The account opening steps at Trading 212:
- Provide your country of residence and add personal details, like your email address or date of birth.
- Add tax information, like the country where you pay taxes or your tax ID.
- Select the account type and the account base currency.
- Answer questions about your financial status, employment status, and trading experience.
- Accept the terms and conditions, then activate your account by verifying your identity and residency.
To activate your trading account, you will need to identify yourself by sending Trading 212 your:
- Proof of identity - national ID, passport, and driver's license are accepted
- Proof of address - they accept bank statement or utility bill issued in the last three month
During one of our testings, we had a problem with uploading proof of address. Trading 212's system rejected three times as it couldn't recognize the address. We had to write to customer support to solve the problem. After we contacted them, they could solve the problem within a few hours.
Trading 212 review
Deposit and withdrawal
Trading 212's deposits and withdrawals are free, fast, and can be done in several forms. On the negative side, there are only a few account base currencies available in one country.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Credit/Debit card available | • Few base currencies available in one country |
| • Free withdrawal | |
| • No deposit fee |
Account base currencies
Trading 212 supports the following account base currencies: GBP, EUR, USD, RON, PLN, CHF, NOK, SEK, CZK. However, among them, only 2-3 account base currencies, usually the local currencies plus USD, are available in one country. For example, GBP, EUR, and USD in the UK.
This account base currency selection is better than XTB's or eToro's.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of base currencies | 9 | 1 | 4 |
Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.
A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. Revolut or Transferwise both 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.
Deposit fees and options
Trading 212 charges no deposit fees. Besides bank transfer, you can use credit/debit cards, and the following electronic wallets:
- Google Pay
- PayPal
- Skrill
- ApplePay
- Skrill
- Dotpay
- Giropay
- Carte Bleue
- Direct eBanking
- iDEAL
Among these electronic wallets, not all of them is available in all countries. It's not transparent which one available where.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.
You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.
Trading 212 withdrawal fees and options
Similarly to deposit, Trading 212 charges no withdrawal fees.
You can use the same options to withdraw as to deposit.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | Yes | Yes | No |
| Electronic wallets | Yes | Yes | No |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $5 | $0 |
How long does it take to withdraw money from Trading 212? We tested the debit card withdrawal and it took 1 business day.
You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.
How do you withdraw money from Trading 212?
- Log into your account
- Click on 'Manage funds'
- Enter your password
- Select the withdrawal amount
- Confirm the withdrawal request
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Trading 212 review
Web trading platform
Trading 212 has a user-friendly and customizable web trading platform. Small weakness is the lack of two-step authentication and the range of available order types.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • User-friendly | • No two-step (safer) login |
| • Good search function | |
| • Good customizability (for charts, workspace) |
| Trading platform | Score | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Web | 4.4 stars | Yes |
| Mobile | 4.4 stars | Yes |
| Desktop | - | No |
Trading 212 has its own developed web trading platform. The platform is available in a couple of languages:
| English | German | Dutch | Spanish | French | Italian |
| Polish | Russian | Romanian | Arabian | Chinese |
Look and feel
Trading 212 web trading platform is well-designed and user-friendly. You will find it very easy to use, even if have less experience.
The platform has great customizability, you can easily change the position and size of the tabs.
Login and security
Trading 212 provides only one-step authentication. A two-step authentication would be more secure.
Search functions
Trading 212's search functions work well. You can easily search by typing the name of the products or you can search through pre-built categories, such as stocks or indices.
Placing orders
The CFD and Invest Accounts have different order types and order time limits:
| CFD account | Invest/ISA accounts | |
|---|---|---|
| Market | Yes | Yes |
| Limit | Yes | Yes |
| Stop | Yes | Yes |
| Stop limit | No | Yes |
| OCO | Yes | No |
| Good until the end of day / canceled | No | Yes |
If you are not familiar with the basic order types, read this overview.
If you click on buy or sell an asset, you will see a trade ticket. It's useful as it shows the important details of the order, like margin, swap rates, or stamp duty at UK real stocks.
