Investment Platforms

eToro review

8

(our review)

eToro is a popular platform for online investing. It gives investors access to stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodity ETFs and CFDs. It has a unique user interface, with some social media features. In our review, we rate eToro with an 8.

Content:

Investing comes with risks. By trading on eToro, you can lose (some of) your investment.

What characterizes eToro?

etoro revieweToro is an international multi-asset investment platform. This means that you can buy and sell stocks, as well as trade in ETFs, crypto or gold and silver. On this platform, you make all your investment decisions on your own. However, you can also copy investment portfolios of other users, and copy their decisions.

eToro is a safe and reliable platform for trading stocks or ETFs. However, users should always do their own research to make informed choices. The platform also offers higher-risk products, such as CFDs and cryptocurrencies.

eToro is an international multi-asset investment platform

eToro dashboard (stocks)

Usability

New users can get started with eToro’s free demo account. After creating an account, you can select Virtual Portfolio in the menu. In a demo account, you are credited with 100,000 dollars to build a virtual portfolio. This way, you can practice investing with a variety of assets and strategies, without any risk.

The platform also offers an Academy, with step-by-step guides, tutorials and courses for new users. As a novice user, it is advisable to take the time for this demo account and the extra guides, as eToro’s product range can be somewhat overwhelming.

More experienced traders can start right away. Thanks to the search function, regular stocks, ETFs or crypto stocks can be found quickly. Trading on the platform is also easy, just like copying other users’ portfolios.
etoro traders

Offering

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. This means that you can buy and sell stocks, as well as trade in ETFs, crypto or gold and silver. Pure based on the range of products there are other online brokers with a larger range. This platform’s strength is the combination of the different kind of products. If you want to build a diverse portfolio, you can do that here. 

Next to the range of products, it also offers several ways to invest. You can build a portfolio yourself, but eToro also offers ready-made options. Similar to ETFs, Alpha Portfolios invest in specific sectors or trends. eToro uses its own algorithm to analyse trading data and find strong opportunities. As an investor, you can easily benefit from this.

Invest in premade portfolios

High risk investments

On eToro, you can trade in CFDs (Contract for Difference). With this investment product, you do not buy the actual underlying asset, but earn (or lose!) money on a certain price change. This does come with a high risk. Many retail CFD accounts, which are basically all non-professional investors, lose money on these products.

Therefore, be careful with CFDs, or with user generated plans that invest in CFDs. Additionally, most crypto investments are high risk. These assets are volatile and regulation around crypto is very limited. This means that you are not protected as an investor. You can lose your investment in crypto easily. Take two minutes to learn more.

etoro Watchlist

Costs of trading on eToro

The platform does not charge any commission or fixed transaction fees, but the spread can be as high as five percent. The spread is the difference between the buying and selling price of an investment. eToro earns money from this spread. So even if a trade is commission-free, you still pay because of the spread. The bigger the spread, the more you pay, even though these are not shown as official costs.

For larger trades, this amount can be quite high. For example, if you buy a share for 100 euro, but you can only sell it for 98 euro, the difference of 2 euro is the spread. Other brokers often have smaller spreads. In eToro’s terms, it says that spreads can change and are different for each product.

For large active investors, these unclear spreads can be a reason to use another platform. But for beginners who trade smaller amounts, it helps that there are no monthly or fixed transaction fees. In our review, we focus on new investors, so we are positive about eToro’s costs. Compared to other platforms, eToro’s pricing is competitive, especially if you trade with lower investment amounts.

The most important costs of eToro are:

  • Transaction fees: none (except for cryptocurrency)
  • Currency fees: 0.50 percent on incoming cash and cash withdrawals
  • Withdrawal fees: 5 dollars
  • Spread costs: varying between 0 to 5 percent
  • Inactivity fee: 10 dollars

Currency exchange and transaction costs

Until 2024, the platform only worked with US-dollars, and you had to pay a fee every time you changed money from or to euros. Now it is also possible to open an account in euros or British pounds. If you trade in ETFs or shares, this can be cheap, but make sure you use the same currency. If you have a USD account and buy European products, or the other way around, the exchange costs can become high.

Review score: 8

In our latest review, we rated eToro with an 8 out of 10. Depending on your investment strategy and horizon, it is an affordable and user-friendly platform compared to other brokers. It also offers a good mobile app with a lot of features. You can invest in stocks, crypto and ETFs, which makes it easy to spread your risks.

For new users, we really like the Academy with guides about the platform and its products. For people that like to learn how to trade or read up on financial products, eToro has a lot of info. And the best feature for those: The virtual portfolio-option is a perfect way to learn how to invest yourself.

For people who are primarily seeking advice, or who want to invest passively, eToro offers user profiles that can be copied. We like the pre-made Alpha Portfolios even more. These products are generated based on trading data, are an ideal way to lift on market trends without having to spend much time on the platform or the investments.

Millions of users from over  hundred countries trade on this platform, including in commodities, currencies and various cryptocurrencies. However, you still need to be careful. The user-friendly design does not remove the risks. With the wrong products, you can quickly lose your money.

Dirkjan

Dirkjan

Owner of Eurolutions and actively involved as a business angel and investor in real estate, stocks, and crowdfunding projects.

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