Interactive Brokers vs Saxo.
Interactive Brokers or Saxo 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 | Interactive Brokers | Saxo |
|---|---|---|
| The bill this year | €0 | country needed |
| Twenty years of it | ≈ €0 | country needed |
Saxo prices by country of residence, so this compare turns numeric once you pick your country in the Broker Bill.
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 | Interactive Brokers | Saxo |
|---|---|---|
| Available in | 31 countries, on its published list; the UK too, via its UK entity | 29 countries, on its published list; the UK too, via its UK entity |
| The monthly buy | €0 · savings plan | set by your country |
| Recurring | €0/yr | set by your country |
| Conversion | ≈0.03% auto · 0.002% min €2 by hand | set by your country |
| Savings plan | automatic · fractions | set by your country |
| Protection | 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. | Danish Guarantee Fund: instruments up to €20,000; cash to €100,000 (it is the bank). 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 | 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. | Cash is a deposit at Saxo Bank A/S itself, covered to the €100,000 equivalent by the Danish guarantee fund. The UK and Swiss arrangements differ. |
| Does your taxes in | — | Denmark, France |
| The exit | In-kind transfers supported; no fee is published for European outbound transfers (US ACATS transfers are free). | In-kind transfer out €50 per ISIN, capped at €160; bonds travel free. |
The honest notes
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).
Saxo
The premium end: a group built around a Danish bank designated systemically important at home, with access to practically every market — and, since a 2024 overhaul, fees that compete instead of apologising. But there is no one Saxo bill. The entity you contract with, the custody fee, the order minimums and the buying route are all set by where you live. Where per-order minimums and a yearly custody percentage apply, they are the wrong shape for a €200 monthly drip. Switzerland runs the other way, with no custody fee and commission-free AutoInvest. I'd pick the country before judging it. What it sells everywhere is breadth and the backing of a banking group, not one universal price.
Saxo: the fine print
set by your country of residence; pick yours above
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.
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