Interactive Brokers review: low costs, global markets, more work

Interactive Brokers is an online broker that gives investors in the EU a single account for stocks, ETFs, bonds, options and futures on many financial markets, with low trading fees and the cheapest published currency conversion in our reviews. The catch: it’s a complex platform, it doesn’t withhold tax or produce local tax statements for Dutch, German or Belgian residents, and it pays no interest on the first €10,000 of euro cash.

This Interactive Brokers review is written for investors in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. We checked IBKR Ireland’s pricing, interest and investor protection pages and the Central Bank of Ireland register on 23 October 2026. We haven’t opened an account ourselves, so we don’t rate the platforms from hands-on use.

Quick verdict for European investors

Interactive Brokers is a “turn here” pick: a strong choice if you’re an experienced or active investor who wants global markets and low trading fees, and you’re happy to do your own tax paperwork. Its main benefit, range and low currency costs, sits right next to its main drawback, complexity and DIY tax.

If you simply want to put €100 a month into an ETF, Trade Republic or Scalable Capital are simpler and cost the same or less. Investing involves risk, and leveraged products such as options, futures, margin and CFDs can lose you money quickly.

Interactive Brokers at a glance

	Interactive Brokers (EU clients)
EU entity	Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (Central Bank of Ireland ref. C423427)
Licences	MiFID II investment firm since December 2020; MiCA crypto-asset service provider since January 2026
Investor protection	Irish Investor Compensation Scheme: 90% of the loss, up to €20,000
Account minimums	None
Account and platform fees	€0
EU stocks (IBKR Pro Fixed)	0.05% of trade value, min €3 (SmartRouted)
US stocks (IBKR Pro Fixed)	$0.005 per share, min $1, max 1% of trade value
ETF savings plans	€0 commission on recurring plans in a range of UCITS ETFs, from €10
Currency conversion	Automatic: 0.03% added to the rate; spot FX: min $2
Interest on euro cash	0% on the first €10,000; above that benchmark minus 0.5% (1.976% in October 2026)
Products	Stocks, ETFs, bonds, options, futures, CFDs, crypto, fractional shares
Available in	Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the rest of the EEA
Last checked	23 October 2026

Who should use Interactive Brokers: active traders or beginners?

Interactive Brokers suits active traders, advanced traders and experienced investors more than beginners. It fits you if you:

• trade on many stock exchanges or in several currencies;
• buy US stocks often and want a $1 minimum commission with 0.03% automatic conversion;
• want options, futures or bonds in the same brokerage account as your ETFs;
• are an active trader or one of the higher volume traders for whom Tiered pricing may pay off;
• keep large cash balances, where interest above €10,000 starts to count.

Is Interactive Brokers good for beginners? Usually not: the IBKR platform suits cost-conscious and active investors, and it has a learning curve. Consider alternatives if you want tax handled for you, if you invest small monthly amounts in ETFs outside IBKR’s €0 commission range, or if you keep less than €10,000 in cash and want interest on it.

Interactive Brokers Europe: regulation and legal entities

Yes, Interactive Brokers is regulated in Europe. Clients in the EEA are served by Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (IBIE), authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as a MiFID II investment firm since December 2020, and passported to other EU countries under the freedom to provide services.

For crypto, IBIE was authorised as a MiCA crypto-asset service provider on 22 January 2026, for receiving and transmitting crypto orders. The trades and custody are handled by zerohash europe B.V., a Dutch crypto-asset service provider authorised by the AFM on 29 October 2025, according to ESMA’s interim MiCA register.

The wider Interactive Brokers Group is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and offers global access to markets through several regional entities. It traces back to T.P. & Co., formed in 1978 by Thomas Peterffy, who is now chairman. UK clients are served by a separate entity, Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited, regulated by the FCA. The group also has a Hungarian entity, Interactive Brokers Central Europe Zrt., licensed by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank; we didn’t check its role for retail clients.

Is Interactive Brokers safe? Investor protection and track record

Interactive Brokers Ireland is a licensed EU investment firm, and the Irish Investor Compensation Scheme protects your assets if the firm fails. It’s an investment firm rather than a bank, and the scheme it names for your cash is investor compensation (up to €20,000), not a €100,000 bank deposit guarantee.

