DEGIRO Review 2026 — Fees, ETFs, EU Verdict

TL;DR

DEGIRO is a Dutch-founded online broker that became part of the German flatexDEGIRO Bank AG group in 2020 and is now regulated by Germany's BaFin under a full banking license. With more than 2.5 million clients across 18 European countries in 2026, DEGIRO offers low-cost access to 50+ exchanges, 5,000+ ETFs (including a "Core Selection" of ~200 ETFs that trade commission-free once per month), and direct stock trading at €1 per US trade and €2 per European ETF. Deposit protection is the German DGS up to €100,000 — the same legal regime that protects German bank deposits. Best for: cost-conscious buy-and-hold investors who can use the Core Selection ETFs. Not ideal for: fractional-share investors, derivatives traders, or anyone needing options/futures.

DEGIRO in Context

DEGIRO was founded in 2008 in Amsterdam by ex-Binck employees with the explicit goal of bringing institutional-grade pricing to retail investors. Throughout the 2010s it was the disruptor that pushed Dutch, German, and pan-European retail brokerage prices down by 60-80%. By 2019, DEGIRO had over 600,000 clients across 18 markets.

In 2020, DEGIRO merged with German flatex AG to form flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, headquartered in Frankfurt. This combined entity is publicly listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA: FTK), holds a German banking license, and is regulated by BaFin (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) and the European Central Bank under SSM. The merger upgraded DEGIRO's regulatory status from a Dutch investment firm (with Dutch ICF €20k protection) to a German bank (with German DGS €100k protection) — a meaningful improvement.

The DEGIRO brand continues to operate as a separate frontend in 18 European countries with localized Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Portuguese, Hungarian, Greek, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian sites. Many investors don't realize that "DEGIRO" they use is technically a flatexDEGIRO Bank AG product — but this is what gives DEGIRO clients DGS €100,000 protection.

DEGIRO's positioning is consistent: low-cost, no-frills, European-focused, genuinely the cheapest mainstream option for accounts under €25,000 outside the zero-commission neobrokers.

Key Facts at a Glance

How Fees Actually Work

DEGIRO's fee structure has multiple components and is famously confusing for newcomers. Here is the simplified 2026 reality:

1. Transaction fee (DEGIRO's commission):

• US stocks: €1 per trade
• EUR-denominated stocks/ETFs: €2 per trade
• UK stocks: £3 per trade
• Bond, option, future, warrant fees vary by venue

2. External fee (passed through from exchanges/clearing): typically $1-2 added on US trades, ~€1 on European trades. So effective US trade is €1 + $1 = ~€2, EUR ETF is €2 + €1 = €3.

3. Core Selection ETFs — a curated list of ~200 ETFs (mostly Vanguard, iShares, SPDR, Xtrackers) that trade commission-free for the first trade per calendar month per ETF, provided the trade is ≥€1,000. This is DEGIRO's flagship retail value: a buy-and-hold investor doing one €1,000+ ETF buy per month pays €0 in commission.

4. Connectivity fee — €2.50 per year per non-EU exchange you actually trade on. Trading on NYSE: €2.50/year. Trading on LSE + NYSE + HKEX: €7.50/year total. Charged in arrears.

5. FX: DEGIRO offers "AutoFX" (default) at 0.25% of converted amount. There's also "Manual FX" at €10 + 0.25% — only useful for very large conversions.

6. Custody: none. Inactivity: none. Withdrawal: free.

The net effect: a buy-and-hold European investor doing one €1,000 Core Selection ETF buy per month has a total annual cost of €0 commission + €2.50 connectivity (if buying a non-EU listed ETF) = effectively €2.50/year on a €12,000/year investment plan. This is dramatically cheaper than Saxo (€36/year on the same plan) and competitive with Trading 212 (€0/year).

Real-World Cost Examples

The €1,000 Core Selection minimum is the most important rule of DEGIRO. Below €1,000, every trade pays full €3 commission; at €1,000+, the first one each month is free. This makes DEGIRO ideal for monthly DCA at €1,000+ but a poor choice for €100/month investors — at that level, Trading 212 or Lightyear are clearly cheaper.

Available Instruments

DEGIRO covers most retail asset classes:

• Stocks: 50+ exchanges including NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE, Xetra, Euronext (4), Borsa Italiana, BME, SIX Swiss, OMX (Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen), Wiener Börse, Warsaw GPW, Prague PSE, Athens, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, ASX, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore
• ETFs: 5,000+ including the Core Selection of ~200 free-trade ETFs (Vanguard FTSE All-World VWCE, iShares Core MSCI World, iShares Core S&P 500 SXR8, Xtrackers MSCI World, etc.)
• Bonds: 1,000+ corporate and government bonds, mostly via Frankfurt and Euronext order books
• Options: equity and index options on 12+ exchanges (Eurex, AEX, Euronext options markets, US options)
• Futures: index, commodity, and FX futures on Eurex, ICE, CME
• Warrants and certificates: large universe via Frankfurt SCOACH, Euwax
• Investment funds: a small selection (DEGIRO is not a fund supermarket)

What's not offered: fractional shares (except via the Auto-Invest savings plan launched in 2024), direct cryptocurrency, mutual fund supermarket, or CFDs.

Account Opening Process

DEGIRO onboarding is fully digital and reasonably fast:

1. Online application via degiro.eu (country-specific localization)
2. Identity verification: passport or EU ID + live selfie
3. iDIN / IBAN verification deposit — DEGIRO requires you to send €0.01-€1 from a bank account in your name (or use iDIN for Dutch / SK ID for Slovak / similar local digital identity systems) to confirm bank ownership
4. MiFID II suitability questionnaire — answers gate access to options, futures, leveraged ETFs, etc.
5. Tier selection (Basic, Active, Trader) — most retail investors stay on Basic (cash account)
6. Approval typically same-day for clean files

Once verified, you can deposit by SEPA bank transfer. DEGIRO does not accept card deposits — only bank transfers from accounts registered in your name. This is a security feature but means you can't impulse-fund.

