DEGIRO Review in 30 Seconds: Our Verdict
DEGIRO is the online broker that drove down the cost of investing across Europe: commissions among the lowest on the market, access to some thirty international exchanges and a functional, no-frills platform. Born in the Netherlands and now part of Germany’s flatexDEGIRO group, it has become the benchmark for self-directed European investors — including many in France — who multiply orders and markets. This DEGIRO review for UK investors and their continental counterparts weighs the low costs against the trade-offs.
The caveats: no PEA (the French equity savings plan) for French residents, a distinctive custody structure for your shares, and a service that assumes you can place orders on your own. Verdict: the cost-versus-market-reach choice par excellence for the international self-directed investor; for a French PEA core portfolio, it pairs with an online bank rather than replacing one.
Who Is DEGIRO? From Dutch Disruptor to German-Group Heavyweight
DEGIRO was founded in Amsterdam by former finance professionals on a mission to democratise brokerage: the founding idea — fees a fraction of traditional banks’ charges, a clean platform and access to all the major exchanges — found its audience and grew the platform to hundreds of thousands of clients across Europe.
The industrial turning point came with the tie-up with Germany’s flatex group, itself the product of a European online broker, creating one of the continent’s largest retail brokers — a scale that reinforced the financial solidity of the whole and harmonised supervision under the German regulator for European clients. That trajectory explains today’s positioning: a very large-scale player with low structural costs that still pursues the aggressive pricing of its early days.
Is DEGIRO Safe? Regulation and Investor Protection
Yes: since joining the flatexDEGIRO group, European clients fall under the German entity supervised by BaFin — Germany’s reference financial authority — under the European passport that allows it to serve French clients. Regulated-broker status carries the associated protections: client accounts segregated from the firm’s own funds, membership of an investor compensation scheme should the intermediary fail, and transparency on execution costs.
DEGIRO’s specific point of vigilance concerns share custody: historically based on a collective custody structure — shares held in the name of the custodian on behalf of clients — it has evolved with the German integration towards greater name-based security. The essentials: if the broker fails, the shares revert to the clients who own them; the compensation mechanism covers cash and residual situations within legal limits.
That is a standard, market-level level of protection — to be read alongside the official documentation in force.
Accounts and Markets: Genuine International Reach
Opening a DEGIRO account gives access to some thirty exchanges — Euronext Paris of course, but also Amsterdam, Frankfurt, the US venues (NYSE, Nasdaq), London, Zurich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and more — a breadth that constitutes the core argument against domestic brokers.
The account types: a standard share dealing account with built-in multi-currency exchange, and depending on the regulatory situation of the moment, limited French tax wrappers — the PEA is not offered to French residents, which directs the long-term core towards a complementary online bank. The products: shares, ETFs, bonds, options and futures for advanced profiles — the typical range of a generalist international broker.
That breadth is paid for in responsibility: it assumes you understand currency conversion fees, each venue’s trading hours and the tax treatment of each income type — the broker executes, the investor decides.
DEGIRO Fees and Commissions: The Price List That Changed the Market
DEGIRO’s fee policy rests on three principles: low, degressive brokerage commissions by market, a selection of ETFs traded at zero cost under certain conditions (a defined list, one transaction per ETF per month), and reduced ancillary charges — no custody fee on shares and ETFs, a currency conversion fee per transaction. The table structures the reading; the figures, revised periodically, are kept up to date by our data team.
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Euronext share/ETF brokerage | — | Per order, flat fee |
| US exchange brokerage | — | + currency conversion fee |
| Custody fee | €0 on shares/ETFs (to be confirmed) | — |
| Currency conversion fees | — | Per foreign-currency transaction |
| Inactivity fees | — | — |
| Minimum deposit | — | — |
The comparison method remains your own usage: a typical year of orders, by market, set against two or three competitors — our online broker comparison and the eToro vs DEGIRO head-to-head set these price lists side by side.
