eToro is the broker most people meet first, usually through CopyTrader rather than a spread table. It is NASDAQ-listed, licensed by the FCA, CySEC, ASIC and others, and it lets you own real shares rather than only contracts for difference. It is also more expensive than the specialists on every instrument we measured, and it has no MetaTrader.
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| Overall rating | 7.8/10 |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Bnei Brak, Israel (offices in London, Limassol, Sydney, Abu Dhabi) |
| Main licences | FCA (UK) 583263, CySEC (Cyprus) 109/10, ASIC (Australia) 491139, ADGM (Abu Dhabi) 220073, MAS (Singapore) CMS101824 |
| Minimum deposit | $50 (UK, EEA, Australia); higher elsewhere |
| Spread from | 1.0 pip on EUR/USD |
| Maximum leverage | 1:30 retail, 1:400 professional |
| Instruments | 3,000+ |
| Swap-free account | Available, but only under eToro (ME) Ltd or eToro (Seychelles) Ltd |
| Retail loss rate | 51% of retail CFD accounts lose money (eToro disclosure, checked July 2026) |
We tested eToro on a funded live account in February 2026, placing 50 orders and running deposits, withdrawals and support requests end to end. Licence numbers, entity structure and the fee schedule were re-verified in July 2026 before this English edition was published. Our method is set out in how we rate brokers.
Pros and cons
What works:
- CopyTrader is the most developed social trading system available, with win rate, maximum drawdown and holding period shown before you commit
- Four tier-one regulators plus MAS Singapore; every licence number we checked was active on the register
- NASDAQ-listed since May 2025 under ETOR, which brings mandatory audited SEC filings
- Real share ownership with dividend entitlement and zero commission on US stocks
- Over 3,000 instruments across shares, forex, indices, commodities, crypto and ETFs
- $50 minimum deposit in the UK, EEA and Australia, and the inactivity fee was removed in May 2026
What does not:
- Spreads were wider than every comparison broker on every instrument tested; gold cost roughly four to five times IC Markets or Pepperstone
- $5 flat withdrawal fee on USD accounts, waived only at Platinum tier and above
- No MetaTrader 4 or 5, so no Expert Advisors and no conventional backtesting
- Live chat is reserved for clients holding $5,000 or more, excluding the beginners the platform is built for
- Swap-free accounts were restricted to two entities in December 2025, cutting off FCA and CySEC clients
- Currency conversion of up to 1.5% if you fund in anything other than your account currency
Company information
eToro was founded in 2007 by brothers Yoni and Ronen Assia with David Ring, trading initially as RetailFX. Yoni Assia has been chief executive since the start. The head office is in Bnei Brak, Israel, with principal offices in London, Limassol, Sydney and Abu Dhabi.
In May 2025 the company listed on NASDAQ as ETOR. Shares priced at $52, above the indicated $46 to $50 range, raising roughly $310 million at a valuation near $4.3 billion. The stock closed its first session around $67, briefly pushing market capitalisation above $5.4 billion. That premium did not hold: when we checked in July 2026 it stood at approximately $3.1 billion. What matters more than the valuation is the obligation the listing brings, which is filing audited accounts with the SEC.
eToro reports more than 35 million registered users across over 140 countries. Revenue comes principally from spreads, overnight financing and currency conversion.
Who this broker suits (and who it does not)
eToro suits beginner and intermediate investors who want one account covering real shares, ETFs, CFDs and crypto without demanding prior technical knowledge. During testing we sat a complete beginner in front of the platform and they placed a first trade within 15 minutes unaided — a real achievement in design, though it says nothing about whether the trade was a good idea.
It does not suit active forex or commodity traders: eToro lost to every comparison broker on every pair we measured, and the gap on gold was severe. Nor does it suit anyone needing MetaTrader, Expert Advisors or serious backtesting, or scalpers. Traders who need swap-free terms and sit under the UK or EU entity can no longer obtain them at all.
On copy trading specifically: past performance of any trader you copy does not predict future results, and copying carries the same risk of total capital loss as trading yourself. The convenience of the mechanism can obscure how much risk you have taken on.
