If you are looking at Interactive Brokers and trying to work out what a monthly ETF purchase will actually cost you, the honest answer is: less than almost anywhere else, but the pricing page makes it look far more complicated than it is. IBKR publishes commission schedules by exchange, by product, by pricing plan, with regulatory pass-throughs and exchange fees layered on top. For a European investor buying a UCITS ETF like VWCE or IWDA, most of that noise does not apply to you.
Here is the short version after eleven years of using discount brokers across Europe. Pick Tiered pricing, buy your ETF in your own account currency where you can, and a normal whole-share order lands somewhere around €1.25 to €2. The currency-conversion fee, if you ever need it, is roughly 0.03% with a tiny minimum, which is the cheapest FX I have seen at any retail broker. There is no custody fee on a standard account and the old inactivity fee is gone. That is genuinely the whole story for most people.
Below I break down the two pricing plans, show worked examples by order size, and flag the few line items that can catch you out. Treat every figure here as approximate 2026-vintage pricing and confirm the current numbers on IBKR’s own schedule, because they do adjust these periodically.
Tiered vs Fixed: the only choice that matters at signup
When you open the account, IBKR asks you to choose a commission structure. This is the decision that determines what you pay, and for European ETF investors it is not a close call.
Methodology: this guide applies our broker rating methodology, from safety-of-assets checks to total-cost math.
Tiered charges a small percentage of trade value, then passes through the actual exchange and regulatory fees separately and, in some cases, hands back exchange rebates. On European venues like Xetra, Euronext or Borsa Italiana the commission is a percentage of value with a low floor, typically around €1.25 minimum per order. Because the underlying exchange fees on European stock exchanges are modest, Tiered almost always works out cheaper for the order sizes a normal investor places.
Fixed charges a flat, all-in rate per order with nothing itemised afterward. It sounds simpler and for very large single orders it can occasionally win, but for the €200 to €5,000 trades that make up most ETF investing, Fixed usually costs more because you are paying a flat fee that does not scale down for small trades.
My rule of thumb: choose Tiered. You can switch later in account settings if you want to test it, but I have never found a reason to leave Tiered for a buy-and-hold European ETF strategy.
| Feature | Tiered | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
| How it is charged | % of trade value + pass-through exchange/regulatory fees | Flat all-in rate per order |
| Typical minimum (EU exchange) | ~€1.25 per order | Higher flat minimum, varies by venue |
| Best for | Regular ETF buyers, small-to-mid orders | Occasional very large single orders |
| Cost on a €1,000 ETF buy | ~€1.25 (hits the floor) | Usually more than €1.25 |
| Transparency | Itemised (you see every component) | Single number, no breakdown |
What a real ETF order actually costs
Numbers in the abstract are useless, so here is how Tiered pricing behaves across the order sizes people actually use. The commission on European venues is a small percentage of value, but the minimum floor of roughly €1.25 means small orders effectively pay that floor and larger orders pay the percentage.
Fee figures in this guide are cross-checked against our broker fee data table, reviewed quarterly.
A €200 monthly buy of an ETF listed on Xetra will hit the minimum, so you pay about €1.25. A €1,000 order also tends to sit at or just above that floor. A €5,000 order moves above the minimum as the percentage component grows, but you are still talking a few euros, not tens. Even a €20,000 lump sum on a European exchange lands in single-digit or low-double-digit euros. Against the €5 to €25 per trade some traditional banks still charge, that is the difference between a rounding error and a real drag on a small portfolio.
The practical takeaway: if you are dollar-cost-averaging modest amounts, IBKR’s floor is low enough that trading monthly rather than quarterly costs you almost nothing extra. If you want the exact arithmetic for your own contribution size, our EU broker fee comparator and the wider set of free calculators let you model it against other brokers side by side.
The currency-conversion fee, and how to avoid needing it
This is the line item European investors worry about most, usually because they have been burned by a neobroker’s 0.5% FX spread. IBKR converts currency at close to the interbank rate and charges a commission of roughly 0.03% of the converted amount, with a small minimum of around €2 per conversion. In plain terms, converting €10,000 costs you a few euros, not fifty. It is the cheapest currency conversion I am aware of at a retail broker, and it is one of the strongest reasons to use IBKR if you hold multi-currency assets.
That said, the cheapest FX fee is the one you never pay. Most popular UCITS ETFs are listed in euros on Xetra or Euronext as well as in dollars on the London Stock Exchange. If you fund your account in euros and buy the euro-denominated line of the same fund, you skip currency conversion entirely and only pay the tiny commission. I do this by default. You only need the FX feature when you deliberately want to hold a USD line, or when your base currency differs from the listing you want. For a fuller picture of how conversion costs stack up across providers, see our breakdown of broker currency-conversion and FX fees.
