DEGIRO Review 2026: Low Fees, EU Access, Limits

What DEGIRO is and who regulates it

DEGIRO is a low-cost retail broker aimed at European investors. It runs under flatexDEGIRO Bank N.V., a Dutch entity supervised by the AFM (the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets) and the DNB (De Nederlandsche Bank). The provider states it covers stocks, ETFs and options across 18 countries and lists more than 2.5 million clients. That combination — a Dutch banking licence, a big cross-border client base and a fee sheet built around exchange access — is the whole pitch. It is not a polished consumer app first and a broker second. It is a broker first.

Regulation matters because it decides what happens if the firm fails. Dutch and EU rules put client cash and assets under segregation requirements, and the Dutch investor compensation scheme covers eligible clients up to a statutory cap if the firm cannot return assets. That cap is set by the scheme, not by DEGIRO, and it is lower than the US SIPC limit. If you are used to US brokers, the practical difference is this: SIPC covers a much larger nominal amount per customer, while the Dutch scheme covers a smaller ceiling. Both are last-resort backstops, not insurance against market losses. Neither pays you back for a stock that fell.

The custody model is the part most people skip, and it is worth understanding. DEGIRO's disclosures describe a structure where some positions are held directly in your name at DEGIRO, and others sit in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) or a similar pooling arrangement depending on the product and the exchange. The provider states which asset classes fall into which bucket in its own documentation. The reason this matters: assets held in an SPV are legally separated from flatexDEGIRO's own balance sheet, which is the point of the structure, but the day-to-day administration runs through the firm. If you want the exact list of what sits where, read the current custody section on DEGIRO's site rather than a review, including this one.

Fee structure 2026, decoded

DEGIRO's cost story is not one number. It is a stack of small numbers, and the stack is where the real cost lives. The provider publishes a fee schedule that changes over time, so treat every figure below as a fee type to look up on the current schedule, not a fixed price. I am naming the line items because missing one is how people end up surprised.

Core selection and per-order handling

DEGIRO splits its exchange list into a core selection and everything else. Orders routed to core-selection venues carry a lower handling fee; orders on other exchanges carry a higher one. On top of that, some venues add their own connectivity or exchange fee per order. The practical effect: the same ETF can cost you different amounts depending on which exchange you route the order to, even though the ETF is identical. If you buy a US-listed ETF on a European venue, you are often paying a higher handling tier than if you bought a European-domiciled equivalent on a core venue. The fee schedule lists the tiers; check it before you place the order, because the platform will happily route you to the expensive one.

AutoFX and the currency spread

This is the line item that catches the most people. If your account is denominated in euros and you buy a US-listed security priced in dollars, DEGIRO converts the currency for you through AutoFX. The provider states that AutoFX applies a currency conversion spread — a markup on the exchange rate — rather than a flat commission. A spread is harder to see than a fee because it is baked into the rate you get. The way to avoid it is to hold the foreign currency in your account before you trade, so the conversion happens once, manually, at a time you choose, instead of automatically on every order. DEGIRO's own documentation explains how to enable manual FX. If you trade US names regularly, that single setting is worth more than any promotional commission cut.

Connectivity, dividends and custody

DEGIRO has historically charged a connectivity fee for access to certain exchanges, and a dividend processing fee when a company pays out. The dividend fee is small per payment but it hits every holding, every quarter, forever — which is exactly the kind of cost that erodes a long-term ETF position. The provider's schedule lists the current dividend handling charge and whether it applies per payment or per position. On custody: DEGIRO has moved away from a percentage-based custody fee on many accounts, but the schedule is the only place to confirm what applies to your account type today. Do not assume it is zero because a blog said so in 2021.

Worked example: €2,000 into a US ETF

Take a €2,000 buy of a US-listed ETF from a euro account, routed to a non-core venue. The all-in cost is the sum of: the per-order handling fee for that venue tier, any exchange connectivity fee for that venue, and the AutoFX spread on the €2,000 conversion. The first two are published as fixed amounts in the schedule; the third is a percentage baked into the rate. Because I cannot quote the current figures — they change and the verified data for this review does not include them — the honest answer is: open the fee schedule, find your venue tier, add the connectivity line, then apply the AutoFX spread to the notional. That total, not the headline commission, is your real cost. On a €2,000 order the handling and connectivity lines are a meaningful percentage, which is why DEGIRO suits larger, less frequent orders better than tiny ones.

Platform and app experience

DEGIRO runs two front ends: Web Trader in the browser and a mobile app. Web Trader is the more capable of the two. It supports the fuller set of order types — market, limit, stop-loss, stop-limit — and gives you a proper order book view. The mobile app covers the basics and is fine for checking positions or placing a simple limit order, but it is not where you want to do anything complicated. Charting on both is functional rather than rich; you get the standard timeframes and indicators, not the depth a dedicated trading platform offers.

