eToro

For anyone trading stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies online, eToro brings something unique to the table—social investing. This allows investors and traders to match the moves of popular traders, move by move, using a platform that mirrors successful traders with a proven track record of success. eToro has gained significant attention for its innovative social trading features and user-friendly interface, making it a popular choice among traders worldwide.

In addition to its user-friendly design for beginners, eToro lets investors access a wide range of assets, specifically 3,000+ stocks and 200+ ETFs. It’s also worth noting that eToro is best suited for beginners, intermediate traders, and those who’d like to access a wide range of tradable assets. Our review of eToro will address the primary strengths of the trading platform and what’s available to investors regarding account types, key features, education/research tools, and the overall user experience.

We’ll also explore its standout features, weigh the pros and cons, break down the fee structure, and assess how it measures up in terms of trading tools and resources. Whether you’re a seasoned trader or just starting out, our goal is to provide you with insightful analysis to help you decide if eToro is the right platform for your trading journey. So, let’s get started and see what eToro has to offer!

Pros and Cons of eToro

Before we get into the weeds of our eToro review, let’s look at a rundown of the pros and cons of using the eToro website and mobile trading app. For those on the fence about becoming a new member of eToro, this list of pros and cons can help you decide if this trading app would be a good fit for you.

Pros

• Established name in the online trading market
• Easy-to-use website and mobile app
• Access over 3,250 stocks and 270 ETFs
• Cash management through eToro Money
• Fractional share investing is available
• Smart Portfolios offers automation
• Great range of educational tools
• Share trading ideas with the Social Trading function
• Influencers offer viewpoints on breaking market news
• eToro offers over 24 coins to choose from

Cons

• No margin trading in the US
• No advanced trading tools
• Limited customer service
• No limit orders for stocks
• Investors cannot go short or borrow on margin
• Not many features for advanced traders

eToro’s Key Highlights

A great way to begin our honest and accurate review of eToro (based on a couple of weeks’ time that we spent testing out the platform) is to start with the key highlights that set this product apart from other similar offerings in the online trading market. You can learn about the unique features that come with the eToro experience and some of the awards and accolades that the platform has accrued from industry professionals.

Unique Features

First, let’s examine what we consider to be the best all-around features that come with using the eToro app. Some of these unique offerings are specific only to eToro, while there are many others that are worth noting, though they can be found with many online trading platforms.

• Social Trading: eToro has a social networking feature that allows traders and investors to share ideas and insights with one another. Social trading lets eToro users learn from the actions of traders with more experience.
• Smart Portfolios: These are a collection of crypto assets that are bundled tougher based on a certain strategy or theme. It’s designed to manage portfolios of various asset classes or a group of traders.
• Deposits and Withdrawals: Investors can move their money around on the eToro app using several methods, including online banking, wire transfers, PayPal, eToro Money, and debit card withdrawals.
• Supports Numerous Assets: eToro’s biggest offerings are stocks, options, cryptos, and ETFS, but investors can also trade currencies, commodities, and indices using the eToro trading app.
• CopyTrader: This feature is perhaps what eToro is best known for. It gives investors and traders the ability to match the moves of popular traders using a platform that mirrors successful traders with a proven track record of success.
• Intuitive and Easy-to-Use Platform: Like many other trading apps, eToro is easy to navigate and use. The signup process is simple and straightforward. After testing the service for a few weeks, we were impressed with how easy it was to learn.
• Low Fees: Compared to other trading and investment apps, eToro’s overhead is minimal. There’s no minimum deposit, and investors can enjoy no commissions on stocks, options, and ETF trades.
• Virtual Portfolio: New members can sign up for a virtual portfolio, which allows them to conduct practice trades without using any of their own money. They start with a virtual practice balance of $100,000.
• eToro Club: This eToro loyalty club offers a wide range of tools and resources for those who spend the most time trading with the eToro app. There are five tiers (ranging from Silver to Diamond), and traders can join the club with a minimum tier balance of $5,000.

