eToro Review, Test & Rating in 2023
Autor: Florian Fendt — Updated in Sep 2023
eToro Trader Rating
Summary about eToro
In summary, eToro is the ideal social trading platform for CFD traders. Due to the large number of traders and followers/copiers, it offers a great opportunity for traders who would like to present their strategy. For trading beginners, copying is also very interesting. Negative aspects are the slightly above-average fees as well as the withdrawal fees and the poor personal support. All in all, eToro is worth at least a second look due to the huge selection of trading instruments. However, eToro is probably not recommended for heavy traders, as it also lacks suitable trading software.
| Minimum deposit in USD | $100 |
| Trade commission in USD | $0 for ETF & Stocks unleveraged |
| Withdrawal fee amount in USD | ~$5 |
| Available trading instruments | 2700+ |
What are the pros & cons of eToro?
What we like about eToro
The main advantage of eToro is the wide range of tradable products. As the world's largest social trading platform, new traders whose trading strategy you can copy are basically added all the time. With 16 cryptocurrencies offered, eToro is also very strong and offers the possibility to trade crypto CFDs even without leverage. The same applies to stocks, you can either buy them with leverage (I.e. with financing costs) or without leverage (without financing costs and with distributions). The eToro webtrader is clearly designed and beginner friendly. The eToro demo account provides an easy entry point for complete trading novices.
- World's largest social trading provider
- +15 Crypto
- "Real" Stocks
- Easy To Use Webtrader
What we dislike about eToro
The size of eToro has been its biggest weakness for several months. Due to the high influx of new customers, eToro lacks the service/support to personally attend to each customer. That is why the limit of 10000$ was introduced, above which one (only) gets assigned a personal account manager. So far, the (high) fees for withdrawals are another negative point. The fees could still become much cheaper for some trading instruments. The eToro Webtrader is as much a plus as a weakness. With higher volatility, the ability to trade is often limited. In addition, there is the slow execution of orders and the comparatively poor handling of the chart software.
- Below average support
- Withdrawal fees
- Above average spreads
- Simple Webtrader
Available trading instruments at eToro
eToro offers various asset classes and over 2700 different trading instruments
These include, among others,
- +47 Forex/Currency pairs
- +13 Indices
- +7 Metals
- +10 Agricultural products
- +16 Cryptocurrencies
- +3 Energy
- +4 Agricultural products
- +50 Cryptocurrencies
- +2350 Stocks
- +150 ETFs
Conditions & detailed review of eToro
Our eToro experiences are mixed. eToro is by far the largest provider in the field of social trading. If you are interested in profiting from social trader portfolios or want to earn extra money by publishing your trading ideas - then there is probably no way around eToro. eToro offers many cryptocurrencies and stocks. The percentage of successful traders is probably one of the highest of all CFD brokers due to the possibility to copy successful traders.
The very large selection of financial products has a positive effect. Unfortunately, the cost structure is not always very transparent and can still be extended. In addition, there are fees (5€) for the withdrawal of eToro accounts. eToro is completely designed for a simple web interface, it lacks typical trading software such as Metatrader. Due to eToro's very strong user growth, support and service have fallen by the wayside (Our experience in 2018-2020). There has been too little investment in manpower to cope with the onslaught. The eToro Club offers additional services for traders for higher account balances. An account supervisor is offered only from the Gold level (previously from Silver).
Software & trading platform of eToro
The trading software consists solely of a web trader for desktop and an app for tablet and smartphone. The eToro web trader is very clearly and simply designed, ideal for trading beginners. You can either trade on an eToro demo account or on a live account with a deposit of €200 or more. The order screen allows you to buy or sell either leveraged or unleveraged. Unleveraged (X1) ETF or stock purchases are bought as "REAL" stocks or ETF, i.e. without overnight interest and with dividend payout.
The chart interface of the eToro Webtrader is relatively simple and does not offer as many options for chart analysis as the MetaTrader 4 or 5. Likewise, automated trading robots are not possible. What is easily accessible, however, is the social trading option. You can copy public profiles of other traders at any time and allocate them a certain amount. Identical positions (from the copied trader) are then automatically opened with this amount.
