Interactive Brokers vs Trade Republic.
Interactive Brokers or Trade Republic 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 | Trade Republic |
|---|---|---|
| The bill this year | €0 | €0 |
| Twenty years of it | ≈ €0 | ≈ €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 | Interactive Brokers | Trade Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Available in | 31 countries, on its published list; the UK too, via its UK entity | 18 countries, on its published list |
| Conversion | 0.002% · min €2 | — · euro funds only |
| Protection | Irish Investor Compensation Scheme — 90% up to €20,000 | German EdB — 90% up to €20,000 (securities shortfalls; segregation first) |
| 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 distributed among partner banks (Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, HSBC among them) — €100,000 guarantee per bank; amounts beyond that can sit in liquidity funds, where no deposit guarantee applies. |
| Does your taxes in | — | Germany, Italy, Spain |
| The exit | In-kind transfers supported; no fee is published for European outbound transfers (US ACATS transfers are free). | Outbound in-kind transfers supported (the receiving broker's form starts it); no fee published — ask before you fund. |
Where they match
- The monthly buy €0 · savings plan
- Recurring €0/yr
- Savings plan automatic · fractions
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).
Trade Republic
A German bank inside an app, and the smoothest version of this site's pattern where it operates: savings plans execute free, fractions from a euro, and idle cash earns the central bank's rate. In its biggest markets it also does the tax paperwork natively — the rare app where April doesn't arrive with homework. The caveats: euro-only, app-first, and its whole execution model was rebuilt days after the PFOF ban — manual orders now carry a small settlement fee, and the repricing may not be finished. Available in seventeen-ish countries; the list moves.
Trade Republic — the fine print
Trade Republic Bank GmbH, Berlin — German bank, BaFin + Deutsche Bundesbank
Savings plan — free execution (a €1 settlement fee applies when you sell); manual orders €1 best-price / €2 on a chosen exchange, since July 2026.
The core product: free savings plans from €1, fractional; change, pause or cancel free.
Cash is distributed among partner banks (Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, HSBC among them) — €100,000 guarantee per bank; amounts beyond that can sit in liquidity funds, where no deposit guarantee applies.
Withholds natively in Germany, Italy and Spain; France gets the fee-free PEA; elsewhere you file from its annual report.
Outbound in-kind transfers supported (the receiving broker's form starts it); no fee published — ask before you fund.
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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