eToro is primarily a CFD and forex broker, but you can also trade real stocks, ETFs and many cryptocurrencies on its platform. It is well-known for its social trading feature, which allows you to follow and copy the portfolio of any trader in the eToro network.

At the time of writing this review, eToro was a privately held company and as such not required to publish its ownership structure. What we know is that eToro does not have any banking parent company (little chance for a bailout in case of bankruptcy). The well-known founder and CEO of eToro is Yoni Assia.

eToro is funded by venture capitalists. Here are a few of them:

• Anthemis Group, UK

• BRM Capital, Israel

• CommerzVentures GmbH, Germany

• Cubit Investments, Israel

• MoneyTime Ventures, USA

• Ping An, China

• Spark Capital, USA

eToro makes money by collecting various fees and the trading services it provides on its website. Although eToro does not make its financial statements public, the main sources of revenue for eToro are likely:

• Spreads: Spreads are the gap between the buy and sell price. Put simply, if an Apple stock costs $100 at market price, eToro will charge $100.1 for it and will pocket the $0.1. For further info, read how CFDs work.

• eToro overnight fee: For this, you need to understand two things: leveraged trades and loans. Leverage means that you trade with more money than you actually have by borrowing funds from your broker. Let's say you want to trade Apple with 1:10 leverage and you have $10. By using leverage you can buy $100 worth of Apple stocks with your 10 bucks, as the missing $90 will be lent to you by eToro, which will charge you a fee (interest) for this loan.

• Non-trading fees: eToro charges fees for several services, which are not directly related to trading, also known as non-trading fees. Some examples of non-trading fees are:

  • Withdrawal fees ($5/transaction): charged when you withdraw money from your eToro account to your bank account

  • Conversion fees: charged if eToro converts money to fund your account (i.e. you send euros to deposit into your eToro account and the broker converts them to USD, which is the only account currency available at the broker)

eToro is regulated by CySEC in Cyprus, ASIC in Australia, and the FCA in the UK. This is a good thing. eToro is not listed on any stock exchange, nor does it publish its financial data. Overall, BrokerChooser's view is that while eToro is not a scam, it is not a fully transparent broker either.

eToro copy, a.k.a. CopyTrader, is a social trading tool. When you use CopyTrader, you copy the trades of other eToro users or other users copy your trades. You can search for traders in the eToro network and check how their portfolio performed historically. When you find a trader you like, you can copy their trades automatically. You can decide how much money you want to invest in copying another trader, and you can close your positions whenever you wish. You can also make money by having other traders copy you.

Any profit realized by trading on eToro can be subject to taxation laws and regulations. This depends on the country of your residence. For further information about eToro and taxes, we recommend you contact your local tax authority.

Currently, people from the USA cannot use all services and features provided by eToro because US regulations do not allow trading in CFD instruments (eToro is a CFD broker) for US residents. As a result, no regulated broker will allow retail clients in the US to trade CFDs. US clients can trade crypto, real stocks and ETFs on eToro.

eToro is not available to the residents of the following countries:

• Afghanistan

• Albania

• Bahamas

• Barbados

• Belarus

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Botswana

• Brunei

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Canada

• Chad

• Congo Republic

• Crimea Region

• Cuba

• Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Ethiopia

• Fiji

• Ghana

• Guinea

• Guinea-Bissau

• Guyana

• Iran

• Iraq

• Jamaica

• Japan

• Laos

• Libya

• Mali

• Mauritius

• Mongolia

• Montenegro

• Myanmar

• Namibia

• Nicaragua

• North Korea

• North Macedonia

• Pakistan

• Palau

• Samoa

• Serbia

• Somalia

• Sri Lanka

• Sudan

• Syria

• Trinidad and Tobago

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• Uganda

• Vanuatu

• Yemen

• Zimbabwe

At eToro, you can trade CFDs, which are complex instruments and carry a high level of risk. Many retail traders can lose their invested money and may even owe funds if their trade goes wrong. That may happen because trading CFDs involves leverage or borrowing capital. Some 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with eToro.

eToro has its pros and cons: they provide free stock and ETF trading, a seamless account opening process, and a superb social trading platform. We chose eToro as the best social trading broker and the best broker for cryptos. However, their non-trading fees are high.

eToro offers free stock and ETF trading, while forex and CFD fees are low. On the negative side, non-trading fees are high, including a $5 withdrawal fee. The minimum deposit in EEA countries is $50, while it’s $10 in the US and UK.

eToro is a highly regulated broker that is overseen by several top-tier authorities, such as the FCA in the UK, Cysec in Cyprus and ASIC in Australia. Multiple regulation adds a high level of security to eToro. Clients trading with eToro’s FCA and CySec-regulated entities are entitled to investor protection. In addition, eToro provides private insurance to its customers accepted under these three regulators. Client’s cash funds deposited into their eToro account are held in regulated and licensed US banks and are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. Personal data is kept under SSL encryption.

If you trade stock CFDs on eToro, you will not own the underlying stocks. CFDs are clearly marked on eToro’s trading platform. Except for US clients, eToro customers can also trade real stocks (if they select the option to trade without leverage), in which case they will own the stock in question.

eToro charges a $5 fee to withdraw funds from your trading account. As only USD accounts are available at eToro, you will need to pay a high conversion fee if you deposit or withdraw in a  currency other than USD.

eToro is a well-known Israel multinational social trading platform and fintech company, focusing on copy trading and financial services. It has registered offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Cyprus. eToro serves UK clients through a unit regulated by the FCA, Australians through an ASIC-regulated entity, and all other customers are served by a legal unit under CySEC supervision. US customers trade with an eToro unit regulated by SEC and FINRA.

Withdrawal times at eToro depend on the withdrawal method. For us, a bank withdrawal took 2 business days. Most payment providers, such as e-wallets, take 1-2 business days. A wire transfer typically takes 3-8 business days at most.

Our best alternatives and highest ranking competitors to eToro are:

1. XTB  

2. Trading 212 

3. IG 

4. Markets.com 

These brokers are comparable in terms of the products they offer (i.e. stocks, CFDs, crypto, etc.) and the type of clients they target ( i.e. beginners, experienced investors, or day traders).

In the comprehensive collection below, you can find links to all aspects of eToro.

We detailed this in our eToro fees article.

Our ultimate guide to the eToro minimum deposit is updated regularly.

Look no further than our evaluation of the eToro account opening.

Here's our expert view after checking the eToro trading app.

All you need to know about the eToro customer service.

Is eToro legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

A glance at actual costs and whether eToro is really free.

We checked it in Is eToro good for beginners.

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on eToro guide

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on eToro?

• About eToro

• eToro fees

• eToro crypto wallet: here's how you can transfer your assets

• Crypto trading on eToro: a detailed guide

• Can you buy Bitcoins on eToro? Yes, and here’s how

• Is eToro legit? And who are they?

• What is the minimum account balance at eToro?

• How to withdraw money from eToro

• eToro copy trading

• eToro app

• eToro alternatives

• eToro vs Freetrade

• eToro vs Binance

• eToro vs Robinhood

• eToro vs Hargreaves Lansdown

• How to sell on eToro

• Does eToro pay dividends?