Customer Support and Education

Customer support is via in-app message, email, and phone (limited hours), available in 14 languages with native-speaker country-specific contact points (DEGIRO Poland, DEGIRO Czechia, DEGIRO Greece, etc.). Phone support hours are typically 8am-5pm local time on business days only — narrower than Saxo or IBKR's 24/5 coverage.

Education content is modest: DEGIRO Academy with introductory courses, an investor-academy YouTube channel, and a blog. Many investors consider DEGIRO's research thin compared to Saxo or Interactive Brokers — there is no integrated Morningstar, no analyst consensus, no advanced screener. The platform is built for investors who already know what they want to buy.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• BaFin regulation + German DGS €100,000 deposit protection
• Core Selection: ~200 ETFs free first trade/month at €1,000+
• Cheap European stock and ETF commissions
• 50+ exchanges including GPW (Warsaw), Tel Aviv, Tokyo
• No custody fee, no inactivity fee, no withdrawal fee
• 0.25% FX (mid-range fair pricing)
• Public flatexDEGIRO listing — corporate transparency
• Strong European coverage with localized country sites
• Real bonds available (1,000+) — though minimums apply

Cons:

• No fractional shares outside Auto-Invest (huge limitation for small investors)
• €1,000 minimum for Core Selection free-trade benefit
• €2.50/year per non-EU exchange connectivity fee
• DEGIRO Securities Lending program (default opt-in for Basic accounts) — your shares may be lent out (you can opt out via Custody account, which costs more)
• No card deposits — bank transfer only
• No demo / paper trading
• Phone support only in business hours
• No tax wrappers (no IKE, no PEA, no PIR, no ISA)
• No public API
• Minimal research and screener depth

Who Should Pick DEGIRO

DEGIRO is a strong fit if you are:

• A monthly DCA investor putting €1,000+ into Core Selection ETFs
• A buy-and-hold investor wanting BaFin + DGS €100k protection
• A European investor who values direct GPW, Borsa Italiana, BME, or other regional access
• An investor who doesn't need fractional shares
• Someone who has already chosen their ETFs (no advanced research needed)
• A bond investor with €5,000+ trade size (where DEGIRO's bond fees become reasonable)

Who Shouldn't

DEGIRO is probably not the right pick if you:

• Do small (€20-200) DCA — fractional shares unavailable, full fees apply below €1,000
• Want a tax wrapper (IKE, IKZE, ISA, PEA, PIR)
• Need fractional shares of US tech stocks (TSLA, NVDA, etc.)
• Want options or futures with deep research support (use IBKR or Saxo)
• Prefer card deposits or instant funding
• Are uncomfortable with the default Securities Lending model
• Want comprehensive research and screening tools

For European investors who use DEGIRO as their main DCA platform but also keep specialty accounts — Polish IKE at XTB, additional cash interest at Lightyear or Trading 212 — aggregating positions across all accounts in Freenance is the standard way to maintain a unified portfolio view without exporting CSVs from three different brokers each quarter.

FAQ

Is DEGIRO safe in 2026? Yes — DEGIRO is now part of flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, regulated by BaFin under a full German banking license and supervised by the European Central Bank under SSM. Deposit protection is the German DGS €100,000 per client (upgraded from the old Dutch ICF €20,000 in 2024 after full integration). Securities are segregated under MiFID II rules. Many investors consider DEGIRO's safety profile materially stronger since the BaFin migration.

What is DEGIRO's Core Selection? A curated list of approximately 200 ETFs from major issuers (Vanguard, iShares, SPDR, Xtrackers, Amundi) for which the first trade per calendar month is commission-free, provided the trade is at least €1,000. The list is regularly updated. The free trade applies to the buy and to one matching sell direction in the same month. This is DEGIRO's flagship benefit and the main reason cost-conscious DCA investors choose it.

Does DEGIRO lend out my shares? By default, yes. DEGIRO Basic accounts opt you into the Securities Lending program, which lets DEGIRO lend your shares to short sellers in exchange for a fee (which DEGIRO retains). You receive collateral in lieu and the program is regulated, but the lent shares are not under MiFID II custody during the loan. To opt out, switch to a "Custody" account — which costs more (€1 per dividend payment as a "dividend distribution fee"). Many investors consider this a hidden cost of the cheap pricing.

DEGIRO vs Interactive Brokers — which is better? DEGIRO wins on simplicity, Core Selection free ETFs, and EU-localized country sites. IBKR wins on FX (0.20% vs 0.25%), bond minimums ($1 vs higher), futures pricing, fractional shares, and market breadth (150+ vs 50+ exchanges). For pure ETF buy-and-hold of €1,000+ monthly trades, DEGIRO is genuinely cheaper. For multi-currency investors, options traders, or anyone with €100k+, IBKR usually wins.

Can DEGIRO offer Polish IKE/IKZE accounts? No. DEGIRO operates a Polish-language site (degiro.pl) but does not offer Polish IKE/IKZE tax wrappers — these require a Polish broker license, which DEGIRO does not hold. Polish investors needing IKE/IKZE typically use XTB or DM BOS for the wrapper and DEGIRO for additional taxable holdings.

Related Articles

• Trading 212 Review for European Investors 2026
• Interactive Brokers vs DEGIRO Comparison
• XTB vs DEGIRO vs Interactive Brokers 2026

Rates and fees current as of Q1 2026, verify before depositing. This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. Capital is at risk; past performance does not guarantee future results.