See investing
more clearly.
Independent reviews of ETFs and of the brokers you actually own your shares through, with every broker scored on published criteria and the ten-year cost of each one worked out the same way.
Where to start
Brokers we’ve reviewed
Stockember score
3.4/ 5
AverageeToro
eToro combines $0 commission ETF trading with social CopyTrader features, but charges $1–$2 per stock trade, a $5 withdrawal fee, and does not allow transferring shares out to another broker.
Stockember score
3.0/ 5
AverageFidelity
Fidelity Investments provides commission-free US stock and ETF trading, zero account fees, and auto-sweep cash yields, but restricts new account opening strictly to US residents.
Stockember score
3.7/ 5
GoodHargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK's largest retail investment platform, offering access to thousands of global shares and funds, plus Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs), with top-tier FCA regulation and Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection.
Stockember score
3.0/ 5
AverageInteractive Brokers
Interactive Brokers provides direct access to 170+ global markets with stock commissions from a $0.35 minimum (Tiered) or $1 (Fixed) and no inactivity fees, though the $2 minimum on currency conversions favors larger trades.
Stockember score
4.4/ 5
ExcellentTrading 212
Trading 212 offers commission-free stock and ETF trading with zero platform fees and a low 0.15% FX conversion markup. It combines intuitive mobile-first portfolio management with institutional custody via Interactive Brokers and BNY Mellon.
Compare every broker we have reviewed.
The full list with each broker’s Stockember Score, regulator tier and ten-year cost, filterable by country, ownership model and tax wrapper. Every score comes from the same published criteria.
- Exceptional
- Excellent
- Good
- Average
- Not recommended
How we review brokers
One score out of five, built from ten weighted areas.
Every broker is assessed across the same ten areas using published sub-criteria. Each area is scored out of 100, then weighted to produce a Stockember Score out of five. Trust, regulation, asset ownership and custody carry the most weight because they come before costs, features or convenience.
A broker earns points only for evidence we can verify. Every scoring rule is published, so you can see exactly how each result was reached.
The ten areas
- Trust & regulation
- Costs & fees
- Asset ownership & custody
- Market & product access
- Platform & tools
- Execution & order handling
- Accounts, dividends & tax
- Funding, withdrawal & FX
- Research & education
- Support & service
Inside one of those areas
How we compare broker costs
Costs and fees are not judged on headline commission alone. We apply the same ten-year cost model to every broker, including purchase commissions, custody or account fees and currency-conversion costs, so the results can be compared on the same basis.
This is an estimate under one fixed set of assumptions, not a forecast of what you will pay. Your own costs will differ, depending on how much you invest, how often, in which currency, and which account you use.
The same investor, two brokers
$10,000 to start, $300 every month, ten years, nothing sold.
ETFs
ETFs are reviewed. They are never scored.
A broker can be better or worse at the same job. Two funds tracking different indexes are not competing at the same job, so putting a single number on them would be false precision dressed up as research.
What an ETF review tells you
What the index actually holds, and how many companies that is
The ongoing charge, and what it costs over ten years at a realistic balance
Accumulating or distributing, and what that means for tax where you live
Domicile, replication method, and the withholding tax that follows from both
Size, spread and tracking difference over time
What you will not find
A score, a grade or a star rating on any fund
A ranking of which index is the right one for you
A forecast of returns, or a suggestion to buy or sell
Any fund promoted because an issuer paid for it
LEARN
Start with the basics
Concepts only, no broker names. Start wherever you are and work toward the parts that cost you money.
Stocks & Investing Basics
What a share is, how to buy one, and how to read a company’s numbers.
61 guides
ETFs & Index Funds
Funds that hold the whole market for you, and what separates one from another.
45 guides
Brokerages & Accounts
How an account works, what the order types do, and who holds your shares.
31 guides
Accounts & Tax Wrappers
Roth IRA, 401(k), ISA, SIPP: the shells that decide what the tax authority takes.
47 guides
The Cost of Investing
Commission, custody and currency charges, priced over ten years instead of one.
19 guides
Dividends, Returns & Long-term
What a dividend is, how returns compound over time, and how to measure both honestly.
33 guides
Getting Started & Portfolio
Building a portfolio, holding it through a downturn, and staying out of your own way.
113 guides
TOOLS
Run the numbers yourself
Put in your own contribution, holding period and currency, and see what the fees come to.
Fee Comparison Calculator
Put your own contribution and holding period against two brokers and see the ten-year gap.
DRIP Calculator
What reinvested dividends do to a position over time, before and after withholding tax.
FX Conversion Cost Calculator
The quiet cost of buying foreign shares in your home currency, one purchase at a time.
Editorial standard
How we work
Independence
No broker can pay to be included, rank higher or receive a higher score. Every score comes from the published criteria alone.
Evidence
Every fact that moves a score comes from the broker’s own documents or a public register, saved on file with the date we checked it.
Signed work
Every review and guide carries the name of the team that checked it. If a finding turns out to be wrong, the review is corrected and the score recalculates.
Re-checking
Fees and terms change. Every review carries the date it was last verified, so you can see how fresh the number is.
Independence
No broker can pay to be included, rank higher or receive a higher score. Every score comes from the published criteria alone.
Evidence
Every fact that moves a score comes from the broker’s own documents or a public register, saved on file with the date we checked it.
Signed work
Every review and guide carries the name of the team that checked it. If a finding turns out to be wrong, the review is corrected and the score recalculates.
Re-checking
Fees and terms change. Every review carries the date it was last verified, so you can see how fresh the number is.
Important information
This page is published for information only. Stockember is an independent publisher, not a broker, investment adviser, or financial institution. We are not authorized or regulated by any financial regulator, we do not arrange or execute trades, and we do not hold client money. Nothing here is investment, tax, or legal advice; nothing here is a recommendation to open an account, and nothing is tailored to your circumstances. Do your own research before making a financial decision.
Investing carries risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you put in. Past performance does not predict future results. Some brokers we review also offer CFDs or other leveraged products, which do not give you ownership of the underlying asset and carry a high risk of rapid loss due to leverage. These products are not part of Stockember’s long-term investing framework.
Our scores and cost figures are estimates, not guarantees. A Stockember Score is our editorial assessment against published criteria on the date shown. It is not a credit rating, a measure of a broker’s financial strength, or a guarantee that your money is safe. Ten-year cost figures are modeled on one fixed set of assumptions and will not match your own circumstances. Fees, protections, tax treatment, and availability vary by country and can change without notice. Broker details are reported as the broker discloses them, so check the broker’s current terms before opening an account.
Links to brokers take you outside Stockember. No broker can pay to be included, rank higher, or receive a higher score. We are not responsible for a broker’s website, its security, or how it handles your data. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Stockember is not liable for losses arising from reliance on information published here. If you think something is wrong, tell us and we will check it against the source.