Real-time data is tiered. Some venues come with real-time quotes included; others show delayed prices unless you pay for a data package. The provider's site lists which exchanges are real-time by default and which require a subscription. If you trade actively on a venue that is delayed by default, you are making decisions on stale prices, which is a real cost even though it never appears on a statement.

Where it feels dated: onboarding, search, and the general visual language. Newer EU neobrokers have cleaner account-opening flows, better mobile-first design and more hand-holding. DEGIRO assumes you know what you are doing. That is a feature if you are experienced and a friction point if you are not. I would not describe the interface as pleasant. I would describe it as adequate, and cheaper than the pleasant ones.

Product range

The provider states coverage of stocks, ETFs and options across 18 countries. Beyond that core, DEGIRO offers bonds, futures and margin lending. Margin lending rates are published in the fee schedule and vary by currency and by how much you borrow; they are not a flat rate. If you use margin, read the rate table, because the cost of borrowed money can dwarf the commission you saved.

Fractional shares are the notable gap. DEGIRO's model is built around whole-share trading on exchanges, and fractional support is limited or absent depending on the market. If your plan depends on buying €50 slices of a €400 stock, this is not the broker for that. Newer EU neobrokers lean hard into fractional trading; DEGIRO does not. That is a deliberate trade-off, not an oversight — whole shares on real venues is what keeps the fee structure simple.

DEGIRO vs Trade Republic vs Interactive Brokers

These three get compared constantly, and the comparison only makes sense if you separate the cost lines.

• Per-trade cost. Trade Republic markets a flat, simple per-trade model. DEGIRO's per-trade cost depends on venue tier and adds connectivity lines. Interactive Brokers has its own tiered commission structure with a separate pricing plan for smaller accounts. The headline number is not the comparison; the all-in cost for your specific order size and venue is.
• FX. This is where DEGIRO can lose. AutoFX applies a spread unless you pre-fund the foreign currency. Trade Republic and Interactive Brokers handle FX differently, and Interactive Brokers in particular is known for tight conversion. If you buy US securities from a euro account, run the FX line for all three before deciding.
• Product depth. Interactive Brokers is the deepest of the three — more markets, more instruments, more order types. DEGIRO sits in the middle. Trade Republic is the narrowest, built around a curated set of stocks and ETFs.
• Tax handling. This varies by country and is the single biggest hidden differentiator. Some brokers handle local dividend and capital-gains reporting for you; others leave it entirely to you. DEGIRO's tax support depends on your country of residence, and the provider documents which countries get what. Check your own country's page before comparing fees, because a broker that saves you €20 in commission but leaves you a tax filing headache is not cheaper.

For a fuller head-to-head on the US side, see our Interactive Brokers vs Webull comparison, and for the wider field our best stock apps of 2026 roundup. If Trade Republic is the one you are weighing, our Trade Republic tool page lays out its fee model.

Safety, complaints and track record

DEGIRO is not a startup. flatexDEGIRO is a listed group, and its annual report gives you the audited picture of client assets, revenue and regulatory capital. That is a stronger paper trail than most neobrokers offer, and it is the first thing I would read if I were worried about the firm rather than the product.

On the other side of the ledger: DEGIRO has a history of regulatory attention. Dutch and German authorities have fined the group in past years over issues including investor protection and onboarding processes. The provider has since tightened procedures, but the record is public and worth knowing. Outages have also happened — trading halts during high-volatility sessions are a recurring complaint pattern for most retail brokers, and DEGIRO is not exempt. If you need guaranteed execution during a market panic, no retail broker promises that.

Customer service is the most common complaint theme. DEGIRO's support runs through a ticket system and phone lines, and the provider states the channels and hours on its site. Public review sites show a high volume of complaints about response times, which is consistent with a low-cost broker running lean support. I would not expect white-glove service. I would expect a working ticket queue and a knowledge base that answers most fee questions faster than a human would.

Verdict

DEGIRO's edge is exchange access and low core fees, not polish. If you are a cost-conscious EU or UK investor buying ETFs on a regular schedule, the venue-tier pricing and the option to pre-fund foreign currency can make it one of the cheaper places to hold a long-term portfolio. The trade-off is an interface that feels dated, no meaningful fractional support, and a fee stack you have to learn — AutoFX in particular will quietly cost you money if you never touch the setting.

Avoid it if you need US-style fractional shares and zero-FX conversion as a baseline. Those are the two things DEGIRO does not give you, and no amount of low commission makes up for a product that does not fit how you invest. For everyone else, the honest summary is: read the fee schedule, route to core venues, pre-fund your FX, and DEGIRO is a solid, unglamorous broker.

How this review was researched

This review is based on DEGIRO's published fee schedule, the provider's own disclosures and custody documentation, the flatexDEGIRO annual report, and the AFM and DNB register entries for the entity. No account was opened, no funds were deposited, and no trades were placed. Fee figures change; the provider's current schedule is the only authoritative source for what you will pay. See our methodology and disclosure pages for how we handle reviews.