Awards & Recognition

eToro has been the recipient of a few awards and accolades for their contributions to the online trading market, including the following:

• Star Award: The Best Trading Platform
• FinTech 50: For Innovative Technologies in Europe

Commission Structure and Fees

eToro is notable for offering $0 commissions on stocks and ETF trades and having minimal fees for trading on the website or mobile app. You don’t have to deal with commissions, contract fees, exercise, and assignment fees on options trades, though there’s a 1% entry and exit fee on crypto trades. Let’s take a look at the additional commission structure and fees that traders and investors might have to deal with when trading with eToro:

Trading Fees

Check out a detailed breakdown of commission rates and trading fees at eToro. Remember that you must have a minimum deposit of $100 unless you’re using eToro through a virtual portfolio.

• Minimum Deposit: $100.00
• Stock Traders: $0.00
• Penny Stock Fees: N/A
• ETF Trade Fee: $0.00
• Options (Base Fee): $0.00
• Options (Per Contract): $0.00
• Options Exercise Fee: $0.00
• Options Assignment Fee: $0.00
• Futures (Per Contract): Not offered
• Mutual Fund Trade Fee: N/A

Additional Fees

Now, let’s examine some of the additional fees found in the eToro trading app, including account maintenance fees, inactivity fees, and withdrawal fees.

• Inactivity Fee: $10 monthly fee on accounts that haven’t been logged into for the last 12 months. The fee only applies to accounts that have funds in them.
• Commission Fee: Opening or closing a stock position might incur a $1 or $2 fee, depending on the stock exchange and the country where the trade is made.
• Withdrawal Fees: Withdrawals from USD investment accounts to an external account incur a fee of $5.

There are also overnight fees (rollover fee) for holding a CFD position overnight, a conversion fee for non-USD deposits and withdrawals, and a spread fee added to the market spread for certain asset types.

Comparison with Competitors

Now, let’s see how eToro’s fees and commission structure compare to its competitors. For this comparison, we’ll focus on tastytrade, Charles Schwab, and Interactive Brokers to get a good idea of their performance.

Account Types

eToro offers users manual and social investing, and there are three primary account types for investors or traders to choose from when using the app. Each account type also comes with a virtual portfolio thanks to eToro, which lets users practice investing without putting up any of their own capital.

Account Options at eToro

eToro is notable for not offering retirement accounts, bonds, mutual funds, or proprietary products. Investors won’t find Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSF) either. However, users can enjoy the following three account types after signing up as a new member:

• Personal Accounts (Retail): This is the primary account type available at eToro. Though the leverage is limited, traders and retail clients can trade manually and access the Copy Trade feature.
• Professional Accounts: Only clients meeting specific criteria can apply for these accounts. Although they are exposed to higher risk, account holders can enjoy higher leverage when opening trades in their portfolios.
• Corporate Accounts: These accounts are used by business people and legal entities to manage investments for a business, such as an LLC.

Minimum Deposit

Each account type at eToro requires an initial deposit, which mostly depends on the deposit or withdrawal options you’re using to move funds around.

• Personal Accounts (Retail): $100 for deposits made by debit card or bank account connection
• Professional Accounts: $100 for debit or credit cards, $500 for bank transfers, and $100 for PayPal
• Corporate Accounts: $10,000 for Australia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, $25,000 for Italy, and $50,000 for all other eligible countries

Account Features

As a new member, you can start any kind of eToro account you like and enjoy a bevy of unique features and benefits.

• Communal Trading: Users can enjoy a hands-on crypto trading experience and learn from other investors or traders within the eToro trading community.
• Leverage: eToro traders can enjoy leverage on several investments, except for traditional margin accounts.
• Social Trading: 30 million traders and investors in 100 countries can share trading strategies, tips, and techniques to help each other become better traders and investors.
• Account Protection: Like any secure trading app, eToro offers firewalls and data encryption to keep users safe, as well as helpful two-factor authentication.
• CopyTrader: Investors can automatically copy the investments of other eToro users and set the amount to allocate, though options are not available. These require a minimum investment of $200.
• Smart Portfolios: Monitored by eToro’s investment committee, Smart Portfolios are a great collection of assets themed around a specific topic or investment goal.

Trading Platform

With the types of accounts you can open at eToro and the fees/commission structures in mind, let’s shift our focus to the eToro trading platform itself and the overall user experience you can expect during your trading sessions.

