Buying an S&P 500 ETF on Trade Republic takes about three minutes once you know which fund to pick and which order type to use — and this guide walks you through both decisions step by step. Trade Republic is a BaFin-regulated German bank with a roughly €1 flat fee on one-off trades, completely free ETF savings plans, and fractional investing from small monthly amounts. That combination makes it one of the cheapest homes in the eurozone for a long-term S&P 500 position.
However, the app will show you several S&P 500 trackers, and the choice between SXR8, VUAA and SPYL confuses more readers than the buying process itself. So I will settle that first, then cover the account, the search, the order and the timing. I run my own savings plan on the platform, and everything below reflects that first-hand experience.
Which S&P 500 ETF on Trade Republic should you pick?
Search “S&P 500” in the app and three accumulating UCITS funds dominate the results: SXR8 from iShares, VUAA from Vanguard, and SPYL from SPDR. All three track the same 500 US large-cap stocks, all three are Irish-domiciled, and all three reinvest dividends automatically. The differences are cost, size and track record.
| Attribute | SXR8 (iShares) | VUAA (Vanguard) | SPYL (SPDR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) | Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) | SPDR S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) |
| ISIN | IE00B5BMR087 | IE00BFMXXD54 | IE000XZSV718 |
| TER | ~0.07% | ~0.07% | ~0.03% |
| Fund size | ~€130bn+ (largest) | Tens of billions | Smaller, growing fast |
| Replication | Physical, full | Physical, full | Physical, full |
| Dividends | Accumulating | Accumulating | Accumulating |
| Best for | Maximum scale and liquidity | Vanguard loyalists | The lowest possible fee |
TERs and fund sizes are approximate — confirm the live figures on each issuer’s factsheet or justETF before you buy.
Here is my honest read of the three. SXR8 is the EUR trading line of Europe’s biggest S&P 500 fund — the same vehicle that trades in London as CSPX — and its scale gives it razor-thin spreads and a long, boring tracking record. My SXR8 factsheet covers it in depth. VUAA is Vanguard’s near-identical rival: same index, same ~0.07% TER, physical and accumulating. Choosing between those two is issuer preference, nothing more.
SPYL is the cost leader. At roughly 0.03%, its TER is less than half the other two, which is why it tops my ranking of the cheapest S&P 500 UCITS ETFs. The trade-off is youth: it launched in late 2023, so the fund is smaller and the tracking history shorter. The full picture is in the SPYL factsheet.
My rule of thumb: pick SPYL if the absolute lowest fee is your priority, and SXR8 if you value maximum size and the longest record. On a €10,000 holding, the gap between them is about €4 a year — do not lose sleep over it.
Step 1: open the account
You need an account before anything else, and setup is genuinely quick. Download the app, register with your email and phone number, and complete identity verification with your ID card or passport. Mine was approved the same evening. Trade Republic Bank GmbH holds a full German banking licence and is regulated by BaFin, so your cash sits inside a licensed bank rather than a brokerage shell.
Next, link a bank account and transfer your first deposit. SEPA transfers usually land within a business day, and the app pays interest on uninvested cash while you wait (the rate varies, so verify it on traderepublic.com). If you want the deeper reasoning behind choosing this broker, my review of why Trade Republic stands out for ETF investors covers the strengths and the honest negatives. Ready to start? You can open an account through Trade Republic in a few minutes.
Step 2: find the ETF — search by ISIN, not by name
This is the step where beginners go wrong most often. Typing “S&P 500” into the search bar returns a wall of results: accumulating and distributing lines, currency-hedged variants, leveraged products, and equal-weight versions. Picking from that list by name alone is how people end up in the wrong fund.
The fix is simple: search by ISIN instead. Paste IE00B5BMR087 for SXR8, IE00BFMXXD54 for VUAA, or IE000XZSV718 for SPYL, and exactly one fund appears. The ISIN is the fund’s unique fingerprint, so there is no ambiguity.
Before you tap buy, glance at the fund page and confirm three things. First, the issuer name matches what you expect — iShares, Vanguard or SPDR. Second, it says “Acc” or accumulating, unless you deliberately want the distributing line. Third, the TER matches the table above, give or take. Thirty seconds of checking prevents an accidental wrong buy.
Step 3: one-off order or free savings plan?
Trade Republic gives you two ways to buy, and the pricing difference matters. A one-off market order costs a flat fee of around €1, regardless of size. A savings-plan execution costs nothing at all — no order fee whatsoever. Both support fractional shares, so you can invest €50 or €500 rather than multiples of the unit price.
Which should you use? If you have a lump sum ready, place a one-off order; a single €1 fee on a meaningful amount is negligible. If you are investing monthly — and for most people building an S&P 500 ETF on Trade Republic, that is the right habit — set up a savings plan instead. Choose the amount, pick an execution date, and the app buys automatically every month with zero fees. Fractional handling means your full contribution is deployed each time, with no cash remainder sitting idle.
The savings plan is, frankly, the platform’s killer feature. Automating the purchase removes the temptation to time the market, and the zero fee means nothing compounds against you. I walk through the setup screens, date choices and tweaks in my dedicated Trade Republic ETF savings plan guide. Many investors sensibly do both: a one-off order for the starting lump sum, then a monthly plan for everything after.
