We’ve have conducted an analysis into 7 different popular trading platforms in Ireland to identify the best trading platform Ireland.
These platforms include:
- Davy Select
- Lightyear
- Etoro Ireland
- Interactive Brokers Ireland
- DEGIRO Ireland
- Revolut
- Trade Republic Ireland
We recommend a long term passive investment strategy based on that approach our pick of the platforms is Lightyear, because of it’s super low fees and high rate of return on un-invested cash.
With all these trading platforms your capital may be at risk, for lower risk investing options you can check out our savings article here.
Read on to find out more about all your trading options.
What’s the best trading platform for me? – Best trading platform Ireland
The best trading platform for you is about preference. For example, active traders may be more concerned with withdrawal fees than a passive trader, or a CFD trader may be unable to use certain platforms at all.
Picking the right trading platform depends on your values, whether you want low fees, a wide range of stock options, good research tools or many assets. In this article, we have listed many factors you may value to let you decide which one is the best trading platform for you.
We recommend a passive trading strategy using ETFs and stock trading and our preferences are skewed toward beginners, so our ranking is based on this strategy. This means that ongoing fees are the most important thing we seek to avoid, while an active investor would care more about transactional fees (eg. withdrawal fees).
Here are the key criteria we have used to rank who is the best trading platform.
- Fees- How expensive the platform is to use, including ongoing and once off fees (Out of 10)
- Market- Access to a wide range of stocks and assets (Out of 3)
- Features- Access to a wide range of high quality account features (Out of 5)
Best Trading Platform Ireland – Passive Investor
Please note Investing involves risk of loss.
| Rank | Platforms | Fees | Market | Account Features | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lightyear | 9.75 | 2 | 3.5 | 15.25 |
| 2 | DEGIRO | 9 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 | EToro | 7.5 | 2 | 5 | 14.5 |
| 4 | Trade Republic | 8 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 14 |
| 5 | Interactive Brokers | 7.5 | 3 | 3 | 13.5 |
| 6 | Revolut | 6 | 1 | 3.5 | 10.5 |
| 7 | Davy | 3 | 2 | 4.5 | 9.5 |
Across the board, fees are very low. Etoro and Trade Republic’s 0% commission is definitely a high point. However Interactive, Lightyear, Revolut and DEGIRO make for some strong competition.
Of course the fees change depending on what asset your trading. Some platforms also favouring certain assets over others, Eg. Etoro and CFD and Forex trading. So it very much depends on what you’re trading.
Lightyear’s 3.25% interest on un-invested cash, along with its rock bottom fees and straight forward UI gives Lightyear our top spot on the list.
DEGIRO’s all round appeal, low fees and good market access make it a close second, Investing involves risk of loss.. Etoro takes third with its 0% commission and beginner friendly UI. Trade Republic sits at fourth with 2% interest on un-invested cash and easy to use UI. Interactive isn’t far behind with great fees and good market options, only being ranked in fifth due to its complex UI which could overwhelm new traders.
Revolut and Davy take the bottom spots with higher annual fees but both being steady platforms with their own merits.
Fees – Best Trading Platform
Fees for trading platforms are a tricky business with many different fees for multiple different actions. Fees are often cheaper or more expensive depending on what you are using the platform for, so keep the specific fees you want to avoid in mind.
Trading fees
These fees include commissions, spreads and more. These fees also depend on what asset you’re using, so we will be focusing on the most popular asset, stocks and ETF trading and trading on the US stock market.
Etoro and Trade Republic shine here with 0% commission (although Trade Republic has a €1 external fee for all trades and this does not apply for all ETFs on EToro). However they do have strong competition. Interactive offers €0.005 to €0.035 per trade for trades with a minimum of €1 and a maximum of 1% of trade value.
Lightyear is €1 per order for EU shares and 0.1% of trade for US upto a maximum of €1, DEGIRO offers €2 per trade as commission and €1 handling . Revolut offers a limited number of free trades every month depending on your plan, if you use all of these up you pay either 0.25% of the trade or €1 per trade, whichever is higher. Davy offers 0.06% of trade on top of a flat €25 settlement fee, however this is cheaper for the UK stock market.
