Is Charles Schwab available in Europe? Alternatives in 2025

Founded in 2007,  eToro is an international online broker with over 30 million users who can trade over 3,000 financial assets, including stocks, ETFs, Cryptos, and CFDs on Stocks, ETFs, Commodities, Forex, and Indices. ETFs are traded commission-free, as a whole, or fractional shares (other fees apply). US, EU and UK stocks have a commission of $1 per trade.

eToro’s investment platform, accessible through both web and mobile platforms, is a social trading hub. Here, investors can engage in discussions about investments, speculations, and market news with fellow investors. eToro also allows users to replicate trading strategies (CopyTrader™) and invest in ready-made investment portfolios (Smart Portfolios) based on thematic investment strategies.

The demo account is particularly useful for a beginner ($100,000 of virtual money). It lets you have a real experience hands-on as you would be using real money. So, when switching to a real account, you will notice no difference between your training and the real-life of investing. On the downside, there is a withdrawal of $5. Still, eToro is probably the best alternative you have to Charles Schwab in Europe.

eToro is fully regulated and supervised by top-tier regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia. The subsidiary in Europe, formerly known as “eToro (Europe) Ltd,” is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC).

For more details, visit our eToro review.

Interactive Brokers is an exceptional broker available to European traders and investors. The Trader Workstation (TWS) of Interactive Brokers is one of the top trading platforms in Europe. It caters both to beginners and professional investors looking for educational materials and an easy to use platform and advanced technical and fundamental trading tools and for in-depth research.

Due to its sophisticated and powerful tools, the wide range of products available for trading, and its low prices, Interactive Brokers normally attracts advanced traders. However, the mobile app IBKR GlobalTrader app is user-friendly and more suitable for beginners, simplifying investments without losing the powerful tools for which the broker is famous.

Interactive Brokers offers attractive features such as low commissions on US stocks, a demo account for practising investments, a wide range of tradable assets, and trading in EUR€. All of which makes it a great alternative to Charles Schwab for investors in Europe. Take a look at our full Interactive Brokers review for more details.

Founded in 2002, XTB presents itself as a market player with extensive worldwide experience, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – and other local regulators like BaFin – and listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The platform offers 0% commissions on stocks in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. However, its software is more oriented to CFDs and forex trading.

XTB also offers other financial products, such as commodities and cryptocurrencies. XTB charges high commissions on CFDs of cryptocurrencies but low costs for Forex. One major downside is that you’ll face an inactivity fee of €10/month after one year of non-trading or if you have not made any deposit in the last 90 days. 

Opening an account and transferring money is a quick and hassle-free process (demo account available). You can get started with just €1, which is much lower than the $25,000 Europeans need to open an international account with Charles Schwab. Take a look at our full XTB review for more details.

Freedom24, part of the Freedom Holding Corp., has emerged as a cost-effective brokerage option for retail investors compared to traditional brokerage firms. This broker provides access to a diverse range of global financial products, including stocks, ETFs, bonds, futures, and options. 

The platform’s web and mobile interfaces are intuitive and straightforward, complemented by market analysis tools (“Investideas”) and educational resources (“Freedom Academy”) to support investment decisions. Furthermore, it offers a signup promotion of up to 20 free stocks.

With no minimum deposit, it presents two pricing plans: “Prime in EUR”, which you can get access to a personal manager and “Smart in EUR”, which is more adequate for investors with lower trading volumes. On the downside, it charges a withdrawal fee of €7 and offers no cryptocurrencies.

Freedom Finance Europe Ltd is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). In the unlikely event that the segregated assets cannot be returned to clients, Freedom24 falls under the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF), which compensates for any losses from non-returned investments up to €20,000.

Want to learn more? Check out our Freedom24 Review or visit Freedom24 directly!

Founded in 2006, Trading 212 is a fintech company based in London aiming to democratise the entire investment process through a simple mobile app. You can invest in over 10,000 stocks and ETFs, CFDs on Stocks, Forex, Indices, and Commodities. Over 15 million people have already downloaded the app.

In Trading 212, you will find commission-free stocks and ETFs trading, fractional shares, and even an automatic investment system. Opening an account is extremely quick and easy. On the downside, there are some limitations with the assets available (such as the lack of bonds and options). And, it charges a 0.15% FX fee when buying assets in a currency different from your base account. But, this Trading212 still offers much more than the Charles Schwab international account.

In a nutshell, the broker offers low prices, great educational resources, an impressive range of tradable assets, and user-friendly trading apps – making it an excellent alternative to investors in Europe thinking about using Charles Schwab. If you want to learn more, check out our Trading 212 review.

DEGIRO was founded in 2008 and provides services to over 3 million European clients. In addition to stocks and ETFs, DEGIRO’s products include mutual funds, bonds, futures, and options, warrants, with the ability to trade on pre-market and after-hours trading.

DEGIRO is a great trading platform in Europe for ETF trading. It’s a perfect pick if you want to minimise your trading costs as it does not charge any fees for inactivity, deposits, or withdrawals while offering low costs on several popular ETFs (plus external fees). Furthermore, the platform gives access to over 30 exchanges around the world.

On the downside, DEGIRO does not offer forex trading, charges €/£1 commission for US stocks, and charges €/£2.50 annually per exchange as a connectivity fee. There are also handling fees to pay on most trades. However, this is still much more convenient than using Charles Schwab for most European investors. For further details, you can read our full DEGIRO review.

Pepperstone is an Australian brokerage company founded in 2010 and regulated by many top-tier authorities such as the FCA or the ASIC. The broker allows you to trade on popular trading apps such as MetaTrader 4 and 5, and the trading app Pepperstone cTrader, available for iOS, Android, and Windows, is recommended by the company for all types of investors.

The company also provides a social trading platform called DupliTrade, where you can automate your investments from the MetaTrader account, coping strategies from other traders, and enjoy a demo account to practice investments.

Pepperstone is a CFD broker. This is an instrument that needs to be traded with extreme care because it often leads to losses due to the leverage effect that can magnify any loss.