Step 4: execution and timing on LS Exchange
Now for the detail most guides omit. Trade Republic routes orders through LS Exchange, a single German trading venue, rather than competing across multiple exchanges. That single-venue model is a big part of why the fees are so low, but it means you accept the price that venue quotes at that moment. The quote includes a spread — the gap between buy and sell prices — and that spread is a real cost even when the commission is €1.
The spread is not constant. It is tightest when the underlying US stocks are actually trading, roughly 15:30 to 22:00 Central European Time. Outside those hours, the market maker is quoting prices for shares whose home market is closed, so it protects itself with a wider spread. LS Exchange quotes from early morning until late evening, which sounds convenient — but buying an S&P 500 tracker at 08:00 or 22:30 CET means paying a few extra basis points for the privilege.
My practical advice: place one-off orders between 15:30 and 17:30 CET, when both European and US markets are open and spreads are narrowest. For a monthly savings plan the effect largely averages out, so I would not obsess over the execution date. On funds this liquid the difference is small — but it is free money, and large lump sums deserve the courtesy.
What an S&P 500 ETF on Trade Republic actually costs
Let me pull the full cost picture together, because “free” never means completely free. You pay up to three things. First, the order fee: about €1 per one-off trade, and €0 on savings-plan executions. Second, the spread on LS Exchange: a few basis points during US hours, more outside them. Third, the fund’s own TER: roughly 0.07% a year for SXR8 or VUAA, and roughly 0.03% for SPYL, deducted inside the fund automatically.
Add it up for a typical saver. A €200 monthly plan into SPYL costs no order fees, a sliver of spread, and about €0.06 of TER per €200 invested per year. That is about as frictionless as European investing currently gets. There is no custody fee, no inactivity fee, and no charge for the deposit itself. The one caveat: fees change, so confirm the current pricing on traderepublic.com before committing. If you have compared the numbers and want to proceed, you can open your account through Trade Republic and set the plan running the same day.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Buying the wrong variant. Searching by name instead of ISIN leads people into hedged, distributing or leveraged S&P 500 products. Always paste the ISIN.
- Paying €1 twelve times a year. Monthly one-off orders cost €12 annually; a savings plan does the same job for €0. Automate it.
- Trading at the open or late evening. Spreads on LS Exchange widen when US markets are closed. Time lump-sum orders for after 15:30 CET.
- Holding SXR8, VUAA and SPYL together. They track the same index. Owning two or three adds bookkeeping, not diversification.
- Assuming the EUR quote removes dollar risk. It does not. The underlying stocks are priced in USD, so currency exposure is identical whichever line you buy.
- Treating the S&P 500 as a complete portfolio. It is a single-country bet on the US. Decide deliberately whether you want a global fund alongside it.
Key takeaways
- SXR8, VUAA and SPYL all track the S&P 500, are Irish-domiciled, physical and accumulating — SPYL is cheapest at ~0.03% TER, SXR8 largest at ~€130bn+.
- Open the account, then search by ISIN (IE00B5BMR087, IE00BFMXXD54 or IE000XZSV718) rather than by name to avoid wrong variants.
- One-off orders cost a flat ~€1; savings-plan executions are completely free and support fractional amounts.
- Orders execute on LS Exchange — spreads are tightest from 15:30 CET when US markets are open, so time lump sums accordingly.
- Total running cost for a monthly saver is essentially just the fund’s TER, but always verify current terms on traderepublic.com.
FAQ
Q: Can I buy SXR8 on Trade Republic?
A: Yes. SXR8 is the EUR Xetra line of the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc), ISIN IE00B5BMR087, and it is available both for one-off orders and in a free savings plan.
Q: Which S&P 500 ETF on Trade Republic is the cheapest?
A: SPYL, at a TER of roughly 0.03% — about half the ~0.07% charged by SXR8 and VUAA. On typical amounts the difference is a few euros a year, so all three remain excellent value.
Q: Is the ETF savings plan really free?
A: Yes — savings-plan executions carry no order fee. You still bear the spread on LS Exchange and the fund’s own TER, and you should verify current terms on traderepublic.com.
Q: What does a one-off S&P 500 ETF order cost?
A: A flat external fee of about €1 per trade, regardless of order size. Confirm the live figure on the official pricing page.
Q: Can I invest small amounts, like €25 a month?
A: Yes. Fractional shares mean you can invest fixed euro amounts from very small sums, and your full contribution is deployed without a cash remainder.
Q: When is the best time of day to place an order?
A: Between 15:30 and 17:30 CET, when US markets are open and LS Exchange spreads are tightest. Outside US hours the market maker quotes wider prices.
Q: Should I buy SXR8 or CSPX?
A: They are the same fund under the same ISIN — SXR8 is simply the EUR line on German venues. On Trade Republic you will see SXR8, and that is the one to buy there.
Q: Do these ETFs pay out dividends?
A: No. SXR8, VUAA and SPYL are all accumulating, so dividends are reinvested inside the fund automatically. If you want cash payouts, you need a distributing S&P 500 line instead.
Q: Is my investment safe on Trade Republic?
A: Trade Republic Bank GmbH is a licensed German bank regulated by BaFin. Your ETF units are held in custody and remain your property, and cash deposits fall under the German deposit guarantee up to the standard EU limit.
Cited sources: justETF and Morningstar. Fees and rules change — verify current terms with each broker.
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European UCITS/ETF investor with 11+ years building a global dividend and index portfolio, and founder of Financial Expert Class. I write every guide here from first-hand experience investing across EU brokers and tax regimes — not theory. More about me →