The DEGIRO Platform and Tools: Functional Simplicity
The DEGIRO platform owns its positioning: functional, fast, understated — security search by ticker or name, order placement in a few clicks, multi-currency management, downloadable history and tax reports. The mobile app carries the essentials — monitoring and orders — with the same philosophy. What the platform is not: an analysis centre with advanced screening, sophisticated charts or signals — the broker leaves that to specialist tools and concentrates on execution and cost.
For the self-directed investor who decides elsewhere and executes at DEGIRO, that is an advantage; for the beginner looking for built-in educational guidance, it is a limitation to know before opening an account.
Customer Service and the French Experience
Customer service works by email and help centre, with a French-language offering; response times sit within online brokerage standards — reasonable outside peak periods, slower during market events. The absence of branches and a wealth adviser is part of the model: DEGIRO charges for execution, not for the relationship.
Documents — statements, annual reports for French tax purposes (the French tax statement is available to French resident clients) — are generated from the platform, and the help wiki covers most common situations. The overall experience is that of a technical broker: efficient if you know what you are doing, impersonal if you expected a bank.
DEGIRO Pros and Cons
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Commissions among the lowest in Europe | No PEA for French residents |
| Some thirty international exchanges | Specific (collective) custody structure |
| No custody fee on shares/ETFs | Minimal platform — little decision-making support |
| flatexDEGIRO group — financial strength and BaFin regulation | Currency conversion fee on every foreign-currency market |
| Selected ETFs at zero fees (conditions apply) | Written-only customer service, no adviser |
Which Investor Profile Is DEGIRO For?
DEGIRO suits the self-directed multi-market investor: the one who picks their own securities, knows limit orders, and wants international access at minimal cost — US shares, European ETFs, Swiss or Japanese stocks from a single account. It suits the French wealth-building profile less — the investor who wants a PEA, life insurance and an adviser under one roof — with the classic combination being DEGIRO for the international side and an online bank for tax wrappers, as detailed in our PEA or share dealing account guide.
Against Interactive Brokers, its direct competitor, the trade-off is French-language ergonomics versus maximum reach; against neobrokers, market breadth versus simplicity.
How to Open a DEGIRO Account
Sign-up is done online in about fifteen minutes: contact details, personal situation, knowledge questionnaire, uploaded ID documents. Validation typically takes from a few hours to a few days, followed by the first transfer — with no high entry minimum, opening remains accessible to modest portfolios. Before your first order, two useful checks: set up the currency list and the associated conversion fees, and locate the zero-fee ETF selection if your strategy plans to use it.
Our buying shares guide covers the complete first-order journey, and the stock market orders page recalls the mechanisms — market or limit orders — behind clean execution. For multi-asset trading beyond shares, specialised platforms remain accessible by opening an account with Vantage →.
DEGIRO vs Online Banks and Neobrokers: The Positioning
The French brokerage market reads in three families, and DEGIRO positions itself within it with rare clarity. Against online banks — Fortuneo leading the pack — it wins on fees and international reach, but loses on tax wrappers: no PEA, no life insurance, no everyday banking.
Against mobile neobrokers, it wins on the number of exchanges and order-placement tools — stop orders, advanced order types, multi-currency exchange — but demands more mastery. Against Interactive Brokers, its closest rival, the trade-off comes down to details: DEGIRO’s French-language interface and simplicity versus IBKR’s 150 markets and multi-currency account.
The combination increasingly common among active French investors sums up the positioning: an online bank for the PEA, DEGIRO for the international — each wrapper with the intermediary that handles it at the best cost.
The custody question deserves a precise answer, because it sets DEGIRO apart from French brokers. Cash sits in accounts segregated from the broker’s own funds, as regulation requires. Shares are recorded in a custody structure in which the custodian holds them on behalf of the broker’s clients — an architecture known as collective custody, long characteristic of the Dutch model, progressively reinforced by the group’s German standards.
