Interactive Brokers vs Trading 212 compared

Online brokers compared for fees, trading platforms, safety and more. See how Interactive Brokers stacks up against Trading 212!

Interactive Brokers
Trading 212
Interactive Brokers
4.9
Trading 212
4.6
68% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Last update of data—Dec 2022

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is a US discount broker. It is listed on a stock exchange and regulated by several authorities, including top-tier ones like the FCA and the SEC.

Recommended for traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment.

Trading 212

Trading 212 is a CFD broker regulated by the UK FCA, Bulgarian FSC, and Cypriot CySEC. Customers can invest in commission-free stock and ETF trading as well.

Recommended for equity investors and CFD traders looking for easy-to-use trading platforms.

Interactive Brokers's service is on par with Trading 212's and a comparison of their fees shows that Interactive Brokers's fees are slightly lower than Trading 212's.

Account opening takes more effort at Interactive Brokers compared to Trading 212, deposit and withdrawal processes are more complicated at Interactive Brokers, while customer service quality is somewhat lower than Trading 212's.

Our experts rated the trading platform of Interactive Brokers as somewhat worse than the platform of Trading 212, found that clients have access to slightly more markets and products with Interactive Brokers, while Trading 212 provides somewhat lower-quality research and education.

*Data marked with an asterisk contain additional info, expand the relevant sections below to see details.

Basic data of broker

Overall Score
4.9

Recommended for Traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment

Best online broker

Overall Score
4.6

Recommended for Equity investors and CFD traders looking for easy-to-use trading platforms

Country of origin

USA

Country of origin

Bulgaria

Fees

Fees score
4.5
Fees score
4.0
Fees summary

Low trading and non-trading fees, free stock and ETF trading for US customers

Fees summary

Commission-free real stocks and ETFs, high CFD fees

Stock and ETF fees

Forex fees

Fund fees

Bond fees

Options fees

Futures fees

Crypto fees

CFD fees

Non-trading fees

Deposit and withdrawal

Deposit and withdrawal score
3.0
Deposit and withdrawal score
4.3
Number of base currencies

23

Number of base currencies

8

Deposit type

Withdrawal type

Account opening

Account opening score
3.2
Account opening score
4.5
Account opening fully online
Account opening fully online
Minimum deposit
*

$0

*
Minimum deposit
*

$0

*
Time to open account

1-3 days

Time to open account

1 day

Required documents

Proof of identity: national ID / passport / driver's license Proof of residency: bank statement / utility bill / driver's license / credit card statement

Required documents

Proof of identity: passport / national ID / driver's licence Proof of address: bank statement / utility bill / mortgage statement / credit card statement

Trading platform

Web platform score
3.8
Web platform score
4.4
Mobile platform score
3.5
Mobile platform score
4.9
Desktop platform score
3.8
Desktop platform score
-

Markets and products

Markets and products score
5.0
Markets and products score
4.1
Stocks
Stocks
Fractional shares
*
*
Fractional shares
*
*
ETFs
ETFs
Forex
Forex
*
*
Funds
Funds
Bonds
Bonds
Options
Options
Futures
Futures
Crypto
*
*
Crypto
*
*
CFDs
CFDs
CFD disclaimer

Disclaimer: 60.0% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

CFD disclaimer

Disclaimer: 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Research, education

Research score
4.3
Research score
3.5
Charting quality

Great

Charting quality

Great

Education score
4.5
Education score
4.0
Demo account
Demo account

Customer service

Customer service score
4.3
Customer service score
5.0
Phone
Phone
Live chat
Live chat
Email
Email
24/7 availability
24/7 availability

Security

Investor protection amount

£85,000 or $500,000 (but only $250,000 for cash) in the UK depending on the assets you hold; $500,000 ($250,000) in the US; €20,000 (IB Ireland & Luxembourg) or €100,000 (IB Central Europe) in the EU, CAD 1 million in Canada; HKD 500,000 in Hong Kong

Investor protection amount

£85,000 for clients under FCA, and €20,000 for clients under CySEC or FSC Bulgaria

Banking background
Banking background
Listed on stock exchange
Listed on stock exchange
Foundation date

1977

Foundation date

2004

Country of regulation

USA, Ireland, UK, Hungary, India, Australia, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore

Country of regulation

UK, Bulgaria, Cyprus

Minimum deposit via bank transfer

-

Minimum deposit via bank transfer

-

Recommended min deposit by broker

-

Recommended min deposit by broker

-

Interactive Brokers

For detailed information and hands-on experience, read our review of this broker.

Trading 212

For detailed information and hands-on experience, read our review of this broker.

*Data marked with an asterisk contain additional info, expand the relevant sections below to see details.

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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.

Brokers displayed might not be available in United States.

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