Summary

The masterminds behind eToro envisioned a world where trading was made accessible to anyone and everyone, regardless of any prior trading experience or country of residence – this dream materialized in 2007 when they created one of the best online trading brokers – the eToro trading platform. Presently, the platform hosts over 2 million active accounts and has obtained licenses from more than four regulatory bodies.

Both eToro’s mobile app and desktop trading platform feature 3,500+ assets in varying classes like 45+ forex pairs, 3,100+ stocks, 25+ commodities, 15+ indices, 75+ cryptocurrencies, and 260+ ETFs. Don’t forget you can also trade these assets as CFDs since eToro is also one of the top online CFD brokers around. The existence of such variation in available assets allows you to deposit your funds in different financial markets and benefit from fluctuations in all types of exchanges and markets.

Moreover, their academy serves as a hub for useful educational resources, including articles and informative videos on both basic and advanced concepts.

In this eToro review, we will take a closer look at its Pros & Cons, Regulations, Deposits & Withdrawals, Online Reviews, Supported Offices, Leverage, Spreads, Educational Materials, Customer Support, Other Products and Services, and Payment Methods. We will also go over eToro’s fees, accounts and trading instruments, and most importantly how to open an account with the broker.

Regulations

A broker can only be trusted if it’s recognized by the regulatory authority in your respective region. For that reason, eToro has acquired many licenses to legitimize its financial operations around the world. In this review, we’ve outlined all the important details about its regulation and offices below.

eToro (Europe) Ltd.: This entity is located in Cyprus and is regulated and authorized by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC). It has its office address at 4 Profiti Ilia Street, Germasogeia, Limassol, Cyprus.

• Registration number: HE200585
• License number: 109/10

eToro (Europe) Ltd.: It is registered with De Nederlandsche Bank N.V. (DNB) as a provider of crypto-related financial services.

eToro (UK) Ltd.: The entity is regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It is located on the 24th floor, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AB, United Kingdom.

• Registration number: 7973792
• Firm reference number: 583263

eToro AUS Capital Limited: Located in Australia and licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), this entity has its office address at Level 3, 60 Castlereagh Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia.

• License number: 491139

eToro USA LLC: As a Money Services Business, this entity is registered with and recognized by FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). It is located at 221 River St., 9th Floor, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA.

eToro USA Securities Inc.: It is a member of FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation).

eToro (Seychelles) Ltd.: The Seychelles Financial Services Authority is the regulatory body for this entity. Its office Address is at eToro Suites, S45 2nd Floor, Espace Building, Victoria, Seychelles.

Supported Countries

EToro has a global outreach as it provides its services in over 140 countries. While there are many countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Americas that can use the eToro trading platform, due to regulatory limitations – not all countries are supported. For example, while US citizens are permitted to open an account with eToro – Canadian citizens are barred from doing so.

Moving on, the broker’s services are available in English, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Vietnamese, Finnish, Arabic, Czech, Italian, and even French.

Available Assets

eToro offers 3,500+ financial instruments including forex, shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, and ETFs to its client base. We’ll be discussing each of them individually in this eToro review.

Cryptocurrencies

Their crypto platform is a one-stop shop for all your crypto needs as it functions as a trading platform, wallet, and exchange simultaneously. Clients have access to 75+ cryptocurrencies – greater than the industry average. Examples of crypto assets offered by the platform include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Cardano.

One should be mindful when reading this review, that these crypto assets are unregulated in the UK, Australia, and some EU countries as well.

Shares

At eToro, you are allowed to both invest in stocks and trade CFD shares. They have 3,100+ stocks for you to choose from, which fall under all sorts of categories including healthcare and technology. The broker has all the big names such as Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft listed on its platform. As an eToro account holder, you also have the option to buy fractional shares if your budget is limited.

Commodities

The broker’s commodity market includes everything from hard commodities like gold and oil to soft ones such as cocoa and soybeans. You have access to 25+ commodities on their platform.

