eToro

eToro popularized social trading, the idea of automatically copying the trades of the best investors. It's a platform that combines stocks, cryptocurrencies and other instruments with a social dimension, designed for beginners too.

eToro is a multi-asset investment and trading platform that lets you trade stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, currencies and commodities from a single interface. Its most distinctive feature is social trading: the platform works like a kind of social network for investing, where you can see what other users are doing, follow them and, with the CopyTrader feature, automatically replicate the trades of the investors you choose, in proportion to the capital you decide to allocate. This makes it particularly attractive to beginners, who can rely on the experience of more skilled traders. eToro offers commission-free real stock buying, as well as derivative instruments such as CFDs for those who want to trade with leverage. The platform includes a demo account to practice risk-free, a cryptocurrency wallet and thematic portfolio features. As it involves investing, it carries real risks of capital loss, and the availability of services and instruments varies by country and its regulation.

For retail investors, from beginners who want to learn by copying other traders to more experienced users, interested in trading multiple markets from a single platform with a strong social component.

Opening an eToro account is free and the platform advertises commission-free real stock buying. Costs are concentrated elsewhere: in the spread applied on some instruments (such as cryptocurrencies and CFDs), in withdrawal fees, in a possible inactivity fee and in currency conversion for non-dollar deposits. The exact terms and availability of the various instruments vary by country and local regulation. As it involves real investing, it's important to consider that it carries the risk of losing the invested capital.