DEGIRO vs Interactive Brokers.
DEGIRO or Interactive Brokers for a monthly index buy? The same pattern priced through both price sheets, the protection behind each, who does your tax paperwork, and what leaving costs. Side by side, verified, verdict-free.
Every figure verified against the brokers’ own price sheets: July 2026. Fee schedules reprice mid-year. If that date looks old, check the price sheet before acting.
The same buy, both bills
| Measure | DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| The bill this year | €12 | €0 |
| Twenty years of it | ≈ €441.43 | ≈ €0 |
The example pattern: €300 a month, no pot, a euro-listed fund. Your pattern is different: run yours through The Broker Bill
Where they differ
| Dimension | DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Available in | 29 countries, on its published list | 31 countries, on its published list; the UK too, via its UK entity |
| The monthly buy | €1 · manual order | €0 · savings plan |
| Conversion | 0.25% | ≈0.03% auto · 0.002% min €2 by hand |
| Savings plan | manual, whole units | automatic · fractions |
| Protection | German Investor Compensation Scheme: 90% up to €20,000 (securities shortfalls) | Irish Investor Compensation Scheme: 90% up to €20,000. UK and Swiss residents can be served by different entities, with different schemes. Pick your country in the Broker Bill for the applicable fine print. |
| The cash | Uninvested cash sits in a personal Cash Account at flatexDEGIRO Bank SE: €100,000 German deposit guarantee. The bank pays 0% on it, part of how the cheap trades get paid for. | Not a bank: uninvested cash sits in segregated client accounts at third-party banks. The protection is segregation, not a per-client deposit guarantee. Some securities are custodied at its US affiliate, where US SIPC cover applies. The UK and Swiss arrangements differ. |
| The exit | Transfer out €20 per position, plus external costs. | In-kind transfers supported; no fee is published for European outbound transfers (US ACATS transfers are free). |
Where they match
- Recurring €0/yr
- Does your taxes in —
The honest notes
DEGIRO
The old default of European index investors — today a branch of a German bank, serving most of the EU from a single entity. Its appeal is a cheap flat handling fee on a core list of ETFs; its limits are structural: no savings plans and no fractional shares, so every month means logging in and buying whole units by hand, and the cheap list runs through a single trading venue. It pays nothing on your idle cash; that's part of how the cheap trades get paid for. Fits someone who doesn't mind ten manual clicks a month and wants broad, cheap market access from almost anywhere in the EU.
DEGIRO: the fine print
flatexDEGIRO Bank SE, Dutch branch trading as DEGIRO: German bank, BaFin; AFM/DNB in NL
ETF Core Selection: €1 handling fee per trade on 1,000+ ETFs (all via Tradegate), no fair-use restriction, manual orders only. Any other exchange: €3 plus a €2.50-a-year connectivity fee.
No automatic investing and no fractions. Its own pages say so plainly. Every month is a manual order, in whole units.
Uninvested cash sits in a personal Cash Account at flatexDEGIRO Bank SE: €100,000 German deposit guarantee. The bank pays 0% on it, part of how the cheap trades get paid for.
No native withholding anywhere: a free annual report and the filing is yours; transaction taxes are passed through at source.
Transfer out €20 per position, plus external costs.
Interactive Brokers
The forums' default answer to "which is safest?", and the plumbing some of the other apps quietly build on: an Irish-regulated arm of a listed US giant that acts as custodian for a few of its own competitors. Multi-currency accounts, every exchange that matters, and a recurring-investments programme that buys a wide set of UCITS ETFs without commission — funded, as IBKR itself discloses, by a small payment from the fund makers. That's the honest kind of free: printed where you can read it. The catch is fit, not fees: it's an institution-grade cockpit, and the cash interest is engineered to reward big balances. For the six-figure pot, the multi-currency life, and anyone who wants the door that's never the wrong door.
Interactive Brokers: the fine print
Interactive Brokers Ireland Ltd: Central Bank of Ireland (C423427). UK and Swiss residents can be served by different entities, with different schemes. Pick your country in the Broker Bill for the applicable fine print.
Recurring Investments: commission-free UCITS ETF buys from €10, funded by 10 basis points the fund maker pays IBKR (its own disclosure). Manual orders: tiered 0.05%, min €1.25, plus small venue fees. Recurring buys in another currency convert automatically at about 0.03%, no commission; a by-hand order pays the spot desk's €2 minimum.
Recurring Investments from €10, fractional shares native.
Not a bank: uninvested cash sits in segregated client accounts at third-party banks. The protection is segregation, not a per-client deposit guarantee. Some securities are custodied at its US affiliate, where US SIPC cover applies.
No country-native tax service: treaty and reporting machinery only; you file everything yourself from its statements.
In-kind transfers supported; no fee is published for European outbound transfers (US ACATS transfers are free).
No affiliate links: no broker pays me, and none of them knows it's on this page. The order is arithmetic, not sponsorship.
Education, not advice. Fee schedules change and brokers reprice. Check the current price sheet before you open anything. Which broker suits you also depends on your country and your tax situation; I'm not a licensed adviser, happily.
Bring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.
Ninety minutes, online, €600. The Exit Audit included.