Licensing and regulation
Regulation is eToro’s strongest category. We verified each licence number against the relevant public register in February 2026 and again in July 2026. All were active on both checks.
| Entity | Regulator | Reference | Serves |
|---|---|---|---|
| eToro (UK) Ltd | FCA | 583263 | United Kingdom |
| eToro (Europe) Ltd | CySEC | 109/10 | European Economic Area |
| eToro AUS Capital Limited | ASIC | AFSL 491139 | Australia |
| eToro (ME) Limited | ADGM FSRA | 220073 | Middle East |
| eToro Singapore Pte. Ltd | MAS | CMS101824 | Singapore |
| eToro (Seychelles) Ltd | FSAS | SD076 | Other jurisdictions |
The group also holds permissions through eToro Money UK Ltd (FCA 900203), eToro Money Malta Ltd (MFSA), eToroX in Gibraltar (GFSC 1333B) and US entities registered with the SEC and FinCEN. In January 2025 it obtained a MiCA licence from CySEC for regulated crypto services across the EEA. Confirm any of this yourself at register.fca.org.uk, cysec.gov.cy and asic.gov.au; searching the reference number is the only way to independently verify what a broker claims.
These licences do not protect you equally
The FCA, CySEC and ASIC licences are tier-one, carrying client money segregation, negative balance protection for retail clients and a statutory compensation scheme. ADGM applies a strong English-law-based framework but has no central compensation scheme. The Seychelles licence is the weakest of the set. Your entity is assigned by country of residence, not by choice, and it determines what happens to your money if the firm fails.
Outstanding regulatory notices
The Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines issued a public advisory in April 2024 stating that eToro is not registered there and is not authorised to sell securities to the Filipino public. It was still listed when we checked in July 2026. It concerns territorial registration rather than any allegation of fraud, and names other established brokers alongside eToro, but readers in the Philippines should treat it as decisive.
Separately, the FCA has repeatedly warned about clone firms impersonating eToro, including operations using names such as ExpoToro and TraToro that display eToro’s genuine licence number. These are warnings about criminals copying eToro, not about eToro. Reach the broker only by typing the address yourself, and confirm contact details on the FCA register rather than trusting details sent to you.
Opening an account and verification
Registration took about eight minutes, covering name, email, password and the regulator-mandated suitability questionnaire on experience, income and objectives. Verification requires photographic ID plus proof of address dated within three months. We uploaded a passport image and a PDF bank statement; both were accepted and the account was verified within one business day.
The $100,000 demo account is usable immediately, but depositing and live trading are not. Google and Facebook sign-up is supported; verification remains mandatory either way. The system assigned our regulatory entity automatically from country of residence, with no option to choose.
Account types
- Retail account — the default. $50 minimum in the UK, EEA and Australia. Leverage capped at 1:30 on major pairs under FCA, ESMA and ASIC rules, with negative balance protection.
- Professional account — requires a portfolio of $500,000 or relevant professional experience. Leverage to 1:400 in exchange for waiving several retail protections, a trade-off frequently underestimated.
- Corporate account — for legal entities; requires incorporation documents.
- Demo account — free, $100,000 virtual, includes CopyTrader. It reflects market conditions well but will not show realistic slippage under stress.
eToro Club tiers run Silver at $5,000, Gold at $10,000, Platinum at $25,000, Platinum+ at $50,000 and Diamond at $250,000, unlocking live chat, Trading Central research and fee reductions. Placing live chat behind a $5,000 balance pushes the least experienced clients towards the slowest channel.
Swap-free accounts
eToro offers a swap-free account removing overnight interest, used by traders who avoid interest on religious grounds and by anyone preferring a fixed charge to a variable financing rate. From 30 December 2025 it is available only under eToro (ME) Ltd or eToro (Seychelles) Ltd. UK and EU clients lost eligibility that date, and this was still the position in July 2026.
Qualification requires a standard account, a $1,000 deposit, completed verification, then a request to support; approval took one to three business days. A daily administration fee replaces swap beyond a seven-day grace period.
| Instrument class | Grace period | Daily admin fee per 100,000 units |
|---|---|---|
| Major currency pairs | 7 days | $10 |
| Exotic pairs (TRY, BRL, MXN) | 7 days | $20 |
| Gold and commodities | 7 days | $10–$20 |
| Indices | 7 days | $0.10–$10 |
| Crypto CFDs | 7 days | Variable |
Fees scale with position size, so 10,000 units incurs one tenth of the above. Buying real shares without leverage involves no overnight financing at all, making the upgrade irrelevant to a long-only investor. eToro does not screen trades against any religious standard; that judgement remains yours.
