4.2
| Feature | eToro |
| Minimum deposit: | $200 |
| Withdrawal fee amount: | |
| Inactivity fee charged (Y/N): | N |
| Max leverage: | |
| Spread from: | |
| Number of instruments: | |
| Year founded: | 2007 |
| Time to open account: | |
| Demo account provided (Y/N): | Y |
| Countries of regulation: | |
| Products offered: |
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This eToro broker review will take an in-depth look at the broker’s background and its platform trading tools. Using our multi-pronged approach, we compared eToro’s trading styles, markets, trading tools and trader charts with other stock trading, CFD and forex brokers. We would like to hear your feedback on your experiences with the company at the end of our eToro review, as this will help other traders make an informed choice.
eToro was founded in 2007 in Tel Aviv by David Ring and Israeli brothers Yoni Assia and Ronen Assia. It has since become one of the most innovative and trusted brokers around. The business has grown to the point where it now provides brokerage services to over 20 million global customers from more than 140 countries. The platform on which users can trade the markets is user-friendly, and the social and copy trading offering is widely seen as market leading.
Founded initially as a pure Forex brokerage, Fintech giant eToro now offers clients the chance to trade their accounts in popular CFDs, including stocks, ETFs, currencies, indices, and commodities. The stand-out feature for eToro is its social and copy trading, which is accessible through the same platform as the self-trading account. eToro traders are therefore able to trade independently or take a more hands-off approach and copy the trades of other users.
UK based clients who saw their access to the crypto markets dry up following the FCA’s clampdown in January 2021 will find they can still trade crypto at eToro. It’s one of only a handful of brokers doing so. While the asset group is unregulated, trading with a regulated broker offers more protection than trading on a specialist crypto exchange. There isn’t any need to set up special ‘wallets’ either.
Offering an easy-to-use web-based platform with a good choice of assets to trade and self-trading and copy-trading services, it has become one of the biggest names in the sector. The eToro offering is different from most of its peer group and judging by the number of awards it’s gained and the growing client base, that approach would appear to be bringing them much success.
Pricing terms and conditions are easy to understand and competitive. With eToro broker, there are no separate trading commissions or fees applied to trades. Instead, the broker makes most of its revenue from the spread between buy and sell prices. The trading spreads are, in fact, very competitive, with the broker consistently offering better terms than its rivals, thanks to the economies of scale related to its vast client base.
Be aware of admin charges for overnight financing fees, inactivity fees and a $5 charge on cash withdrawals. Some fees apply to specific currency transactions. For example, for CAD, RMB & RUB, there is a conversion fee when withdrawing or depositing funds.
Here is a breakdown of the other fee information that this eToro broker review has found:
Those looking for a more hands-off way of gaining exposure to the markets will be pleased to know there are no additional charges for copying another trader’s ideas.
| Fee Type | Fee Amount |
| Inactive fee if no log in for 12 months | $5 per month |
| Conversion fees when withdrawing or depositing in non-US Dollar currencies | Euro 250 pips, GBP 50 pips, Australian Dollar 100 pips, Japanese Yen 250 pips |
| Deposit fee | No |
| Minimum first deposit amount | $200 US dollars (or equivalent in own currency) |
| Withdrawal fee |
|
Many eToro clients are drawn to the platform’s clean aesthetic and user-friendly functionality. Particularly eye-catching is the News Feed area, where comments and opinions of other traders mingle with official announcements. Going with the trend is the secret to successful trading, and eToro’s social trading features help their clients get a feel for which way the market might be going.
The site is cleverly designed, and while offering access to a lot of information, it maintains a clean, attractive appearance.
The platform eToro uses is web-based, and this fits in well with the position eToro has taken in the trading world. The broker has catered to its target audience rather than going head-to-head in terms of advanced features with other brokers. This provides an impressive user experience for the new or casual user.