How client money and assets held at IBKR are protected

IBIE keeps client funds in segregated client bank accounts, reconciles them daily, and holds fully paid securities at depositories in accounts for the exclusive benefit of customers. That means your assets held at IBKR are kept apart from the firm’s own money.

If the firm fails and can’t return what it owes you, the Investor Compensation Scheme, run by the Investor Compensation Company DAC (ICCL), pays 90% of the loss, up to €20,000 per investor. Securities in custody at the US affiliate, Interactive Brokers LLC, may also fall under the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), up to $500,000 with a $250,000 cash sublimit, plus an excess policy at Lloyd’s.

Two limits matter. The Irish scheme does not cover crypto-assets or cash held with zerohash. And no scheme covers market losses.

Regulatory record

The US entity, Interactive Brokers LLC, has paid two large penalties. In 2020 it paid $38 million in total to the Securities and Exchange Commission ($11.5 million), FINRA ($15 million) and the CFTC ($11.5 million) over anti-money-laundering and suspicious activity reporting failures. In 2025 it agreed to pay about $11.8 million to the US Treasury’s OFAC over apparent sanctions violations between 2016 and 2024, which it had self-disclosed.

We found no actions by the Central Bank of Ireland against the Irish entity, though our search wasn’t exhaustive. Because of the group’s AML and sanctions record, our protection score is 7 rather than 9.

IBKR fees: fixed pricing, tiered pricing and cost efficiency

IBKR fees are low for most order sizes, and the transparent pricing comes in two plans; which one suits you depends on your trading style. Fixed pricing is one all-in commission that includes exchange fees. Tiered pricing has a lower base rate, but exchange, clearing and regulatory fees are added on top. These are the IBKR Pro prices on the Irish commission schedule, checked on 23 October 2026:

	Fixed pricing	Tiered pricing
EU stocks and ETFs	0.05% of trade value, min €3 (SmartRouted) or €4 (direct), exchange fees included	0.05%, min €1.25, max €29, plus exchange and clearing fees
US exchange-listed stocks and ETFs	$0.005 per share, min $1.00, max 1% of trade value	$0.0035 per share (up to 300,000 shares a month), min $0.35, plus exchange, clearing and regulatory fees

Other costs:

Cost	Interactive Brokers Ireland
Account, platform and inactivity fees	€0 (no inactivity fee for most account types since 1 July 2021)
Custody	None charged by IBKR; pass-through custody fees on some markets, such as Athens (0.38%)
Recurring ETF plans	€0 commission for a range of UCITS ETFs, from €10; IBKR receives 10 basis points from the ETF issuer
Currency conversion	Automatic: 0.03% added to the rate. Spot FX: 0.20 basis points × trade value, min $2
Withdrawals	Two free per calendar month, then €1 per SEPA transfer or €8 per bank wire
Market data	Optional real-time subscriptions, billed separately
Crypto	0.12%–0.18% of trade value, min $1.75, capped at 1% of trade value

IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro

The Irish pricing pages we used list IBKR Pro pricing, Fixed and Tiered. We didn’t verify whether IBKR Lite is offered to EU clients, so the examples below use IBKR Pro Fixed. There are no commission-free trades on individual EU stocks: the €0 commission applies only to recurring plans in a range of UCITS ETFs, and spreads and fund costs still apply there.

Worked example: €100 a month into an ETF

• ETF in the €0 commission range, as a recurring plan: 12 × €0 = €0 commission a year. IBKR earns 10 basis points from the ETF issuer instead, and the fund’s running costs and spread still apply.
• ETF outside that range, bought by hand on an EU exchange: 0.05% of €100 is €0.05, so the €3 minimum applies: 12 × €3 = €36 a year, or 3.00% of €1,200.
• Tiered pricing: at least €1.25 plus exchange fees each month, so at least €15 a year.

Double check whether your ETF is in the €0 commission range before you set up a plan; the difference is €36 a year on €1,200.

Worked example: €1,000 of a US stock

Paying from euros with automatic conversion, on IBKR Pro Fixed:

• Commission: $0.005 per share, so the $1.00 minimum applies unless you buy more than 200 shares: $1.00.
• Currency conversion: 0.03% × €1,000 = €0.30.
• Total: $1.00 commission plus €0.30 conversion.

