Intro
On the whole, eToro's service is largely on par with Trading 212's, but when putting it all together, eToro comes out on top with a slightly better overall score. Both excel in some categories: in 2022, BrokerChooser named eToro as Best broker for cryptos, while Trading 212 won our Best free trading app award.
Here's a summary of how eToro and Trading 212 compare in some important categories:
eToro | Trading 212 | |
---|---|---|
Overall score | 4.8 stars | 4.6 stars |
Recommended for | Traders interested in social trading (i.e. copying other investors’ trades) and zero commission stock trading | Equity investors and CFD traders looking for easy-to-use trading platforms |
Fees score | 4.4 stars | 3.7 stars |
Deposit and withdrawal score | 3.9 stars | 4.3 stars |
Account opening score | 5.0 stars | 4.5 stars |
Markets and products score | 4.3 stars | 4.1 stars |
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eToro USA LLC; Investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal |
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eToro vs Trading212
Fees and funding
Fees
A comparison of eToro and Trading 212 fees shows that eToro's fees are slightly more favorable overall than Trading 212's.
Both brokers offer commission-free stock and ETF trading, and both have relatively low stock index CFD fees.
Tipping the fee comparison in its favor, eToro charges slightly lower stock CFD fees and significantly lower forex fees than Trading 212. On the other hand, Trading 212 - unlike eToro - doesn't charge withdrawal or inactivity fees.
See how eToro fees are structured and what Trading 212’s fees are on their respective detailed pages.
Deposit and withdrawal
Deposit and withdrawal options at eToro and Trading 212 are fairly similar, as both providers accept bank transfers, credit/debit cards and electronic wallets. However, our test showed that withdrawal was slightly faster at Trading 212, taking just one business day as opposed to two days at eToro.
A further inconvenience at eToro is that it only allows USD as the account base currency - versus a choice of 8 currencies at Trading 212 - and charges a conversion fee if you use a different currency for funding. So all in all, Trading 212 comes out on top in this category.
Platforms and products
Account opening
While account opening is fully online and takes less than a day at both brokers, the process was slightly more smooth and hassle-free at eToro compared to Trading 212 . This makes eToro the winner on this front.
Both brokers require a minimum deposit, but it's fairly small and perfectly tolerable for traders who want to start out with smaller amounts only.
Trading platforms
Our experts rated the web trading platform of eToro as being the same quality as that of Trading 212. Both are well-designed and user-friendly, with great search functions.
A few extra features give Trading 212’s mobile platform a slight edge over eToro, but otherwise both are user-friendly and intuitive.
Neither broker offers a desktop trading platform - a feature mostly targeted at experienced or professional users but not usually missed by a younger generation of casual traders.
Markets and products
You have access to about the same number of markets and asset types with these two providers. eToro has a somewhat smaller ETF and currency pair selection than Trading 212 , but makes up for it by offering crypto, as well as social trading, i.e. the ability to follow and copy other traders' moves. So we would say that eToro has a slightly more well-rounded product selection.
Research, education and support
Research and education
eToro comes out ahead of Trading 212 when comparing research and education tools. Among others, eToro offers higher-quality analysis and trading ideas than Trading 212, and also has a somewhat wider range of education material across its platforms.
Still, the overall quality of education materials at both brokers is high. In addition, both offer demo accounts for the benefit of novice traders, and excellent charting tools for more experienced users.
Customer service
One category where eToro falls far behind Trading 212 is the quality and availability of customer service. Trading 212 offers prompt, helpful and round-the-clock support via email and live chat; whereas eToro can be reached only via an often sluggish web-based ticketing system.