- Good Money Guide experts commend Interactive Brokers for its low trading fees, advanced platforms, and exceptional global market access, highlighting that it allows trading on over 90 international exchanges with $0 commissions on US-listed stocks. However, they note that the platform may be complex for beginners and that customer support can be limited for smaller clients.
- Across 1375 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.6/5, customers frequently praise the platform's low costs, extensive market access, and advanced trading tools. Many users appreciate the user-friendly interface and efficient execution of trades, while some express concerns about the complexity of the platform and the responsiveness of customer support.
Interactive Brokers US Stock Trading Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated Interactive Brokers US Stock Trading across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing5.0
- Market Access5.0
- App & Platform5.0
- Customer Service4.0
- Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
- Low trading fees
- Advanced platforms
- Global market access
Cons
- Potentially complex for beginners
- High cash balance requirement
- Limited customer support
See full expert review
Our verdict
Amazing technology, and always first to market with innovative trading tools. Interactive Brokers lets you trade stock on 90+ international exchanges, with $0 commission and some of the lowest financing rates in the industry.
Is Interactive Brokers a good stock broker?
Yes, IBKR is an excellent US stock broker, low costs, excellent market access and superb apps and platforms.
Pricing: Interactive Brokers is very cheap for trading stocks, especially in the IBKR Lite account, where commissions are $0 on US-listed stocks and fractional stocks. For more advanced traders, IBKR Pro commissions are USD 0.0005 to USD 0.0035 per share, but you get significant price improvements from IB SmartRouting.
If you are trading stocks on margin, Interactive Brokers have some of the lowest margin loan financing rates in the industry from USD 4.83% to USD 5.83%.
You can also actually get IBKR to pay you by letting them borrow your fully paid up stocks and letting them lend them out to short sellers, through their stock yield enhancement program.
Market Access: IBKR probably has the best market access of all the stock brokers we compare. You can trade a huge range of international stocks and IBKR has local access to over 90 stock exchanges. There are very few stocks you cannot trade on IBKR.
Apps & Platforms: Interactive Brokers' stock trading apps and platforms are seriously good. When I traded on the desktop workstation platform, I was able to pair trade two stocks against each other.
IBKR is one of the few platforms that allows you to do this. Probably because when I interviewed IBKR founder Thomas Peterffy before testing the platforms, he told me that he thinks the most successful stock traders are ones that trade one company against another.
Customer Service: Because Interactive Brokers is one of the largest stock brokers in the world, customer service is largely automated and they were even using automated chatbots before the AI revolution took over.
This is a good example of how they are at the forefront of stock trading technology. However, it can be a bit of a pain trying to get through to someone on the phone if you are not a large customer with a personal stock broker.
Research & Analysis: You get lots of research and analysis from Interactive Brokers, including the IBKR Campus, for beginners to improve their stock trading. For longer-term investors, there is fundamental data on 30,000 companies and over 5,000 analyst ratings to give you an indication of whether a stock is a buy or a sell.
Customer reviews for Interactive Brokers
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 1,375 reviews
- Excellent74%
- Very good14%
- Basic7%
- Poor2%
- Bad2%
What customers like
- Low fees and competitive pricing
- User-friendly platform
- Fast execution and reliability
What customers dislike
- Poor customer service
- Confusing account management
- Slow response times
Read customer reviews
Best internet broker
good homepage, easy to navigate, all markets available, wanted information easy to get
Very professional - for the non-professional user
IBKR enables “private users” to use a truly comprehensive and powerful platform without having to pay exorbitant costs. This is shown, for example, by the fact that the provided real-time prices reach the user with virtually no delay.
The excellent customer service and the high level of security when accessing the platform (two-factor authorization) are also worth mentioning.
Exzellent
Fair
Best trading platform so far
IBKR is perfect for serious investors and traders who want reliability, speed, and access to virtually every asset class. Highly recommended!
IBKR powerful system
They gave an advanced API with multiple layers of security, an expanse paper trading (practice) platform and great documentation and study guides.
Every user that registers to use thr platform has to go through a rigorous process to understand what they are getting into.
Unmatched App
Interactive Brokers app and the service being provided is very thoughtfully designed. I can easily read updates in each Ticker, directly from the Intuitive App Interface. I am warned appropriately when submitting a trade - purchase price control is there. KYC is regularly performed. Downtime is minimum and planned ones are always made known in advance.
Simplicity & Clarity
IBKR is easy to use. There is no "Black zone" which could generate extra costs. Advices are also valuable.
Ibkr review ireka
Easy to use for beginners.
Clear instructions.
Good pricing
Great
Great
Simply the best
By far the best trading tool on the market
parfait
Facile, fiable, peu de frais
exellent service and cost
Top service and reasonable cost.
Ibkr excelent
Esse to use platforms and good fees
Simply the best trading platform
Easy to use, live trading, covers all the market
Trasparent and easy
I find Interactive Brokers to be an excellent platform because it combines simplicity with completeness. The interface is easy to use, yet it offers all the advanced tools and features I need to manage my investments effectively.
IBKR
A lot of graphs and it gives a good Überblick
Great investment platform
Great platform which allows me to buy and sell at the best possible prices, much better than using a corporate
Simply a Happy Client
Interactive Brokers have been remarkable:
- KYC and Onboarding: efficient
- Money transfer: Checked of course but not a huge pain as it can sometimes be with banks
- Easy access to many markets
- iBot provides good summaries
Could it be better? Yes. I wish we could colour code the grids or have a category. The risk reports are lacking (I have a Ph D in market finance). I also think the tools are not as intuitive as they should be.
Despite those shortcomings, I am a happy client.
Reliable
It's the most reliable and reputable investing platform with a proven track record. Used by many reputable influencers too
Thé bestbery
Very good
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
