Trading 212 vs eToro: Fees, CFDs, ISAs and Who Each Suits
Trading 212 and eToro both sell low-cost investing apps, but one is built around owning shares and the other around copy trading and CFDs. Here is how fees, ISAs and investor protection compare.
Trading 212 and eToro are built around different ideas. Trading 212 is a commission-free account for owning real shares and ETFs, with a UK ISA attached. eToro is a multi-asset platform where real shares sit alongside a large range of contracts for difference (CFDs) and a copy-trading system that mirrors other investors. The short answer: for long-term investing in pounds or euros, Trading 212 is the cheaper of the two on the published fees we checked as of September 2026. If you want copy trading or a US account, eToro offers what Trading 212 does not, and it sells crypto in more countries.
Will you own real shares, or a CFD?
At Trading 212 the line is drawn by account. The Invest account and, in the UK, the Stocks and Shares ISA hold real shares and ETFs, including fractions of a share, kept separately from the firm’s own assets. CFDs live in a separate CFD account that you have to apply for; Trading 212 checks your finances and experience first. In parts of the EU it also runs a separate crypto account through its Cyprus company. Ownership and CFDs never share an account.
eToro draws the line by position instead. In its own words, for stocks and crypto a non-leveraged long position means you own the underlying asset; add leverage or go short and the position becomes a CFD. For UK and EU clients, forex, commodities and indices are mostly traded as CFDs. In the EU, some US-listed ETFs have been offered only as CFDs, because most US funds do not publish the key information document EU rules require for retail sales. In the US, eToro offers no CFDs. At either broker, a CFD is a leveraged derivative: you hold a contract on a price, not the asset, losses can mount quickly, and most retail accounts that trade CFDs lose money.
What does each one charge?
- Commission (all fees as of September 2026): Trading 212 charges none on shares or ETFs. eToro charges none on ETFs, but a flat $1 or $2 may apply when you open and again when you close a stock position, depending on where you live and the exchange; for UK and EU residents buying US shares it is typically $1 each way.
- Currency conversion: Trading 212 adds 0.15% to the exchange rate in Invest and ISA accounts, and 0.5% in the CFD account. eToro charges 0.75% to move between a pound or euro account and US dollars, less for higher tiers of its loyalty club.
- Deposits and withdrawals: Trading 212 withdrawals and bank transfers are free; card and e-wallet deposits are free up to £2,000 or €2,000 in total, then cost 0.7%. eToro withdrawals are free from pound and euro accounts but cost $5 from a dollar account.
- Inactivity: neither charges one. eToro’s fee page now shows none; it used to charge $10 a month after a year without logging in, so older reviews may still quote it.
- Interest on cash: Trading 212 pays daily interest on uninvested cash in several currencies, including pounds and euros. eToro pays monthly, only on uninvested US dollar balances, at rates tiered by account size.
A worked example, with hypothetical numbers. A UK investor with a pound account puts £2,000 into a US-listed share and later sells at exactly the same price, so only costs matter. At Trading 212, the 0.15% conversion costs about £3 going in and £3 coming back: roughly £6 in total. At eToro, converting pounds to dollars at 0.75% costs £15, opening costs $1, closing costs another $1, and converting the proceeds back costs about £15 more: roughly £30 plus $2, before any club discount. That is about five times the cost for one round trip. Small US regulatory fees are ignored.
ISAs, regulation and investor protection
For UK residents, the wrapper can matter more than fees. Trading 212 offers a Stocks and Shares ISA and a Cash ISA with no account fee, plus a SIPP personal pension, but no Junior or Lifetime ISA. eToro’s Stocks and Shares ISA runs on Moneyfarm’s platform; on 29 July 2026 eToro announced 0% commission and no annual custody fee, leaving a 0.70% currency charge on non-sterling assets. Its ISA covers shares, ETFs, bonds and funds, but not copy trading or crypto. Both sit within the £20,000 annual ISA allowance for the 2026/27 tax year. ISAs are a UK wrapper only; investors elsewhere should check how their country taxes a foreign brokerage account.
Protection depends on which company holds your account. UK customers of both are with FCA-authorised firms, Trading 212 UK Ltd and eToro (UK) Ltd, and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers up to £85,000 of investment claims per person if a firm fails, as of September 2026. eToro’s EU clients are with eToro (Europe) Ltd, supervised by Cyprus’s CySEC, and Cyprus’s Investor Compensation Fund pays 90% of an eligible claim up to €20,000. Trading 212 serves EU clients through its CySEC-regulated Cyprus company or, increasingly, a German company supervised by BaFin; either way statutory cover is 90% up to €20,000. US residents can use eToro’s SEC-registered broker-dealer, covered by SIPC; Trading 212 does not accept them. Compensation covers broker failure, never investment losses.
Copy trading, our scores, and who each suits
With eToro’s CopyTrader, which Trading 212 does not match, you allocate at least $200 to another user and your account mirrors their trades in proportion, at no extra fee; if they use leverage, so does your copy, and those positions are CFDs. Trading 212’s nearest equivalent is copying another investor’s Pie, a portfolio template rather than a live feed of their trades; you are notified when its owner edits it. On our published scores, Trading 212 rates 4 for Costs & Fees to eToro’s 3, both score 4 for Regulation & Trust, and eToro leads on Platform & Tools, Asset Range and Account Access & Support, for overall averages of 3.2 for Trading 212 and 3.6 for eToro. Trading 212 scores higher on ease of use, which sits outside the overall.
Trading 212 suits cost-conscious UK and EU investors who want to own shares and ETFs, automate regular contributions and, in the UK, use an ISA or SIPP. It does not suit US residents, anyone wanting individual bonds or mutual funds, or anyone after copy trading. eToro suits people who specifically want social investing, crypto alongside shares in the UK, or bonds and funds inside an ISA. It suits less well anyone converting currency often on a small budget, or anyone likely to drift from owning shares into leveraged trading without meaning to. This is general education, not personal financial or tax advice; a regulated adviser can help with your own circumstances.
Compare Trading 212 and eToro side by side
See our published scores for both brokers, category by category.
This article is educational and general in nature. It isn’t personalized investment, tax, or legal advice — always weigh your own circumstances, or talk to a licensed professional, before making financial decisions.