Fees and trading costs
eToro charges through the spread rather than commission on most instruments. Measuring at intervals across the trading day in February 2026, EUR/USD sat at 1.0 pip during active London and New York hours and widened to 1.5 pips or more in thin liquidity, with pronounced widening around scheduled releases and after midnight GMT.
| Instrument | eToro | XM (Standard) | Pepperstone (Standard) | IC Markets (Standard) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| GBP/USD | 2.0 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 |
| USD/JPY | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| AUD/USD | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
| USD/CHF | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Gold (XAU/USD) | 45 cents | 25 cents | 10 cents | 8 cents |
| Oil (WTI) | 5 cents | 3 cents | 3 cents | 3 cents |
Figures combine published averages with our own February 2026 measurements during normal hours. eToro is cheapest on no line in that table, and on gold the difference reaches more than four times IC Markets or Pepperstone. For anyone placing several trades a day, that compounds fast.
A worked example: one standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.0 pip costs $10 to open at eToro, against about $8 on an IC Markets Raw account at 0.1 pips plus $7 round-turn commission. Held overnight, eToro’s financing added roughly $6.40 on the long side during our testing, against a credit of about $2.10 short. Those rates move with prevailing interest rates.
- Commissions — none on CFDs; cost is in the spread. Real US shares trade commission-free.
- Deposits — free by every method.
- Withdrawals — $5 flat on USD accounts, waived at Platinum and above. GBP, EUR, AUD and DKK accounts withdraw free.
- Currency conversion — 0.5% to 1.5% depending on currency, method and Club tier.
- Inactivity — none. eToro removed its $10 monthly fee on 28 May 2026. The Arabic edition of this review, published March 2026, recorded it as still in force.
The conversion charge applies on the way in and again on the way out. On frequent small deposits it can quietly exceed the trading costs you were watching.
Desktop platforms
eToro runs its own browser platform with no download. The interface is clean and easy to navigate, with instruments, charts and the social feed on one screen. Charting supports more than 60 indicators and seven drawing patterns, with timeframes from one minute to one month, and performed consistently across Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
CopyTrader is the standout. You can filter traders by risk score, historical return, copier count and asset mix, and each profile exposes win rate, maximum drawdown and average trade duration. Copying starts at $200 per trader, up to 100 at once, with a stop-loss across the whole copy relationship. Copied positions appeared within seconds and adjustments propagated automatically.
The gaps are real. Charting lacks volume profile, automated harmonic recognition and the advanced Fibonacci tooling TradingView users expect. Retail API access is limited, though a public developer API arrived in late 2025. Adequate for discretionary traders; not for systematic ones.
Mobile apps
We used the iOS and Android apps daily for a week in February 2026. Both carry nearly the full desktop feature set, including CopyTrader, charting and portfolio management.
| Store | Rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| App Store (iOS) | 4.4 out of 5 | 7,700+ |
| Google Play (Android) | 4.2 out of 5 | 148,000+ |
On a Samsung Galaxy S24, switching between instruments and charts was smooth with no noticeable lag, and price and copied-trade alerts worked reliably. Two drawbacks: mobile charting drops several advanced desktop indicators, and battery drain is noticeable with the app left open on live prices.
Trading tools
Instrument breadth is a genuine advantage. We verified these counts in February 2026.
| Asset class | Approximate count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shares | 3,000+ | Real shares and CFDs; zero commission on US shares |
| Forex | 49 | Majors, minors and exotics |
| Crypto | 80+ | MiCA-licensed across the EEA |
| Indices | 20+ | S&P 500, NASDAQ, DAX and others |
| Commodities | 30+ | Gold, oil, silver, agricultural |
| ETFs | 300+ | Global exchange-traded funds |
Smart Portfolios bundle assets around themes such as large-cap technology or renewable energy. They are useful for diversification but are pre-defined baskets rebalanced mechanically, not actively managed funds. The 49 forex pairs trail specialists such as IC Markets, which lists more than 60.
Order execution
We placed 50 orders on a funded live account in February 2026. Order types are market, limit, stop loss and trailing stop loss, with a guaranteed stop loss at additional cost.
- Most orders filled in under one second in normal conditions
- Positive slippage on 8 orders, negative on 6, the remainder at the requested price
- Average slippage below 0.3 pips
- No rejected orders across the full sample
That is a clean result. Trading through the US non-farm payrolls release in February 2026, spreads widened and fills were delayed two to three seconds, normal for any broker during a major release.
eToro operates as a market maker rather than a pure STP or ECN broker, meaning it may act as counterparty to your trades. This is disclosed and not inherently improper, but you should understand the model you are using. Testing the guaranteed stop loss on a gold position, the additional cost came to roughly 3 pips above the standard spread — genuine protection against gapping, and not free. Execution is sound for discretionary and medium-term traders; scalping strategies will do better at one of the no-dealing-desk brokers.