The fees that used to exist and the ones that still do
IBKR’s reputation for confusing fees is partly historical. For years it charged a monthly inactivity fee if your commissions fell below a threshold, which scared off small investors. That inactivity fee has been removed, so a dormant account no longer bleeds money. There is also no custody or account-maintenance fee on a standard retail account holding ETFs.
The costs that remain are mostly optional and easy to avoid. Real-time market data for some exchanges carries a small monthly subscription, but delayed data is free and perfectly adequate for a long-term investor placing limit orders on liquid ETFs. Wire withdrawals beyond your first free one each month may carry a fee, though SEPA transfers within the euro area are typically free or negligible. And if you trade on margin you pay interest, but a cash-account buy-and-hold ETF investor never touches that.
Watch the pass-throughs on non-EU venues
One nuance: if you buy a UK-listed line, UK stamp duty does not apply to ETFs, but some venues carry small regulatory or exchange fees that Tiered pricing passes through. These are cents, not euros, but it is another reason to prefer the euro listing when one exists for the same fund.
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How IBKR’s fees compare to the neobrokers
It is fair to ask why anyone pays even €1.25 when Trade Republic and Scalable Capital run free savings plans. The answer is that “free” trading is bundled with a narrower product, euro-only listings and a business model that monetises elsewhere. IBKR gives you direct access to global exchanges, genuinely cheap FX and among the strongest investor-protection setups in the industry.
Ready to open an account? You can open a Interactive Brokers account directly.
For a beginner drip-feeding €100 a month, a free-savings-plan neobroker is often the more sensible starting point and I say so plainly. For a larger portfolio, multi-currency needs, or a preference for a heavily capitalised broker, IBKR’s tiny per-trade cost is worth paying. If you are weighing the whole field rather than just the fees, our European ETF broker hub and the ranking of the cheapest ETF brokers in Europe put IBKR in context against its rivals.
Interactive Brokers: my verdict on the fees
If you value low cost, transparency and reach over the convenience of a fully automated free savings plan, Interactive Brokers is hard to beat on price. Choose Tiered pricing, buy the euro-listed line of your ETF to sidestep conversion, and accept that a monthly order costs you roughly the price of a coffee. Over a lifetime of investing, the near-zero FX fee and the absence of custody or inactivity charges matter far more than the €1.25 commission. For more detail, see our guide: Interactive Brokers ISA.
Where IBKR earns its keep beyond fees is safety and functionality, which is the other half of the decision. I have written separately on why Interactive Brokers stands out for European ETF investors, on the specifics of IBIE investor protection, and on the practical mechanics in how to buy VWRA and IWDA on IBKR. Read those alongside this if you are deciding whether the low fees come with the substance to match. For the current, authoritative numbers, always cross-check IBKR’s own commissions schedule before you trade. For more detail, see our guide: Interactive Brokers vs Trading 212 for ETF Investors.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is Tiered or Fixed pricing cheaper for a European ETF investor?
A: Tiered is almost always cheaper for the order sizes ordinary investors place. It charges a small percentage of trade value with a low minimum of about €1.25 on European exchanges, whereas Fixed applies a flat rate that does not scale down for small trades. Unless you are placing unusually large single orders, choose Tiered.
Q: How much does a typical ETF purchase cost on Interactive Brokers?
A: On a European exchange under Tiered pricing, small and mid-sized orders tend to hit the minimum of roughly €1.25 to €2. Larger orders rise gradually as the percentage component grows, but even a €20,000 buy stays in single or low-double-digit euros. Verify the current schedule, as IBKR adjusts pricing periodically.
Q: What is the Interactive Brokers currency-conversion fee?
A: It is approximately 0.03% of the amount converted, with a small minimum of around €2, which is among the cheapest FX rates at any retail broker. You can avoid it entirely by funding in euros and buying the euro-listed line of your ETF rather than the dollar line.
Q: Does Interactive Brokers still charge an inactivity fee?
A: No. The monthly inactivity fee that IBKR charged in earlier years has been removed, so a standard account no longer costs you anything simply for sitting idle. There is also no custody or account-maintenance fee on a normal retail ETF account.
Q: Are there hidden fees I should watch for on IBKR?
A: The main optional costs are real-time market-data subscriptions, which you can skip because delayed data is free and fine for long-term investing, and possible fees on additional wire withdrawals beyond the first free one each month. SEPA transfers are typically free. Margin interest only applies if you borrow, which a cash buy-and-hold investor never does.
Q: Is Interactive Brokers cheaper than Trade Republic or Scalable Capital?
A: On raw commission, the neobrokers’ free savings plans win because they charge nothing per trade. IBKR charges around €1.25 but offers far cheaper currency conversion, direct global exchange access and broader functionality. For small monthly drip investing a free neobroker is often simpler; for larger or multi-currency portfolios IBKR’s tiny fees are usually worth it.
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 →