Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers 2025
| Updated: |
(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)
Interactive Brokers is my favorite foreign broker, and Swissquote is my favorite Swiss broker. Both brokers are very well known and have a good reputation.
So, it is time to compare Swissquote and Interactive Brokers in detail. In this article, I will examine their fees, features, and usability. We will also examine the user reviews for these two tools.
|
Best foreign broker
|
Best Swiss Broker
|
|
Primary Rating:
5.0
|
Primary Rating:
4.5
|
Swissquote
Swissquote is a Swiss broker and bank. They were founded in 1996 and have more than 700 employees. The broker itself is part of the Swissquote Group Holding SA company.
Although a Swiss company, it offers financial services to several countries. But in this article, I focus on Swiss investors.
Swissquote is a publicly traded company, meaning it must reveal its financials publicly. It is also a licensed bank in Switzerland. They currently have more than 400’000 users.
They offer access to many financial services. However, I only want to focus on the stock exchange brokerage services in this article.
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers is a broker from the United States with a presence in Europe.
They have several legal entities. You will deal with a specific entity, depending on where you are from. For instance, Swiss investors deal with the entity from the United Kingdom.
They also are a publicly traded company and a very profitable brokerage company. They have more than 1500 employees worldwide and were founded in 1978. As of 2021, they have more than 1.6 million customers.
They also offer access to a wide range of investment instruments. In this comparison, I will only focus on the stock broker part of Interactive Brokers.
Features
The most important criterion is that your broker should have all the needed features. So, we start by comparing the features of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers.
While important, it is not a very difficult criterion. Indeed, most investors do not need many features. You only need a few features if you are a passive investor like me. And after that, some features are nice to have but not essential.
Both brokers give you access to the most important stock exchanges, such as the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). And they provide you with access to the biggest European stock exchanges.
You can access stocks, bonds, and ETFs with both brokers, which is probably everything most investors need. You can also access futures, options, and more advanced investments, but that only concerns a few investors.
Very importantly, both brokers will give you access to US ETFs. These ETFs are the most efficient for Swiss investors.
Both brokers will let you trade from your desktop and your mobile phone. And they both have different applications.
Both brokers will give you some interest rate on your cash deposits. However, since you should not hold too much cash, comparing the interest rates is not interesting.
We should also talk about a few advanced features. Both brokers will provide you with access to margin loans if you require leverage and both brokers allow you to buy fractional shares.
Both Swissquote and Interactive Brokers should have all the features you need to invest in the stock market.
Fees
The fees of a broker are the second most crucial criterion, very close behind the first. So, we compare the fees of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers.
We start with account management fees. Interactive Brokers has no custody fees of any sort. At Swissquote, you will pay 0.025% custody per quarter, with a minimum of 15 CHF and a maximum of 50 CHF. So, you will pay between 60 CHF and 200 CHF per year in custody fees. This custody fee is not cheap, depending on your account size.
And if you have more than one million CHF In your Swissquote account, you will pay an extra 0.03% management fee (on assets above a million). This will make Swissquote much more expensive for wealthy investors.
Next, we must also consider transaction fees. IB has two fee systems: tiered and fixed. I am using the tiered system because it is cheaper for small investments. If you want all the details, I have made a complete comparison of Interactive Brokers’ fixed and tiered systems.
Swissquote has only one system, with different fees for each stock exchange. On top of that, SQ has a list of so-called ETF Leaders, with a fixed cost of 9 CHF on the Swiss stock exchange and 9 EUR on European stock exchanges. However, even for ETF Leaders, you still pay the stock exchange fees on top of the 9 CHF.
Finally, Swissquote is a Swiss broker, so you must pay Swiss stamp duty. This fee is 0.075% on Swiss stocks and 0.15% on foreign stocks.
We can run a few examples:
- 1000 CHF of CHSPI (ETF Leader): 5.00 CHF at SQ, 3.60 CHF at IB
- 10’000 CHF of CHSPI (ETF Leader): 9.00 CHF at SQ, 9.20 CHF at IB
- 1000 CHF of Nestlé (SIX): 5.00 CHF at SQ, 3.00 CHF at IB
- 10’000 CHF of Nestlé (SIX): 30.00 CHF at SQ, 6.50 CHF at IB
- 1000 USD of VT (NYSE): 5.00 USD at SQ, 0.35 USD at IB
- 10’000 USD of VT (NYSE): 30.00 USD at SQ, 0.37 USD at IB
We can observe a few important when comparing the fees of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers.
- For ETF Leaders, Swissquote is relatively affordable
- For Swiss shares, the difference is already more pronounced, about five times more expensive on large operations.
- For US shares, Swissquote is much more expensive than IB, almost a hundred times.
