Investing in the stock market has never been easier, thanks to the numerous online trading apps available today. Among all options available, you will need to make a choice, and finding the best trading app in the Netherlands can be difficult.
In this article, we listed the best stock trading apps in the Netherlands, comparing their specificities and highlighting their strengths.
Best stock trading apps in the Netherlands
- eToro: Best for social trading
- Interactive Brokers: Best for intermediate and advanced investors
- Plus500: Ideal for CFDs
- DEGIRO: Best for low-cost investing and ETFs
- XTB: Best for Forex and CFDs
- Lightyear: Best for beginners and interest
Disclaimer: Investing involves risk of loss. eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
For a list of trading apps we do not recommend, you can visit our full list of platform reviews, and filter by “Not recommended”.
Best stock trading apps in the Netherlands compared
Other resources
Not sure yet which app to choose? Here are some resources to help you explore more alternatives:
- Check our Youtube channel! You will find step-by-step guides of how to invest in the S&P 500 on different apps, as well as other educational videos about investing and investment platforms.
- Explore our tools: Check our comparison tool, reviews, broker bonuses, broker interest rates, BrokerMatch, and others.
Reviews
#1 eToro
eToro at a glance
51% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
eToro is a broker founded in 2007 which is famous for its social trading features. Today, the fintech is one of the most well-established in the world, with over 30 million users, offering more than 3,000 different assets, and stocks from 17 different stock exchanges, including Euronext Amsterdam.
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 trade commission-free stocks from many countries such as the US, Netherlands, UK, Germany, and many others. Besides, the app also offers ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs.
Besides providing one of the trading apps with commission-free ETFs in the Netherlands, the broker provides reliability and safety: it is regulated by top-tier authorities such as the FCA, ASIC, and the CySEC, and your funds will be segregated and also secured by up to 1 million Euros, due to private insurance. If you are still not convinced or want to know more about this subject, we have 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 has one of the best stock trading apps in the Netherlands. Please check our eToro review if you would like to know more about their services.
#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 Dutch 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 trade stocks, ETFs and options. 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 Dutch and global financial markets. Overall we believe that Interactive Brokers offers some of the best stock trading apps in the Netherlands, and you can find what you are looking for irrespective of your needs! Please check our Interactive Brokers review if you want to know more about the broker.
#3 Plus500
Plus500 at a glance
82% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Plus500 is a broker based in Israel that was founded in 2008 and whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. It is regulated by top-tier authorities such as FCA and CySEC and is available in many countries, including the Netherlands, where the broker operates via Plus500CY, a subsidiary authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (License No. 250/14).
The broker provides a mobile app named Plus500 and a web-based platform called WebTrader. Both are comprehensive and easy to use, and you can test their features by opening a demo account.
It is very important to differentiate the two different accounts you can access within the trading platforms: Plus500 CFD and Plus500 Invest.
In Plus500 Invest you can trade stocks (real shares of the companies). In Plus500 CFD, on the other hand, you can only trade CFDs on several financial instruments. The distinction is important because CFDs are leveraged and riskier products that may exacerbate your losses.
Overall, the broker offers solid stock trading platforms for Dutch customers. The platforms provide low costs and reliability, interesting features and products for beginners (demo account) and experienced traders, and good usability. You can trade stocks and CFD stocks from multiple exchanges, including Euronext Amsterdam. As a downside though, you will not have access to ETFs. If you want to learn more about Plus500, please check our Plus500 review.
#4 DEGIRO
DEGIRO at a glance
Investing involves risk of loss.
DEGIRO was launched in 2013 in the Netherlands and is currently one of the most famous online brokers in the world. Supervised and regulated by the AFM and DNB, 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 2023” by the Financial Times and Investors Chronicle (UK), which indicates why it is one of the best stock trading apps in the Netherlands. The trading app has great educational resources, no inactivity, account opening or withdrawal fees, and provides low commissions ETFs trading (core selected list) – external fees apply.
The broker is suitable for investors of all levels, as it combines a broad and diverse offer of assets to invest and a comprehensive trading platform with low costs. We encourage you to check out our DEGIRO review if you want to learn more about the broker.
#5 XTB
XTB at a glance
76-83% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
XTB is a company founded in 2002 in Poland that offers CFD stock trading apps in the Netherlands through the subsidiary XTB Limited (CY), authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in Cyprus (License No.169/12). It is important to consider the safety of a platform when choosing the best stock trading apps in the Netherlands, and XTB is licensed in many jurisdictions and 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 (including Dutch stocks). 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, access to the Dutch market, 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 fifth place on our list of best stock trading apps in the Netherlands. If you want to find out more about the broker, please check our XTB review!
#6 Lightyear
Lightyear at a glance
The appearance in our list of best trading apps in the Netherlands is Lightyear, a broker from the UK whose trading platform was recently launched in the Netherlands, among other countries in Europe. The broker operates in the market via the entity Lightyear Europe AS, authorized and regulated by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (license number 4.1-1/31).
The broker provides one of the best stock trading apps in the Netherlands by offering easy and cheap access to the international markets. Lightyear offers both mobile and web trading apps. Their mobile app is available for Android and iOS that is easy to use, the commissions to trade stocks do not go over €/$/£1 per order, and there is a flat 0.35% fee for currency conversion. One of the features promised by the broker is to provide good educational resources by providing news and professional analysis about the stocks owned by the investor.
The trading app is suitable for beginners and intermediate investors who can safely invest in fractional shares. With an easy-to-use app and more than 3,500 stocks available from the US, UK, European (including more than 30 Dutch stocks), and Asian markets, Lightyear is an excellent way to end our list of best stock trading apps in the Netherlands.
If you would like to know more about Lightyear, check out our Lightyear review!
Methodology
When making this list, we wanted to help investors in the Netherlands to 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, this is what we took into consideration:
- 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?
- Access to the local market: all trading apps in this list allow you to invest in the Dutch market;
- 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.
Bottom line
To summarize, here’s the list of “Best stock trading apps in the Netherlands”:
It is hard to choose the right stock trading app in the Netherlands. 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 the Netherlands 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!
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.
