Investing in the stock market has never been easier, thanks to the numerous online trading apps available today. Among all the options available, you will need to make a choice, and finding the best trading app in Ireland can be difficult.
There is an overwhelming amount of options to choose from, and if you do not do research, you can end up in a platform that could be difficult to use, expensive, unsafe, or simply limited, considering your investment profile and experience.
Fortunately, we successfully analyzed many trading apps before and conducted multiple trading app reviews so that we can clarify some of your doubts and help you make an informed decision! In this article, we listed Ireland’s best stock trading apps, comparing their specificities and highlighting their strengths.
Best stock trading apps in Ireland
eToro | Best for 0% commissions and social trading
Established in 2007, eToro is a fintech company that allows its 30+ million investors to safely invest in multiple assets such as stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and CFDs on Stocks, ETFs, Commodities, Forex, Indices, and Cryptocurrencies. The social-trading platform is user-friendly, comprehensive, and functional.
Disclaimer: eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
Interactive Brokers | Best for intermediate and advanced investors
Online broker with a sophisticated trading platform that offers a wide range of products. The company, founded in the US, provides the app IBKR GlobalTrader, ideal for beginners.
Lightyear | Best for high interest on uninvested cash
A European broker that offers one of the highest interest on uninvested cash in the market for EUR, USD and GBP. It also offers commission-free ETF investing and access to US, UK and European stocks.
Disclaimer: Terms apply, seek guidance if necessary. When you invest, your capital is at risk.
DEGIRO | Best for low-cost fees
A leading European discount broker with over 2.5 million users, it offers discounted stock trading fees, access to many international exchanges, and some zero-commission ETF trades (external fees apply).
Saxo Bank | Best for powerful trading tools
Full-service broker who offers stocks, ETFs, bonds, derivatives, crypto, and other products. You can access 36 different markets overseas from Ireland using their powerful trading apps.
XTB | Best for forex and CFDs
Headquartered in Poland and listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, XTB offers access to a range of CFD on stocks on its trading app where you can also trade Forex at a competitive price.
Best stock trading apps in Ireland compared
| Broker | Fees on stocks | Minimum deposit | Trading apps | Stocks available for trading |
| eToro | $0 (other fees apply) |
$50 | eToro | ✔ |
| Interactive Brokers | Between $0.0005 and $0.0035 per US share. Between 0.01% and 0.08% for other markets. | $0 | IBKR GlobalTrader, IBKR Mobile and Trader Workstation | ✔ |
| Lightyear | 0.1% (up to $1 max) per order on US stocks; €1 and £1 in EU and UK stocks per order, respectively. | €/£/$0 | Lightyear | ✔ |
| DEGIRO | For US stocks: €1 for commissions + €1 for a Flat Handling fee (External cost). For EU stocks: €3.90 for commission + €1 for a Flat Handling fee. | €1 | DEGIRO | ✔ |
| Saxo Bank | Between 0.03% and 0.08% of the trade value for US stocks with a minimum of $1 per trade | $2,000 | SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTrader Pro | ✔ |
| XTB | $0 on the CFDs on stocks (0.30% markup included on the spread) | $0 | xStation 5 | ✘
(Only CFDs on stocks) |
#1 eToro
eToro at a glance
eToro is a broker founded in 2007, famous for its social trading features. Today, eToro is one of the most well-established in the world, with over 30 million users, offering more than 3,000 different assets, including stocks from 17 different stock exchanges.
eToro’s trading app, which can be web-based or mobile-based, is a social trading platform that allows investors to discuss investments, speculations, and market news with other traders, copy strategies, and open a demo account. Both apps have comprehensive and user-friendly interfaces where you can intuitively buy and sell commission-free stocks and many other financial instruments.
The broker provides reliability and safety: it is regulated by top-tier authorities such as the FCA, ASIC, and the CySEC, your funds will be segregated and also secured by up to 1 million Euros due to private insurance. If you are still unconvinced or want to know more about this subject, we prepared an article about the safety of eToro.