Non Trading fees
These fees include inactivity fees, fx conversion fees, withdrawal fees, etc. Some platforms are very impressive, like DEGIRO with very low fees, charging a conversion fee of 0.25% and an exchange connectivity fee of €2.50 a year for US options and futures trading. Interactive also impresses, but also charge a €8 withdrawal fee and a high fx conversion fee of a maximum of 1.35%.
Lightyear charges a 0.35% fx conversion fee. Revolut charges a 0.45% conversion fee and a custody fee of 0.12% of the market value of your assets per annum. Trade Republic has a 0.7% deposit fee.
On the higher side of these fees are Etoro and Davy. Etoro has a withdrawal fee of €5 and an inactivity fee of €10 a month after a year of inactivity. Etoro also only also you to trade in USD, meaning you’re going to be incurring their conversion fee of 0.5% quite a lot. Davy charges an inactivity fee of €50 per quarter after a year of inactivity, a withdrawal fee of €25 to €50 for international withdrawal only (not Irish/UK) and an annual management fee of 1.25% of your portfolio, which is quite high compared to the others.
Market-Best Trading Platform
Trading platforms offer a different quantity of stocks, ETFs and other asset classes. They also offer access to different stock markets, such as the Nasdaq. How many stocks or what stock markets you have access to depends on the platform. Please note Investing involves risk of loss.
Stocks
Interactive tops the leaderboard here, offering a whopping 83 stock markets and 13,000 ETFs as well as a large selection from their many asset classes. DEGIRO aren’t far behind with more than 50 stock markets and 5400 ETFs. Trade Republic takes a firm third with 2357 Etfs and over 7500 stocks. Davy offers 30 markets, 650 ETFs and over 7,500 stocks, a very high number. Etoro then comes in with 17 stock markets ,145 ETFs and over 3000 stocks.
On the lower end we have Lightyear with 7 stock markets, 150 ETfs and over 3500 stocks. Revoult offers the least with 3 stock markets, 158 ETFs and about 1500 stocks with only US stocks being offered.
Other Assets
Asset classes are important for trading platforms, giving investors more options to trade. The most popular assets are ETFs, Stocks, Funds, Bonds, CFDs, Forex, Futures, Options and Crypto.
| Asset Classes | Etfs and Stocks | Funds | Futures | CFDs | Options | Bonds | Forex | Crypto | Interest on uninvested (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interac-tive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1.9%-2.9% |
| DEGIRO | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Etoro | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Davy | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Revolut | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Trade Republic | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | 2.5% |
| Lightyear | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | 1.75% |
Investing involves risk of loss.
Account Features – Best Trading Platform
Other features are important as well such as Research tools and UI. EToro has a fast account opening process and great education tools with a user friendly UI. This, along with its social trading service makes Etoro a great platform for beginners. Interactive however has a slower account opening process with a more complex UI but better Research tools, making it better for experienced traders.
DEGIRO has fast account opening but worse research tools and education than some of its other counterparts. Lightyear’s and Revolut’s account opening process are some of the best in the industry and easy to use UI but both suffer from poor education and research tools, which isn’t great for beginners.
Trade Republic has terrible educational resources and poor customer service but a good and simple UI. Davy lags behind in account opening but makes up for it in customer service, research tools and safety.
Alternatives – Best Trading Platform
There are many other popular trading platforms, such as Trading 212 with its 0% commission trading, XTB with its low fees and beginner friendly UI or Alpaca trading with 0% commission and great research tools.
In Ireland, we suffer from very high tax while trading, which is a sizeable problem for all Irish investors, but the best way to avoid tax is to invest through your pension. This means you can invest tax free, however you only get your money when you drawdown your pension and it limits the amount of trading platforms you can use to Irish stockbrokers such as Davy or Goodbody. If you’re willing to play the waiting game, maybe this strategy is for you.
These platforms didn’t make the round-up review but are highly rated and good to use.
Summary – Best Trading Platform
Different platforms have different strengths and please remember Investing involves risk of loss.