Selling later costs the same again. Converting manually with spot FX costs at least $2, so for small amounts automatic conversion is cheaper.

Worked example: €2,000 on Euronext Amsterdam

• Fixed: 0.05% × €2,000 = €1.00, below the minimum, so you pay €3.00 SmartRouted (exchange fees included) or €4.00 direct-routed.
• Tiered: 0.05% × €2,000 = €1.00, so the €1.25 minimum applies, plus exchange and clearing fees.

On Fixed pricing the 0.05% only starts to count above €6,000: a €10,000 order costs €5.00 (0.05%).

Can Interactive Brokers consistently outperform other brokers on cost?

Not on every order. IBKR is cheapest for currency conversion and competitive for larger orders, but for small monthly ETF plans and flat-fee app trades, other brokers cost the same or less. Order fees only, excluding spreads and fund costs:

Broker	€100 a month in an ETF (one year)	€1,000 US stock	€2,000 Euronext share
Interactive Brokers (Pro Fixed)	€0 in the €0 range; €36 otherwise	$1.00 + €0.30 FX	€3.00
DEGIRO	€12 (manual orders, Tradegate core selection)	€4.50, plus €2.50 yearly connectivity	€3.00
Trade Republic	€0 (savings plan)	€1 Best Price, or €2 Direct Price plus FX not published	€1 or €2
Scalable Capital (FREE)	€0 (savings plan)	€0.99 on EIX, traded in euros	No Euronext access; €0.99 on EIX if listed there
Saxo (NL, Bronze)	€0 with AutoInvest for selected ETFs	0.08% (min $1) plus 0.25% FX (€2.50)	0.08%, min €2: €2.00

The lesson: Interactive Brokers wins when you trade in other currencies, need markets other brokers don’t reach, or place larger orders. Fees change, so today’s pricing is no promise for the future; we re-check them regularly.

Trading products and fractional shares

Interactive Brokers offers the widest product range in our reviews: stocks, ETFs, bonds, options, futures, CFDs and crypto, with fractional shares.

• Stocks and ETFs on many global markets, including US exchange-listed stocks and European exchanges.
• Fractional shares and recurring investments in US, Canadian and EU stocks, on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule.
• Recurring ETF plans with €0 commission in a range of UCITS ETFs, from €10.
• Bonds, options and futures for experienced investors.
• Crypto through zerohash europe B.V., at 0.12%–0.18% per trade (min $1.75). We didn’t check which coins are available in each country.
• CFDs, with the warning below.

Margin, options, futures and CFDs

Leverage cuts both ways. 58.9% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with IBKR, according to Interactive Brokers’ Irish website on 23 October 2026; that figure is undated, and earlier IBKR pages showed 61% and 63.3%. Most retail traders lose money with leveraged products. Margin trading means borrowing to invest: if your account value falls too far, positions can be closed at a loss. IBKR’s margin rates aren’t in our data for this review, so check them on its site before you borrow. Options trading and margin trading are only for investors who understand them and can afford to lose the money.

Idle cash and interest: high yields or not?

For most EU investors, the yields aren’t high. IBKR pays nothing on the first €10,000 of uninvested cash in euros. Above that it pays the benchmark rate minus 0.5%, which was 1.976% on the page in October 2026. The full rate only applies when your account’s net asset value (NAV) is above $100,000; smaller accounts earn a proportionally reduced rate.

So someone with €8,000 of uninvested cash earns €0. Compare that with Trade Republic (2.50% at the Dutch branch, 2.5% in Germany) or Scalable Capital (2.60% on its Overnight account), which pay from the first euro. The benchmark rate changes often, so check the current figure.

Advanced trading platforms and best execution

Interactive Brokers offers a mobile app and trading platforms for advanced traders, with no platform fees. We haven’t tested them ourselves, so we don’t score the platforms on design. What we can say from official pages:

• Order routing: SmartRouted orders, where IBKR chooses the venue, cost from €3 on EU exchanges; direct-routed orders from €4. We haven’t assessed execution quality or best execution. Payment for order flow is banned in the EU from 30 June 2026.
• Market data: real-time data subscriptions are optional and billed separately.
• Recurring investments: you can schedule daily, weekly or monthly buys with fractional shares, which helps monthly ETF investors.
• Languages: the website is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian and Portuguese.