Indices

Indices are a great way to diversify your portfolio and capitalize off of market trends of a wide array of stock exchanges across the globe. The brokerage firm indices collection is diverse, with 15+ indices offered. NSDQ100, SPX500, GER40, DJ30, and UK100 are just a few of the indices you can trade on their platform.

Forex

The forex market is one of the most liquid and active financial markets in the world. eToro forex trading grants you access to 45+ forex pairs inclusive of major USD ones. The leverage for it is up to 1:30 for retail clients and 1:400 for professional account holders.

ETFs

The firm offers 260+ exchange-traded funds. Investors can invest in Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at eToro to take advantage of the low-cost entry point and no management fees. You can both invest in ETFs as an underlying asset, or trade them as CFDs. You have the option to trade SPDR S&P 500 ETF, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and SPDR Gold Invesco QQQ, among many other ETFs.

Spreads

All financial instruments on the platform have both a BUY price and a SELL price. The difference between these two prices is what we refer to as spread fees. Spread rates are highly susceptible to change in market conditions, and so cannot be predicted so easily.

Leverage

The maximum leverage you can trade with is dictated by the relevant regulatory authorities in your respective regions. If you’re a retail client under eToro (Europe) Ltd, eToro (UK) Ltd, or eToro AUS Capital Limited, you can trade with leverage up to:

• 1:30 for major currency pairs (such as EUR/USD).
• 1:20 for minor currency pairs (such as EUR/NZD), gold, and also major indices.
• 1:10 for commodities apart from gold and non-major equity indices.
• 1:5 for CFD stocks and ETFs.
• 1:2 for CFD crypto assets.

As for clients of eToro (Seychelles) Ltd, the leverage is up to:

• 1:400 for major currency pairs (such as EUR/USD).
• 1:100 for Gold and other commodities, and major indices.
• 1:50 for non-major currency pairs.
• 1:10 for non-major indices, CFD stocks and ETFs.
• 1:5 for CFD crypto assets.

Fees and Commission

All eToro fees can be broadly classified into trading and non-trading fees.

Trading Fees

eToro has a zero-commission policy when it comes to trading stocks and ETFs on its platform. This means that you won’t have to pay any commission or swap fees on any stock or ETF you trade. Let’s look at the other types of trading fees you may incur in this review.

Spreads

As discussed earlier, the spread rates are highly dependent on market conditions and vary from instrument to instrument. The eToro minimum spread on OIL is 5 pips but for an index like NSDQ100, it is 24 pips. If we instead look at stocks and ETFs, the spread for non-US instruments is 0.15%. For US-based ones – if the market price of the instrument is more than $3 – 0.15% will be charged. However, if the US-based one’s market price is $3 or less, only a total of 2 cents per unit held can be charged as a spread.

Overnight/Rollover/Swap fees

An overnight fee is charged on CFD positions that remain open after trading hours. The general formula for this fee is: Overnight fees = Fee * Number of units. Overnight fees simply mirror the supply and demand driving the financial markets, covering costs associated with your position. Based on the value and direction of your position, the fees changed. It is automatically subtracted from your available balance.

Non-Trading Fees

Although the firm does not charge any deposit and account setup fees, you can expect to incur overnight currency conversion, inactivity, and withdrawal fees (explained below in this eToro review).

Withdrawal fee

Every withdrawal request made will be subjected to a $5 fee.

Currency Conversion Fee

The eToro platform operates in USD, therefore, any deposits or withdrawals you make in a currency other than this will warrant a currency conversion fee.

If the deposit or withdrawal is made in a currency other than its supported currencies (EUR, GBP, AUD, RMB, THB, IDR, MYR, VND, PHP, SEK, DKK, NOK, PLN, CZK, USD) – you are likely to be charged by your payment provider for the conversion from that currency to USD or vice versa.

However, if you choose to deposit funds from your eToro Money account instead – USD conversion fees will be waived. To put this into perspective, you could save £5 for every £1,000 you deposit through it.