Lightyear is great for uninvested cash and low fees, DEGIRO for discounted rates, Interactive for advanced and intermediate traders, Etoro for beginners, Trade Republic for no commission and interest on uninvested cash, Revolut for beginners and low fees and Davy for high quality service. With that said, for ETF and stock traders, here is our analysis.
| Rank | Platforms | Fees | Market | Account Features | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lightyear | 9.75 | 2 | 3.5 | 15.25 |
| 2 | DEGIRO | 9 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 | EToro | 7.5 | 2 | 5 | 14.5 |
| 4 | Trade Republic | 8 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 14 |
| 5 | Interactive Brokers | 7.5 | 3 | 3 | 13.5 |
| 6 | Revolut | 6 | 1 | 3.5 | 10.5 |
| 7 | Davy | 3 | 2 | 4.5 | 9.5 |
This ranking changes with different variables. For example, Interactive Brokers may not be a beginners paradise, but it takes top spot for advanced, active traders who are serious about the stock market. Davy is the best here for pensions and EToro for social trading.
To conclude, I’d say picking your stockbroker is all based on preference, but if you’re following moneysherpa’s recommended strategy of passive long term investment, we recommend Lightyear for it’s super low fees and high return on uninvested cash.
As a special deal for moneysherpa readers if you sign up for Lightyear with a promo code MONEYSHERPA and deposit at least €50 you get 10 trades for free. T&Cs apply. Capital at risk.
Whats Next – Best Trading Platform
Please remember your capital is at risk when you trade online or invest in the asset classes covered above. Your investments can fall as well as rise so whatever platform you decide to use do your research and seek external advice if you are unsure.
If you want safe, interest only payments, see our savings account guide here
For more finance guides, see more guides here
For financial advice check out our list of the best advisors here
The provider of Lightyear’s investment services is Lightyear Europe AS. Please read the terms and if necessary, seek qualified advice. When you invest, your capital is at risk. Rates correct as of 28/09/23.
11 thoughts on “Best Trading Platform Ireland”
Just to note there are many other ways to wrap your pension outside of Irish Stockbrokers, who at a global level would be not even rated. A good financial advisor who deals with self directed and administered pensions has access to the full universe of investing. Great website, great work on the topics. Kind regards Fiachra Financial
. Davy select do not charge a 1.25% fee. Presume the rest of the information here is just as unreliable.
Hi Mary, the Davy Select AMC is 1.25% of funds under management according to the latest published information available. These are very high fees compared to other markets, which is why we recommend shopping around for other options. What information are you using to say there is no fee? Thanks,
Mark
Can I use any of these platforms within my private directors pension.
Fed up of the fees from Davy
Great question! Annoyingly no, as I understand it there needs to be a regulated ‘pension wrapper’ around platforms before you can use them. This severely limits the number of providers available in Ireland and as Irish tax is so punitive outside of pensions the returns from investing overall.
Sorry just to be clear, I mean if the trading platform for example lightyear folds. Thanks
Great question, the assets you invest in belong to you not the broker. So these would typically be transferred to another broker whose platform would provide the access for you to manage them ongoing. Some more exotic assets may end up being more difficult in this scenario, but as long as you hold standard assets then they shouldn’t be put at risk by a brokerage going belly up.
Hi – what happens if you open an account with one of these providers and start investing in say ETFs as a long term strategy, but after some time the company itself folds. What then for your investment? Thanks!
I think you should mention spread, the spread on trade republic can be up to 5% such is massive. I borrow l believe they are not connected directly to the markets but work through an intermediate. If you want to sell your shares annually and buy them back for capital gains tax efficiency, paying 3-5% a year due to spread is fairly annoying. Good for savings with 4% interest but I’m going to look elsewhere. I can’t tell from the article if spreads on lightyear are the same or not
It appears like you have a conflict of interest since you are clearly sponsored by Lightyear
Hi Karolina, thanks for your comment. To be 100% clear, we do not accept any payments of any form to influence our rankings or reviews and all our reviews are completely independent. Lightyear did offer a promotion to our readers however which we were happy to share on this review. Where we do get paid is if customers sign up with providers after clicking the links from our site which is how we are able to provide the reviews and site for free. It’s really important to us that we are completely independent and can provide trusted advice on the best products available. Hope that addresses your concerns! Mark