However, our eToro experiences with the trading software are quite mixed. For beginners, the eToro platform is ideal, as neither lot nor other conversions are necessary and you can directly invest the desired amount in € or US$. On the other hand, for heavy or experienced traders, the execution and availability of the platform is often limited. Especially in volatile phases, downtimes or functional failures of the platform can occur quickly.
However, the eToro platform is recommended for unleveraged stock and ETF trading, as the fees are low.
Your account at eToro
eToro only offers one account type. In this respect, eToro is relatively fair and treats customers equally. eToro does, however, have a loyalty system that awards further bonuses to traders with higher account balances.
Apart from the normal account, eToro also offers an Islamic account with no overnight interest/swap fees. The eToro demo account can be used without any time restrictions.
How can I open an account with eToro?
By regulation, every new client must go through some basic compliance checks to ensure that you understand the risks of trading and are admitted to trading. When you open an account, you will probably be asked for the following items, so it is good to have them handy: A scanned colour copy of your passport or national ID A utility bill or bank statement from the last six months with your address You will also need to answer a few basic compliance questions to confirm how much trading experience you have. It is therefore best to take at least 10 minutes to complete the account opening process. Although you can explore the demo account immediately, it is important to note that you cannot make any real trading transactions until you have passed compliance, which can take up to several days depending on your situation.
How To Close Your eToro account?
Deposits and withdrawals at eToro
eToro offers several deposit and withdrawal options. Among the deposit options
- Deposit by credit card
- Deposit by bank transfer
- Deposit via instant bank transfer (Giropay)
- Deposit via e-wallet (PayPal, Skrill, Neteller)
Apart from bank transfer, the options are instant. The bank transfer takes 4-7 days. The minimum deposit of €200 is relatively low and after the first deposit you have to deposit at least €50 for deposits. For withdrawals, eToro charges a fee of €5 and there can or will be conversion fees.
The payout of funds is governed by the refund payout policy, which is available on the website.
For this purpose, the customer must submit an official withdrawal request in his/her account. The following conditions, among others, must be met:
- The full name (including first and last name) on the beneficiary account matches the name on the trading account.
- A free margin of at least 100% is available.
- The withdrawal amount is less than or equal to the account balance.
- Full details of the method of deposit, including supporting documents required to support the withdrawal in accordance with the method used for the deposit.
- Full details of the method of withdrawal.
How is the service at eToro
Service is the biggest negative point at eToro. Due to the strong user growth, the service has fallen by the wayside. There is a dedicated contact person for €10,000+ (previously €5000+) customers, but otherwise you have to resort to a ticket system, which involves very long waiting times.
There is no public service telephone or contact form / email. Everything is handled via the ticket system. We hope that this will improve in the future, but due to the Corona crisis, the service points were even more sparsely staffed. All in all, our service experience with eToro was rather negative.
Regulation & Safety at eToro
eToro is a reputable broker in terms of regulation. eToro is regulated by several authorities (CySec, FCA, ASIC). The relevant regulation for Germany is the CySec regulation. eToro (Europe) Ltd. is licensed (license number 109/10) by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) and is bound by its regulations. Further information about eToro can also be found directly on the CySec site.
eToro is also a sponsor of well-known football clubs.
Also affiliated with eToro is retailfx.com.
Highlights of eToro
Finding the right broker for you is not easy, but hopefully you now know if eToro is the best choice for you. If you are still unsure, you can use our forex broker comparison to get a quick overview.
- ✔️ Free demo account for trading beginners
- ✔️ Leverage up to 1:30
- ✔️ Minimum deposit $200
- ✔️ More than 15 cryptocurrencies
Frequently asked questions about eToro
Is eToro a good broker?
eToro is the market leader in social trading and offers free stock and ETF trading. CFDs and Forex are also offered. The reviews are predominantly positive.
Is eToro a scam broker?
eToro is a reputable broker regulated by CySEC, FCA and ASIC. No fraud alerts have been issued on the official websites of the regulators.
Is eToro regulated and trustworthy?
eToro remains compliant with the rules and regulations of the FCA, ASIC & CySEC. Traders should consider it a safe and trustworthy broker.
What is the minimum deposit at eToro?
The minimum deposit at eToro to open a live account is €200.
Which trading platform is available at eToro?
eToro only offers its own WebTrader.
Does eToro offer a free demo account?
Yes. eToro offers an unlimited demo account for trading beginners or for testing purposes.
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What is your rating of eToro?