Video summary

Best Investing Apps for Beginners in Europe 2026

Main summary

Key takeaways

Finance

Apps/Brokerages Covered & Ratings Framework

The presenter rates each platform on:

  • User experience
  • Investment selection
  • Fees
  • Size & reputation, with an explicit note that:
    • Size/reputation ≠ safety
    • EU-licensed brokerages are “quite safe by design”

Key Disclosures / Cautions Mentioned

  • No sponsorship bias:

    “Unlike most reviewers online, I don’t accept brokerage sponsorships.”

  • Fraud safety warning:

    “Never ever click a link to an investment app or a brokerage” sent via WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal by scammers pretending to be the reviewer/others. Instead, go to the brokerage website directly.

  • Trade Republic order routing / payment for order flow (PFOF):

    • May affect prices
    • Said to apply only to German clients initially
    • Eliminated mid-2026

1) Beginner-Friendly Investment Apps (Top Picks)

Trade Republic (NEO broker; German banking license; launched ~6 years ago)

User Experience

  • Simple black/white UI
  • Filters by industry/region/criteria
  • Auto tax handling highlighted for Germany & Austria
  • Caution: customer service response times can be slow due to rapid user growth
  • Score: 8/10

Investment Selection

  • Example (Latvia account): ~10,000 stocks, ~1,000+ ETFs, ~600 bonds, 54 crypto coins
  • Cash interest mentioned
  • Uninvested cash guaranteed up to €100,000
  • Caution: cannot choose the stock exchange; orders route to Lang & Schwarz, checked against Xetra
  • PFOF controversy:
    • criticized as potentially worse pricing
    • stated to apply to German clients
    • removed mid-2026
  • Score: 9/10

Fees

  • “All trades free,” but a €1 trade settlement fee (effectively €1 per trade)
  • Regular savings plan: monthly investing free; €1 fee when selling
  • Score: 9/10

Size & Reputation

  • Backers: Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and Sequoia Capital
  • Reportedly profitable in 2024
  • Caution: financial statements not published online (minor concern)
  • Score: 8/10
  • Combined: 8.5

Beginner angle: strong choice, especially convenient for Austria/Germany due to tax handling.

Lightyear (Estonia fintech)

  • UK regulated for UK clients
  • Estonia regulated for others

User Experience

  • Very strong portfolio tracking & transaction visibility
  • ETF lookup drawback: cannot look up ETFs by ISIN
  • Score: 9/10

Investment Selection

  • 5,000+ stocks
  • ~258 ETFs (“enough” but could be better)
  • “Savings” feature: invest in BlackRock money market funds (low-risk cash parking)
  • Note: Lightyear isn’t a bank, so €100,000 bank deposit guarantee doesn’t apply; money market funds used instead
  • Business accounts; ISA accounts (UK) mentioned
  • Score: 7/10

Fees

  • ETFs: free
  • Non-ETF products: €1 per order
  • American stocks: 0.1% of trade value, min $0.10 to max $1 per trade
  • Currency conversion fee: 0.35% (higher than competitors)
  • Score: 9/10

Size & Reputation

  • Smaller: “few hundred thousand” clients
  • Loss-making: “a few million euros per year” per reports
  • Score: 7/10
  • Combined: 8.0

Trading 212 (UK popular; UK regulation + Cyprus entity)

User Experience

  • Simple interface; search by name/ticker/ISIN code
  • Caution: “noise” on login (top winners/losers) not useful for long-term investors
  • Portfolio overview + “pies” feature for automated allocations across ETFs
  • Score: 9/10

Investment Selection

  • 7,000+ stocks and ETFs
  • Cannot choose exchange for execution; execution likely via Interactive Brokers
  • Tax features: limited for EU (ISA in UK)
  • Score: 8/10

Fees

  • Zero trading fees for buying/selling stocks & ETFs
  • FX fee: 15% (described as “quite low” vs competition)
  • Score: 10/10

Size & Reputation

  • 2023 revenues: €160M, net profits €20M+
  • Potential concern: revenue may be subsidized by CFDs
  • Private ownership (not a public company/bank)
  • Score: 8/10
  • Combined: 8.75

Explicit stance: CFDs described as “toxic” and should be avoided, though presenter notes they remain prominent in revenue.

