Best Investing Apps and Brokers in Germany (for Expats)

Most Expats in Germany struggle to make their first Investment. With so much information out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and not even start.  But here’s the thing—if you don’t start investing, you’re missing out on growing your wealth and securing your financial future. The key is to choose the right investing apps and brokers in Germany. This simple choice is crucial because it sets you on the path to financial freedom.

The Best investing apps and Brokers in Germany in my opinion at the moment are,

1. Scalable Capital: Securities account with Free and Paid tiers. With over 7800 individual stocks and over 2500 ETFs to invest, this broker also offers Derivatives and Crypto ETPs
2. Trade Republic: Free Securities account with no Annual Account management Fees. Having more than 7500 individual stocks to trade and has 2600 ETFs along with Crypto coins and tokens
3. Smart Broker+: Free Investing account with over 25 thousand individual stocks and over 2500 ETFs
4. Traders Place: Investing account with No Fee. Has has over 35 Thousand individual stocks to choose from and over 2500 ETFs.
5. JustTrade: Securities account with no fee. Offering 8500 Stocks and about 2000 ETFs to invest into

Before I share further details let me answer some of the most common Questions about invest in the stock market as a foreigner in Germany.

Who is allowed to open Broker accounts and use Investing Apps in Germany?

Everyone is allowed to invest in the stock market in Germany. It doesn’t matter if you are on Student Visa, Blue Card, Spouse visa or a Permanent Resident.

As long as you are using your own money. This point is very important to understand. As an individual investor you are only allowed to use your funds to invest. If someone tells you to invest their money on their behalf, you would have to register yourself as a professional Trader. This registration has its own rules and regulations which are not part of this guide.

As a Student you can use the money from your blocked account. Money from salary can also be used for people who have a job. Or you can even use your savings in your broker account. Please note that I am saying Investing and not trading, Ill discuss this point later on in the guide but What you are not allowed to do is to make investments with other peoples money.

What are Neo-brokers and are they safe?

All the brokers and Investing apps in this guide are Neo-Brokers. Neo brokers are a new generation of companies that make trading stocks and ETFs cheap. They do this by working with a few trading places or stock exchanges, so they can offer low or no-cost trading.

You can access your portfolio, using an app on your smartphone. This lets you trade from anywhere, anytime. Most neo brokers also have web-app where you can log in from a computer.

For consumer safety, all the neo-brokers in the video work with trustee banks, where your accounts are kept secure and are protected by European deposit insurance up to €100,000 per investor. Here let me clear another thing if your broker goes bankrupt, it won’t affect the stocks, ETFs, or other securities in your portfolio. These securities are considered separate assets, meaning they remain your property and are not part of the broker’s or bank’s assets in case of bankruptcy.

Comparison of the Top 5 Brokers and Apps in Germany

Alright with these important questions out of the way, lets compare the top 5 Brokers and investing apps in Germany.

Account Management Fee

All 5 of the Investing apps have absolutely no account opening and management fee. However Scalable capital has 3 offers. The first is the free tier and the Prime+ at 4.99 a month . Ill discuss the order costs later in the guide as they depend on multiple factors.

Product Options

What do these investing apps have to offer? Well all of the apps offer Stocks, ETFs, Derivatives and some sort of Crypto products.

If you are not aware:

• Stocks represent shares of ownership in a company, giving shareholders a claim on part of the company’s assets and earnings.
• ETFs, or Exchange-Traded Funds, are investment funds that hold a collection of assets like stocks, bonds, or other securities and trade on stock exchanges. Stocks are suitable for those looking to invest directly in individual companies, while ETFs offer a way to invest in a diversified portfolio without picking individual stocks.
• Derivatives on the other hand are complex financial contracts whose value is derived from the performance of an underlying asset, such as stocks, bonds, or commodities.
• Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies that use cryptography for security and operate on decentralized networks, like blockchain technology.

Number of Stocks and ETFs offered by Trade Republic, Scalable Capital and Co

All the Brokers and Investing apps offer a good number of Stocks and ETFs. Trade Republic Offers more than 7500 individual stocks to trade and has 2600 ETFs. Scalable Capital Offers over 7800 individual stocks and over 2500 ETFs to invest. Smart Broker plus has over 25 thousand individual stocks and over 2500 ETFs. Just Trade offers 8500 Stocks and about 2000 ETFs to invest into. Finally Traders Place has over 35 Thousand individual stocks to choose from and over 2500 ETFs.

Related Guide: Trade Republic VS Scalable Capital

Crypto offered by Trade Republic, Scalable Capital and Co

When it comes to crypto offerings: Trade Republic offers over 50 coins and tokens. Scalable Capital has 14 coins and tokens, Smarbroker+ has 7 cryptocurrencies. Just trade has 27 coins and tokens while Traders place offers 33 real crypto coins.