Inactivity Fee

After a year of account non-use, eToro will charge you a $10 monthly fee on any existing balance. It is worth bearing in mind that eToro will not close any open positions to cover the cost of the fee.

Trading Platforms

eToro’s trading platform was designed with the aim of making it accessible to all types of traders. They’ve achieved that by developing an easy-to-use interface that has a lot of innovative features to help their clients better manage their funds and trading activity.

Desktop Trading Platform

All traders need to have an intuitive and innovative desktop trading platform from which they can trade with ease. In fact, eToro’s desktop trading platform is best liked by users for its “easy-to-use” design. This review will look into its other selling points in much greater detail below:

One Click Trading

Following thorough research on the habits of traders, the firm realized that a lot of traders often repeat their trading habits. This feature enables clients to open a new position for their preferred instrument(s) in a single click.

Stop Loss and Take Profit

These features had been introduced with the sole purpose of assisting clients in better managing their positions, protecting their funds and securing their profits. Using this feature, you can set predetermined price points for closing an open position.

ProCharts

ProCharts will allow you to easily make comparisons between charts from different assets and/or different time frames.

How to Open a Live Account with eToro’s Desktop Trading Platform?

• Open your browser and go to eToro.com. Click on “Start investing” and start by entering your username, email id, and new password. It’s also possible to sign up directly with your Google or Facebook account.

• Follow that up with by clicking on the “Continue” button.

• Enter your basic personal information, like, full name, gender, and date of birth as they appear on your ID or passport.

• Then fill in details about your current address.

• Answer the questions related to your trading experience with different financial instruments and leveraged products.

• You will then be questioned about your trading knowledge. Pick the option that best matches your situation.

• Select the option which best describes your purpose of trading and answer all questions related to your future trading activities.

• Enter accurate information about your financial status.

• The last step involves providing proof of identification which can be in the form of an uploaded document or a typed national ID number. Go through their terms and agreement, and select “confirm” once you’re done to complete the account set-up process.

Mobile Trading App

The eToro trading platform also has a mobile version, which can be downloaded on both Android and Apple devices. Let’s take a look at some of the features that make it an intuitive mobile application:

Multi-asset Platform

On the mobile trading app, you will find all the financial instruments offered by the broker which when tallied are more than 3500. By allowing you to invest/trade in these assets with and without leverage, eToro has granted nearly anyone access to short-, mid-and long-term investment options.

Smart Portfolios

Smart Portfolios are another product unique to eToro’s trading platforms. These are essentially ready-made investment strategies that offer different investment portfolios in a wide array of categories.

How to Open a Live Account with eToro’s Mobile Trading App?

• Enter your username, email ID, and a new password or sign in with your Apple/Google/Facebook account.

• Click on the “Continue” button.

• Ensure that the details you enter here like your name, gender and birthday are exactly the same as they appear on your passport..

• Enter your address details.

• You will then be asked to verify your registered phone number. After the whole verification process is over and done with, you can deposit funds into your account and start trading.

Account Types

eToro offers its clients 4 types of accounts in total: A Retail Account, a Professional account, an Islamic account, and last but not least a demo account for anyone who wants to refine their trading skills before using real funds. You will find all of them explained in greater detail in this review, below.

Demo Account

With a demo account, you can learn about the broker’s platform and different financial instruments in a safe controlled environment. All demo account holders are given $100k in virtual funds to begin testing their trading strategies in a risk-free environment that reflects the experience of trading financial instruments with a live account – taking into account all possible costs.

You can easily make use of all the features that eToro has to offer like the platform’s simple and clutter-free interface, advanced analysis tools, risk-management instruments (such as leverage, stop loss, and take profit), and even get to try the broker’s very own ready-made thematic portfolios.

Experienced traders too are free to use their demo accounts to experiment with new trading strategies in a wide array of financial markets – everything from cryptocurrencies to ETFs – before risking any of their own hard-earned funds.

