DEGIRO Review 2024

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★★★★★

4.7/5.0

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DEGIRO has established itself as a trusted name in stock trading. Established in 2008 by a group of former employees of Binck Bank, the firm started its online brokerage services in 2013. Within a short period, it has grown to be one of the leading retail stockbrokers in Europe. Headquartered in the Netherlands, DEGIRO has expanded its online trading platform across 18 European countries with over 2 Million accounts.

Key Takeaway

We recommend DEGIRO to investors looking for a reputable low-cost European broker. DEGIRO offers a wide range of investment products, commission-free ETF trading (external fees only), and a intuitive trading platform and mobile trading app. It is a good choice for most investors looking to build long-term securities portfolios.

DEGIRO approached the market with an aggressive strategy to set itself as a benchmark. It is able to differentiate itself from its competition as an online discount broker, offering multi asset brokerage service in more than 84 assets, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, warrants, and many more.

In 2021, they set a milestone in the stock trading sector by merging with a German online broker, Flatex AG. Now, it operates as the most prominent online execution-only broker in Europe with its own banking license.

Despite the wide range of instruments available, DEGIRO does not deal in currency pairs and cryptocurrencies, which most other online brokers offer to their clients these days.
Nevertheless, it is one of the most reliable brokers licensed by several financial regulatory bodies in Europe. Innovation and transparency lie at the core of DEGIRO’s business philosophy.

DEGIRO Overview

Pros and Cons of DEGIRO

DEGIRO stands out of the competition as the best discount broker with its unbelievably low fees in all types of market instruments. Unlike most other brokers, they don't charge fees for most non-trading services like withdrawal, deposit, and inactivity. Its trading account opening process is relatively hassle-free, and the trading platform is well-designed and user-friendly.

DEGIRO is registered with several top-tier financial authorities in Europe, viz. AFM, DNB, FCA, and BaFin. Therefore, the investors’ money is in safe hands. It’s no surprise that DEGIRO has been able to win the trust and confidence of over 600,000 clients within a few years of launching its online brokerage services to retail investors.

Despite its limited portfolio of assets, DEGIRO offers its clients with access to more than 50 international stock exchanges, thus broadening the scope of trading or investment. However, it misses out on the major assets like Forex and CFDs.

Unlike other trading platforms, DEGIRO does not provide a demo account. The biggest concern is its lack of real-time market price updates. The prices are delayed by 15 minutes. A trader needs to pay an annual fee for real-time market prices.

Bank transfer is the only payment method in DAGIRO. Besides, the research tools in its platforms are limited and do not offer advanced analytical functionality.

How Does DEGIRO Compare to Similar Brokers?

Is DEGIRO Regulated and Licensed?

DEGIRO is regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) and indirect supervision of the European Central Bank (ECB) and Dutch Central Bank (DNB). DEGIRO is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Although a private company, they have a banking license following the merger with Flatex AG in 2021.

All these regulatory and licensing provisions are necessary to ensure the safe trading and investing environment and minimize the risks of frauds and scams by the brokers. Each broker has to go meet specific criteria to get a license from the respective authority.

Is DEGIRO Safe?

DEGIRO is safe. DEGIRO is one of the most reputable and reliable brokers in Europe. Thanks to its regulatory and financial compliance with top-tier authorities like BaFln, DNB, FCA, and AFM. DEGIRO also segregates the clients’ assets into separate entities.

This means the clients do not lose their investments even if the broker goes bankrupt. Following the merger with Flatex AG, DEGIRO falls under the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme that requires the broker to guarantee up to €100,000 for the money deposited in its Cash Account.

They don’t provide negative balance protection to the clients, but this shouldn’t be a problem because it doesn’t deal in Forex and CFDs.

How is the DEGIRO Trading Platform?

For DEGIRO, simple is beautiful, evident from its trading platform. It is available in browser-based web and mobile platform with simplicity and functionality in mind. The interface is intuitive, straightforward, and is easy to use.

DEGIRO WebTrader 

DEGIRO WebTrader comes with all the basic features that an ideal trading platform should have. The developers have focused on improving the trading experience with integrated design features. The trader can have a clear overview of his portfolio and transaction list, along with the real-time market news and updates.

They have done a great job working towards the protection of user’s data and privacy. It has embedded security features like two-step authentication and face ID verification. But the developers have skipped on price alerts in its platform, which is the most basic requirement for live trading. Although it offers several charting tools, they are limited in terms of customization.

DEGIRO Mobile App

Similar to WebTrader, Degiro Mobile App allows the users to access their portfolio and transaction lists with ease. They can get real-time market updates as well. The app is intuitive and efficient, but it looks somewhat outdated. Customization features are lacking.

MetaTrader 4

DEGIRO does not offer MetaTrader4 (MT4) platform. This is because MT4 is mostly used in Forex and CFDs trading. Since they don't offer these instruments, the traders cannot trade in markets like stocks, bonds, ETFs, and others. But its in-house trading platform offers functionalities similar to MT4.

Nevertheless, MT4 can be used via its browser-based platform to take advantage of its customization features and advanced charting tools. MT5 and cTrader are beyond the reach of DEGIRO till now.

What Are The Investment Products Available at DEGIRO?

DEGIRO offers trading on the NASDAQ, NYSE, and NYSE MKT (AMEX) exchanges. Their product offering includes Shares, Bonds, ETFs, Futures, Options, Warrants, Investment Funds, and Leveraged Products. The markets available are suitable for long-term investors.

DEGIRO does not provide forex, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies.

Does DEGIRO offer stocks?

Yes, stocks are available at DEGIRO. They offer UK stocks, European stocks, and US stocks. You can access over 50 exchanges worldwide, including Euronext, Xetra, NASDAQ, NYSE and more. However, they don't offer fractional shares.

