- 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
No.1
I have used it a lot for trading with options and currency exchanges. I would say the best in terms of tools, offering, and commissions, without a doubt
Top Platform
The TWS platform which is available for all customers has a top professional level
it really works for me
good charts good executions
Easy!
IB platform allows me to do trading in an easy and very efficient way. Transaction costs are very low. The notification system allows me to buy/sell when I have decided so.
Happy with them so far
Low fees, no fuss. Thanks IBKR
costumer service
after confirmed application for trading permission you can trade everything all over the world.
Best trading Plattform
Easy, fast & reliable
Overall Excellent platform for investments
I use it for my personal investment. Great software and at very low fees. Recommended
A non-professional trader's delight
Having used four different trading platforms, Interactive Brokers has the easiest to use platform and best prices.
The platform for everyone
Easy enough to use, reliable, gives everyone access to the financial world
Very nice service
Very efficient service and helpful when needed
Simple and efficient
Adapted to all investor types with easy to use interfaces and high efficiency
One-stop shot for investing and trading!
IBKR is very powerful, with plenty of tools with wide access to different markets for investors and traders of different profiles.
Excellence
Very professionell
Great platform
Good, reliable and user-friendly platform/website, clear fee structure, competitive fees, no upselling or other BS.
Reliable and functional
An ideal broker for trading shares (in my case, mainly US equities and ETFs) and holding them in custody. Easy-to-use, highly accessible and fast platform, with a huge range of assets and buying and selling options. Extensive customisation options and good, helpful customer service. In my personal experience, highly recommended.
My main broker
Best pricing and execution.
A fit for all
Does all you could ask for then some!
Transparency, user-friendly, support
Interactive Brokers offers a broad range of the investment products, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and bonds across global markets, with competitive pricing and powerful research tools that support diversified portfolio building. However, access to cryptocurrency is relatively limited and less straightforward compared to platforms that specialized in the digital assets
Great interface, availability and pricing
IBKR is the answer if you're looking for a platform where you can be an active trader in assets around the world - be it stocks, derivatives, commodities or others. Interface is intuitive and easy to use on both desktop and mobile. Fees are very reasonable. And robust availability is great.
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.