If you want to buy something in a foreign currency, you must convert from your base currency, from CHF to USD. Interactive Brokers will charge you 2 USD per currency conversion. Swissquote will charge you 0.95% for each currency conversion.
We must compare the fees of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers for a few conversions:
- 100 CHF to USD: 2 USD at IB, 0.95 CHF at SQ
- 1000 CHF to USD: 2 USD at IB, 9.5 CHF at SQ
- 5000 CHF to USD: 2 USD at IB, 47.5 CHF at SQ
For currency conversions, Interactive Brokers will generally be much cheaper than Swissquote. If you convert less than 200 CHF, IB will be more expensive than SQ. And you can even do automated conversions with IB that will be even cheaper, always cheaper than Swissquote, for small conversions.
Overall, Interactive Brokers is significantly cheaper than Swissquote. The difference will not be critical if you only invest in Swiss ETFs. However, the difference can be significant if you primarily use US ETFs.
Safety
If you invest significant money with a broker, you want your money to be safe. So, we must compare the safety and regulations of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers.
We start with the regulations. Swissquote is regulated in Switzerland by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). Interactive Brokers is regulated in the US by the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) and in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). So, both brokers are regulated by well-respected supervisors.
Both brokers segregate the money from the customers from their main entities. So, if they default, the creditors will have no claim on the money from the customers.
In case of bankruptcy, in theory, all your assets should be safe since everything is separated from the entity itself. If one of the custody banks defaults, your cash has extra protection. For Swissquote, your cash is protected by esisuisse for up to 100’000 CHF. With IB, your cash, stocks, and bonds will be covered by SIPC for up to 500’000 USD (250’000 USD limit for stocks).
If you have a lot of cash, protection will get even better since they will use multiple custody banks, and each bank will get protection up to 250’000 USD. You need to opt for the Insurance Bank Deposit Sweep program. So, in theory, your cash is safe at IB for up to 2.5 million USD. But this should not be the case for most of my readers.
The fact that both brokers are publicly listed companies lends credibility to these two companies.
Regarding technical security, both brokers seem to be doing everything they need. I have not found any information about data leaks or security breaches. They both offer a second factor of authentication, which is extremely important.
Swissquote, being based in Switzerland, will likely be easier to deal with in case of an issue. Given the limited access to customer service, dealing with serious issues with IB may be harder.
Overall, both brokers are among the safest stock brokers available. I have significant money in my IB account and feel safe with it.
Reputation
Reputation is also an essential part of choosing a broker. This tells a lot about what users think about the services. So, we must see what users think of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers.
In both cases, these brokers have an excellent overall reputation. I have never heard of massive issues with these brokers.
On TrustPilot, both brokers get similar scores: 3.3 stars for IB and 3.2 stars for Swissquote. People complain about the customer service for both services. While this is not a great sign, it is the case for almost every service I have reviewed.
People complain about the complexity of using Interactive Brokers and the high fees of Swissquote.
Good reviews indicate that people find trading with Swissquote very simple and like Interactive Brokers’ fees.
Overall, the reputation of both brokers is sound. Many people are complaining, but none of these complaints are very worrying. Overall, long-time users of both brokers are happy with it.
Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers Summary
We can make a summary of Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers:
|
Best broker overall
|
Best Swiss Broker
|
|
Primary Rating:
5.0
|
Primary Rating:
4.5
|
|
Extremely cheap
|
Very affordable
|
|
Pros:
|
Pros:
|
|
Cons:
|
Cons:
|
- Outstanding prices
- Many investing instruments
- Excellent execution
- Access to US ETFs
- Good reputation
- A little intimidating at first
- Swiss broker
- Easy to use
- Many investing instruments
- Access to US ETFs
- Good reputation
- Expensive to trade US shares
- Expensive currency conversion
We can draw a few conclusions for Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers:
- Interactive Brokers is significantly cheaper than Swissquote.
- Swissquote is slightly easier to use than Interactive Brokers.
- Both are good brokers with good reputations.
- Currency conversions are much better with IB than with Swissquote.
- Both brokers give you access to US ETFs.
- Swissquote is a Swiss broker while Interactive Brokers is a foreign broker with entities in Europe.
Conclusion
The broker you need to buy stocks and ETFs reliably and at extremely affordable prices. Trade U.S. stocks for as little as 0.5 USD!
- Extremely affordable
- Wide range of investing instruments
Overall, both Swissquote and Interactive Brokers are great brokers for Swiss investors.
For me, the choice between Swissquote vs Interactive Brokers boils down to a few points:
- If you want the cheapest broker, use Interactive Brokers.
- If you feel safer with a Swiss broker, use Swissquote.
- If you want to trade US stocks and ETFs heavily, use Interactive Brokers.
- If you only want to trade CH stocks and ETFs, use either of them.
