Best Trading Platforms in Australia for Beginners
Are you new to the world of investments? One of the first choices you must make is one of the hardest: finding a platform that suits your needs. There are many options to choose from and many risks surrounding that choice. There are so many scams that the Australian government issued a list of platforms that should be avoided.
As a beginner, you will need to define your investment profile and d priorities and do your research. In which asset do you want to invest? What is more important for you? A beginner-friendly platform, low fees, and commissions, or security? Do you know the difference between a stock and a CFD? Accidentally buying a CFD when looking for a stock may lead to losses, and if you don’t want to risk doing that, don’t worry! We can help you!
In this article, we’ll try to make this choice easier for you. We will start by presenting and comparing our carefully chosen and diverse list of the best trading platforms in Australia for beginners. Then we will explain our methodology, provide a comparison table, final remarks, and a Q&A.
Best Brokers in Australia for Beginners
eToro | Best for social trading
Established in 2007, eToro is a fintech company that allows investors to safely invest in multiple assets such as stocks, ETFs, commodities, FX, or cryptocurrencies. The social-trading platform is user-friendly, comprehensive, and functional.
AFSL 491139. Capital at risk. See PDS and TMD.
Interactive Brokers | Sophisticated trading tools
Online broker with a sophisticated trading platform that offers a wide range of products. The company, founded in the US and active in Australia for decades, provides the app IBKR GlobalTrader, ideal for beginners.
Saxo Bank | Great educational resources
Full-service broker who offers stocks, ETFs, bonds, derivatives, crypto, and other products. In Australia, you will access 36 different markets overseas.
Plus500 | Ideal for a demo account
Well-established broker who offers stocks (Plus500 Invest) and CFDs on Forex, Cryptocurrencies, Stocks, Commodities, ETFs, Options and Indices. The company provides user-friendly web-based and mobile apps with attractive features for beginners, such as demo accounts to practice investments.
Disclaimer: 82% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Stake | Lowest minimum deposit on the list
Australian broker founded in 2017 who has one of the best trading platforms in Australia for beginners due to its simplicity and low prices.
Best Brokers in Australia compared
| Broker | Fees on stocks and ETFs | Minimum deposit | Educational resources | Customer service | Demo account |
| eToro | No fees for stocks and some ETFs. | $50 | ✔ | Live chat and email | ✔ |
| Interactive Brokers | Between $0.0005 and $0.0035 per US share. Maximum of 1% of the trade value. | $0 | ✔ | Phone, email, live chat, and automated chat | ✔ |
| Saxo Bank | Between 0.03% and 0.08% of the trade value for US stocks with a minimum of $1 per trade | AUD$1000 | ✔ | Email, live chat, and phone | ✔ |
| Plus500 | Low fees | AUD$200 | ✔ | 24/7 Live WhatsApp chat and email | ✔ |
| Stake | No fees on US stocks | $50 | ✘ | ✘ |
#1 eToro
eToro at a glance
eToro was founded in 2007. It is famous not only for allowing investors to buy and sell financial instruments but also for its social trading features. Today, it is one of the most famous brokers in the world, with over 30 million users. eToro AUS Capital Limited is regulated in Australia by ASIC (license number: 491139).
As a beginner, you may enjoy the platform to discuss investments, speculations, market news with other traders, and copy strategies. The platform offers a wide range of assets suitable for beginners but also riskier assets recommended for advanced traders, such as cryptocurrencies. You can also open a demo account to practice your investments before trading with real money. The mobile app offered by the broker is easy-to-use and comprehensive; you can find many educational resources that will help you make informed decisions.
All these features put eToro at the top of the list of the best trading platforms for beginners in Australia. As a downside, the base currency of the platform is USD$, so you will have to pay between 0.5% and 1% currency conversion fees when exchanging between US$ and AUD$ (depositing and withdrawing using a bank transfer is the cheaper option)
#2 Interactive Brokers (IBKR GlobalTrader)
Interactive Brokers at a glance
Interactive Brokers is an exceptional broker that could not be left out of a list of the best trading platforms for beginners in Australia. The company was founded in 1978 and landed in Australia in 1997 through the legal entity Interactive Brokers Australia Pty. Ltd., regulated by ASIC (license number 453554). Since its arrival, the company has become one of the most reliable brokers in the world.
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. But we cannot ignore its mobile app IBKR GlobalTrader, which is a user-friendly app suitable for beginners that simplifies 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 practicing investments, a wide range of tradable assets, and trading in AUD$. Besides, the platform is extremely functional with its tools, and it deserves a place in this list of the best trading platforms in Australia for beginners.
