Wanna see if Trading 212 is a legit broker? Is it safe to trade? Is Trading 212 spread high or low? How long it take to deposit or withdraw?
We provide answers to all the questions in this Trading 212 Review.
We checked Trading 212 licenses and regulation status, compared Trading 212 Fees, spread & commission from the Live account to over 150 brokers. The time for deposit & withdrawal and many more findings crucial for your trading success, all you can get in this Review.
What is Trading 212
Trading 212 is a global fintech company, Forex and CFD broker established in 2006 with headquarters in the UK. Trading 212 also is the first company to offer zero-commission Stock Investment.
The company is regulated by several financial authorities including the respected Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and Bulgarian FSC.
Trading 212 Highlights
🗺️ Regulated in | UK, Bulgaria |
🛡️ Is Trading 212 safe to trade | Yes |
💵 EUR/USD spread | 1.3 pips |
🏦 Deposit | Cards, Bank Transfer, PayPal, Giropay, Skrill, WebMoney, CashU |
💰 Minimum deposit | US$100 |
🏦 Withdrawal | Cards, Bank Transfer, PayPal, Giropay, Skrill, WebMoney, CashU |
💻 Trading platform | Proprietary Platform |
💳 Trading markets | Stocks, ETFs via Investment account, CFD Trading on Forex, Stocks, Commodities, Indices |
📈 Number of product | 253 plus 1700 Shares |
📉 Live chat response | Instant and relevant answers |
Regulation
License and respected regulation are the keys to traders’ money security. There are two factors to check, the broker’s license with its background and how traders protected if anything go wrong.
Is Trading 212 legit
Trading 212 is regulated by several financial authorities, including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and additional one from the Bulgarian FSC.
Trading 212 Licenses and Regulatory status
Entity | Registered in | Regulator | License no. | Status |
Trading 212 UK Ltd. | United Kingdom | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | 609146 | Currently Regulated |
Trading 212 Ltd. | Bulgaria | Financial Supervision Commission (BFSC) | RG-03-0237 | Currently Regulated |

Is Trading 212 safe
Trading 212 considered safe because regulated by the top-tier FCA and ASIC.
Trading 212 operates two fully legal and regulated entities allowing to serve traders worldwide. Each entity applies specific regulatory restrictions or regulations also the amount of protection trader gets in case of insolvency.
Trading 212 Compensation Scheme
Entity | Compensation Amount | Negative Balance Protection |
Trading 212 UK Ltd. | £85,000 | Yes |
Trading 212 Ltd. | €20,000 | Yes |
We recommend registering trading account with the UK entity, if it’s possible for you, as we consider FCA regulations as the best.
Trading 212 provides negative balance protection for the accounts that due to trades went below zero.
Markets and Products
At Trading 212 there is a good range of product offering, with a definition to either trade Live CFDs or to Invest.
Forex
You can trade Live CFDs on Forex, Stocks, Indices and Commodities. Forex Currency pairs at Trading 212 are widely presented and are traded on CFD basis.
Invest
Trading 212 was the first broker to offer zero-commission Stock trading, while Real Stocks and ETFs are defined by Trading 212 as an investment. In Trading 212 Invest you can find over 3,000 Stocks and ETFs available.
Markets | Instruments |
Forex | 160 |
Indices | 23 |
Commodities | 26 |
Cryptocurrencies | 16 |
Shares | 1700 |
Account types
Trading 212 has two account types, defined by the type of trading or investment the client wishes to perform.
CFD vs Invest
CFD and Invest are two different types in Trading 212, CFD is for Active Live Trading of CFDs based with tight spreads, and Free Trading 212 Invest is for Real Stocks & ETFs investing.
Invest | CFD | |
Minimum Deposit | 1 USD/EUR/GBP | 10 USD/EUR/GBP |
Minimum Balance | – | – |
Spreads From | – | 1.4 pips |
Commissions | Zero Commissions | Zero Commissions |

