Best Online Brokers & Trading Apps in Germany (compared in 2026)

One of the leading platforms in Germany is eToro, a global broker with 40+ million registered users across 140+ countries, trading stocks, ETFs, crypto, forex, commodities and CFDs. It has been listed on Nasdaq (ticker: ETOR) since May 2025 and is best known for social trading, which lets you copy experienced investors automatically. You can filter traders by past return, risk profile and asset focus.

The platform gives access to 3,000+ instruments, including real stocks and ETFs, plus Smart Portfolios, curated baskets built around a theme or strategy such as AI, renewable energy or dividends.

eToro offers commission-free ETF investing in Germany, while real stock trades carry a flat commission of $1 to $2 per trade depending on the exchange (other fees apply, including currency conversion).

The demo account is useful for beginners, with $100,000 in virtual money mirroring live trading closely. On the downside, a $10 monthly inactivity fee applies after 12 months without logging in, and accounts are held in US dollars, so a conversion fee applies when you deposit in euros.

eToro is regulated by several tier-1 authorities, including the FCA, ASIC and the US SEC and FINRA. German clients are served by eToro (Europe) Ltd, regulated by CySEC and passported into Germany under MiFID II, with funds covered up to €20,000 by the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund.

To learn more, read our full eToro review.

Another strong option in Germany is Interactive Brokers. Founded in 1978, listed on Nasdaq (ticker: IBKR) and an S&P 500 constituent since 2025, it has weathered several financial crises, which says something about its risk management.

IBKR offers an advanced platform covering stocks, options, funds, ETFs, futures, bonds, forex and crypto across 160+ markets, with around 4.7 million client accounts worldwide (March 2026). Execution runs through IB SmartRouting, which sends orders to the venue with the best available price.

Pricing for German investors:

• US stocks: from $0.0035 per share on the tiered plan (minimum $0.35, maximum 1% of trade value).
• European stocks and ETFs: from 0.05% of trade value (minimum €1.25, maximum €29 per order).
• Currency conversion: 0.002% of the amount (minimum $2), among the cheapest available to retail investors anywhere.

German clients are served by Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (Central Bank of Ireland) and Interactive Brokers Central Europe Zrt. (Hungarian MNB), both passported into Germany under MiFID II.

Beginners will find plenty of material through IBKR Campus, though the learning curve on Trader Workstation is steep. Support is responsive and multilingual.

On the downside, the fee structure is complex, account opening takes a while (though it is fully online) and there is no commission-free trading. Even so, once you count FX fees, spreads and the stock lending programme, clients still achieve meaningful savings against most brokers over time.

For a simpler experience, IBKR also offers IBKR GlobalTrader, a mobile app for stocks, ETFs and options with automatic currency conversion, fractional shares and a demo account.

Read our full Interactive Brokers review to learn more.

Founded in 2014, Scalable Capital is a Munich fintech with two services: a brokerage for shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, crypto and derivatives, with savings plans for systematic investing, and a Wealth service (robo-advisor) that manages an ETF portfolio for you.

On the brokerage side there are two plans, since PRIME closed to new clients:

• FREE Broker: €0 per month. Orders on EIX, Scalable’s own venue, cost €0.99, and purchases of €250 or more in PRIME ETFs (Amundi, iShares, Vanguard and Xtrackers) are free.
• PRIME+ Broker: €4.99 per month, with €0 commission on EIX orders of €250 or more (smaller orders cost €0.99).

On both plans, savings plan executions are free from €1, across more than 2,700 ETFs. Orders routed to gettex or Xetra instead of EIX cost €1.99 on both tariffs since 1 September 2026.

In the Wealth service, you answer a short risk questionnaire and Scalable builds and manages an ETF portfolio for you, for an annual management fee of 0.75%, with fund costs on top.

Interest changed in 2026: the settlement account (Verrechnungskonto) has paid 0% since 1 April 2026, and interest now sits in a separate overnight account paying 2.60% a year (variable), available on both tariffs with no cap. On PRIME+, balances are spread across up to five partner banks, extending deposit protection to €500,000.

In September 2025, Scalable received a full banking licence from the European Central Bank, so it is now a credit institution supervised by BaFin and the Deutsche Bundesbank, running custody, clearing and settlement itself. Cash is covered by the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000 per bank, and securities are held as segregated client assets.

Founded in 2015 in Berlin, Trade Republic is the largest neobroker in Germany and one of the largest in Europe, with more than 10 million clients across 18 countries and over €150 billion in customer assets. It holds a full banking licence supervised by BaFin and the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Its model is deliberately simple: stocks, ETFs, bonds, crypto and derivatives through a mobile-first app, with no commission beyond a €1 external fee per order. Savings plan executions are free from €1 across thousands of ETFs and shares, which is what made it the default choice for German investors investing monthly.

Two features stand out for German clients:

• Interest on uninvested cash at the ECB deposit rate, currently 2.50% a year, paid monthly and uncapped in most countries. New clients in some markets get a promotional rate.
• A German custody account: because Trade Republic is a German bank, it withholds the Abgeltungsteuer for you, so you don’t have to declare the income in Anlage KAP yourself. Scalable Capital offers the same advantage, and the foreign brokers in this list don’t.

Cash is held at Trade Republic Bank GmbH or partner banks such as Citibank Europe, Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan, covered by the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000 per person and per institution. Securities sit in segregated accounts at Clearstream, so they remain your property if the broker fails.

On the downside, the app is mobile-only, there is no demo account, research tools are minimal, and orders execute on a single venue (LS Exchange), which suits long-term investors more than active traders comparing prices across exchanges.

Want to know more? Read our full Trade Republic review.

Founded in 2010, Pepperstone is one of the largest forex and CFD brokers in the world, serving more than 900,000 accounts across the group as of March 2026. It has won several industry awards for execution and pricing, including our Best MT4 and MT5 Broker award for 2025.