Retail Account

Retail account status is the default for all eToro accounts. Only if you qualify for a professional account will you be granted that status. The retail account is ideal for beginners as it grants you access to all tradable assets available on the platform, but more than that, it grants certain protections which may not be available to professional clients as they deal with a lot more risk. For example, you are protected by the Investor Compensation Fund and receive negative balance protection and margin closeout restrictions. Please note that because retail accounts are only allowed a certain level of exposure to risk due to regulatory reasons, their maximum leverage is limited. However, on the plus side, you still get to trade via Copy Trade and capitalize off of others’ successful trading strategies.

Professional Account

Next on the list is a professional account status. This status is only available to those traders and professionals who have demonstrated an adequate understanding of the different financial markets and have proof of significant time and money commitments.

If you are a professional client, your maximum leverage will be much higher but that comes at the risk of reduced protections offered by eToro. Professional traders are expected to act with much greater responsibility and accountability than their retail counterparts.

To attain a professional account status, your answer must be in the affirmative for any two of the following three questions.

• Have you carried out trades, in significant size, on the relevant market at a mean frequency of 10 per quarter over the last four quarters?
• Is the value of your investment portfolio greater than 500,000 €?
• Have you worked in the financial sector in a professional capacity for at least one year?

Only clients using eToro UK and eToro EU can apply for a Professional Client status.

Islamic Account

According to Islamic law, interest is prohibited for Muslims to deal with – whether it be taking or paying of it. As an Islamic account holder, you will not have to worry about being charged a rollover fee on contracts lasting more than 24 hours. Additionally, there are no account management costs as eToro’s revenue comes strictly from spreads.

Moreover, with an eToro Islamic account, you can trade with interest-free leverage.

Payment Methods

eToro understands the importance of giving clients the choice to deposit/withdraw using payment methods that they are most comfortable with. Hence, they’ve decided to accept fund transfers from a range of sources. We will review the different deposit and withdrawal methods you can use to transfer funds.

Deposit Methods

Depositing money into your account can be done via various payment methods with eToro. Most methods like eToro Money, Credit cards, Debit cards, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, Rapid Transfer, iDeal, Klarna/Sofort Banking, and POLi for example will credit funds to your account in an instant. On the other hand, payments made via bank transfer can take anywhere from 4 to 7 business days.

Your choice of payment method may be limited by your country of residence, as there are many payment methods that only work in some regions. Also, note that each payment method has its own maximum deposit policy.

Moving on to your first-time minimum deposit. For those users residing in the US or UK, the minimum deposit amount is only $10. Israeli clients have to make do with a colossal minimum deposit amount of $10,000 – however, for most countries, it is $50.

Additionally, any deposits made via Bank Transfer need to be at least $500.

Withdrawal Methods

You can withdraw funds from your eToro account via lots of different payment methods too. Some of them are credit/debit transfer, bank transfer, PayPal, eToro Money, Payoneer, Neteller, Skrill, iDeal, and Trustly.

The kind of payment method you choose will affect the processing time of your withdrawal request. Any withdrawals made via credit/debit card or bank transfer can take up to 10 business days for the funds to be reflected in your account. On the other hand, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, Trustly and iDeal will take you only 2 business days.

eToro charges all of its clients a $5 fee for every withdrawal they make. Remember that in order for your withdrawal request to be approved, the withdrawal amount has to be greater than $30 USD. You can however withdraw your funds whenever you want to do so – the funds can be withdrawn up to the amount in your eToro account, minus the amount of margin used.

How to Make a Withdrawal on eToro?

• Click on the “Withdraw Funds” button in the left-hand menu.
• Enter the amount you wish to withdraw.
• Click on ‘Continue’.
• Select your preferred currency.
• Make sure that the default payment method is accurate. If any changes need to be made, click on ‘Other Payment Options’.
• Finally, click on ‘Submit’.

