On the whole, Interactive Brokers (also known as IBKR) has a lot to offer. It has everything you need for investing and trading - plenty of tools and resources plus a vast range of investments and markets.
However, the devil is in the detail, and Interactive Brokers has one of the most complex fee structures we've seen. The fees do actually work out quite cheap, but deciphering them is more complex than reading Morse code.
Interactive Brokers is definitely geared more towards traders than investors. Still, it has been expanding its offering in the UK by launching educational resources and introducing a stocks and shares ISA account. We think beginners may find IBKR slightly overwhelming, but experienced investors will rejoice at the sheer depth of assets and trading tools on offer.
Pros
Low fees
Demo account available
Lots of trading tools and learning resources
Huge range of access to investments and global markets
Cons
Complex fee structure
Platform is most suitable for experienced traders
Strong emphasis on trading
Not the easiest app and website to navigate
★★★★★
Finder score
Interactive Brokers, or “IBKR”, is a comprehensive trading platform that lets you trade on stocks in more than 200 countries. It claims to offer the lowest trading fees – albeit in a bit of a complicated way, which we’ll get to later. Interactive Brokers has four trading platforms to choose between, letting you decide how much detail you want to see your investments with. Find out if this sophisticated investment platform is suitable for you and what we thought.
What is Interactive Brokers?
Interactive Brokers is an investment broker designed for experienced investors. It’s got all the tools you need to understand your investments, including:
Advanced charting. You can customise your charts, add technical indicators and display volume charts.
News. You can stay on top of news that’s relevant to specific products.
Key metrics at a glance. You can see essential information like your Net Liquidation Value and buying power.
Quick trade. You can quickly place orders, manage ones you already have open and view recent trades.
Notifications. You can turn on notifications and FYIs.
Order types and algos. These help you limit your risk.
Risk management. Interactive Brokers has a risk navigator and other technology to help you manage your risk.
Paper trading. Interactive Brokers’ demo account. You can try out strategies without using real money.
Ethical investing. Interactive Brokers has great tools to help you choose investments that match your values.
Who is Interactive Brokers good for?
Interactive Brokers is good for experienced investors looking for a sophisticated platform. It’s great for active traders looking for something advanced.
Interactive Brokers isn’t really for beginners. It’s quite intimidating, with lots of different tools and a lot of jargon, which is exciting for experienced investors but is enough to put a beginner off.
If you’re just starting out and want something a little less intimidating, check out Hargreaves Lansdown or IG.
What can I invest in with Interactive Brokers?
International Brokers has one of the largest ranges of financial instruments available from the providers we’ve reviewed.
Here are some of the financial instruments you can trade with Interactive Brokers:
UK stocks
International stocks
Options
Futures
Forex
Bonds
Funds
Stock exchanges covered
If you’re looking for international stocks, Interactive Brokers may be a contender for the amount of stock exchanges it covers. You can browse the exchanges covered by their region below:
International Brokers has a pretty impressive ethical investing feature that lets you see how your investments line up with your values. This lets you endorse the companies that you believe are contributing to the world.
You can tell International Brokers what matters to you, such as racial equality or clean air, and what you’re against, such as animal testing or greenhouse gases. Interactive Brokers will then tell you if your current and future investments reflect these values – it even gives you an overall score.
It also shows you the company environmental, social and governance scores (ESG scores). You can compare the scores against other companies and see which ones rank higher than the company you’re looking at. It’s got the ESG scores in more detail too, so you can see the individual factors that make up the environmental, social and governance of each company.
From our knowledge, this is one of the first brokers that gives you this much detailed information about company ethics in a trading platform.
What products does Interactive Brokers have?
Interactive Brokers currently only has one account: a general investment account. This means that you can’t make use of your annual ISA allowance and can’t save in a dedicated pension for your retirement.
Is Interactive Brokers safe?
Interactive Brokers is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Client money is segregated from Interactive Brokers’ own money and your deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which means that £85,000 of your deposits are covered if Interactive Brokers were to go bust.
Interactive Brokers fees
Interactive Brokers buries its trading fees in a complicated jungle of tables, so you could be forgiven for thinking it’s trying to hide something. But the crazy thing is, it’s prices are very competitive… if you can actually decypher them!
It’s designed to be one of the cheapest platforms on the market. The popular trading platform Degiro used to operate in a similar way before opting for a more simple approach. Fees vary according to the location of the exchange (not according to your location, as we established on a 30-minute live chat with IBKR!). IBKR makes a lot of noise about its Smart Routing service, which routes your trade to the exchange offering the best price. You can pay a little extra if you want to stipulate which exchange is used.
It’s also got different fees for different sized orders, which is its tiered structure. But unless you’re Elon Musk, trading £40m+ each month, you can just focus on the fixed pricing.
Fixed pricing
With fixed pricing, the amount you pay for each share is fixed, no matter how many you get. That said, a minimum per trade will apply.
Tiered pricing
With this type of pricing, the amount you pay per trade can be reduced based on the number of shares you buy (kind of like bulk buying toilet paper – the more you buy, the cheaper you get them per roll… except with IBKR you’d have to buy warehouses and warehouses of the stuff to access cheaper pricing). The tiers change depending on the currency and stock exchange, so it’s a good idea to check out its pricing page for what you want to trade. Unfortunately, right now, you’ll need to be trading millions each month to access the tiered pricing, so, er, maybe only a benefit to the super-high rollers!
Summary of Interactive Brokers fees
Of course, a complicated fee structure can be hard to summarise, so here’s some of the main instruments and their average fees. If you want more detail, take a look at the Interactive Brokers website.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Zoe was a senior writer at Finder specialising in investment and banking, and during this time, she joined the Women in FinTech Powerlist 2022. She is currently a senior money writer at Be Clever With Your Cash. Zoe has a BA in English literature and a Diploma for Financial Advisers. She has several years of experience in writing about all things personal finance. Zoe has a particular love for spreadsheets, having also worked as a management accountant. In her spare time, you’ll find Zoe skating at her local ice rink.
Ever wondered how to invest in SJPA ETF? Learn more about it now and find out where you can invest in it. Compare ETF brokers to start investing today.
Ever wondered how to invest in FTAL ETF? Learn more about it now and find out where you can invest in it. Compare ETF brokers to start investing today.
Ever wondered how to invest in FLGB ETF? Learn more about it now and find out where you can invest in it. Compare ETF brokers to start investing today.
Ever wondered how to invest in HUKX ETF? Learn more about it now and find out where you can invest in it. Compare ETF brokers to start investing today.
Thinking about buying shares in Flutter Entertainment? We explain how to do it and compare a range of providers who will give you access to global markets.
Sales of Reckitt Bencksier products like Dettol have risen due to coronavirus. Here’s how you can invest in Dettol, by buying Reckitt Benckiser shares.
Ever wondered how to buy shares in Wincanton? We explain how and compare a range of providers that can give you access to many brands, including Wincanton.
Feedback
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.