Deposits
| Method | Arrival | Fee | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit/debit card (Visa, Mastercard) | Instant | Free | $50 |
| Bank transfer | 4–7 business days | Free | $500 |
| PayPal | Instant | Free | $50 |
| Skrill | Instant | Free | $50 |
| Neteller | Instant | Free | $50 |
| eToro Money | Instant | Free | $50 |
| Trustly | Instant | Free | $50 |
| Klarna | Instant | Free | $50 |
A $200 Visa deposit credited within two minutes, and eToro charges nothing to deposit by any method. The base currency is US dollars, with GBP and EUR available in some regions. Fund a USD account in another currency and conversion of 0.5% to 1.5% applies. UK and EEA clients should open in local currency where possible: it removes both the conversion charge and the withdrawal fee at a stroke.
Withdrawals
Withdrawals are requested inside the platform and typically processed within one business day. What happens next depends on the rail.
| Method | eToro processing | Additional transit | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| eToro Money | Instant | Instant | Free |
| Credit/debit card | 1 business day | 3–4 business days | $5 |
| Bank transfer | 1 business day | 3–7 business days | $5 |
| PayPal | 1 business day | 1–2 business days | $5 |
| Skrill | 1 business day | 1–2 business days | $5 |
| Neteller | 1 business day | 1–2 business days | $5 |
We requested a $150 bank withdrawal on a Tuesday. eToro processed it the same day and funds landed the following Monday, five business days in total: broker-side handling beat the stated time, and the delay sat in the international transfer. The minimum is $30 from USD accounts, with no minimum or fee on GBP, EUR, AUD and DKK accounts. We met no obstruction at any stage.
Customer support
| Channel | Availability | Hours | Response time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live chat | eToro Club members only ($5,000+) | 24/5 | Under 5 minutes |
| Support tickets / email | All clients | 24/5 | 24–48 business hours |
| Help centre | All clients | Always | Immediate |
We submitted a ticket on swap-free account terms and received a reply in 36 hours. It was accurate, answered every question and linked to the relevant terms. Quality was not the problem.
Access is. Restricting live chat to clients holding $5,000 or more means a new client depositing the $50 minimum, precisely the customer eToro markets to, waits a day or two for any answer. There is no phone line for general retail support and no weekend cover. The help centre carries much of the load as a result.
Research and education
eToro Academy covers trading fundamentals, technical and fundamental analysis and risk management through video, articles and webinars, with a Learn and Earn programme paying small rewards for completing courses. eToro was named Best in Class for Education by ForexBrokers.com in 2026, justified on the breadth of beginner material. Trading Central analysis is restricted to higher Club tiers. An economic calendar is built in, alongside daily market summaries from eToro’s research team.
The social feed is the distinctive element and the most uneven. Some contributors post substantive analysis; much is unsupported opinion from people with no track record. It becomes useful only once you curate who you follow, and should never be treated as research. Tori, eToro’s AI assistant, was still early in development when we tested it. The material serves beginners and intermediates well but does not approach the institutional-grade research of Saxo Bank or IG.
Fund safety and protections
Client money is held in accounts segregated from company operating funds, so in an insolvency it does not form part of the estate available to creditors. Negative balance protection applies to retail clients under the FCA, CySEC and ASIC entities. Both are core components of broker fund safety, and both hold here whichever of those three entities you are signed to.
| Entity | Compensation scheme | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| eToro (UK) Ltd — FCA | FSCS | £85,000 |
| eToro (Europe) Ltd — CySEC | ICF | €20,000 |
| eToro (ME) Ltd — ADGM | None | Not available |
| eToro (Seychelles) Ltd | None | Not available |
Beyond the statutory schemes, eToro carries private insurance underwritten by Lloyd’s of London covering up to €1 million or A$1 million per eligible client, subject to a €25 million aggregate cap. That is among the stronger private arrangements in the industry.
Two limits matter. Compensation schemes cover broker failure, not trading losses; nothing here protects a losing position. And crypto holdings may fall outside these schemes entirely, which is commonly misunderstood. Since the May 2025 listing, eToro has filed audited accounts with the SEC that anyone can read. Two-factor authentication is available and should be enabled immediately.
