eToro Review

eToro is an excellent choice for those interested in low-cost trading of stocks, CFDs, forex and cryptos on an outstanding mobile app. eToro offers free stock and ETF trading, easy account opening, and one of the best crypto selections in the industry. Its biggest appeal is copy trading, where you can track the trades and portfolios of other users. eToro’s trading platforms are intuitive and easy to use, making it suitable for beginners. Still, there are areas where eToro disappoints, including high non-trading fees (for withdrawal and currency conversion), inflexible account plans and elusive customer service. eToro USA LCC does not offer CFDs, only real crypto assets available.

eToro main highlights

Country of regulation	UK, Cyprus, Australia
Trading fees class	Low
Inactivity fee charged	Yes
Withdrawal fee amount	$5
Minimum deposit	$50
Time to open an account	1 day
Deposit with bank card	Available
With electronic wallet	Available
Number of base currencies	1
Demo account provided	Yes
Products offered	Stock, ETF, Forex, CFD, Crypto

Fees

eToro offers free stock and ETF while forex and CFD fees are low. On the negative side, non-trading fees are high, including a $5 withdrawal fee.

eToro fees snapshot

Assets	Fees Level	Fees Terms
S&P 500 CFD	Low	The fees are built into the spread, 0.75 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
Europe 50 CFD	Low	The fees are built into the spread, 3 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
EURUSD	Low	The fees are built into the spread, 1 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
Inactivity fee	Low	$10 per month after one year inactivity. Inactivity means that you don’t log in to your account

Markets and products

At eToro, you can trade CFDs and forex, as well as real stocks, ETFs, and many cryptos. Innovative services like social trading and Smart Portfolios are also available.

eToro is primarily a CFD and forex broker. However, you can also trade real stocks, ETFs and various cryptos. eToro also has some unique features, such as social trading (CopyTrader) and Smart Portfolios (previously called CopyPortfolios).

If you reside in the United States, you can trade stock, ETF, options, and cryptocurrencies.

All non-leveraged long positions in stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies are traded as real assets. This means that when you buy equities, ETFs or cryptos without any leverage (i.e. leverage is set to one), you will buy real stocks, ETFs and cryptos and not CFDs.

All other positions are CFDs:

• leveraged long positions and all short positions in stocks, ETFs and cryptos
• all positions of forex, commodities and indices

So, does that mean that eToro acts like a traditional stockbroker just with zero commission when you buy stocks? The answer is no, there are some differences.

For example, it is not possible to initiate a stock transfer between eToro and another brokerage (and vice versa). This means that all positions that are opened with eToro must be closed with eToro.

Furthermore, as eToro holds stocks on behalf of its users as beneficial owners, users do not currently have voting rights for stocks held.

However, you are allowed to hold fractional shares.

All of the above seem to suggest that while eToro is great for stock traders, for long-term investors it might not be the best choice. We’re not sure how eToro would handle corporate events (e.g. a spin-off).

Let’s pivot to eToro’s CFD offering. Within CFDs, in addition to the traditional way of trading, you can

• follow and copy other traders’ trading (this is CopyTrader, also called social trading)
• invest in a compiled portfolio (this is Smart Portfolios)

eToro products list

• Currency pairs – 49

• Stock index CFD – 16

• Stock CFDs – 2000

• ETF CFDs – 264

• Commodity CFDs – 24

• Cryptos – 76

Disclaimer: (CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money)

Research

eToro has good technical analysis tools. There are some analyst recommendations and market sentiment indicators available, but no comprehensive fundamental data.

Education

eToro has various educational tools available in different formats, but the overall quality is mediocre:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• Educational videos

eToro Academy offers a variety of resources including written guides, videos, webinars and podcasts, as well as in-person and online training courses.

The content discussed is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.