Considering all these factors, eToro is a solid option for beginners, intermediate, and experienced investors, and it is one of the best stock trading apps in Ireland. Please check our eToro review if you would like to know more about their services.
eToro Mobile App
#2 Interactive Brokers (IBKR GlobalTrader)
Interactive Brokers at a glance
Interactive Brokers has proven to be one of the most reliable brokers in the market. The company, available on the Irish market, was founded over 40 years ago and survived many financial crises, making it a well-established and trustworthy broker regulated by many top-tier regulators.
They offer trading apps to trade stocks with sophisticated and powerful tools, a wide range of products available for trading, and low prices. The broker offers different mobile apps and web-based platforms that should be used according to your knowledge and experience. The mobile app IBKR GlobalTrader is a user-friendly app suitable for beginners because it simplifies investments without losing the powerful tools for which the broker is famous.
If you want to make the most out of the powerful tools the broker provides, you can use the IBKR Mobile, a complete and sophisticated trading app where you can do much more than buy and sell stocks. As the features of this app can be overwhelming for beginners, we would recommend the IBKR GlobalTrader if you do not have a lot of experience.
In addition to the mobile apps, you will also find a desktop app and web-based apps where you have sophisticated trading tools to access the global financial markets. Overall we believe that Interactive Brokers offers the best stock trading apps in Ireland, you will be able to find what you are looking for, irrespective of your needs!
If you want to know more about this platform, please check our Interactive Brokers review!
Interactive Brokers Mobile App
#3 Lightyear
Lightyear at a glance
Lightyear is one of the new kids on the block in Europe and has positioned itself as the low-frills option for investors. Their product offering is limited to stocks and ETFs, but they make up for that by offering very low fees and great interest on uninvested cash (3.25% on EUR, 4.5% on USD, and 4.5% on GBP – true as of 09.10.2023).
One way brokers charge you fees is through FX conversion, which can really add up if you are buying the likes of US or other stocks in a currency that differs from your base currency. Lightyear charges a FX fee of 0.35%. However, with Lightyear’s multi-currency account, you can save big on these fees since you do not need to convert every time you buy and sell any asset.
You can also buy fractional shares (only US shares), meaning that instead of owning one full share of a stock, you own a portion. Let’s say Microsoft is trading at $300. You can only invest $30, holding 10% of the stock. This makes investing easier for those with lower budgets.
Finally, Lightyear Europe AS, the formal name of Lightyear, is authorised and regulated as an investment firm by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon, FSA). As such, all customers have their assets covered up to the amount of €20,000 by the Estonian Investor Protection Sectoral Fund.
Lightyear Mobile App
#4 DEGIRO
DEGIRO at a glance
DEGIRO was launched in 2013 in the Netherlands and is one of the most famous brokers in Ireland. Supervised and regulated by the BaFin and AFM, German and Dutch authorities, respectively, DEGIRO provides a reliable, trustworthy, low-cost, comprehensive, and simple stock trading platform.
The broker offers a trading app available for mobile phones (Android and iOS) and a web-based platform. The interface is user-friendly and comprehensive, and the app was considered the“Top Rated Overall Investment Platform & Investment App 2020” by the Financial Times and Investors Chronicle (UK), which indicates why it is one of the best stock trading apps in Ireland. The trading platform is suitable for investors of all levels, as it combines a broad and diverse offer of assets to invest and a comprehensive platform with low costs. We encourage you to check out our DEGIRO review if you want to learn more about the platform.
DEGIRO Mobile App
#5 Saxo Bank
Saxo at a glance
Saxo BankSaxo Bank is a Danish bank founded in 1992. It operates in Ireland, being a reliable option for advanced traders and beginners and providing safety, fair prices, and useful tools. The Bank has two comprehensive and customizable trading apps: SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTraderPro.
