Investing in the stock market has never been more intuitive, thanks to the numerous online trading apps available today. However, you will need to make a choice, and finding the best trading app in Switzerland can be overwhelming.
Fortunately, we have successfully analyzed many trading apps 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 Switzerland’s best stock trading apps, comparing their specificities and highlighting their strengths.
Best stock trading apps in Switzerland
- eToro: Best for social trading
- Interactive Brokers: Best for intermediate and advanced investors
- Plus500: Ideal for CFDs
- DEGIRO: Best for low-cost investing
- XTB: Best for Forex
- Saxo Bank: Best for powerful trading tools
Trading apps in Switzerland compared
Broker | Fees on stocks | Minimum deposit | Trading apps |
eToro | $0 for buying and selling stocks (other fees apply) | $50 | eToro |
Interactive Brokers | Tiered pricing: Up to $0.0035 per US share (min. $0.35); Between 0.01% and 0.08% for other markets. | CHF 0 | IBKR GlobalTrader, IBKR Mobile and Trader Workstation |
Plus500 | $0.006 per share on US stocks and 0.045% on European stocks with a minimum of €2 per order. | CHF 100 | Plus500 WebTrader |
DEGIRO | For US stocks: €1 for commissions + €1 for a Flat Handling fee (External cost). For EU stocks: €3.90 for commission plus €1 for a Flat Handling fee. | CHF 1 | DEGIRO |
XTB | $0 on the CFDs on stocks (0.30% markup included on the spread). | CHF 0 | xStation 5 |
Saxo Bank | Between 0.03% and 0.08% of the trade value for US stocks with a minimum of $1 per trade. | CHF 2,000 | SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTrader Pro |
eToro at a glance
51% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
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, Indices, and Cryptocurrencies. Stocks and ETFs are traded commission-free, as a whole, or fractional shares (other fees apply).
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 real hands-on experience 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, and the only base currency is the USD.
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.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Interactive Brokers at a glance
Interactive Brokers has proven to be one of the most reliable brokers in the market. The company 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 operate in the Swiss market via Interactive Brokers U.K. Limited, authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (License No208159).
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 Swiss and the global financial markets. Overall, we believe that Interactive Brokers offers one of the best stock trading apps in Switzerland, 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.
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 the FCA and CySEC and is available in many countries, including Switzerland, where the broker operates.
The broker provides a mobile app named Plus500 and a web-based platform called WebTrader. Both are comprehensive and user-friendly, 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 which may exacerbate your losses.
Overall, the broker offers a solid stock trading platform for Swiss customers. The platform has 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 the SIX Swiss Exchange. As a downside though, you will not have access to ETFs. If you want to learn more about Plus500, please check our Plus500 review.
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.
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 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), indicating why it is one of the best stock trading apps in Switzerland. The trading app has great educational resources, no inactivity, account opening or withdrawal fees and provides low costs ETFs (core selected list).
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.
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 Switzerland 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 Switzerland, 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 CFDs on Swiss 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.
In any case, with no commission on the CFDs on stocks, access to the Swiss market, no minimum deposit, great educational resources, and a free demo account that can be used for a month, XTB is a good and reliable option for beginners and advanced investors, provided that you understand the risk of investing in CFDs. This puts the platform in fifth place on our list of best stock trading apps in Switzerland. If you want to find out more about the broker, please check our XTB review!
Saxo at a glance
62% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Saxo Bank is a Danish bank founded in 1992 and is a reliable option for advanced traders and beginners, providing safety, fair prices, and useful tools. The bank is established in Switzerland with a banking and capital markets license (UID: CHE-106.787.764) and is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA.
The bank offers a comprehensive and customizable mobile trading app which is among the best in the market: SaxoTraderGO. As the name suggests, SaxoTraderGO is a user-friendly, customizable, and award-winning trading platform that can be used by experienced investors and beginners. The app has mobile and desktop versions. Differently, SaxoTraderPRO 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 (which include Swiss stocks and ETFs), Saxo deserves to be featured on our list of the best stock trading apps in Switzerland. 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 CHF 2,000 to start trading, which can be burdensome for some beginners.
Methodology
When making this list, we wanted to help investors in Switzerland 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 Swiss market.
- Customer service: regardless of your choice, problems almost always appear, and it is important to find trading apps developed to help you when they do happen.
- The trading app itself: of course, we considered the platform’s functionalities and usability, 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 Switzerland”:
eToro
Best for social tradingInteractive Brokers
Best for intermediate and advance investorsPlus500
Ideal for CFDsDEGIRO
Best for low-cost investingXTB
Best for ForexSaxo Bank
Best for advanced traders
It is hard to choose the right stock trading app in Switzerland. Luckily, we have helped many people in the same situation, and we can help you now. To facilitate your choice, we listed a few of the best stock trading apps in Switzerland, 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 acknowledging those risks, whether you are experienced or a novice in the trading world.
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.
Is Webull available in Switzerland?
No, the US-based stock trading app Webull is not available in Switzerland.