Verdict
eToro scores 7.8 out of 10 on the six-category framework we apply across our broker reviews.
| Category | Weight | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation and licensing | 25% | 9.0 |
| Trading costs | 20% | 7.0 |
| Withdrawals and fund access | 20% | 7.5 |
| Platforms and execution | 15% | 7.5 |
| Customer support | 10% | 7.0 |
| Research and transparency | 10% | 8.0 |
That sits below the 8.2 equivalent our Arabic edition reached in March 2026, and the reason is weighting rather than deterioration at the broker. Trading costs and withdrawals carry 40% of the score between them, and eToro is middling in both: it lost to every comparison broker on every spread we measured, and still charges to withdraw from a USD account. An excellent regulation score cannot offset two weak categories of that size. Removing the inactivity fee lifted trading costs slightly, not enough to change the picture.
Choose eToro if you want real share ownership, breadth across asset classes and social trading no competitor matches. Avoid it if you trade forex or gold actively, need MetaTrader and Expert Advisors, or scalp for a living. On cost per trade the specialists win, and on commodities it is not close.
Risk warning: 51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider, per eToro’s disclosure at the time of our July 2026 check. Other eToro entities have published figures as high as 61%, and the number is revised periodically. CFDs are leveraged products carrying a high risk of rapid loss, and most retail clients lose money on them. Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose. Nothing here is investment advice or a prediction of returns.
Is eToro trustworthy?
Is eToro a scam?
No. eToro has traded since 2007, is listed on NASDAQ as ETOR, and is regulated by the FCA, CySEC, ASIC, ADGM and MAS. We verified every licence number against the public registers in February and again in July 2026. A listed company files audited accounts and cannot conceal its financial position the way a private broker can. Trading losses are not fraud, and conflating the two is the most common error behind scam accusations.
Why do people report withdrawal problems?
Almost always one of three causes: verification was never completed, the withdrawal was attempted to a different method than the deposit, or open positions were consuming available margin. The second is a standard anti-money-laundering control, not an eToro policy. Our own $150 withdrawal was processed the same day it was requested.
What do traders actually complain about?
The recurring legitimate complaints are wider spreads than specialist competitors, the $5 USD withdrawal fee, and slow ticket support below Club tier. Those are accurate, and we reached the same conclusions independently. They are pricing and service weaknesses, not misconduct.
Is eToro authorised everywhere?
No, and this matters. The Philippines SEC advisory of April 2024 states eToro is not registered to sell securities there, and it was still in force in July 2026. eToro is licensed in the UK, EEA, Australia, the UAE, Singapore and Gibraltar among others. Before opening an account, confirm a licensed eToro entity accepts clients from your country.
What is eToro’s Trustpilot rating?
eToro’s main Trustpilot page carried 4.2 out of 5 across more than 30,000 reviews, with regional sub-pages lower in places. Treat aggregate review scores as weak evidence either way; they measure sentiment, not custody arrangements or execution quality.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum deposit at eToro?
$50 by card or e-wallet in the UK, EEA and Australia. Bank transfers require $500 and swap-free accounts require $1,000. Other jurisdictions carry higher first-deposit minimums, so check the figure for your country.
Does eToro support MetaTrader?
No. eToro offers only its own web platform and mobile apps. There is no MT4 or MT5, so no Expert Advisors and no MetaTrader-based automation or backtesting.
How long do eToro withdrawals take?
eToro typically processes requests within one business day. Arrival then depends on method: instant to eToro Money, one to two business days for e-wallets, three to four for cards, three to seven for bank transfer. Our own bank withdrawal in February 2026 completed in five business days end to end.
What is the difference between real shares and CFDs at eToro?
Buy a share without leverage and you own the underlying share, receive dividends and pay no overnight financing. Apply leverage or go short and it becomes a CFD with daily financing charges. The distinction changes both your cost base and your legal rights over the asset.
Can I use CopyTrader with a swap-free account?
Yes. Swap-free terms apply to copied positions, meaning no overnight interest but the daily administration fee after the seven-day grace period. The trader you copy may deal in instruments that do not meet your own criteria; copying delegates the trade selection, not the responsibility.
Does eToro still charge an inactivity fee?
No. eToro removed its $10 monthly inactivity fee on 28 May 2026. It previously applied after 12 consecutive months without a login. Reviews published before that date, including the original Arabic version of this one, list the fee as still active.
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