2) Daily Banking Apps With Investing

Revolut (investing added to daily banking)

  • Regulated by FCA for UK
  • Bank of Lithuania for other EU

User Experience

  • Invest section criticized for ETF discovery:
    • unstructured ETF list
    • poor filtering/screening
    • searching by code not working well
  • Trade execution routing via intermediary Upvest (can’t select exchange)
  • Customer service concerns due to fast growth
  • Score: 7/10 (could be 8/10 for heavy users)

Investment Selection

  • “Several thousand” stocks (ETF count not given; implied growth to 1,000+)
  • Bonds/commodities: gold, silver, platinum, palladium
  • High-risk access: CFDs and cryptos
  • Robo-advisor fee stated as 75% per year (presenter calls it too expensive)
  • Tax-advantaged specifics not detailed here
  • Score: 8/10

Fees

Monthly plan tier free-trade allocation:

  • 1 trade (standard) up to 10 trades (metal/ultra)

Beyond free trades:

  • 25% of order value (min fee varies; in Latvia €1)

Lower fees:

  • 12% for “Altra/Trading Pro” customers

FX fees apply; free FX allocation depends on tier

  • Score: 7/10 for standard users; 9–10/10 possible for Power users

Size & Reputation

  • 2024 revenues: £3B+
  • 2024 profits: ~£800M
  • Equity capital: £2.6B
  • Caution: €100,000 bank deposit guarantee does not apply to “uninvested cash,” because it’s held in the investment arm; user advised to move money into the invest section to actually invest
  • Past issues: late annual reports & auditor criticism (said resolved)
  • Score: 9/10
  • Combined: 7.75

Recommendation angle: good if you already use Revolut for daily banking and want small, frequent investing; for major long-term investing, presenter prefers dedicated brokerages.

N26 (German bank license; investing launched in Austria & Germany in 2024)

User Experience

  • ETF filtering by issuer, index, region, industry
  • Stocks filtered by region/industry
  • Fund selection shows costs clearly
  • Purchase process currently appears limited to market orders (no limit order control mentioned)
  • Investment plans + “readymade funds” (risk-level baskets) at extra cost
  • Customer support concerns: frozen accounts, difficulty reaching help; many negative reviews
  • Score: 8/10

Investment Selection

  • Reported: 2,000+ stocks
  • Germany ETFs: 1,700+
  • Spain ETFs: 1,500+
  • Latvia cited as having 18 ETFs (suggests limited selection in smaller/Eastern European markets)
  • Score: 7/10

Fees

  • Stocks/ETFs: free to buy and sell
  • Readymade funds fees: 0.29%–0.59% per year
  • Score: 10/10 (as long as you don’t use readymade funds)

Size & Reputation

  • 4M+ paying customers
  • Financial statements not published (minus)
  • First profitable quarter: 2024
  • Uninvested cash protected via bank guarantee up to €100,000
  • Past issues:
    • employee turnover
    • frozen accounts
    • regulator restriction by BaFin (2021) on opening new accounts
    • limit removed 2024
  • Score: 8/10
  • Combined: 8.25

Recommendation angle: best for beginners who already bank with N26.

3) “Heavyweight” Established Brokerages (More Sophistication)

Interactive Brokers (IBKR) — top for sophisticated investors

User Experience

  • Complex: many platforms (mobile/desktop/web) + API
  • Confusing investment lookup; external “contract information center”
  • Exchange acronyms (e.g., IBIS 2 for Xetra)
  • Reporting deposits/withdrawals/trades can be hard
  • Score: 6/10

Investment Selection

  • “Pretty much everything”: widest selection in Europe; not reduced for smaller countries
  • Ability to invest in American ETFs (via Switzerland/Norway/outside EU/UK mentioned)
  • Smart routing to best price across exchanges; manual exchange selection also possible
  • Score: 10/10

Fees

  • Not cheapest, but competitive:
    • Example: €2–€3 minimum for ETF trades on European exchanges
    • Larger trades: 0.05% example
  • Smart routing can improve overall price
  • FX fees among the lowest:
    • Minimum $2 per currency exchange
    • Otherwise ~0.2 basis points (= 0.002% of trade amount)
    • Rules against “just exchange and withdraw” for arbitrage
  • Score: 9/10

Size & Reputation

  • Operating since 1993
  • 3.66M clients
  • ~$600B client assets
  • “A minus” credit rating from S&P
  • Not a bank → uninvested cash not covered by the €100,000 bank guarantee (main downside)
  • Score: 10/10
  • Combined: 8.75

Recommendation: top for big portfolios and technical capability; beginners may struggle due to the learning curve.

