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Platforms and Brokers

TL;DR
Note

I have personally used (or still using) all of the platforms mentioned in this page. All pros and cons mentioned are based on my personal experience.

PlatformLivretsCTOPEAPEA-PMEAssurance ViePER
Boursorama✅🟡✅✅✅✅
Degiro❌🟡❌❌❌❌
Linxea Spirit❌❌❌❌✅✅
Saxo❌✅✅✅❌❌
Trade Republic❌✅❌❌❌❌
XTB❌✅❌❌❌❌

Meaning: ✅ I recommend 🟡 I do not recommend ❌ Does not exist

Boursorama​

Available accounts: Livret A, LDDS, CTO, PEA, PEA-PME, Assurance Vie, PER

The Pros:

  • Consistently one of the cheapest banks (I'm a client since 2015).
  • Opening account is extremely fast and convenient if your already have a Boursorama account.
  • PER in autopilot and low fees accessible from 50€/month.
  • ETFs from iShares available with no transaction fee.

The Cons:

  • Transaction fees are quite high for the CTO: minimum 6.95€ for American stock exchanges, 11.95€ for European stock markets (except Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels).

Open a Boursorama account and get 80€ on your first transfer of >300€ using my referral link. For transparency: I would receive 30€.

Degiro​

Available account: CTO

The Pros:

  • Wide choice of stocks and ETFs.
  • Transaction fee: 2€ for French, Canadian and US stocks.
  • Preview of impending dividends.
  • Detailed charts and company data.

The Cons:

  • Significant increase in transaction fees: from 0.5€ to 1€ in 2022, to 2€ in 2023.
  • Foreign broker: account has to be declared when filing your taxes.
  • No IFU (Imprimé Fiscal Unique) that would simplify filing your taxes.
  • Fee of 2.5€/year for each stock exchange you hold stocks from.

Comment: I no longer recommend Degiro.

If you still insist, you can open an account and get 100€ of transactions fee offered during your first 90 days using my referral link. For transparency: I would receive 50€ after you have accumulated 5€ of transaction fees.

Linxea​

Available accounts: Assurance Vie, PER

Open a PER or a Life Insurance using my referral link and get a 50€ gift card upon completion. For transparency: I would receive the same as you.

Saxo​

Available accounts: CTO, PEA, PEA-PME

The Pros:

  • No required minimum transaction amount.
  • Competitive fees: 0.08% with a minimum of $1 for US-traded stocks, 2€ for Paris/Amsterdam/Brussels.
  • Fees for PEA: same as CTO but capped by law at 0.5% of the transacted amount.
  • Comprehensive platform: stock charts, fundamentals, news.
  • Functionalities available for more advanced users: stock-screening, stop-loss, limits, alerts, trading signals etc.

The Cons:

  • Platform can be slightly more complex that its competitors

Comment: ideal for opening a PEA.

Open an account and get 500€ of transactions fee offered during your first 90 days using my referral link. For transparency: I would enjoy the exact same benefits as you.

Trade Republic​

Available account: CTO

The Pros:

  • Fractional shares available: you don't have to buy one entire share of a stock or ETF, you can buy as little as 1€ of it.
  • Transaction fees of only 1€ per transaction, and 0€ when scheduling periodic investments (the best feature in my opinion).
  • ETF composition available in the app directly (for most of them).
  • Cash in the account currently yield 4%/year when not invested.
  • Crypto available

The Cons:

  • Instant deposits using credit card possible, but charged 0.7%
  • Graphs only show 5 year of price history

Comment: the #1 platform I would recommend to open a CTO.

Get a bonus when opening an account using my referral link. For transparency: I would receive 30€ if you start investing within 21 days.

XTB​

Available account: CTO

The Pros:

  • No transaction fee under 100k€ of investments per month.
  • Minimum transaction amount of 1€, but fractional shares not available.
  • Cash in the account currently yield 3.8%/year for EUR, 5%/year for USD, when not invested.
  • Crypto available

The Cons:

  • 0.5% fee when converting currencies (when you buy stocks in USD using EUR).