In terms of features, the platform has basic charting functionality that is simple to use. eToro also offers the core technical indicators ranging from Moving Averages to Bollinger Bands and Stochastics. The more experienced trader, while able to get by, may find the range of indicators somewhat limiting.
eToro broker demo accounts allow you to do lots of experimentation. For example, with some other brokers we reviewed, we found that they do not allow users to experiment with copy trading. Our eToro broker review found that things are different, and it is possible to try out copy trading in a risk-free environment.
You can trade your Virtual Portfolio and follow someone else’s actual trades to get a feel for the process or use the demo account to trade your own strategies. This is a positive feature of the platform and using the demo account to trade on a stand-alone basis or copy trading is a neat way to get a feel for the site as a whole.
Our own experience of the site is that it’s as reliable as any other. There is, however, a range of online comments referring to the site at times freezing or becoming unresponsive. There would appear to be too many people voicing this viewpoint for it not to be the case. Without access to the performance data, it’s hard to categorise the extent that this is an issue, but not being able to access your positions would be an uncomfortable situation for any trader.
There is also an eToro app for mobile use, which we will cover later in the review.
eToro provides mobile trading apps for both iPhone and Android devices. Traders using the mobile apps will benefit from the trading functionality being the same as that of the desktop trading platform.
Although user friendly, it is still a little basic for the more tech-savvy professional trader. Recent upgrades to the App have resolved some issues relating to some of the icons and buttons not being optimally laid out. Signs that a broker is investing in upgrades of its service are always welcome.
The mobile apps that you can use with this broker are well-designed on the whole and allow traders to access their account wherever they may be. The clean functionality of the trading platform comes across particularly well on a smaller screen.
eToro offers a comprehensive range of technical and fundamental analysis tools. These are in line with the market standard, but where the platform stands out is in terms of sharing information between traders.
As traders who are copied receive payment for their services, they are often willing to engage with potential copy traders to explain the principles behind their strategies. All third parties have to be approached carefully, but this level of engagement can be beneficial for beginners.
Educational articles and training videos share the attractive formatting found elsewhere on the site. One helpful tool is the ‘Guide’ section, where users are taken on a two-minute introductory tour of the site. Set in the style of an automated Q&A section, it goes as far as outlining how to execute a trade. It’s another example of the innovative nature of the platform, and even experienced traders will ultimately save time if they take the tour.
Basic tools such as an Economic Calendar are available and undoubtedly provide valuable support to traders, but those services are now expected as standard. While the education and learning resources available are satisfactory, there is little chance of them being described as exceptional.
Customer service at eToro is limited to email. Response times can be slow, with 24hr turnarounds being experienced during testing. The written responses we received from the eToro customer service team were succinct and thoroughly addressed all our issues; there was no need for us to ask any follow-up questions. While the response was of sufficient quality, the turnaround time was less than ideal.
The Help and Education section of the site is the only one where navigation becomes counterintuitive. It’s possible to feel you are being led in a loop back to the Help Section, an electronic FAQ section. Traders holding positions in fast-moving markets sometimes need to get quick answers to their questions, and eToro could do more to make this possible.
The broker appears to have taken the approach of designing a foolproof and robust platform rather than one its clients’ need help to understand. Whether this is a good fit for traders will come down to personal preference.
Some traders suggest using social media is the best way to engage with the help desk; others point out that the performance levels improve once traders are up and running rather than trying out the platform on a demo account basis. That might well be the case, but it’s easy to feel members of the trading community have to work too hard to find out how to best access support.
Some traders suggest using social media is the best way to engage with the help desk, others point out that the performance levels improve once traders are up and running rather than trying out the platform on a demo account basis. This might well be the case but it’s very easy to feel members of the trading community are having to work too hard to find out how to best access support.
The written responses we received from the eToro customer service team were succinct and fully addressed all our issues; there was no need for us to ask any follow-up questions. Whilst the response was therefore of sufficient quality the turn-around time was measured in hours rather than minutes.
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