Education

The broker has really outdone itself when it comes to making educational materials free and accessible to all. With eToro you have plenty of opportunities to familiarize yourself with all the different financial markets if you’re a beginner, and improve your knowledge of recent additions to the market and other well-performing trading strategies – if you’re an experienced trader.

It has its very own “eToro Academy” that features all sorts of articles and videos explaining the ins and outs of the financial market, along with basic fundamental information about the terminology used in trading. It also classifies its investing resources between “beginner” and “advanced” so that both parties can benefit from being a part of the academy.

What’s more, is that it also has a separate web page titled “eToro Plus” which gives you an in-depth analysis of the latest market trends and allows you to dive deeper into the markets with their daily/weekly/quarterly summaries.

You can also see many of its webinars, hosted by successful traders under “The Bull Club” section.

Customer Support

The ways in which you can reach eToro’s customer support team seem to be very limited, as there are only really two ways in which you can contact them.

The first way is via a support ticket. Opening a customer service request ticket involves first and foremost entering your email address. You can then proceed to type out information about the nature of your complaint or inquiry, and can even attach supported files to further help you clarify the situation to them. Once their team has reviewed your question, and issued an adequate response you will be notified. According to their Facebook page, this can take up to 48 business hours.

Secondly, you may use their live chat function to contact them. This service is available to all depositing clients – 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday.

To make up for their limited choices, they do have an incredibly helpful and organized FAQ page that has answers to nearly any questions about the broker. Each question is already categorized into different categories, but just for the purpose of making it more convenient for their users they’ve also added a search bar.

Customers of eToro USA LLC may also call them using their customer support phone numbers. The details for which are provided on their website.

Reviews

What Reddit Users Say About eToro

Most Reddit users agreed that eToro CopyTrader is a really advantageous social trading feature that has helped them make successful trades – and plays a big role in them choosing eToro as their go-to trading platform for all their trades.

This particular user echoed the opinions of many others on their platform, explaining that the eToro platform has really “improved” over the years and now offers most “stocks” and “cryptos”.

Another Reddit user – although satisfied with the financial instruments available on the broker’s platform and also the “copy portfolio feature” – complained that the “spreads” were too high compared to other brokers in the industry.

What Quora Users Say About eToro

Unlike users on Reddit, Quora users seemed to be dissatisfied with the way eToro operated and criticized many technical aspects of the company.

An anonymous user on Quora claimed that eToro had a lot of bad things about it that needed to be addressed immediately. They substantiated their view with multiple examples of where the platform was lacking, for example its “customer service” and risk management features like “stop-loss”.

Stella Hughes on Quora emphasized that eToro was an “OK” platform. The main things that she liked about the broker included their “support”, reasonable “fees” and easy-to-use “platform”. She proceeded to talk about how eToro’s “fair” fees helped her reduce costs as a day trader.

TrustPilot Users Reviews About eToro

eToro has secured a 4.3 rating on TrustPilot with a striking majority of  reviews, around 70%, happy with their experience with the broker.

Musheer Ahmed gave the broker a 4-star rating and in his review mentioned that the broker’s strong points were its “user-friendly” platform and the various educational materials and “tools” it had to help him better learn about the different markets before “investing and trading” in them.

While most reviews about the broker were positive, this 1-star review does not seem to agree with other users’ views. This TrustPilot user reveals that his funds are being held unlawfully by eToro and claims that although he requested a withdrawal amount of “£2800”, he has only received a fraction of that amount.

ForexPeaceArmy Users Reviews About eToro

The broker was given a miserly 1.74-star rating by ForexPeaceArmy users – highlighting that a majority of the users have had bad experiences with eToro.

These two ForexPeaceArmy users from the USA both had lots of negative things to say about the broker. One is furious that the firm won’t refund his money as promised and the other is certain that his “100 dollars” were stolen by eToro themselves. Both had encountered problems with their customer service team – the team according to them won’t respond to their emails.

Is eToro safe?