Trade Republic, Just Trade and Traders place offer real crypto which is stored at a third party. Meaning that you can buy and sell crypto using these apps but you cannot move crypto to an external wallet or another app.

Smartbroker+ and scalable capital offer Crypto ETPs. Now ETPs are similar to ETFs meaning that they are only tradable on the Stock market similar to ETFs and Stocks.

How much does it cost to buy a stock or ETF with Investing apps?

This is probably one of the most important features for an Investing app in Germany. Because the more costs you incur the more your return will be reduced in the end. In General Neo Brokers are very cost effective.

For individual order the cost per order:

• Trade Republic is 1€
• Scalable Capital is 0.99€
• Smartbroker+ is free for orders above 500€ otherwise 4€ per order
• Just Trade is 1€fee
• Traders place is free for orders above 500€ otherwise there will be a 1€ fee per order

With each of these investing apps in Germany, you can can save the order fees if you set up a savings plan.

Related Guide: How to Buy ETFs in Germany – A Beginners Guide

What is a Savings Plan

A savings plan is a feature where you regularly put money into an investment, like ETFs, stocks, or funds, with a bank or investment company. Usually, you make these payments once a month, but you can also choose to pay weekly or at other intervals depending on the options available in the Investing App.

In simpler terms a Savings Plan is just another name for Dollar Cost averaging, where you pick a stock or ETF, select and investment amount as well as the interval of investing.

For example in my Scalable Capital Account I a savings plan where I invest 50 Euros in the S&P500 Information Technology Sector ETF at a monthly interval.

These savings plans are not a fixed term contract, you can easily setup , modify the conditions like changing the investment amount, the interval or the execution date and even delete the savings plan very easily.

Savings plans offered by Trade Republic, Scalable Capital and Co

Coming to specifics, Trade Republic offers 2600 ETF savings plans, Scalable Capital has over 2500, Smart Broker plus has 1200, Just Trade has 148 and Traders place has 550 ETF savings plans options.

The savings plans executions are free of cost however there is a minimum savings rate For Trade Republic and Scalable Capital it is 1€ , for Smartbroker+ and Just Trade the minimum is 25€ while the minimum savings rate for a savings plan for Traders Place is 20€ .

Number of Trading centers

A trading center is a platform or marketplace where stocks and other securities are bought and sold. These centers facilitate the trading of financial instruments, allowing investors to place orders to buy or sell shares.

They provide a secure and regulated environment for trading, offering real-time prices, and often lower fees compared to traditional stock exchanges. Gettex, for example, is an electronic trading system in Germany that provides a way for investors to trade stocks and other securities directly through their brokers. For most Investors one or two trading centers are usually enough. As they are not trying to find the absolute best price to buy a stock at any given moment in the day.

You are allowed to invest on any visa but when it comes to Trading there are certain rules that you need to consider. For example you will need to register yourself as a Professional Trader if you do Day Trading. However for Swing trades or a trade here and there, it doesn’t require a Registration but having more Trading center options does help in that case.

• Trade Republic offers trades only through Land und Schwarz
• Scalable Capital offers 2 trading centers
• Smartbroker+ has 29
• Just Trade has 3
• Traders place offers a Whopping 40 Trading Centers and Exchanges

Now remember the order costs vary depending on the Marketplace you choose and the order prices I just mentioned are from the cheapest trading center within the Trading App. So please be careful and look at the final order price before you buy using the non default Trading center in the Trading app.

Customer Service

One of the most important things, which in my opinion most people simply ignore is the Customer Service. All 5 of the trading apps have a decent information database and frequently asked question section on their websites however that is usually not enough.

In this category, Trade Republic only has a chatbot and a contact form, the chatbot is AI based and not quite helpful if you don’t have a generic question. You can always use the contact form to contact them but they are extremely slow in responding.

Scalable Capital on the other hand offers a Chatbot, Email as well as a Telephone number where you can contact them. They have probably the best customer service I have experienced with an Investing app.

Smartbroker+ also has Email and Phone contact. Just Trade has only Email contact while Traders place has chat, email and a callback service where you send them and email and they call you back at your provided number.

My Favorite investing app and Broker in Germany

Well if you have seen my portfolio update, then you know that I really love the Scalable Capital app, they have a very decent app user interface, the selection of stocks, ETFs and Crypto coins is also good and the savings plans are also great in my opinion.

So for most investors this would be the clear choice. However If someone is more interested in Trading then Traders Place would be a good choice due to the sheer number of Stocks and ETFs that are available on the app . Additionally they have 40 Trading centers and exchanges meaning that you can get good rates if you compare between the trading centers.

*Affiliate link, I may earn a commission if you use the link and make an account at no additional cost to you

Disclaimer: None of the content in this article is meant to be considered as investment advice, as I am not a financial expert and am only sharing my experience with stock investing. The information is based on my own research and is only accurate at the time of posting this article but may not be accurate at the time you are reading it.