Traders have two choices when using the eToro trading platform: the website and the mobile app. The website (www.etoro.com) offers an excellent trading platform from the convenience of a desktop computer’s big screen, while the mobile app lets traders take their investing experience on the go.

The experience is mostly the same between the website and the mobile app because you can access the same tools and features on each platform. The app’s menu design and configuration are slightly different due to the smaller screen size, however, but that’s the only main difference between using each platform. The app’s menu design and configuration are slightly different due to the smaller screen size; however, that’s the only main difference between using each platform.

Usability

We’ll discuss this subject in further detail in the User Experience segment of the review, but we have nothing but good things to say about the usability of both the website and the mobile app. It’s quick to sign up and easy to open the account you’re interested in holding on the platform.

The navigation of each platform is simple and straightforward. All menus and tabs are well-designed for optimum user-friendliness. It didn’t take a long time to figure out how the app or website functioned, and it’s all thanks to eToro’s intuitive design, which is ideal for newbies and investors still learning the ins and outs of online trading.

Tools and Features

Each trading platform comes with a more excellent range of trading tools, charting options, and technical analysis tools:

• Chart Types: Choose from charts like bars, lines, or candles.
• Time Frames: Establish timeframes on all your trades and positions. You can choose timeframes as short as one minute or as long as a whole week.
• Chart Layouts: Once you’ve discovered your preferred charts, drawings, colors, and styles, save these settings under “chart layouts.”
• Drawing Tools: Use symbol and annotation tools to plan your trading strategies and approaches.
• Indicators: Traders at eToro can access over 100 indicators to develop their personal trading strategy.

Mobile App

The eToro mobile app is available at the Apple Store and Google Play. It’s free to download, and the only cost is getting your new account set up with capital to dedicate to your trades. The app has the same features and functionality as the website (for the most part), which allows traders to take their trading and investment experience on the go via their smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices.

Research and Education

eToro offers decent research and educational tools that are well-suited for new investors and intermediate traders alike. However, it isn’t the best choice for advanced traders, as they lack more sophisticated research and educational tools, so we’d recommend a different trading app for those users.

Educational Resources

eToro is great for beginners and newbies due to its vast range of educational tools, including tutorials, guides, courses, and other learning materials available at the eToro Academy, as found on the website. We’ve included a few examples of the guides and courses that eToro features to its newer investors to help them learn more about the subject:

Guides to Investing

• Why Should I Invest?
• How to Become Financially Independent
• Investment Terms You Need to Know
• The 10 Golden Rules of Investing
• What Type of Investor Are You?
• What Should I Invest In?
• How to Manage Risk While Investing
• What is Cryptocurrency and How Does It Work?

Investment Courses for All Levels

• Investing 101
• Crypto for Beginners
• Stock Investing Strategies
• ETF Investing 101
• ETF Investing Strategies
• Intro to Options
• Building Your Portfolio
• The Bitcoin Halving
• Macroeconomics
• Technical Analysis

Research Tools

eToro offers a modest range of research tools, allowing investors to access market research, analysis, and third-party research reports.

• Stock Screeners: Filter stocks by a wide range of criteria and use eToro’s volatility tracker to view the stocks that could be big movers for your online portfolio.
• ETF Screeners: Traders at EToro can sift through ETFs based on proprietary social inputs, but unfortunately, no technical or fundamental indicators are available to customize the search.
• Economic Calendars: Keep track of significant market events that enhance the fundamental analysis process during trading sessions.
• Advanced Charts: Hone technical analysis with advanced charts that offer top-notch access to the latest live market data.
• One-Click Trading Mode: This tool is perfect for experienced traders who want to open positions immediately using parameters like leverage, stop-loss, amount, and take-profit.

Support for Traders

eToro features plenty of support for traders and investors. The eToro Trading Academy has the help and learning resources we mentioned earlier in the review, but there are also mentoring and coaching services available through the Social Trading and CopyTrader tools. Social trading allows for the sharing of trading experience and techniques between traders in a communal setting, and CopyTrader allows more inexperienced traders to emulate the techniques of the pros on the platform.

