In our Trading 212 review, we will explain what are their pros and cons, so you can decide whether you should deposit with them or choose another broker.
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
They offer stock and ETFs with 0% commission. Signing up and account creation is simple, fast, and entirely online. Trading platforms for the web and smartphones are well-designed and user-friendly.
The downside is its product portfolio. It’s a bit limited, and some favored assets, such as options and bonds, aren’t applicable. Besides, the research tools for analysis are elementary. Finally, charges for EURUSD are a bit high.
They have no-commission stocks and low CFD fees. Also, no deposit, withdrawal, and inactivity fees. Unfortunately, it charges relatively high fees for EURUSD trading.
All broker fees can be classified into two groups: trading and non-trading. The former occurs when you trade and include commissions, spreads, financing rates, and conversion fees. The latter include changes that aren’t directly linked with trading, such as withdrawal or inactivity fees.
When it comes to fees, they are generally low. Besides, the company displays its fees absolutely transparently. You can quickly assess the daily swap rates via the website or trading platform.
Since it offers a unique service on the market, Trading 212 has 0% commission for real stocks and ETF. As mainly CFD broker, the company allows you to trade with both real stocks and ETF if you have a registered the investment account.
Stock and ETF commission of a $2,000 trade:
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
| US stock | $0 | $0 | $10.0 |
| UK stock | $0 | $0 | $10.0 |
| German stock | $0 | $0 | $8.8 |
Generally, this broker has low fees.
| 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 |
Regarding forex, their fees are average. Some currency pairs like GBPUSD or AUDUSD tend to have competitive fees. but primary currencies like EURUSD do have 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 |
Trading charges no fees for an account, inactivity, deposit, or withdrawal.
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
| Account fee | No | No | No |
| Inactivity fee | No | Yes | No |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $5 | $0 |
The process for opening the account is quite simple, fast, and user-friendly. It takes about one business day to be verified.
The company accepts traders from nearly all countries in the world except for the USA and Canada.
Trading 212 requires a minimum deposit of $1 for CFD accounts and $10 for Invest or ISA accounts. This is an excellent sum for clients who don’t want to trade or invest in massive amounts.
This broker offers three account types, with the main differences in the assets you trade with, as well as the countries where they’re available. Sadly, corporate accounts aren’t applicable yet.
CFD account Invest account ISA account
Countries where available All countries All countries UK
Available products CFDs Real stock, ETF Real stock, ETF
Setting up an account is relatively quick and straightforward. It typically takes one business day to verify it.
To open the account, follow these steps:
To activate the account, you need to verify your identity and sent the following to the company:
In case you encounter any issues, you can contact the customer service, and they’ll resolve it as soon as possible.
The company’s withdrawals and deposits are free and fast. You can deposit or withdraw your money in a few ways. The only drawback is the lack of available currencies — the choice is minimal.
This broker accepts the following currencies: GBP, EUR, USD, RON, PLN, CHF, NOK, SEK, CZK. But only 2-3 of them, typically the local ones, plus USD, are applicable in one country. For instance, the UK accepts GBP, EUR, and USD.
Base currencies at Trading 212 vs similar brokers:
| eToro | Plus500 | Trading 212 | |
| Number of base currencies | 1 | 10 | 9 |
The choice of base currencies is essential for two reasons. Namely, if you finance your account in the same currency as your bank or if the assets are in the same currency as your trading account, you don’t pay a conversion fee.
A practical way to prevent losing money on conversion fees is to open a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. Revolut and Transferwise offer convenient bank accounts in several currencies. Plus, they provide excellent exchange rates and cheap or even free international bank transfers.
They are never charging for deposit fees. Besides bank transfer, you can use credit/debit cards and the following electronic wallets:
Keep in mind that not all wallets are applicable in all countries.
Deposit options:
| Trading 212 | eToro | XTB | |
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/Debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A bank transfer may take a few business days, whereas credit/debit card payments are instant. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.
Similarly to deposit, this broker charges no withdrawal fees. You can use the same options to withdraw as to deposit.
Trading 212 withdrawal fees and options:
| 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 |
It takes one business day to withdraw money from your account using the debit card.
Withdrawing your money is relatively straightforward and takes a few steps:
Note that you can withdraw money to accounts in your name.
This broker has a user-friendly and customizable web trading platform. A tiny drawback is the lack of two-step authentication and the range of available order types.
They have their own developed web trading platform available in several languages:
Their web trading platform is well-designed and user-friendly. It’s straightforward to use and navigate, even if you don’t have much experience. The platform is also easy to customize in terms of changing the position and size of the tabs.