Interactive Brokers Web App
Interactive Brokers Mobile App
#3 Saxo Capital Markets
Saxo at a glance
Saxo Bank is a subsidiary of the Danish bank with the same name founded in 1992. It operates in more than 170 countries, including Australia, through the subsidiary Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Limited (license number 280372). The broker is a reliable option for advanced traders and beginners, providing safety, fair prices, and useful tools.
The broker offers a wide range of investment products from more than 50 different exchanges, high-quality educational resources, and well-designed and comprehensive trading platforms. In particular, the mobile app SaxoInvestor and the web-based SaxoTraderGO are user-friendly and functional applications, ideal for beginners. In the applications, it is possible to practice investments in demo accounts.
In a nutshell, the broker offers low prices, great educational resources, an impressive range of tradable assets, and user-friendly trading applications, putting it in second place in our list of best trading platforms for beginners in Australia.
#4 Plus500
Plus500 at a glance
Plus500 is a fintech founded in 2008 in Israel and its subsidiary Plus500AU Pty Ltd. is regulated in Australia (license number 417727). The broker offers a CFD account with multiple assets to trade.
The platform offers a variety of underlying assets for CFDs, an instrument that needs to be traded with care because it often leads to losses, due to the leverage effect that can magnify any loss. Despite this feature not being suitable for beginners, other factors may attract Australian investors who are recent to the world of investments.
The broker allows you to open a demo account to practice investments and familiarize yourself with the platform. Opening an account is extremely easy and the trading platform is intuitive, functional, and customizable. In addition, the broker provides educational resources and 24/7 customer service.
This information is NOT relevant to EU residents who are to be serviced by EU subsidiaries of the Plus500 Group, such as Plus500CY Ltd, authorized by CySEC (Reg. 250/14). Different regulatory requirements apply in Europe, such as leverage limitations and bonus restrictions.
#5 Stake
Stake at a glance
Stake is an Australian brokerage company founded less than 10 years ago, in 2017, that is growing at a very optimistic rate. Stakeshop Pty Ltd. has over 400.000 users and is regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (license number 337927), which protects investors’ funds. .
The trading platform is known for its low trading costs, excellent, well-designed, and easy-to-use web and mobile apps, and quick setup. On the downside, educational resources are limited, and customer service only works via email.
Stake’s trading platform is cheap, safe, and easy for investors to start trading instruments from the US markets, making it one of the best trading platforms in Australia for beginners.
Methodology
When making this list, we wanted to help investors in Australia who are beginners and may have difficulty knowing what to consider when choosing the right platform to start investing. Each of the platforms has its main features, but, to help you make a decision when choosing the best trading platform for beginners in Australia, we considered a few of the following characteristics:
- Educational resources: high-quality educational resources may be a great advantage for beginners, who can use them to educate themselves before investing money.
- Customer service: it is also important that investors can easily communicate with the broker.
- Functionalities and usability of the trading platform.
- Security: all platforms in the list are duly regulated in Australia.
- Prices: we wanted to provide a diverse list, and it is important to provide cheap options for beginners.
- Fast account opening.
The bottom line
To summarize, here’s the list of “Best trading platforms in Australia for beginners”:
Best trading platforms in Australia for Beginners
| #1 | eToro | Best Overall |
| #2 | Interactive Brokers | Best for sophisticated trading tools |
| #3 | Saxo BankSaxo Capital Markets | Best educational resources |
| #4 | Plus500 | Ideal for a demo account |
| #5 | Stake | Lowest minimum deposit |
We know how hard it is to choose a trading platform in Australia, and the challenge is even bigger when you are new to this world of investments. Fortunately, we are in a position where we can help you make this choice in an informed manner. This is why we listed and compared a few of the brokers that can offer the best trading platforms in Australia for beginners.
We want to help beginners make educated decisions, but we did not provide financial advice. You should always perform your due diligence, study, and inform yourself before investing your money! We hope the article was useful, and please let us know if you have any feedback using the comments section below!
Other FAQs
How do brokers with no fees make money?
The company profits from the spread if a broker does not charge a fee when selling an asset. This spread is the difference between the price the company paid for acquiring the asset and the price they are selling it.
How should I choose my broker?
There are many factors to take into consideration. Considering that all brokers in the list have their qualities and features, you should choose a platform to invest in according to your investment profile. In other words, the best trading platform for you as a beginner in Australia will be the one that meets your needs.
Are these brokers safe and reliable?
All brokers in the list are regulated in Australia by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and are known for being well-established in the market.
Franklin is a CFA Level III Candidate with 3 years of experience in Wealth Management as a Fund Research Analyst and the Host of the "Edge Over Hedge" YouTube Channel.
