Scalable Capital vs Trade Republic: 2026 Comparison

Are you trying to decide between Scalable Capital and Trade Republic for your investing?

In this side-by-side comparison we look at how the two apps compare on fees, products, interest on cash, regulation and availability, so you can pick the one that fits the way you invest.

Below you’ll find a comparison table with the fees charged, the instruments supported and the regulation of each broker, plus the pros and cons of both. Keep reading!

Scalable Capital vs Trade Republic

1. Scalable Capital is our recommendation overall.
2. Trade Republic is best for beginners and for earning interest on cash.

Both are low-cost, app-first ways to invest, and both are now licensed German banks supervised by BaFin. The differences are in the details.

Scalable Capital suits you if you want to invest on your own and also have the option of a managed portfolio, since it runs one of the largest robo-advisors in Europe alongside its brokerage, although the managed portfolio is only open to clients in Germany and Austria. The catch is where it operates: six countries only.

Trade Republic is available in 18 European countries, pays interest on cash from the first euro and charges a flat €1 per order. Since July 2026 it also lets you choose your execution venue, including the NYSE and Nasdaq, which closes the gap that used to be its biggest weakness.

Side-by-side comparison

Which one fits you better?

• You invest a fixed amount every month: it is a tie. Savings plan executions are free at both, from €1, and both let you automate the whole thing.
• You buy in lump sums: Trade Republic is simpler at €1 per order whatever the size. At Scalable, a €1,000 purchase of a PRIME ETF on EIX costs nothing, but the same order in a fund outside that list costs €0.99, and €1.99 on Xetra or gettex.
• You keep cash between trades: Trade Republic, which pays interest on the balance in the account itself. At Scalable, broker cash earns 0% and the interest sits on a separate savings account you have to move money into.
• You want a managed portfolio: Scalable, the only one of the two with a robo-advisor, if you live in Germany or Austria.
• You want to buy US-listed shares in dollars, on the US market: Trade Republic, with a €2 Direct Price order.
• You live outside Scalable’s six markets: the decision is made for you.

About Scalable Capital

Scalable Capital is a Munich-based broker and digital wealth manager. You can invest in stocks, ETFs, funds, crypto ETPs and derivatives on your own, or, in Germany and Austria, hand the job to its managed portfolios, one of the largest robo-advisory services in Europe.

The business has changed shape in the last two years. Trading now runs mainly through the European Investor Exchange (EIX), the venue it launched with the Hanover Stock Exchange in December 2024. Since then, new clients open their securities account directly with Scalable instead of with Baader Bank, its long-time custodian, and in September 2025 the ECB granted it a full banking licence. Accounts sit with Scalable Capital Bank GmbH, supervised by BaFin and the Bundesbank.

There are two plans. FREE Broker has no monthly fee and charges €0.99 per order on EIX. PRIME+ Broker costs €4.99 a month and makes any EIX order from €250 free, adds lower crypto spreads and spreads your cash across up to five banks. On both plans, cash on the Overnight account earns 2.60% (September 2026, variable), ETFs from the PRIME list (Amundi, iShares, Vanguard and Xtrackers) are free from €250 on EIX, savings plans are free from €1, and orders on Xetra or gettex cost €1.99.

It is available in six countries: Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

Scalable Capital pros and cons

About Trade Republic

Trade Republic is a Berlin-based broker that received a full banking licence from the ECB in 2023. By May 2026 it had more than 10 million customers and over €150 billion in assets, which makes it one of the largest brokers in Europe, and it has grown well beyond trading: it issues its own IBAN, offers a card with 1% Saveback (up to €15 a month, if you invest at least €50 a month through savings plans) and pays interest on cash.

You can invest in stocks, ETFs, bonds, derivatives, crypto and private markets, with savings plans available on most of them. There is no order commission, but a €1 settlement fee applies to every trade except savings plan executions, so a full round trip costs at least €2.

July 2026 brought the biggest change in years. Payment for order flow has been banned in the EU since 2024, and Germany’s transitional exemption ended on 30 June 2026, so Trade Republic rebuilt its execution: Best Price, the default, aggregates quotes across the relevant exchanges and fills your order at the best available price for the usual €1, with Trade Republic as counterparty. Direct Price lets you pick the venue yourself from around 30 exchanges, including Xetra, Euronext, the NYSE and Nasdaq, for €2 per order regardless of size. It also launched a free Web Terminal with charting, screeners and live data.

That matters for this comparison, because until then Trade Republic routed everything through a single German venue and US-only listings were out of reach. Now they are not.

Trade Republic pros and cons

How safe is your money at each broker?

Both are German banks supervised by BaFin and the Bundesbank, and in both cases your securities are held separately from the broker’s own assets, so they remain yours if the company fails. The compensation schemes only come into play if that segregation fails.

• Cash: covered by the German statutory deposit guarantee up to €100,000. Trade Republic spreads client deposits across partner banks such as Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan and Citibank, and the limit applies per bank. Cash that Trade Republic places in money market funds is not covered by deposit guarantee. Scalable holds cash at its own bank, and PRIME+ customers can have it spread across up to five banks, each with its own €100,000 limit.
• Securities: held in custody accounts in your name and, on top of that, covered by the German investor compensation scheme, which pays 90% of a claim up to €20,000.

Neither protects you against markets falling, only against the failure of the institution.

Trade Republic vs Scalable Capital: our verdict

Choosing between these two is not obvious, because they have converged: both are German banks, both charge around a euro per order, both make savings plans free and both are built for long-term investors rather than traders.

Scalable Capital wins if you want a managed portfolio alongside your own investing, or if the PRIME ETF list covers what you buy, in which case your orders cost nothing. Trade Republic wins on reach, on interest paid directly in the account and now on execution, with the choice of venue and access to the US markets.

Ultimately, the best broker for you depends on your profile and objectives. Explore both websites and decide for yourself.

Want to know more? Explore our in-depth broker reviews, our comparison table and our BrokerMatch tool.

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