Fees and commissions
Fee levels in Trading 212 we rank as average and low based on the instrument offering and compared to other 150 brokers Live account spread.
Spread we collect for popular instruments, 6 markets and 150 brokers
Markets | Instruments | Low | Average | High |
---|---|---|---|---|
Forex | EUR/USD | 0.1-0.9 | 1-1.5 | 1.6 or higher |
Indices | US S&P500 | 0.75-1 | ||
Commodities | Gold | 0.3-0.5 | ||
Stocks | Tesla | |||
ETFs | US Russell 2000 | |||
Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin | 0.5-0.75% |
Spreads
Trading 212 CFD account costs are built into a floating spread. Comparing the spreads derived from Live Account to industry benchmarks, we see the Trading 212 Live spread on Forex and Stocks within average and low spread.
While the spreads on CFD Indices and Commodities are high.
Markets | Instruments | Trading Spread | Other brokers’ avg spread |
Forex | EUR/USD | 1.3 | 1-1.5 |
Indices | US S&P500 | 2.8 | |
Commodities | Gold | 1.13 | |
Stocks | Tesla | 0.65 | |
ETFs | US Russell2000 | 2.34 | |
Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin | Not available |
Investing in Real Stocks and ETFs you will trade as Free Share, with 0$ Commission if you open Trading 212 Invest Account.
Other Fees
Trading 212 has low non-trading fees. There is no fee for deposits below 2,000$ and withdrawal is with no extra fees.
However, there is a conversion fee for CFD trading for other currencies compared to your account.
Trading Conditions
The trading conditions at Trading 212 are good. You can deploy Hedging and Aggregating trading strategies through easy switch between two models. But scalping is strictly forbidden.
Trading Conditions | Yes/No |
Hedging Allowed | Yes |
Scalping Allowed | No |
Change Leverage Allowed | Yes |
For hedging, there are no time limitations for keeping your open hedging positions.
For scalping, Trading 212 does not allow scalping and mainstay on its proprietary platform so no Expert Advisors (EAs) and no VPS.
Trading 212 allowing to use leverage for CFD trading and change its levels to fit the trading need, but depending on the regulatory restrictions.
Stop Loss
Trading 212 Stop Loss is a pending order available for traders to close
Deposit
Trading 212 do not add deposit fees for deposits below £2,000. Above the limit a fee of 0.7% will be applied.
There are options of the bank transfer, Credit or Debit cards, and range of electronic wallets, including PayPal.
A bank transfer can take several business days, while alternative payments are instant.
Deposit Method | Funding Time | Fee |
Credit Card | Instant | Free |
Skrill, Neteller | Instant | Free |
PayPal | Instant, Available only for CFD | Free |
Wire Transfer | Few business days | Free |
Instant Bank Transfer via TrueLayer | Instant | Free |
Dotpay, Giropay | Instant | Free |
Carte Bleue | Instant | Free |
iDEAL | Instant | Free |
Apple/ Google Play | Instant | Free |

Minimum Deposit
You can start Trading 212 Live Account 1 USD / GBP/ EUR available for Invest Account. Trading CFDs will require a minimum deposit of 10$.
Withdrawal
Similarly to deposits, there is no fee for withdrawal at Trading 212. Same options as deposits are available for withdrawals too, typically withdrawal requests are approved within 1 business day.
Withdrawal Method | Withdrawal Time | Fee |
Credit Card | 3 business days | 0$ |
Wire Transfer | 3 business days | 0$ |
Skrill, Neteller | 10-15 minutes | 0$ |
Apple & Google Pay | 3 business days | 0$ |
PayPal | 10-15 minutes | 0$ |
Bonus
There is no welcome Bonus or trading bonuses for Trading 212 clients, but referral program for existing Traders allowing to invite friends and get Free Shares.

Trading Platform
Trading 212 mainstays on proprietary Web-Platform supporting two trading modes hedging and aggregating and available for both Trading 212 Invest and Trading 212 CFD accounts.
The platform is Web Based software accessible across all devices and operating systems Windows and Mac, also supporting various languages.
App
Android and iOS Trading 212 App included in the package, we rank it as good, easy to use app with intuitive design.

Research and Tools
Trading 212 research and tools are available directly through the platform, and easy access to education videos. There is inbuilt Economic Calendar, News Feed and Daily market Analysis.
From the cons, there is no analysis from Top-Tier sources, but a standard range of tools and Sentiments designed to proprietary platform. In Trading Invest there is good tool Trading 212 Hotlist showing number of traders in particular Stock.
Trading 212 Research tools available through:
- Trading 212 platform
- Trading 212 website – Learn

Education
Trading 212 education content is well organized, which you can access through Trading 212 website Learn section. Video tutorials through YouTube channel, Demo account with 10k$ virtual funds, and quality read Articles defined b topics.
On the negative side is lack of Webinars.
At Trading 212 you can learn though the following ways:
- Demo account
- Educational videos and popular YouTube Channel
- Quality Learning articles
Demo Account
Demo Account is Free, with no limits on use. Upon opening of Live Trading account you can still use Demo account for practice through an easy switch between Live and Demo mode.

Customer Service
Trading 212 customer service ranked good, common questions are answered via FAQ section, and we got relevant answer through Live Chat.
Trading 212 Customer Support is available 24/7 in various languages:
- Live chat
- Telephone

Trading 212 Live chat response is fast speed, the chat agents are helpful.
Question Asked | We asked about Leverage. |
Time of Reply | It was about 5 mins to connect to Live Chat and waiting before we connect to customer support representative. |
Quality of Reply | The answer was relevant. |
Conclusion
Trading 212 is a safe broker to trade. There is option to trade CFDs or Invest in Real Stocks or ETFs.
There are two entities of Trading 212 and we would recommend trading with the UK. For the downsides, there is no alternative platform, so if you prefer trading or EAs ad popular MT4 go for another broker.
We recommend Trading 212 for traders who prefer CFDs trading and do not mind to use a proprietary platform. Also for Investment in Real Stocks with 0 Fees.
Author of this review

By Jimmy O'Brien
Author of this review
Over 15 years experience in forex, commodities and equities markets research. He loves analyzing and trading the markets as a strategist and trader. In late 2019, Jimmy turned to researching and analyzing forex brokers. Now he and his team focus researching and comparing broker’s pros and cons.
Over 15 years experience in forex, commodities and equities markets research. He loves analyzing and trading the markets as a strategist and trader. In late 2019, Jimmy turned to researching and analyzing forex brokers. Now he and his team focus researching and comparing broker’s pros and cons.