If you are looking for an online trading platform, you’ve probably come across eToro and Plus500, which are among the most popular online trading platforms. But which one is the best? In this article, we have compared the two. This is eToro Vs. Plus500.
While Plus500 provides a generally professional user interface, eToro offers a unique social trading feature coupled with leader boards to allow for copy trading – an attractive and helpful feature for beginner traders.
The broker Plus500 is not available for United States residents, while eToro only allows traders in the US to trade crypto assets.
So, which is the better one between two?
In this article, we take you through the features on both platforms to help you decide which of the two will work for you.
The listed ones use the link to check the eToro status in your country for traders located in other countries.
Please remember that your capital is at risk when engaging in online trading!
Pros And Cons
Kicking off the battle eToro Vs. Plus500, let’s have a look at what we consider to be the pros and cons of the two CFD brokers:
eToro Pros
- Social (copy) trading
- Unlimited demo account
- Fast, easy account opening
- No deposit fees
- Free stock and EFT trading
- Best for beginners
- Training Academy
- Live chat or telephone support
eToro Cons
- High forex fees
- Slow withdrawal time
- Only one base currency (USD)
- $5 withdrawal fee
Plus500 Pros
- Neat and easy to use interface
- Low spreads and commissions
- The demo account is unlimited
- Free deposits & withdrawals (5 p.m.)
- Mobile alerts
- Low trading fees
Plus500 Cons
- Only derivatives are available
- Not available for US residents
- Limits trading strategies such as scalping and hedging
- $100 min withdrawal amount
- No training resources
- Minimal research tools
- High inactivity fee
- Primed for advanced traders
eToro Features
Founded in Israel a year before Plus500, eToro is a multi-asset brokerage company and social trading platform focusing on copy trading and financial services.
eToro is preferred for its unique social trading features. Once you sign up, you get access to a social feed (similar to social media), trading statistics, other traders’ portfolios, as well as a chart forecasting what a $10,000 investment would earn you over time.
It is handy for beginners or anyone who would instead not create their strategy from scratch. You have the option of copying the trades of successful traders who get up to 2 of their assets under management (AUM) as commission. This means that you could also earn much more if you rise to the level of being copied by others.
eToro also has an economic calendar. In addition, it also provides further training for its users in live webinars, online courses, and videos through its training academy.
Plus500 Features
The Israeli multinational offers online trading in Contracts for Difference (CFDs) in more than 2,000 securities and numerous asset classes.
Plus500 has a straightforward and neat platform, with its most significant plus is being direct of use compared to other platforms with better analytics and research.
Above the basic features on similar online trading platforms, Plus500 allows you to set Guaranteed and Trailing Stops, in addition to Close at Loss and Close at Profit orders. In addition, a majority of Plus500’s advanced trading features are free, save for Guaranteed Stops.
For beginners, you get a demo account that allows you to make an unlimited number of trades for free before staking your money.
You can utilize its in-built economic calendar to speed up trends that could impact the market price movement.
Plus500, just like eToro, also provides real-time alerts that you can customize to receive market information via email, SMS, or push notifications.
Which Platform Is The Best?
eToro and Plus500 are available on the web, Windows, iOs, and Android.
On the eToro platform, you get all the following: trading signals, charting package, market analysis, chart trading, automated trading, scalping, hedging, mobile alerts, trailing stops, guaranteed stop loss, guaranteed execution, one-click execution, interest on margin, web-based trading and mobile trading.
On Plus500, you only get mobile alerts, guaranteed stop loss, web-based trading, and mobile trading. Plus500’s prohibition of popular trading strategies such as scalping and hedging is also limiting and can be a deal-breaker for some traders.
Comparing platforms, eToro is the winner!
Markets Possibilities – eToro Vs. Plus500
Plus500 gives you access to over 70 trading pairs in addition to cryptocurrency, shares, indices, commodities, and options. eToro falls short on this, with about 50 trading pairs in addition to other securities.
Both platforms give you access to ETFs, CFDs, commodities, metals, stocks, oil, gold, and indices. Unfortunately, they both do not support binary options.
Plus500 wins when it comes to the market possibilities.
Spreads and Fees
Next in the eToro Vs. Plus500 duel, let’s look at spreads and fees for trading. Plus500’s primary revenue source is trading spreads rather than costs. Therefore, there are no further fees for withdrawals, deposits, position rolling, or trades. You should, however, be aware of other integral expenses. You get a total of 5 free leaves every month. Further withdrawals will attract a $10 fee. The platform will also charge you a $10 fee whenever you withdraw less than the $100 minimum.
Just like Plus500, eToro makes money via spreads rather than trading fees. However, it used to charge withdrawal fees at $25, and you could not withdraw less than $50. The cost has now been lowered to $5, and the minimum withdrawal amount is now $30.
Plus500 charges you $10 for every month you go without trading after three months of inactivity. You will also be charged an overnight fee if you hold a position after the cut-off time, which varies from market to market.
Similarly, eToro has a non-trading fee of $10 every month after one year of no activity. You can easily avoid this fee by simply logging in and out, which will count as an activity. It also charges the overnight fee and gives you an overnight credit based on trading.
The overnight fee is calculated using this formula = Trade Size X Opening Rate X Daily Overnight Funding.
We love low fees, so when it comes to spreads and costs, eToro is the winner.
Which Broker Is The Most Trustworthy?
Plus500 is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Israel Securities Authority (ISA), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
This ensures your money is protected in that the broker cannot use your funds to invest, in line with client money protection protocols. Plus500 is also listed on the London Stock Exchange with millions of users.
eToro is similarly regulated in each country it operates in, including the FCA, CySEC, ISA, ASIC, etc. While it is not listed, it holds its clients’ funds in European banks’ top tier.
All in all, it is a tie between eToro and Plus500 when it comes to trust.
Wrapping Up – eToro Vs. Plus500
This is the end of our eToro vs. Plus500 comparison. We recommend eToro as the go-to platform for newbies, the casual trader, and anyone wary of the strategy limitations of Plus500 discussed above. Copy-trading will always be the most significant value that eToro offers, in addition to the ever-important Training Academy available to all users.
We find Plus500 to be suitable for the advanced trader so that you could start with eToro and transition to Plus500. Of course, these decisions are based on your skill level, strategy, or plain preference.