Intro
XTB is primarily a CFD broker but Europeans can also trade stocks and ETFs commission free (up to €100.000 per month). This is a generous offer from XTB as commission-free trading is only available at a handful of brokers in Europe. XTB's user-friendly and intuitive mobile app and web trading platform and the fact that it provides a demo account make the broker a good choice for beginners.
With respect to safety, XTB is considered reliable because it has a long track record, is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and publishes its financial statements transparently.
🛍️ Products offered | Real stocks and ETFs (only for some European clients), CFD (forex, equity, indices, crypto, commodity) |
💰 XTB trading fees class | Low |
💰 XTB inactivity fee charged | Yes |
💰 XTB withdrawal fee charged | $0 |
🕖 Time to open an account | 1 day |
💰 XTB minimum deposit | $0 |
💳 Depositing with bank card | Yes |
👛 Depositing with electronic wallets | Yes |
🗺️ Country of regulation | UK, Poland, Cyprus, Spain, Belize, Dubai |
📱 Platforms provided | xStation 5 |
🎮 XTB demo account provided | Yes |
If you are unsure what some of these financial terms mean, don't worry, we put together a short glossary at the end of the review.
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.
Is XTB available in your country?
XTB | |
---|---|
Stocks | Yes |
Fractional shares | Yes |
ETFs | Yes |
Forex | Yes |
Stock index CFD | Yes |
Stock CFD | Yes |
Commodity CFD | Yes |
Bond CFD | No |
Crypto | Yes |
Check out the full range of financial assets available for trading at XTB.
XTB review
Fees
Overall, XTB charges low fees. Read on for the details.
Stock and ETF fees
For stock traders, XTB has a good proposition: trade stocks commission-free up to €100k per month. What makes stock trading expensive at XTB is the 0.5% conversion fee, which is really high. You will pay this fee if - for example - your account is in EUR and you want to buy a US stock for USD.
XTB | |
---|---|
$2,000 trade (US stock) | $0.0 |
€2,000 trade (German stock) | $0.0 |
£2,000 trade (UK stock) | $0.0 |
CFD fees
At XTB, CFD fees are either built into the spread or charged as a commission. If you hold your positions overnight, you will need to pay an overnight fee (also called a financing rate or swap cost).
Fee | Fee class | |
---|---|---|
S&P 500 CFD spread | 0.6 | Low |
EURUSD spread | 0.9 | Average |
Apple CFD spread | 0.5 | Low |
Bitcoin CFD commission | €3.50 or $4.00 per trade | Average |
Inactivity, withdrawal and other fees
You will not be charged for account maintenance and you can deposit and withdraw money from your XTB trading account for free if you use debit card for deposit and you withdraw more than $200. However, if there is no activity on your account for a year, XTB will start charging an inactivity fee of €10 per month.
XTB | eToro | Capital.com | |
---|---|---|---|
Inactivity fee | Yes | Yes | No |
Account fee | No | No | No |
Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Withdrawal fee | $0 | $5 | $0 |
Not enough info on XTB spreads, commission, overnight fees? We collected in-depth fee data here.
XTB review
Account opening
- There is only one account type at XTB, called the 'Standard' account.
- Account opening takes 15 minutes with document uploads.
See this guide on what type of documents and info XTB will request to open your account.
If you encounter any problems, reach out to XTB customer support . You can contact them via
- live chat,
- phone,
- and email.
Here's what we think of the XTB customer support after testing the service.
XTB review
Minimum deposit
The minimum deposit at XTB is $0.
When you open an acount at XTB, you can select one of the following base currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, as well as HUF (Hungarian forint) and PLN (Polish zloty).
You can deposit money to your XTB trading account via:
- bank transfer,
- credit/debit cards,
- e-wallets (Skrill/Paysafe, SafetyPay, Neteller).
Deposits by bank transfer and credit/debit card are free, the fee for using an e-wallet is 1-2% of the deposited amount.
Check out this step-by-step guide on how to deposit money at XTB..
XTB review
Withdrawal fees and options
You can withdraw money from your XTB account free of charge above a certain amount (typically $50 or €200, depending on your country).
XTB only supports withdrawal by bank transfer. The money will be transferred to your bank account in one business day in most cases.
XTB review
Safety
Is XTB a safe choice? How can I tell if XTB is a safe broker?
- XTB has a relatively long track record having been established in 2002. It has successfully survived previous financial crises.
- XTB is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, which is a big plus in terms of safety as the broker needs to comply with certain regulatory requirements and must release its financial statements regularly and transparently.
- XTB is overseen by the UK's FCA, one of the most respected regulators worldwide.
- As an extra measure of security, XTB clients are entitled to negative balance protection. Negative balance protection means that you can't lose more money than what is on your account, i.e. you won't owe any money to your broker if your leveraged trades go south.
What happens if XTB goes bankrupt?
