Trade Republic review

Trade Republic review — I'll be upfront: I've been using Trade Republic as my main investment account since early 2025, and I have genuinely mixed feelings about it. It's brilliant in some ways and frustrating in others. This isn't a press release rewrite — it's what I actually found after six months of regular use.

What Is Trade Republic, Really?

Trade Republic is a Berlin-based neobroker that launched in 2019 and has since grown to over 8 million customers across Europe. It's regulated by BaFin (Germany's financial regulator) and holds a full banking licence, which matters more than people realise — your uninvested cash earns 3.75% annual interest, protected up to €100,000 under the German deposit guarantee scheme.

The pitch is simple: invest in stocks, ETFs, bonds and crypto from your phone, pay €1 per trade, and earn a decent return on cash you haven't deployed yet. On paper, it sounds almost too good. In practice, it's mostly true — with some caveats worth knowing.

What I Actually Use It For

My main use case is a monthly ETF savings plan into a MSCI World index fund. Trade Republic executes these automatically, completely free — no €1 commission on savings plans. I set it up once in about three minutes and haven't touched it since. That alone makes it worth having.

I also keep a portion of my emergency fund here to earn the 3.75% interest. It's not locked in — I can withdraw any time — and the rate is genuinely competitive compared to most European savings accounts right now. The interest is calculated daily and paid monthly, which I appreciate.

Fees: What You Actually Pay

The €1 flat fee per trade is real and applies to everything except savings plans (which are free). There are no custody fees, no inactivity fees, no monthly charges. Deposits and withdrawals via bank transfer are free.

Where it gets slightly less clean: if you use the Trade Republic Visa debit card, foreign currency transactions carry a 0.99% fee. Not terrible, but worth knowing if you travel frequently. The card does give you 1% Saveback — meaning 1% of every card purchase gets invested into a security of your choice. It's a nice touch, though the amounts are small in practice.

The 3.75% Interest — Is It Legit?

Yes, and this is genuinely one of Trade Republic's strongest features right now. Any cash sitting in your account earns 3.75% gross annually (roughly 2.8–3% net depending on your tax situation). There's no minimum, no lock-in period, no hoops to jump through.

I've had months where I was between investments and just left €2,000 sitting there. It earned about €6 in interest that month — not life-changing, but better than zero in a current account. The rate does track ECB policy, so it will come down as rates fall, but for now it's a genuine advantage.

What I Don't Like — Honest Criticism

Customer support is the biggest weakness. It's chat and email only, and response times can stretch to 48 hours. When I had a question about a corporate action on one of my holdings, I waited two days for a reply that didn't fully answer my question. For a platform managing real money, that's not good enough.

The platform also only offers market orders — no limit orders, no stop-losses. If you want to buy at a specific price, you can't. Trading hours are 8:00–22:00 CET, so no pre-market or after-hours trading. For passive investors this is fine; for anyone more active, it's a real limitation.

The app is clean and minimal, which is great for beginners but can feel sparse if you want charts, screeners or fundamental data. You're not getting a Bloomberg terminal here.

Who Is Trade Republic Actually For?

It's best suited for long-term, passive investors — people who want to set up a monthly ETF savings plan, earn a fair return on cash, and not think too hard about it. If that's you, it's genuinely excellent and hard to beat on cost.

It's less suited for active traders, options traders, or anyone who needs advanced order types, real-time data, or responsive customer support. For those use cases, look at Interactive Brokers or DEGIRO instead.

Verdict: Worth It in 2026?

After six months, Trade Republic is still my main investment account. The combination of free savings plans, 3.75% on cash, and €1 trades is hard to argue with for a passive investor. The app works reliably, the regulation is solid, and the costs are genuinely low.

Just go in with realistic expectations: it's a tool for building wealth slowly and steadily, not for active trading. If you're comfortable with that, it's one of the best options available in Europe right now.