This broker provides only one-step authentication even though a two-step authentication would be far more secure.
Their search functions work well. You can easily search by typing the name of the product name through pre-built categories, such as stocks or indices.
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 the day / canceled | No | Yes |
You can set price alerts and notifications, such as notification about an executed order, important news, or margin calls. These alerts are in the form of pop up messages on the web platform. It would be better if you can also set to get notifications via email or SMS.
This broker has a clear portfolio and fee reports. You can access them by clicking on your username and then choosing the ‘Report.’ Here you can check your results, interest (swap points) charged or earned, cash balance, etc.
Their mobile trading platform is excellent. It’s user-friendly and well-designed. Search functions and the ease of setting price alerts or giving orders are great. The drawback is the lack of two-factor authentication and biometric identification technologies.
The mobile platform is available for Android and iOS
The mobile trading platform is user-friendly and well-designed.
This broker provides only one-step authentication, though a two-step login would be more secure. Biometric authentication solutions, like touch-ID or face recognition, are also not available.
Search functions on their mobile platform function well. You’ll find assets very quickly and easily.
You can use the same order types and time limits as on the web trading platform.
They do not provide a desktop trading platform.
Thier product choice concentrates primarily on CFDs, forex, and crypto-assets. There are also real stock and ETFs available. Unfortunately, popular asset classes, such as bonds, mutual funds, options, and futures, are not available.
Although this broker offers real stocks and ETFs, it is considered a CFD and forex broker. Trading 212 has comprehensive forex, commodity CFD, and crypto selection. The stock CFD and stock index CFD selections are average, while the number of ETF CFD is low.
| eToro | Trading 212 | XTB | |
| Currency pairs (#) | 47 | 160 | 49 |
| Stock index CFDs (#) | 13 | 23 | 42 |
| Stock CFDs (#) | 1900 | 1700 | 1700 |
| ETF CFDs (#) | 145 | 28 | 103 |
| Commodity CFDs (#) | 6 | 26 | 18 |
| Cryptos (#) | 17 | 16 | 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. This is what each trader should focus on. For instance, instead of trading with 5:1 leverage, you should only trade with 2:1 leverage in case of stock CFDs. Be cautious with forex and CFD trading, as the present leverage levels are relatively high.
They allow you to 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.
This broker frequently updates its clients with fresh trading ideas. Also, it offers excellent charting tools. But, regarding in-depth fundamental analyses, fundamental data flow, and receiving newsfeed, the company tends to fall behind slightly.
They offer essential daily technical updates. It would be wise to carry out your own analysis or complete TA tips using various sources.
One of the weaknesses is that the company doesn’t offer fundamental analyses or fundamental data for the available products. So, if you’re interested in the P/E ratio of Apple, or you’d like to investigate the US employment rate throughout history, you’ll have to find alternative sources.
Charting is among the fundamental strengths of their trading platforms. Almost all necessary technical analysis studies are available, and over 60 technical indicators are at your disposal to help you make trading decisions.
Unfortunately, their news feed is somewhat limited. You can discover some essential news, statistics, or technical analysis for the different products. The company doesn’t have its market analyst team.
On the other hand, the economic calendar is superb. It’s helpful to see the most important events. Also, it offers you a chance to filter data by impact and currency pairs.
Their customer service is adequate. You can quickly get relevant information and answers to your questions. Also, the staff is helpful and straightforward. The live chat feature is currently not available because of the high volume of customer inquiries.
You can contact them via email or phone.
Email support functions quite well. Customer support sends prompt and fast replies. They don’t send unnecessary long messages, just clear answers.
Phone support is average-speed, but the answers are relevant. The slower response time is possible because of the high customer volume. Many broker companies experienced it in March.
The customer service is available 24/7.
This broker offers written and video tutorials on using their trading platforms and the primary trading contexts. This is excellent for beginners; however, it doesn’t mean much for experienced traders.
What the company might consider including is webinars, as many clients could greatly benefit from them.
If you want to improve your trading skills, you have the following options at your disposal:
They are 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.
Trading 212 is a CFD and forex broker regulated by multiple financial supervisory authorities. The advantages of the company include commission-free stocks and ETFs and low CFD and non-trading fees. The account opening is seamless, and the trading platforms are user-friendly.
On the negative side, the company has a limited product portfolio and lacks popular asset classes, such as bonds or options. Also, there are no tools for fundamental analysis, and the EURUSD fees are high.
Trading 212 is the right choice for those interested in investing in equities or trading with leveraged FX and CFD products of a great trading platform. In case you are interested in reading more broker reviews, head back to Our Brokers page.