Alerts and notifications
You can set price alerts and notifications, such as notification about executed order important news or margin calls. These alerts are pop up messages on the web platform. It would be better if you can also set to get notifications through email or SMS.
Portfolio and fee reports
Trading 212 has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can access them if you click on your username and then choose the 'Report'. You can check your results, interest (swap points) charged or earned, cash balance, and many others.
Trading 212 review
Mobile trading platform
Trading 212's mobile trading platform is great. It's user-friendly and well-designed. We also liked the search functions and the ease of setting price alerts or giving orders. On the negative side, it does not support two -factor authentication, nor any of the biometric identification technologies.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • User-friendly | • No two-step (safer) login |
| • Good search function | • No Touch/Face ID login |
| • Price alerts |
The Trading 212 mobile platform is available for both Android and iOS. We tested the mobile app on Android. It's available in the same languages as the web trading platform.
Look and feel
The Trading 212 mobile trading platform is user-friendly and well-designed. Overall, we had a great experience when used the mobile app.
Login and security
Trading 212 provides only one-step authentitation. A two-step authentication would be more secure.
Moreover, biometric authentitacion solutions, like touch-ID or face recognition are missing as well.
Search functions
Just like the at the web trading platform, search functions on Trading 212 mobile platform work well. You'll find assets very quickly and easily.
Placing orders
You can use the same order types and time limits as on the web trading platform.
Alerts and notifications
Price alerts and notifications are available, they will work as push notifications. Although, price alerts sent to SMS, or e-mail is is absent from the options.
Trading 212 review
Desktop trading platform
Trading 212 does not offer a desktop trading platform.
Trading 212 review
Markets and products
Trading 212's product selection focuses mainly on CFDs, forex and crypto assets. There are also real stock and ETFs available. Popular asset classes like bonds, mutual funds, options, and futures are not available.
Although Trading 212 offers real stocks and ETFs, it is considered to be primarily a CFD and forex broker. To learn more about CFDs, read our CFD trading tips.
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% 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.
Trading 212 has wide forex, commodity CFD, and crypto selection. The stock CFD and stock index CFD selections are average, while the number of ETF CFD is low
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Currency pairs (#) | 160 | 47 | 49 |
| Stock index CFDs (#) | 23 | 13 | 42 |
| Stock CFDs (#) | 1,700 | 1,900 | 1,700 |
| ETF CFDs (#) | 28 | 145 | 103 |
| Commodity CFDs (#) | 26 | 6 | 18 |
| Cryptos (#) | 16 | 17 | 25 |
Unfortunately, the level of leverage can not be set in the application.
Changing the leverage manually gives an extra kick to your risk management on what every trader should be extremely focused on. For example, instead of trading with 5:1 leverage, only trade with 2:1 leverage in case of stock CFDs. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as the preset leverage levels are high.
Stocks and ETFs
You can also invest in real stock and ETFs. The available stock and ETF portfolio may seem a bit limited compared to other brokers but you still have more than 3000 instruments to pick from. Sometimes more is not necessarily better.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock markets (#) | 7 | 16 | 17 |
| ETFs (#) | 200 | 145 | 170 |
Trading 212 review
Research
Trading 212 updates its users with daily trading ideas, offers great charting tools. On the other side, Trading 212 falls a bit behind when it comes to in-depth fundamental analyses, fundamental data flow or receiving Bloomberg/Reuters like newsfeed into your trading application.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Good interactive chart | • No fundamental data available |
| • Trading ideas | • No/poor quality news flow |
| • User-friendly |
You can find research tools both on the web and mobile trading platforms. The research tools are available in the same languages as the trading platforms' languages.
Trading ideas
Trading 212 provides basic daily technical updates. We recommend you to do your homework and do your own analysis or complete Trading 212's TA tips with other sources.
Fundamental data
One of the weaknesses of Trading 212 is that the company does not provide fundamental analyses or fundamental data for the available products.