Concretely, if the broker fails, shares identified as client property do not enter the creditors’ estate — and the investor compensation mechanism covers residual situations within legal limits. As the topic is technical and evolves regularly, the official documentation in force — custody terms and the protection scheme — remains the reference source to consult before committing large sums.
The Journey of an Order at DEGIRO: From Decision to Execution
Concretely, buying a foreign share follows five steps on the platform. Searching for the security by name or ISIN code, with the security page displaying the selected market’s quote — each exchange has its own line for the same security, with its own trading hours and fees. Entering the order: quantity or amount, market or limit type, day or good-till-cancelled validity.
Confirmation, with estimated fees detailed before you validate — the moment to check the market currency and the associated exchange rate. Execution, near-instantaneous during the relevant market’s session — a Tokyo order executes during the European night, a New York order in the late French afternoon. And monitoring: the trade confirmation, the position in the multi-currency portfolio, and year-end tax consolidation.
This mechanics, identical in principle at every broker, takes on its multi-market flavour at DEGIRO: the same interface drives thirty exchanges — hence the importance of checking, before validating, that you are trading the line of the intended market.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About DEGIRO
Does DEGIRO Offer a PEA?
No: for French residents, DEGIRO does not offer a PEA — only share dealing accounts. The tax-optimised core therefore goes through an online bank or a French broker for the PEA, with DEGIRO complementing it for international exposure.
Is DEGIRO Trustworthy?
Yes: the broker operates under German regulation (BaFin) with a European passport, segregated client funds and an investor compensation scheme. The scale of the flatexDEGIRO group adds a financial solidity the early DEGIRO did not have.
What Are DEGIRO’s Fees on US Exchanges?
A flat commission per order set by market — among the lowest on the French market for international access — plus a currency conversion fee per dollar transaction. The fee table above, updated by our team, gives the values in force.
Yes: Euronext Paris is among the covered markets, at the broker’s standard dealing conditions. French tax rules apply — the French tax statement is available for filing your return.
DEGIRO or Interactive Brokers: Which Should You Choose?
Two excellent international brokers: DEGIRO bets on simplicity and low fees on the main markets; Interactive Brokers on maximum reach — 150+ markets, multi-currency accounts, advanced tools. Usage decides: a few venues and simple orders favour DEGIRO; deep multi-market activity favours IBKR.
Does DEGIRO Charge Inactivity Fees?
The inactivity policy has varied over the years — the fee table above reflects the current conditions, updated by our team. The good practice remains the same: check the “inactivity” line of the schedule before opening if you trade infrequently.
What Should You Check Before Opening a DEGIRO Account?
Three lines of the contract: the brokerage schedule for the markets you will actually use, the conditions of the zero-fee ETF selection, and the conversion fees per currency. Add the documentation on share custody — its recent evolution has strengthened protection — and the availability of the French tax statement for your residence. Fifteen minutes of reading that prevent first-year surprises.
One last practical pointer: French tax statements are generated automatically for residents — the tax statement arrives in the platform at the start of the year, and the annual report consolidates all transactions for your return.
Is DEGIRO Good for Beginners?
Provided you accept autonomy: the platform executes orders without built-in educational guidance, and the international reach assumes you understand currencies, trading hours and taxes. The disciplined beginner — who learns on the wiki, practises with small, simple orders on Euronext, then expands — will find unbeatable costs; the beginner who wants to be guided will prefer an online bank with an adviser, even at a higher price.
The Bottom Line
- Nature: an international broker of the flatexDEGIRO group — BaFin regulation, European passport.
- Strength: Europe’s lowest fees across some thirty exchanges, with no custody fee.
- French limitation: no PEA — combine with an online bank for the core.
- Ideal for: the self-directed multi-market investor who executes and decides alone.
- Alternative: an online bank for French wrappers, a trading broker for multi-asset activity.