Before you can buy your first investment, you need a brokerage account - the platform that actually executes your trades. With so many options advertising themselves as "the best," here's what's actually worth comparing.
1. Regulation and investor protection
Check that the broker is regulated by a recognized financial authority in the country or region where it operates, and understand what investor protection scheme applies to your holdings if the broker itself ever ran into trouble. This is worth confirming before anything else on this list.
2. Fees - and where they hide
"Commission-free" doesn't always mean genuinely free. Look at the full picture:
- Trading commissions (even if advertised as zero, confirm it)
- Currency conversion fees, especially if investing in assets priced in a different currency
- Account maintenance or inactivity fees
- Withdrawal fees
3. What you can actually invest in
Not every broker offers access to every market, fund, or fractional shares. If you already know you want to invest in specific ETFs or specific stock exchanges, confirm the broker actually supports them before signing up. Once you've found a broker that supports what you need, our guide on how to evaluate an ETF before you invest covers what to check on the fund side.
4. Usability
A platform that feels confusing or overwhelming can quietly discourage you from actually following through on your investing plan. This is a real, practical factor - not just a "nice to have."
5. Where your money and assets are actually held
Understand whether your investments are held in your own name (or a clearly segregated account) versus commingled in ways that are harder to trace. This connects back to the regulation and protection question above.
What matters less than people assume
Flashy features, social trading feeds, or gamified interfaces don't make a broker fundamentally better for long-term investing - and in some cases can encourage more frequent trading than is actually useful for a long-term strategy.
The takeaway
There's rarely a single "best" broker for everyone - the right choice depends on what you're trying to invest in, where you live, and what fee structure fits your situation. Steadfolio doesn't recommend a specific broker; the goal here is to help you know what questions to ask before choosing one yourself.
Once you know what to look for, our broker comparison table lays out the actual fees and features of 10 popular brokers side by side, sourced directly from each broker's official pricing pages.