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 United Arab Emirates 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 the best stock trading apps in the UAE, comparing their specificities and highlighting their strengths.
Best stock trading apps in Dubai & the UAE
eToro | Best for 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, commodities, CFDs, FX, or cryptocurrencies. The social-trading platform is user-friendly, comprehensive, and functional.
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.
Plus500 | Ideal for demo account and CFDs
Plus500 is a multi-asset online broker with commission-free CFDs on Indices, Forex, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Shares, Options, and ETFs.
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 the UAE 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.
Freedom24 | Best for new stocks at the IPO price
A rising name in the world of European brokers, Freedom24 provides its 400,000-plus thousand users participation in popular IPOs, in addition to over 40,000 stocks and 1,500 ETFs.
Best stock trading apps in Dubai & the UAE compared
| Broker | Fees on stocks | Minimum deposit | Trading apps | Stocks available for trading |
| eToro | $0 for buying and selling stocks (spread and conversion fees may apply). |
$200 | eToro | ✔ |
| Interactive Brokers | Between $0.0005 and $0.0035 per US share. Between 0.01% and 0.08% for other markets. | $0 | IBKR GlobalTrader and IBKR Mobile | ✔ |
| Plus500 | $0.006 per share on US stocks and 0.045% on European stocks with a minimum of €2 per order. | $100 | Plus500 WebTrader |
X (Only CFDs on stocks) |
| Saxo Bank | Between $0.01 and $0.02 per US share (minimum between $1 and $5 per order) Between 0.05% and 0.35% for other markets. |
$5,000 | SaxoTraderGO | ✔ |
| XTB | $0 on the CFDs on stocks (0.30% markup included on the spread). | $0 | xStation 5 | ✘ (Only CFDs on stocks) |
| Freedom24 | No commissions charged in the first 30 days. After this period, the applicable commissions will vary according to the instrument being traded and depending on the type of account chosen by the investor. | $0 | Freedom24 | ✔ |
#1 eToro
eToro at a glance
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.
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, UK, Germany, and many others. Besides, the app also offers Islamic accounts, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs.
The broker provides reliability and safety to its customers: 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, please check out the article we prepared about the safety of eToro.
Considering all these factors, eToro is a solid option for beginners, intermediate and experienced investors, and certainly one of the best stock trading apps in the UAE. 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 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 advanced trading tools to access the global financial markets. Overall, we believe that Interactive Brokers offers the best stock trading apps in the UAE, and you can find what you are looking for, irrespective of your needs!
Please check our Interactive Brokers review to find out more about the broker.
Interactive Brokers Mobile App
#3 Plus500
Plus500 at a glance
Plus500 is a broker founded in 2008 whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange and who operates in the UAE via the subsidiary Plus500AE Ltd, authorized and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (License No. F005651). Regulated by top-tier authorities such as FCA and CySEC, 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.
When trading from the UAE, you will only be able to access Plus500 CFD, where you can trade CFDs on several financial instruments, but not real stocks. CFDs are leveraged and riskier products, which may exacerbate your losses.
Overall, the broker offers solid CFD stock trading platforms for Emirate customers. The platforms have low costs, reliability and safety, interesting features and products for beginners and experienced traders, and good usability. Besides, the broker allows customers to open Islamic accounts. As a downside, though, you will not have access to real stocks and ETFs.
If you want to learn more about Plus500, please check our full Plus500 review.
Plus500 CFD Mobile App
#4 Saxo Bank
Saxo at a glance
Saxo Bank is a Danish bank founded in 1992 and is a reliable option for advanced traders and beginners and provides safety, fair prices, and useful tools. Saxo operates in the UAE via its representative office in the UAE, whose license was issued by the Central bank of the UAE. They offer in the UAE a comprehensive and customizable mobile trading app that is among the best in the market: SaxoTraderGO.
SaxoTraderGO is a user-friendly, customizable, and award-winning trading platform that can be used by experienced investors and beginners. The app has a mobile and a desktop version. The broker also offers SaxoTraderPRO, 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 the UAE. 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 $5,000 to start trading, which can be burdensome for some beginners.
Saxo Bank Web and Mobile App
#5 XTB
XTB at a glance
XTB is a Polish company founded in 2002 that offers CFD stock trading apps in the UAE through the subsidiary XTB MENA Limited, authorized and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (License No. F006316). XTB is also licensed and regulated in many other jurisdictions 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. 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.
With no commission on the CFDs on stocks, no minimum deposit, Islamic accounts, 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 UAE.
If you want to find out more about the broker, please check our XTB review!
XTB Mobile App
#6 Freedom24
Freedom24 at a glance
The next broker on our list of the best stock trading apps in the UAE is Freedom24, a company founded in 2015 that offers more than 40,000 stocks from different exchanges around the globe. The broker is regulated by CySEC (License No. CIF 275/15) and, therefore, the investor’s funds are protected by the rules pursuant to the Investor Compensation Fund of Cyprus.
Freedom24 is best known for offering IPO subscriptions, an exclusive feature that you will not find in many trading platforms. Their trading app, which can be used on your mobile and on a browser, is well-designed and intuitive but lacks customization options. Please check our Freedom24 review to know more about the broker and understand their pricing structure.
Overall, the trading app is reliable, and comprehensive, and offers a unique feature regarding access to IPO subscriptions, something that used to be limited to institutional investors. It is a solid and diverse addition to our list of best stock trading apps in the UAE.
Freedom24 Mobile App
Methodology
When making this list, we wanted to help Emirate investors 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?
- 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 Dubai & the UAE”:
Best stock trading apps in Dubai & the UAE
It is hard to choose the right stock trading app in the UAE. 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 Dubai & UAE 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.
What is an Islamic account?
An Islamic account follows the principles of Islamic law, which forbids the use of interest or interest-based lending in any form. Many online brokers can accommodate Muslim traders and offer interest- or swap-free accounts.
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.