As the name suggests, SaxoTraderGO is a user-friendly, customizable, and award-winning trading platform that experienced investors and beginners can use. The app has a mobile and a desktop version. The SaxoTraderPRO, on the other hand, is a desktop-based platform (that works on Windows and MAC) developed for advanced traders due to its level of detail and complexity. The app is extremely customizable, offers sophisticated tools to analyze and track your performance, and can be used on up to 6 different screens.
Considering that the trading apps have excellent educational resources, low prices, and an impressive range of tradable assets, Saxo deserves a place on our list of the best stock trading apps in Ireland. The only downside we could think of is that, after registering and completing the verification, you will need to fund your account with at least $2,000 to start trading, which can be burdensome for beginners.
Saxo Bank Web and Mobile App
#6 XTB
XTB at a glance
XTB is a company founded in 2002 in Poland that offers stock trading apps in Ireland through the subsidiary XTB Limited (CY), authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in Cyprus (License No.169/12). The company is also licensed in many other jurisdictions and is regulated by top-tier authorities such as the FCA.
The award-winning trading app XStation, available for mobiles and desktops, enables you to trade a wide range of instruments, gives you access to several technical analysis tools, allows you to copy the trades of other investors, and provides you with comprehensive educational resources. However, you will only be able to buy CFDs on stocks in Ireland. Therefore, you will not have direct exposure to stocks, only indirect exposure via the derivative. We must note that this is a complex and risky financial instrument in which most investors lose money when trading on the platform.
With no commission on the CFDs on stocks, no minimum deposit, and a free demo account that can be used for a month, XTB is a good and reliable option for beginners and advanced investors, which puts it in sixth place on our list of best stock trading apps in Ireland. If you want to find out more about the broker, please check our XTB review!
XTB Mobile App
Methodology
When making this list, we wanted to help investors in Ireland make an educated choice when choosing the best stock trading app. Each of the trading apps that we presented has its main features, and we tried to provide a diverse list that will suit the needs of different profiles of investors. In any case, we prepared this list considering the following criteria:
- Prices: the price cannot be the only aspect to be considered when choosing the trading app to invest in, but it is definitely important, you do not want to pay more for a service when you can get the same quality for cheaper prices.
- Educational resources: high-quality educational resources may be a great advantage, especially for beginners, who can use them to educate themselves before investing money.
- Range of products and markets available: Does the app offer real stocks and ETFs or only CFDs? Does it have crypto?
- Customer service: irrespective of your choice, problems almost always appear, and it is important to find trading apps developed to help you when it does happen.
- The trading app itself: of course, we took into consideration the functionalities and usability of the platform, as well as its specific features.
- Security: all platforms in the list are regulated by top-tier authorities.
The bottom line
To summarize, here’s the list of “Best stock trading apps in Ireland”:
Best stock trading apps in Ireland
It is hard to choose the right stock trading app in Ireland. Luckily, we helped many people in the same situation before, and we can help you now. To facilitate your choice, we listed a few of the best stock trading apps in Ireland in our opinion, comparing what they can offer and highlighting their strengths.
We know that trading stocks is a good way to achieve financial freedom, but, like everything in life, there are risks involved. We hope that our analysis was enough to help you make an educated decision that acknowledges those risks, whether you are experienced or a novice in the world of trading.
In any case, keep on studying, do due diligence, know your investment profile, and invest wisely! Please let us know if the article was helpful and if you have any other doubts or feedback!
Other FAQs
What is the difference between a stock and a stock CFD?
While the stock gives you a property right over a share of the company, the CFD does not. The stock CFD is a derivative contract where the underlying asset is the stock and where the broker promises to pay you back the difference in value between the time you opened the position and the time you close it. CFDs have a leverage effect: if you buy a stock CFD and its price goes down, you will need to borrow money from the broker to keep the position open. This makes the instrument a risky option that is not suitable for beginners.
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.