I am trading mostly in US stocks and do not mind a good foreign broker, so I use Interactive Brokers as my main broker. For my secondary broker, I use Saxo. And for my LLC, I use Swissquote.
Many Swiss investors feel more comfortable with a Swiss broker. In this case, they should not think too much about using the cheapest broker. In the long run, what matters is to invest with good fees and Swissquote provides. If using a foreign broker makes you worried, do not use it.
For more information on these two brokers, read my reviews:
What about you? Which broker do you prefer?
More reading
Yuh Review 2025: One app to pay, save and invest
Postfinance and Swissquote launched a new digital bank: Yuh. Yuh combines banking, investing, and cryptocurrencies in a single service!
Saxo Bank Review 2025 – The Best Swiss Broker
Saxo has significantly reduced its fees, is it good now? This in-depth review covers this broker in detail to see whether we should use it.
Neon vs Yuh: Best digital bank in 2025?
We must compare Neon vs Yuh, two similar Swiss digital banks with banking and investing features! We will find out which is best for your needs!
Learn easy ways to optimize your finances and save thousands in Switzerland with our exclusive e-book. Learn about the most cost-effective financial services tailored for savvy residents and expats!
Get Your FREE Swiss Money-Saving Guide
Hello, thank you so much for the great information and tips, very helpful! I currently have about 50’000CHF in ETFs in Swissquote but am thinking about moving to IB. However due to the hassle and fees involved I am not sure if its worth it. I have 2 questions:
1. When you say Swissquote is relatively affordable for “ETF leaders” what exactly are these?
2. When you say IB is much cheaper for US shares, do you also mean ETFs? Is this for ETFs domiciled in the US only? Or would it make a difference if they’re domiciled in Ireland for example?
Thank you for your help :)
Hi Rebecca
I am glad my information is useful.
1) ETF Leaders are ETFs selected by Swissquote that are cheaper, they have some good ones, but they have no US ETFs in the list.
2) Yes, US shares and US ETFs. For Ireland ETFs, IB may be cheaper for large transactions, but the difference is especially large (like two orders of magnitude cheaper) for US shares and ETFs.
Good day,
I’m very new when it comes to investments. Shame I didn’t know much of this until now. Tired of always just having 1 stream of income. Planning to do Index Funds & ETF via Interactive Brokers. This may be a silly question, but which website should I go exactly to as someone (but not Swiss) who also resides in CH.
Is it Interactivebrokers.com OR interactivebrokers.ie?
Hi Alex
Good for you to decide to invest!
You can go to interactivebrokers.co.uk
Thank you very much! My last experience with another broker firm was not good. It was supposed to be SP500. To my surprise, it was a so–called CDF. I lost money just like that! Out of simply not knowing.
Does Interactive Brokers just have a steady SP500 index fund? No CDF involved?
I guess you are talking about a CFD, not a CDF. CFD are really bad indeed and riskier than people think. And unfortunately some brokers do not advertise that they trade using CFDs.
With IB, you can trade the S&P500 using an ETF, like VOO. And this will not use CFDs.
Hi,
I am considering opening an account but I can’t seem to find the free custody account you mention for IBKR on their website. Also SwissQuote seems to offer fractional trading too. Fees for SwissQuote also seem to be different than what you posted.
Hi Borsi
There is only one account on IBKR for Swiss investors, so all accounts are free of custody fees.
Can you precise which fees are not up-to-date?
Hi Baptiste,
Thank you for pointing out. Switzerland is served under the UK IBKR, right?
The fees I’m referring to are custody account fees. They are between CHF 20 – CHF 50 per quarter. For assets above 1 Mln the percentage also seems to have been changed to 0.0075%.
Commissions on Stocks and ETFs also seem to be changed, starting at CHF 3 for ETFs Leaders.
Also, if it does not mean any trouble, do you perhaps have a guide on taxation linked to investing in Switzerland? I moved recently and I’m still figuring out the most burocratic inner-workings :)
Yes, Switzerland is served under IB UK.
I just checked and custody fees are still from 20 to 50 CHF per quarter as indicated in the article and still 0.03% per year (0.0075% is per quarter).
But you are right that some fees went down with SQ and this not reflected in the article, I will update this when I get some time. Thanks!
I do have two things that could help:
* Guide to Taxes in Switzerland – Reduce your taxes!
* How to file your taxes with Swiss and foreign securities in 2025
Hi,
Is there any tax risk issues with using IBKR vs Swissquote because it is US-domiciled? At the moment or in the foreseeable future? Considering the volatile environment in the US, I’m just worried about any potential change that might impact Swiss-based investors using IBKR.
Hi Robin
As far as I know, no.
Trump could void the income tax treaty or the estate tax treaty and this would make it less interesting to hold US ETFs, but that will be the same with Swiss brokers or US brokers.