Interactive Brokers vs Trading 212.
Interactive Brokers or Trading 212 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 | Trading 212 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Trading 212 |
|---|---|---|
| Available in | 31 countries, on its published list; the UK too, via its UK entity | 30 countries, on its published list; the UK too, via its UK entity |
| Conversion | 0.002% · min €2 | 0.15% |
| Protection | Irish Investor Compensation Scheme — 90% up to €20,000 | Cyprus ICF up to €20,000, or German EdW 90% up to €20,000 — depends on your country's entity |
| 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. | Client money held at major EU/UK banks; opting into interest sweeps cash into money market funds — “treated as an investment and not as money held with a bank”, its own words. |
| Does your taxes in | — | Germany |
| The exit | In-kind transfers supported; no fee is published for European outbound transfers (US ACATS transfers are free). | In-kind transfers out are free, whole shares only (fractions are sold) — but not from its German-entity accounts: there, leaving means selling. |
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).
Trading 212
The widest-available of the free apps — nearly all of the EEA — and the fullest automation: zero commission, a small conversion fee as its main visible charge, and “Pies” that auto-invest and rebalance with fractions. The fine print is where your attention should go. Which entity you contract with depends on your country, and with it the compensation scheme behind you; share lending can be on unless you turn it off (and isn't offered at all under its German entity); interest on cash comes via money-market funds, which are investments, not insured deposits. And the leveraged side of the house lives one tab away. Free, genuinely — checked settings and a closed tab are the price.
Trading 212 — the fine print
Trading 212 Markets Ltd (Cyprus, CySEC) or Trading 212 EU GmbH (Germany, BaFin) — your country decides
Any buy is commission-free — a Pie/AutoInvest or a manual order; the one account fee is the 0.15% currency conversion.
Pies & AutoInvest: scheduled buys on your rhythm that self-rebalance, fractional; each Pie's minimum derives from its smallest slice.
Client money held at major EU/UK banks; opting into interest sweeps cash into money market funds — “treated as an investment and not as money held with a bank”, its own words.
German residents (under its German entity) get capital-gains tax withheld automatically since January 2026; everyone else self-reports with its Capital Income Statement.
In-kind transfers out are free, whole shares only (fractions are sold) — but not from its German-entity accounts: there, leaving means selling.
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.