In the unlikely event of insolvency, you may be eligible for compensation from your country’s investor compensation scheme.
Country of clients | Investor protection amount | Regulator |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | £85,000 | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) |
Cyprus and Hungary | €20,000 | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (‘CySEC’) |
Spain | €20,000 | National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) |
Other EU clients | €20,100 | Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) |
United Arab Emirates | No protection | Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) |
Other countries | No protection | International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC) |
Still not convinced that your money is safe with XTB? Our article on XTB's safety profile will put your mind at ease.
XTB review
xStation 5 is great but MetaTrader not available
XTB has its own trading platform, called xStation 5. The MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms are not available at XTB.
XTB trading platform - xStation 5 | |
---|---|
2-step login on the xStation 5 web platform | No |
Order types on the xStation 5 web platform | Market, Limit / Stop, Stop-loss / Take-profit, Trailing stop |
Number of technical indicators | 39 |
We tested the XTB app as well as the Web and desktop platforms with real money. See how we liked the experience in the articles below.
Score | More info | |
---|---|---|
xStation 5 score | 4.4 stars | Read more about XTB xStation 5 |
Mobile platform score | 4.4 stars | Read more about the XTB app |
Research score | 4.8 stars | Read more about research tools at XTB |
XTB review
XTB is great for beginner traders
XTB is a good choice for beginners. The trading platforms are easy to use, the fee structure is straightforward and the broker runs a superb education section. You can learn about trading and investing using the following tools:
- Demo account
- Platform tutorial videos
- General educational videos
- Webinars
- Quality ebooks and educational articles
Still wondering whether XTB is good for beginners? See what our experts have to say about it. We also put together a detailed guide on the various educational tools available at XTB.
If you are not convinced that XTB is a good broker for you, continue reading to see the best alternatives that our team of experts recommends.
XTB review
Compare XTB to alternatives
XTB is a great choice for CFD and FX traders globally as the broker charges low fees for trading CFDs and FX. Europeans can also buy and sell stocks and ETFs commission-free up to €100k per month.
If, for some reason, XTB is not the broker you are looking for, here are some other brokerages that have a similar profile but still offer different services.
Info | Recommended for | |
---|---|---|
XTB | Global CFD broker | Forex and CFD traders looking for low fees and great deposit/withdrawal service |
eToro | Global social trading broker | Traders interested in social trading (i.e. copying other investors’ trades) and zero commission stock trading |
Capital.com | Global CFD broker | Investors and CFD traders looking for a great trading platform and excellent customer service |
IG | Global CFD and forex broker | Traders of any experience level looking for an easy-to-use trading platform |
Plus500 | Global CFD broker | Experienced traders looking for an easy-to-use platform and a great user experience |
Check whether XTB is better than its competitors.
XTB review
Glossary
Not sure what some of the terminology means? Here are the most important and relevant terms used in our review:
CFD: short for contract for difference. When you trade CFDs, you speculate whether the price of a particular financial asset (i.e. a stock index, commodity or a currency pair) will increase or decrease in value. You essentially bet on whether the price will rise or fall and if your bet is right, your trade will make a profit.
Deposit fee: a fee that is charged when you send money to your trading account at a broker. The fee may differ depending on the method of transfer (i.e. bank card, bank transfer, e-wallets, etc.).
Inactivity fee: a fee that is charged when a customer has not done any buying or selling on their brokerage account for a specific amount of time determined by the brokerage.
Investor protection: a guarantee that - up to a certain limit - you will get your money back if the broker goes bankrupt or commits fraud. Read more details about investor protection.
Non-trading fees: charges not directly related to trading, such as deposit/withdrawal fees or the inactivity fee.
Overnight fee: also called overnight rate, financing rate or swap fee. It is a brokerage fee charged when you hold a leveraged position for more than a day. If you open an Islamic/swap-free account, you won’t pay overnight fees, but usually you will pay higher spread fees.
Regulators: entities typically established by governments to oversee the functioning and fairness of financial markets. They lay out rules and regulations for financial market participants to ensure investors are not fooled by scams, and in case of wrongdoing, they try to provide some level of financial and legal backing.
Spread: the difference between the buy and the sell price, or in other words, the bid and the ask price.
Trading fees: fees charged by your brokers when you make a trade. Trading fees include commissions, spreads, financing rates, margin rates or conversion fees. For a better understanding of these very important charges, head on to our article on brokerage fees.
XTB review
FAQ
Free or premium? Or both?
A glance at actual costs and whether XTB is really free.
Looking for commission and fees data for XTB?
We collected them in XTB commission and fees.
Are you interested in trading stocks?
See how much stock trading costs, and what stocks are available at XTB.
I want to trade options, are they available at XTB?
We explored the topic in Can you trade options on XTB?
Should you buy your silver bullets on XTB?
Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on XTB guide.
What is the minimum account balance at XTB?
Check out the current account balance requirements at XTB in our What is the minimum account balance at XTB article.