Saxo Bank

User Experience

  • Medium difficulty: sophisticated but described as fairly intuitive
  • Local language support in many markets
  • Customer support complaints exist; presenter says personal experience was decent
  • Score: 8/10

Investment Selection

  • Great selection in Western Europe; worse in smaller/Eastern Europe due to regulations
  • Example: from Latvia, no MSCI World ETF or FTSE Developed World ETF
  • Local tax-advantaged accounts mentioned by country:
    • ISAs (UK)
    • PA accounts (France)
    • ASK (Denmark)
  • Score: 8/10 (mixed by region)

Fees

  • Custody fee in some countries (UK, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland); grows with account size
  • No custody fee in others (France, Poland, Belgium, Italy, Denmark)
  • Elsewhere, custody fee can be disabled if you allow securities lending
    • Presenter is not happy about this risk layer (though described as “quite safe”)
  • Trading: similar minimum €2–€3 for ETF buys; percentage-based example 0.08% on Zitra
  • Score: 7/10

Size & Reputation

  • 3 decades history; A- rating from S&P
  • Banking license → uninvested cash benefits from deposit guarantee in most countries
  • Many brokerages rely on Saxo infrastructure
  • Score: 10/10
  • Combined: 8.25

Recommendation/caution: avoid if you’re in a country with custody fees, or in Eastern Europe where ETF availability is poor.

“Jirro” (likely FlatexDEGIRO; presented as German bank-backed heavyweight)

User Experience

  • Easy overall; less refined UI than Trade Republic/Lightyear
  • Too much market news/winner-loser info
  • ETF search by name/ticker/code; product browser filters
  • Score: 8/10

Investment Selection

  • Stocks/ETFs wide (not IBKR level)
  • Access to a few hundred bonds
  • 100+ actively managed mutual funds
  • High-risk products: options and futures
  • Country-dependent product availability; choose Jirro Ireland even if not in Ireland for broader ETF set
  • No tax-advantaged accounts mentioned; even Germany not automatic taxes (unlike some local brokerages)
  • Caution: securities lending is always allowed; cannot turn it off
  • Score: 8/10

Fees

  • Most ETF trades: €3 per trade
  • “Core ETFs”: €1 per trade if you follow conditions
  • Annual/stock exchange fees: €2.50 per exchange where you traded/held positions
  • FX fee: 0.25% of trade amount
    • FX occurs automatically when selling foreign-currency securities (can’t keep USD around)
    • Manual FX order costs €10 + 0.25%
  • Presenter suggests avoiding if you invest in foreign currencies frequently
  • Score: 8/10

Size & Reputation

  • Publicly traded bank structure; multiple regulators
  • 3M+ clients
  • €75B+ client assets
  • Score: 9/10
  • Combined: 8.25

Final Takeaway (Explicit Ranking)

  • Beginner / easy apps: Trading 212 (top marks) → then Trade Republic and Lightyear

  • If you already use Revolut or N26: either can work as starter options

  • Major established brokerages: Interactive Brokers, Saxo, Jirro

    • Among these, Interactive Brokers gets best marks, but expect a rougher user experience.

Mentioned Assets/Instruments/Sectors (As Stated)

  • Stocks, ETFs, bonds
  • Crypto coins: tradeable 54 crypto coins on Trade Republic (specific coins not named)
  • Money market funds: BlackRock money market funds
  • Commodities: gold, silver, platinum, palladium
  • High-risk derivatives: CFDs, options, futures
  • Example ETFs (Saxo section): MSCI World ETF, FTSE Developed World ETF
  • “Core ETFs” mentioned for Jirro (no tickers listed)

Timelines / Key Dates

  • Trade Republic PFOF: eliminated mid-2026
  • N26 investing expansion: started 2024 (Austria & Germany), then expanded
  • Trade Republic profitability: 2024
  • Lightyear losses: “a few million euros per year” (no further date detail)
  • Scam anecdote (“Alex”): “Last year” (no exact year stated)

Presenters / Sources

  • Presenter: unnamed speaker
  • Described as having 18 years of professional experience, including CEO of an investment firm

Original video