In our view it suits people who are comfortable with a complex platform. Expect a learning curve, including on the mobile experience, if you’re used to simple investing apps.

Opening an account and account minimums

Interactive Brokers Ireland has no account minimums and no minimum deposit.

We couldn’t verify whether iDEAL or instant SEPA deposits are supported.

Deposits, withdrawals and currency conversion

You fund the account by bank transfer, and you can transfer money out twice a month for free. After that, each SEPA withdrawal costs €1 and each bank wire €8.

Currency conversion is where IBKR stands out:

• Automatic conversion adds 0.03% to the exchange rate: €0.30 on €1,000, €3.00 on €10,000.
• Spot FX costs 0.20 basis points of the trade value, with a $2 minimum: on €10,000 that’s €0.20, so the $2 minimum applies.

So for large amounts, manual spot conversion is cheaper; for small amounts, automatic conversion is. Holding dollars in your account avoids converting back and forth.

Taxes for investors in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium

Interactive Brokers doesn’t withhold tax for Dutch, German or Belgian residents, so you handle it yourself.

• Netherlands: no Dutch tax is withheld, and we couldn’t verify a Dutch-specific tax statement. You declare your holdings in box 3 using IBKR’s statements; for 2026 the notional return on investments is 6.00%, taxed at 36% above €59,357 per person.
• Germany: no Abgeltungsteuer is withheld and you can’t file a Freistellungsauftrag. You report the income in Anlage KAP and pay 26.375% including Soli, plus church tax where it applies. IBKR has opened interest registration for the German Altersvorsorgedepot (AVD), the state-subsidised pension account starting 1 January 2027, but it can’t be opened yet.
• Belgium: IBKR doesn’t withhold TOB, so Belgian clients declare and pay it themselves, and they must report the Irish account to the National Bank of Belgium (NBB).
• Ireland: we haven’t checked Irish tax handling for this review.

If your situation is complex, a local tax adviser can help.

Customer support

IBKR offers phone support 24 hours a day from Sunday 1pm to Friday 7:30pm US Eastern time, plus chat and web tickets. We couldn’t verify whether support is available in Dutch or German beyond the website languages, and we haven’t tested it. If a complaint isn’t resolved, ask for the firm’s written complaints procedure and keep a record of every contact.

Interactive Brokers alternatives

Many investors use more than one broker: a simple app with low fees for the monthly ETF plan and Interactive Brokers for everything else. These alternatives fit specific goals:

• Simpler for beginners: Trade Republic. €0 savings plans, €1 orders, a Dutch branch and German tax withholding.
• Lower cost for small purchases: Scalable Capital. €0 savings plans and €0.99 orders on EIX, with German tax withheld; Germany, the Netherlands and four other countries only.
• Many exchanges with local tax help in Belgium: DEGIRO. Around 50 exchanges and €3 on Euronext, with TOB withheld for Belgians, but no German tax withholding.
• A bank with local branches: Saxo. Dutch and Belgian branches and a wide range of exchanges and bonds. Saxo also offers CFDs: 73% of retail investors lose money trading CFDs with it, according to its Dutch tariff sheet.
• One app for stocks and crypto: eToro. Mostly dollar balances with a 0.75% conversion fee; with its CFDs, 55% of retail investor accounts lose money, according to eToro.
• Crypto first: Bitpanda. Real crypto under MiCA licences in Austria and Germany.

For a ranking by goal, see the best ETF brokers, the best brokers in the Netherlands and the best brokers in Germany.

Final verdict: this way or turn here?

Turn here. The strongest reason to choose Interactive Brokers is reach at low cost: many markets, options and futures, $1 US orders and 0.03% currency conversion, under Irish regulation. The most important reason to avoid it is the work: a complex platform, no tax withholding in the Netherlands, Germany or Belgium, and no interest on the first €10,000 of euro cash. Its best user is an experienced investor with a larger portfolio. Our methodology explains how we score brokers.