In the fast-paced world of forex trading, choosing the right broker is crucial. eToro and Trading 212 are two popular options, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. This comparison will dive into the key features of both platforms,helping you decide which one best suits your trading style and goals.
The radar chart above illustrates the comparison between eToro and Trading 212 across several key metrics, with the highest possible score being 100 in each category.
At FxScouts, our mission is to assist traders in finding the broker that best suits their needs. Comparing brokers side-by-side is an effective method to achieve this goal. We evaluated eToro and Trading 212, using our standard criteria: trust and regulation, trading platforms, costs and trading conditions, and educational and market analysis resources.
Trust and regulation are crucial when selecting a Forex broker. A broker’s credibility is largely built on its regulatory status. We spend considerable time verifying the safety of each broker by examining their regulatory licenses. We also consider numerous factors when deciding which tier a regulator belongs to. Regulators that we rank as the world’s top regulators, gets a tier 1 rank, while regulators who only scores a tier 5-rank, provide virtually no regulatory oversight. The more top-tier authorities regulating a broker, the higher its trust rating. Read more about regulation and our tier system here.
In our comparison:
Based on these findings, eToro earned a higher trust rating than Trading 212.
When comparing brokers, trading costs are a significant factor. We consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and ongoing costs, including spreads and commissions. We measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit, including both the spread and any commission charged.
We found that eToro has overall lower trading costs than Trading 212.
Trading Platforms Offered Traders prefer brokers that offer a variety of trading platforms. We rate brokers higher if they support multiple platforms like MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader, and proprietary platforms.
Copy trading is beneficial for beginner traders or those unable to trade full-time. In this case both eToro and Trading 212 offer copy trading.
A broader range of CFD instruments provides more trading opportunities. Trading 212 offers a greater variety of instruments compared to eToro:
For those interested in trading cryptocurrencies, eToro offers 76 cryptocurrencies, while Trading 212 offers 0 cryptocurrencies. Therefore, eToro is the better choice for cryptocurrency trading.
Traders prefer brokers with quick and cost-effective deposit and withdrawal processes. We favor brokers that process withdrawals within 24 hours using multiple methods without charging fees.We found that eToro charges a withdrawal fee and Trading 212 does not. Overall, Trading 212 has better deposit and withdrawal processes than eToro.Â
We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas.Â
Trading 212 has better educational support than eToro. Both eToro and Trading 212 offer educational support for more experienced traders.Access to frequent and high-quality market research and analysis is crucial.
We found that eToro offers better research analysis than Trading 212 and that both eToro and Trading 212 offer frequent webinars.
Note: eToro no longer provides service to residents of Uganda. This review is for informational purposes only. Visit our Best Brokers page to find a broker to trade with.
eToro remains the most popular social trading broker in the world. eToro’s simple, well-designed trading platform places copy trading and its social network at the heart of its trading experience. However, these features are often more popular among beginners who haven’t yet developed advanced trading strategies.
eToro clients can only use eToro’s trading platform, so they will not have access to the automation tools available on common third-party platforms like MT4 and MT5. We were also disappointed by eToro’s high fees. These include currency conversion fees for deposits and withdrawals in currencies other than USD and a charge of 5 USD for each withdrawal. We also found eToro’s customer service to be generally non-responsive and the lack of educational support let us down.
Overall, eToro has many positive features for beginners and others who enjoy social trading, but more experienced traders may find eToro’s limitations and high non-trading fees difficult to overlook.
A well-regulated broker, Trading212 appeals to traders looking for a large number of tradable assets and a simple account structure. However, traders should be aware that Trading212 is primarily a low-cost stock broker and that its CFD spreads are significantly wider than other brokers.
With over 1800 financial instruments, including over 180 Forex pairs, commodities, equities, ETFs, and indices, Trading212 offers a much wider range of tradable instruments than other similar brokers.
Trading is only offered on the Trading212 platform, which has a simple and intuitive interface, but does not have the execution speeds of third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 and does not have algorithmic trading capabilities. Trading212 also only offers one live commission-free account, with a minimum deposit of 10 USD, but spreads that average at 2.40 pips on the EUR/USD, making it an uncompetitive offer.Â
Educational and market analysis materials are also limited, making it a poor choice for beginner traders, but it does offer a free, unlimited demo account. Additionally, customer service is only available via a ticketing system, and its response times are extremely slow.
For more detailed reviews, please read our comprehensive assessments of eToro and Trading 212.
Alison and Chris cover a range of topics, including how to choose a Forex broker, safety and regulation, how to reduce your risk, trading psychology, trading platforms, and trading strategies, among others.
The FxScouts podcast helps beginner Forex traders get the best start to their trading careers.