- 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
Interactive Brokers: A Gateway for Brazilian Investors to Global Markets
As a Brazilian individual investor, I found in Interactive Brokers a complete platform that truly enables global investing without restrictions. It provides access to major stock exchanges worldwide, as well as bonds and currencies, all within a single account. What I particularly appreciate is that the platform adapts well to both beginner and advanced investors, offering powerful tools without losing accessibility. In addition, it is constantly evolving with new features, and the website is being updated to support Brazilian Portuguese, making the experience even more user-friendly.
excellent
excellent
Long Term Investing
Excellent platform with competitive pricing
The best broker
Interactive Brokers has brought digital technology to all investors with only low transactional fees. Plus sophisticated platforms and training.
Easy to use
I love IBK because is easy to use and the charges are reasonable
The best if you want invest money worldwide
Excellent commissions and investment opportunities in all global instruments and stocks. Comprehensive and easy to use.
Fast execution, broad access, plenty of apps and platforms
I have been using Interactive Brokers for several years now, moving from more traditional brokers. I find IBKR to be very effective, with many sophisticated trading functionalities (esp. order types), fast execution of orders, access to all markets I am interested in and with a broad (maybe **too** broad) set of apps and platforms for all levels of proficiency. As a moderately sophisticated retail investor, I can't ask for anything more.
IBKR is a leader
IBKR offers the best compromise among platform quality, diversity of market access and pricing.
Excellent Broker
IBKR has the best value for money. Great selection of investments, cheap commissions, safe and tech advanced solutions. Great overall.
Bonne plateforme de trading
bonne plateforme web de trading
Great
Good condition
Everything smooth and easy
Fantastic investment platform. Helpdesk very responsive and real persons working there.
One stop shopping
Low cost and convenient
Excellent execution of trades. Wide selection of instruments.
Excellent execution of trades. Wide selection of instruments.
CFO
Great investment brokerage app, very clear, a lot of choices and very low fees. Please continue...
Best trading platform
Best trading platform
Best investment broker
Interactive Brokers offers compelling advantages as an investment broker, including competitive fee structures and margin rates.
IBKR is just great
Low Fees and cool UI
Great value and service
Phantastic broker for trading and investing, great value and service
Top Broker
Best broker I have used
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.
