Investing With eToro: Here’s My Honest Review

Where eToro brokerage accounts shine

Easy-to-use app: eToro’s app is fun to use. It’s not confusing or clunky and it’s easy to navigate. But frankly, this is becoming more and more common. At this point, if your broker has a bad app, it may be time to switch.

Innovative platform: eToro made its name through its social investing platform, an innovative tool that allows users to copy the trades of other investors. You can post about your own trades and follow others’ trades. People regularly publicize their net worth and positions, which can help you build an investing-based community. That being said, it can create a lot of noise and distraction, making it hard to focus on long-term investing goals.

Virtual trading: Every eToro account also gets a $100,000 virtual trading account, so you can practice trading with play money.

Where eToro brokerage accounts fall short

What type of investor should choose eToro?

People who want a standard, taxable brokerage account. eToro doesn’t offer IRAs, so eToro will only meet the needs of someone looking for a taxable brokerage account.

Those looking for community. If you love scrolling through Reddit or X to learn what real people are investing in, eToro’s platform may be perfect for you. The broker does a great job of creating visibility into what people are investing in and allows them to post about it in real time. It’s almost as if the famous subreddit r/wallstreetbets was built into your brokerage account — helpful and fun for some, but could be a nightmare for others.

eToro at a glance

How to sign up for an eToro account

Opening an eToro account is easy. You’ll need to download the app, create a username and password and answer the questionnaire. eToro allows you to link a debit card and Paypal in addition to more traditional funding methods (such as bank transfers). This made funding the account super fast and I was able to purchase investments almost immediately from my new account.

What to know about eToro's fees

Similar to other brokers, eToro charges no commission for stock trading. Unlike other brokers, eToro has a minimum trade size of $10 for stocks, ETFs and crypto, even for fractional shares. Your first deposit has to be $50 or more. If you want to invest in smaller denominations you’ll need to look elsewhere. For U.S. residents there are no contract fees for options trades. This is a nice perk for options traders as not many brokers offer this.

eToro doesn’t charge an annual or inactivity fee. eToro does charge 1% for buying crypto, and 0.6% to 1% for selling crypto for U.S. dollars or other common currencies. That range is dependent on your level of eToro membership, which is just based on the balance in your account. These rates are fairly competitive.

eToro's investment selection

With eToro you can invest in stocks, ETFs, options and over 100 cryptocurrencies, including major currencies such as Bitcoin, Cardano and Ethereum. For many investors, this selection should be more than enough. But if you’re looking for mutual funds, bonds, futures or forex you’ll have to look elsewhere.

One thing to note: eToro users cannot trade crypto in New York, Nevada, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

eToro's trading platform and apps

eToro’s trading platform is fast, clean and easy to use, and has basic login capabilities as well as facial ID recognition. From the home screen you immediately see your balance, major movers in the market and a news feed which is more akin to social media than anything else. Investors can showcase their holdings and write thoughts the way you would on X right from the app. This is interesting, though you may not want to see everyone's thoughts on the market. Just scrolling through there was at least one user sounding the alarm that the market was collapsing. It has a nice organizational structure and it’s easy to navigate. The options, crypto and stock sections are nicely defined, so it’s easy to know where you are in the process.

The social media-esque component of eToro is interesting: On the one hand, it could allow you to see investors with a proven track record of outperforming and easily replicate it. On the other hand, there is already plenty of distracting noise about what to invest in, and the data is clear: hands-off, long-term investing almost always builds wealth better than hands-on, short-term investing. Being bombarded on your brokerage account’s home screen about how the market is about to crash or how a particular stock is about to take off may not be helpful to a lot of investors. But if you like hearing different investing opinions and aren’t too likely to be swayed by a little noise, you may enjoy it.

There's also a section with earnings reports, a watchlist with some customization, and a discover section with thematic investing options. Overall, the app is sound and the interface is clean and easy to use. The main action button is actually for posting on the social media network, not for buying investments, which may be confusing for some. As you're buying stocks, eToro asks if you want to trade options on the same stock you're buying. This access could have better guardrails, though buying a stock was fast and easy.

Mobile app

NerdWallet’s star rating is based on how both iOS and Android users score the broker's mobile app — but we also test each app ourselves. eToro’s average score is only 4.1, which is fairly low compared with some competitors. That being said, when I used the app myself I found it to be fast, clean and well-organized. My main complaint is one I stated earlier: the main button is for posting on the social feed rather than buying. It was also a little hard to find the educational resources.

Other key eToro features

Research and data

eToro gives users access to a handful of third-party data sources, including TipRanks, City Falcon and Trading View. This certainly isn’t the most comprehensive selection of data providers we’ve ever seen, but for many investors it will do just fine. The educational resources weren’t front and center, but once I found them they were comprehensive and helpful.

Unlike other brokers eToro has no retirement planning tools or services. Some brokers have calculators, tools or even give you access to financial advisors to help you with your entire financial picture.

Customer support options

eToro’s customer support can be accessed via live chat Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST. eToro doesn’t offer phone support. Some brokers not only offer support over the phone but they offer it 24/7. If you prefer to speak with someone over the phone while getting help, you may want to consider another broker.

High interest rate on uninvested cash

eToro offers an impressively high interest rate on uninvested cash. At the time of this writing, eToro was offering a 3.9% interest rate, though users do have to opt into the program (as opposed to automatically getting enrolled, as some brokers do).

No IRAs

One of eToro’s biggest downsides is that the broker does not offer IRAs — that means no investing in tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Most other brokers offer these, and other, types of accounts.

Social investing

eToro’s CopyTrader allows you to copy and trade automatically based on the moves of other traders. How it works: You choose an investor you want to copy, and with a click of a button, you can begin mirroring their positions automatically (with the option of a stop-loss level to limit potential losses).

The minimum amount to copy a user is $200. Even without using CopyTrader, users can view millions of other traders’ portfolios, stats and risk scores. (While they have full access to all public profiles worldwide, U.S. clients can copy only other U.S. users).

Is eToro safe?

Investing is inherently risky, and no brokerage can protect you against investment losses. That being said, eToro has the appropriate insurance and registrations to be operating as a broker. According to eToro, Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance will reimburse a maximum of $500,000 in securities including up to $250,000 for cash. eToro is also regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and is a member of FINRA, which regulates broker-dealers.

Is an eToro brokerage account right for you?

For the right investor, eToro could be a great broker, but there are plenty of brokers that offer more. I liked the app, and I was intrigued by eToro’s platform as a social media network for investors, but that’s about all that sets it apart. Otherwise, there are brokers with better apps, better research, more comprehensive customer service, access to more types of assets and different types of investment accounts. But if you’re not looking for any of that, eToro should serve you well.

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