It operates under several tier-1 regulators, including the FCA, ASIC, BaFin, CySEC, CMA and DFSA. German clients are served by the BaFin-regulated entity.

Platforms include MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView integration, with advanced charting, algorithmic trading and Expert Advisor support.

Two account types:

• Razor: favoured by scalpers and EA users, with raw spreads from zero pips plus a fixed commission per lot.
• Standard: the cost is built into the spread, with no separate commission.

On the downside, Pepperstone focuses on CFDs and forex (no real stocks, ETFs or crypto investing) and pays no interest on uninvested cash, unlike other brokers here.

Pepperstone suits traders focused on CFDs and forex. Read our in-depth Pepperstone review for more.

Freedom24, part of Freedom Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: FRHC), is a European broker giving access to more than 1 million instruments on 15 exchanges in Europe, Asia and the US, including stocks, 3,600+ ETFs, bonds and US stock options. It has a local team in Germany providing support in German.

Alongside the popular ETFs from Vanguard, iShares and Invesco, it covers a broad range of strategies, including dividend and short-term bond ETFs, plus niche options such as covered call ETFs.

For long-term investors it offers ETF investment plans: you invest in selected ETFs weekly or monthly with €0 commission. That applies only to purchases within the recurring investment function, with other fees according to the Freedom24 fee schedule.

German clients can also ask their personal manager for investment advice, which most brokers here cannot offer because they are execution-only. The only requirement is completing the suitability test. The web and mobile interfaces are intuitive, with market analysis (InvestIdeas) and educational content.

With no minimum deposit, there are two pricing plans:

• Smart in EUR: €0.02 per share plus €2 per order on US and European stocks and ETFs, better for lower trading volumes.
• All Inclusive in EUR: includes a personal manager, at 0.5% of trade value plus €0.012 per share and €1.20 per order.

Until 30 October 2026, new clients can receive up to 20 gift shares through the welcome promotion, depending on their first deposit (T&Cs apply). On the downside, Freedom24 charges a €7 withdrawal fee and offers no fractional shares or crypto trading.

Its European operations run through Freedom Finance Europe Ltd, regulated by CySEC and passported into Germany under MiFID II. If segregated assets cannot be returned, the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund covers losses up to €20,000 per investor.

Read our full Freedom24 review to learn more.

Founded in 2013 and part of flatexDEGIRO since 2020, DEGIRO is a low-cost broker popular with European retail investors. The group has 3.5 million customer accounts across 16 European countries, and the platform is known for its do-it-yourself philosophy. It offers stocks, ETFs, bonds, options, futures, warrants, funds and leveraged products (which are not the same as CFDs, as we explain here).

Its most attractive feature is the Core Selection of ETFs, which trade with €0 commission when executed on Tradegate, though a €1 handling fee per trade still applies. The web platform is minimalist, efficient and quick to learn, as is the app. On the downside, there is no in-depth fundamental research, a US stock trade costs €2 (€1 commission plus the €1 handling fee), an annual €2.50 connectivity fee applies per foreign exchange you trade on, and price alerts are missing.

On safety, DEGIRO services are provided by flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, a German bank supervised by BaFin and the Deutsche Bundesbank. If segregated client assets cannot be returned, the German Investor Compensation Scheme covers 90% of the loss, up to €20,000 per investor, worth keeping in mind for larger portfolios. Cash held in a DEGIRO cash account is additionally covered by the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000.

Still unsure? Read our full DEGIRO review.

Launched in 1992, Saxo is one of the most established names in the industry. Since 2026 the Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin has held around 71% of Saxo Bank, with founder Kim Fournais keeping roughly 28% and chairing the board. The platform gives access to more than 70,000 instruments through SaxoTraderPRO (desktop) and SaxoTraderGO (web and mobile).

The range covers cash and margin trading across global markets: stocks, ETFs, bonds, funds, crypto ETPs, options, futures, CFDs and forex. Its research tools serve both buy-and-hold investors and active traders.

There are three account tiers (thresholds differ by country, the values below reflect Saxo’s international offer):

• Classic: the default tier, with no minimum deposit, competitive prices and 24/5 support.
• Platinum: from €200,000 in deposits or a certain trading volume, with prices up to 30% lower and local-language support.
• VIP: from €1,000,000, with Saxo’s best pricing and direct access to trading experts.

Pricing varies by tier: a US stock order costs 0.08% (min. $1) in Classic against 0.03% (min. $1) in VIP. Prices are approximate and differ by country of residence, so check the trade ticket in the platform or Saxo’s pricing page for what applies to German residents.

Saxo Bank A/S is a licensed European bank supervised by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority and a member of the Danish Guarantee Fund, which covers cash deposits up to €100,000 and securities up to €20,000 per client. Services are passported into Germany under MiFID II.

Founded in 2004, Trading 212 is a London fintech aiming to make investing accessible through a simple, mobile-first experience. It gives access to over 10,000 stocks and ETFs and serves more than 5 million clients.

Trading 212 offers no commissions on stocks and ETFs (other fees may apply, see terms and fees), fractional shares and automated investing through Pies and AutoInvest, which lets you build self-managed portfolios. Account opening is quick and fully digital. A 0.15% FX fee applies when converting funds. Other fees may apply. On the downside, the product range has limits, with no bonds, options or futures.

German clients open their accounts with Trading 212 EU GmbH, a German firm authorised and supervised by BaFin (licence 10109603), so German investor protection rules apply. Trading 212 also pays interest on uninvested cash for clients who enable it.

Sponsored Code: to get free fractional shares worth up to €100, you can open an account with Trading 212 using the promo code “IITW”. Terms apply.

To learn more, read our full Trading 212 review.