Does DEGIRO offer ETFs?

Yes, ETFs are available at DEGIRO. They offer a wide range of ETFs trading on 19 major exchanges. DEGIRO offers the ETF Core Selection, where the first monthly trade for selected ETFs don't have a commission cost.

Does DEGIRO offer Forex Trading?

DEGIRO does not offer Forex trading.

Does DEGIRO offer bond trading?

Yes, DEGIRO offers bonds as part of their investment products. They offer bonds at industry leading fees with a €2 commission and €1 handling fee.

Does DEGIRO offer cryptocurrencies?

DEGIRO does not offer cryptocurrencies directly, including Bitcoin. However, they offer Crypto ETNs, which incur high fees and risk.

Does DEGIRO offer Futures trading?

Yes, DEGIRO offers futures trading. They offer a wide range of futures, however, when you open an account, you cannot trade them immediately.

What are the DEGIRO Fees and Commissions?

DEGIRO fees and commissions are among the lowest in the industry. They've earned a reputation for its transparency. DEGIRO charges a transaction fee, handling fee, currency fee, bid-ask spread, and connectivity fee. There are no hidden fees, inactivity fees, or minimum deposits. As a discount broker, its rates are highly competitive.

Handling Fees

DEGIRO charges a small fixed handling fee of €1 per trade for all products to cover its external costs. This covers the execution costs, clearing and settlement, brokerage fees, regulatory expenses, and contract note fees.

Connectivity Fees

DEGIRO charges connectivity fees for trading outside the home market. The connectivity fee is €2.50 or a maximum of 0.25% of your total account value per exchange per year.

For instance, a trader living in the UK needn’t pay any fee for trading from the London Stock Exchange (LSE). But if he buys shares from any other brokers outside home market, such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), then the trader has to pay €2.5 annually as an exchange connection fee, irrespective of the volume of trade.

Currency Cost Fee

Currency costs at DEGIRO are 0.25% of the transaction value for using the built-in AutoFX trader.

What are the DEGIRO Stock Trading Fees?

DEGIRO stock trading fees are low. Stock trading incurs a transaction fee, handling fee, connectivity fee, and currency costs for conversions. The fees for UK exchange stocks are £1.75, for US and Canada exchange stocks €1.00, for Germany Tradegate/XETRA and other European countries €3.90. For Australia, Germany (Frankfurt Stocks), Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, the fee is €5.00.

What are the DEGIRO ETF, ETN, ETC Trading Fees?

DEGIRO trading fees for ETFs, ETNs,and ETCs are €0.00 for the ETF core selection and €2.00 for other ETFs. However, the transaction, handling, currency, product cost, bid-ask spread, and connectivity fee do apply.
A €1000 ETF buy position will incur total costs of €11.1. The same €1000 position in the core selection will incur total costs of €9.08.

Non-Trading Fees

Non-trading fees are not related to trading activity per se. Withdrawal fees, inactivity fees, and deposit fees are the examples of non-trading fees.

DEGIRO allows its clients to transfer money to their trading accounts free of cost. There is no minimum deposit amount required when opening an account. It does not charge withdrawal fees, but it involves a conversion fee if the base currency is different from the withdrawn currency. DEGIRO does not have inactivity charges in its fee structure, but the broker recommends the client to close his account in that case.

Research and Education

Compared to other brokers like eToro and Oanda, DEGIRO slightly lags behind in terms of research functions. Degior’s WebTrader platform is simple in design with basic research features suitable for beginners and intermediate traders. Since it doesn’t deal with Forex and CFDs, its research capabilities are limited. 

However, they offer a collection of quality educational resources through its dedicated portal “Investor’s Academy”. The tutorial videos and blogs aim to help new investors with the trading environment and its WebTrader platform. This may be useful for novice investors, but it is not sufficient for more experienced traders. Having advanced charting tools and analytical features would have made DEGIRO even better.

Account Types

DEGIRO offers one type of live account to its clients. It is called the Basic account.

• Basic Account is the default type of account in DEGIRO, which allows the client to trade in all types of assets without any extra charge or limitations.
• Custody account is no longer available. It is used as an entry-level account for new investors. But unlike the basic account, the clients can’t lend their securities to third parties. This is because of asset segregation, which is required by the Dutch regulations so that the clients don’t lose their assets even if the broker goes bankrupt.

These accounts don’t provide access to debit money, debit securities, and derivative trading. DEGIRO offers Active, Trader, and Day Trader accounts for such services. Clients can upgrade their Basic account to trade using margin, short-selling and derivative trading.

Customer Service

The low-cost structure sounds like a good selling point, but DEGIRO can do better with customer service. It offers most services like deposit, withdrawal, and inactive accounts without any additional charge. The client needs to pay management fees for personalized customer service. 

DEGIRO provides its customer service in 18 different languages via phone calls and emails only. They are able to resolve the clients’ issues relatively well. Phone support is quite responsive, whereas email support can go unanswered for a while. DEGIRO doesn’t have live chat support for its clients, which is a major drawback.

Final Thoughts

DEGIRO’s biggest strength is the fee structure without compromising on the services it offers. Although its portfolio of assets is limited and doesn’t include Forex and CFDs, it trades in 84 different instruments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and EFTs across 32 international stock exchanges. 

DEGIRO has established itself as the leading online, execution-only broker in Europe with its own banking license. Top-tier financial authorities regulate it in Europe. It is a trustworthy, reliable and safe online broker.

Their WebTrader platform is well-designed and simple to use. It can be a great choice for investors who are looking for a low-cost trading platform. It does not charge the clients for deposit, inactivity, or withdrawal, but it has exchange connection fees, which is reasonable.