For example, if you are interested in the P/E ratio of Apple or you want to look up historical US employment rates, you will need to find alternative sources.
Charting
Charting is one of the strengths of Trading 212's trading platforms. Almost all the necessary technical analysis studies are available, more than 60 technical indicators help your trading decisions.
News feed
Trading 212's news feed is limited. You can find only some basic news, statistics, or technical analysis for the different products. Trading 212 does not have its own market analyst team.
On the other hand, we liked the economic calendar. It's helpful to see the most important events. It's also great that you can filter by impact and currency pairs.
Trading 212 review
Customer service
As per our experience, the customer service of Trading 212 is adequate. We received relevant and fast information on our questions, the staff has been helpful and straightforward. The live chat feature is currently not available due to high volume of customer inquiries.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Phone support | • No live chat due to high volume |
| • Relevant answers | |
| • 24/7 availability |
You can contact Trading 212 via:
- Phone
Email support works well. When we contacted Trading 212 via email, they sent prompt and fast answers. They didn't beat around the bush and didn't send lengthy unnecessary messages, just the clear answers.
Trading 212 phone support was average-speed, but the answers we received were relevant. The slower response time is likely due to the high customer volume many broker companies experienced in March.
The customer service is available 7/24.
Trading 212 review
Education
Trading 212 helps with several written and video tutorials on how to use their trading platforms, what are the basic contexts of trading. Great for beginner traders, not that much for others with some trading experience. The only thing we missed is webinars.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Demo account | • No webinars |
| • Trading platform tutorial | |
| • Educational videos |
At Trading 212 you can choose out of the options below if you want to develop your trading skills:
- Demo account
- Platform tutorial videos
- General educational videos
- Quality educational articles
The education materials you can find on Trading 212's website is advised to check out. They explain how to use their trading platform in much detail and in an easy to understand way.
Trading 212 review
Safety
Trading 212 is regulated by the top-tier FCA and provides negative balance protection for leveraged trading. However, the company is not listed on any stock exchange and doesn't have any banking background.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Majority of clients belong to a top-tier financial authority | • Does not hold a banking license |
| • Negative balance protection | • Not listed on stock exchange |
| • Financial information is not publicly available |
Trading 212 was originally established in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2004 and opened their London, UK office in 2013. Since that time the London entity is considered as its headquarter.
Is Trading 212 regulated?
Yes, it is regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and Bulgaria' Financial Supervision Commission. As per now, Trading 212 is not under the regulation of any other FSA.
Is Trading 212 safe?
To be certain, we highly advise that you check two facts:
- how you are protected if something goes wrong
- what the background of the broker is
How you are protected
Depending on with which legal entity you open your trading account with, different compensation schemes apply:
| Client country | Investor protection amount | Regulator | Legal entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom, Germany | £85,000 | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | Trading 212 UK Limited (UK) |
| Other countries | 90% of your funds but at most €20 000 | Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) | Trading 212 Ltd |
An important point to highlight is that Trading 212 offers negative account balance protection under the ESMA rules. It means that you can't lose more than your account value (in case of some brokers, negative account balance protection is secured, meaning that your leveraged positions can cause you more loss than your total account value)
Background
Trading 212 was established in 2004. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.
Being regulated by the top-tier FCA and being in operation for a long time are all great signs for Trading 212's safety.
Trading 212 review
Bottom line
Trading 212 is a CFD and forex broker regulated by multiple financial supervisory authorities.
On the plus side, Trading 212 has commission-free stocks and ETFs. The CFD and non-trading fees are low as well. The account opening is seamless and the trading platforms are user-friendly.
However, Trading 212 has a limited product portfolio, lacking popular asset classes, like bonds or options. We missed research tools for fundamental analysis and the EURUSD fees are high.
Trading 212 is a good choice for those who are interested in investing in equities or trading with leveraged FX and CFD products with the use of a great trading platform.