You might be asking yourself “is eToro safe?” or “is eToro trustworthy?” To the best of our knowledge, it is. Allow us to justify our opinion in this review, below.

EToro is regulated by multiple regulatory authorities around the globe. First off, it’s one of the FCA-regulated brokers. Some of the other notable regulatory authorities include the CySEC, and ASIC. The fact that eToro has all of these licenses and has multiple regulatory authorities overseeing its operations minimizes the risk of fraud and malpractice. Regulatory bodies ensure that customer rights and funds are protected.

Moreover, in the case of some jurisdictions like the FCA and CySEC, you will be compensated in the unlikely event of insolvency. The FSCS (FCA) offers clients a coverage of no more than 85,000 GBP whereas the ICS (CySEC) offers coverage of up to 20,000 euros.

Apart from the regulatory protection provided by regulatory authorities, eToro has also purchased insurance from Lloyd’s of London. Being one of the world’s leading providers of insurance, it gives coverage of up to 1 million euros, GBP, or AUD (depending on your country of residence). Not only is it free of cost, but this insurance also does not require any additional paperwork and is automatically granted to all eToro clients.

All clients of eToro (Europe) Ltd., eToro (UK) Ltd. and eToro AUS Capital Limited that suffer a loss in the event eToro files for bankruptcy or in case of any Event of Misconduct can also claim this insurance.

Please remember that this insurance does not cover any crypto assets trading (non-CFD).

Other Products and Services

Etoro also offers additional products and services like Copy Trading and an affiliate program. Both of these products are explained below in detail.

CopyTrader

Using eToro’s CopyTrader, you can easily copy top-performing traders. All you need to have to get started is an eToro account. Simply sign up for an account and begin replicating their trading activities in your own portfolios – free of charge.

You might find that copying the trades of other successful traders is much more convenient for you than keeping yourself updated on market trends. Also, beginners with little to no experience in trading the various financial markets might find this to be a lifesaver.

The reason why there are no management costs is that the traders that consent to others copying their portfolio are paid directly by eToro.

Popular Investor Program

To reward those traders that make their portfolios available for others to copy, eToro has developed the Popular Investor program on top of the CopyTrader™ feature. Through this program, successful traders that wish to earn income from the sharing of their expertise can easily do so by simply signing up for it.

The following table shows you more information about the monthly payment, minimum average monthly AUC (assets under copy) and minimum average monthly equity of the different popular investors: cadet, champion, elite, and elite pro.

Based on which category you fall under, as a popular investor, you might be able to benefit from either some or all of the following perks of being a popular investor on eToro’s CopyTrader platform: 24/6 Customer Service, Complimentary tickets to online/offline events, conferences, sports events/concerts, Fee-free withdrawals, Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal subscriptions, Investment book reimbursement up to $100, TipRanks Premium subscription, Client Relationship Manager in Popular Investor Team, Invitation to eToro global offices and many more.

Bottom Line

eToro has attracted over 2.7 million traders to its platform – spanning 140 countries. It is regulated and authorized by multiple regulatory authorities like the FCA and CySEC making its operations legal in all the regions that it supports. The 10+ languages offered on its platform make it easier for an international audience to trade in a language they’re familiar with and are comfortable with carrying out transactions and trades in.

In an effort to give its clients the ability to diversify their portfolios as much as possible, the broker gives clients access to the full spectrum of financial instruments, namely forex, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, and ETFs. You can both invest and own these assets or instead trade their CFDs if you’re short of adequate capital.

Additionally, the online brokerage firm caters to the needs of all of its clients and offers many different types of accounts. With eToro, you can open a demo, retail, professional, or even an Islamic (swap-free) account. The main difference between these different accounts is the maximum leverage available and the applicability of protection schemes.

Most users stay for their CopyTrade feature but their exceptional educational materials and FAQ page also provide good reasons for users to stick with the firm. What’s more, is that zero-commission fees on stocks and ETFs make it an attractive brokerage for many investors wishing to reduce their costs.