Security and Regulation

How does eToro keep its customers’ private data safe and secure? This portion of our eToro review will focus on the security measures the app and website have in place for their customers and the regulatory framework the platform must follow to maintain its licensing as a legitimate online trading app.

Regulatory Compliance

eToro follows all Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regulations in the United States. These financial bodies regulate all eToro entities to ensure they protect their investors’ assets while promoting orderly and stable markets for options trading online.

Security Measures

eToro harnesses the power of an SSL-encrypted connection and two-factor authentication to guarantee a safe trading experience for their investors. The encrypted connection keeps users’ personal information and private data confidential. At the same time, 2FA is designed for ultimate security when logging in and out on an eToro account online, be it the website or mobile app.

Insurance

Customer cash at eToro is insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor, which is par for the course regarding most online trading and investment apps. The insurance doesn’t protect against losses investors incur during the regular trading course, but if eToro fails and cannot be sure of the money themselves.

User Experience

What is it like to use the eToro website and mobile app? We tested the platform to prepare for this review, so we’ll provide all the important details on account setup, platform navigation, performance, and the customer service experience in this next section. We can confidently say that eToro is relatively easy to use due to its intuitive design and simple setup.

Account Setup

eToro allows new customers and trades to set up their new accounts. This applies to getting a basic account up and running, as well as establishing a corporate and demo account. Setting up a corporate account takes more legwork than the others, but we’ll walk you through everything below.

Setting Up a Basic Account

1. Visit the eToro website or open up the mobile app.

2. Click or top “Join Now” or “Trade Now” to begin the signup process.

3. Include your email address and the rest of the necessary information being requested for a new registration.

4. Enter your username and password to get in and out of your account.

5. Look over and accept the Terms and Conditions of eToro, as well as the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

6. Click or tap on “Create Account.”

7. The last step is to verify your email address officially.

Opening a Corporate Account

1. Complete the signup process for a personal account.

2. Next, open a ticket in the Customer Service Center.

3. To verify this new account, eToro will send an application form to your email address and a checklist of documents to verify.

4. Include the required documents to complete the new account checklist.

5. After eToro verifies the new account, the personal account will be converted to a corporate account.

Setting Up a Free Demo Account

1. Visit the eToro website or open the mobile app.

2. Complete a sign-up for a basic account.

3. Choose Virtual Portfolio in the menu under your username.

4. Immediately, you’ll receive $100,000 in virtual funds, which you can use to practice trading without risking any of your own capital.

Platform Navigation

With a range of over 3,000 tradable assets, eToro is surprisingly easy to use. It’s notable for its user-friendly copy-trading feature. We tested the platform for a few weeks to see what the user experience was like, and we liked the overall intuitive design!

The website has a straightforward setup, with everything you need to find in the main menu at the top of the main screen. Let’s take a look at the main menu options and cover what features or functions you’ll find under each:

Trading

• Buy Cryptocurrencies
• Stock Investing
• ETF Investing
• Options Trading
• Trading Platform
• What Can I Invest
• Demo Account
• Fees
• ESG

Copy Trading

• Copy Top Investors
• Smart Portfolios

Education

• eToro Academy
• News and Analysis

Company

• About
• Help Center
• Investors
• In the News
• Careers
• eToro Club

Performance

We didn’t run into too many problems or issues with the mobile app or website’s operating speed. Both platforms were super reliable—we didn’t find any performance issues with the overall handling or responsiveness of the app when placing orders, opening new accounts, exiting trades, or accessing trading tools like charts or technical/fundamental analysis.

There’s not too much to say other than that. The best way to use the platform is through the website on the desktop because the app is more susceptible to some light errors or glitches.

Final Thoughts: Is Charles Schwab Right For You?

The notable features of the eToro trading app are Social Trading, where traders can share tips, tricks, and strategies; copy trading, where investors can copy the investment plans of pros and try their best to emulate those techniques; and Smart Portfolios, which allow traders to forge a collection of assets around a particular theme.

We’d recommend eToro to investors who are newer to the trading game or those with intermediate experience because it offers a variety of great educational resources and research tools. However, because eToro lacks some of the fancier, advanced features, we’d point more experienced traders in the direction of another trading platform.