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 | €36 |
| Twenty years of it | ≈ €0 | ≈ €4,066.13 |
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 | 0.08% · min €3 · manual order |
| Recurring | €0/yr | €0/yr + 0.1875% of the pot |
| Conversion | 0.002% · min €2 | 0.25% |
| Savings plan | automatic · fractions | manual, whole units |
| Protection | Irish Investor Compensation Scheme — 90% up to €20,000 | Danish Guarantee Fund — instruments up to €20,000; cash to €100,000 (it is the bank) |
| 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. | Cash is a deposit at Saxo Bank A/S itself — covered to the €100,000 equivalent by the Danish guarantee fund. |
| 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)
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 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 Danish bank, designated systemically important, with access to practically every market — and, since a 2024 overhaul, fees that compete instead of apologising. The structural difference is the custody fee: a yearly percentage of everything you hold (plus VAT for EU residents), the one cost the free apps don't charge — and per-order minimums that make tiny monthly buys proportionally expensive, with no auto-invest or fractions for most EU clients. Wrong shape for a €200 drip; a reasonable shape for a large, settled portfolio that values a bank-grade counterparty and doesn't buy in sips.
Saxo — the fine print
Saxo Bank A/S — Danish banking licence, Danish FSA; branches across the EU
Manual order, 0.08% with a €3 minimum on Xetra-type venues — €3 flat on any buy up to €3,750. Prices “vary according to the country of residency” (its words); the Netherlands runs a different model entirely.
No auto-invest outside Denmark (AutoInvest is DK-only, in kroner, whole units) and no fractional shares — monthly buys are manual, whole units.
Cash is a deposit at Saxo Bank A/S itself — covered to the €100,000 equivalent by the Danish guarantee fund.
Denmark: reports everything — the tax return arrives pre-filled. France: issues the IFU, but only for accounts under its French branch. Elsewhere you file yourself.
In-kind transfer out €50 per ISIN, capped at €160; bonds travel 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.
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