Detailed comparison of all fees, features, and suitability — updated for 2026.
Comdirect is the better choice for Derivatives Trading, while ING wins for Casual Investors. Which one suits you depends on your strategy — the detailed comparison below shows every difference.
| Metric | Comdirect | ING | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order fee per trade | 9.90 € | 9.90 € | identical |
| 10y savings plan cost @ €100/month | 1.188 € | 1.188 € | identical |
| Free ETF savings plans | 150 | 0 | +150 more at Comdirect |
| Available exchanges | 1 | 5 | +4 more at ING |
| BMInsider rating | 3.7/5 | 3.5/5 | +0.2 at Comdirect |
All fees, products, and platform features compared side-by-side. The "Winner" column shows which broker leads in each category.
| Feature | Comdirect | ING | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees & Costs | |||
| Order Fee | 4.90€ + 0.25% (min 9.90€) | 4.90€ + 0.25% (min 9.90€) | Tie |
| ETF Savings Plan Fee | 1.5% | 1.75% | Tie |
| Account Fee | 0€ (with activity) / 1.95€/Month otherwise | 0€/Year | Tie |
| Minimum Deposit | 0€ | 0€ | Tie |
| Interest on Cash | 0% | 0% | Tie |
| Product Range | |||
| Stocks | Tie | ||
| ETFs | Tie | ||
| Crypto | Tie | ||
| Options | Comdirect | ||
| CFDs | Tie | ||
| Fractional Shares | Tie | ||
| Number of Exchanges | Alle deutschen + internationale Börsen | Xetra, Frankfurt, Direkthandel | ING |
| Platform & Tools | |||
| Mobile App | Tie | ||
| Desktop Platform | Comdirect | ||
| Demo Account | Comdirect | ||
| Security & Regulation | |||
| Regulated by | BaFin | BaFin | Tie |
| Deposit Protection | 100.000€ | 100.000€ | Tie |
| Founded | 1994 | 1991 | Tie |
| Overall Rating | |||
| Rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | Comdirect |
Depending on your strategy and experience, one broker fits better. Here's how to decide:
Low barriers, simple app, demo account and no hidden costs — perfect to get started.
More about Comdirect →Low per-order fees, many trading venues and derivatives access — important if you trade regularly.
More about Comdirect →Free savings plans, interest on cash and no custody fee — what matters when you buy & hold.
More about Comdirect →Comdirect is a full-service bank with comprehensive securities offerings. For investors who want everything from one provider.
Particularly suitable for: Full-Service Bank Customers, Derivatives Trading, Experienced Investors.
ING offers securities trading as part of its full banking service. For customers who want checking and brokerage under one roof.
Particularly suitable for: Full-Service Bank Customers, Casual Investors, Savings Plan.
Comdirect (Commerzbank subsidiary, 30 years of operations, 4M+ securities customers) and ING (formerly ING-DiBa, 9M total bank customers in Germany) are the two best-known German Direktbank-with-depot products. Both offer a Girokonto + Tagesgeld + depot bundle, both are BaFin-regulated, both are frequently grandfathered into German households as "the bank we've always had". The depot itself is rarely the reason people pick either bank — it is a feature of the broader banking relationship.
This comparison matters most to two groups: (1) existing customers of one bank deciding whether to migrate, and (2) people opening their first depot at a "real bank" rather than a neo-broker. The differences are subtle but real, and the answer often depends on which products beyond the depot you actually use.
You want options or futures access in a German tax-simple depot. Comdirect offers full Eurex retail access — DAX/Bund options and futures, single-stock options on European underlyings. ING does not offer options, futures, or CFDs at all. For occasional covered-call writers or anyone wanting Eurex-Termingeschäft access, only Comdirect serves the use case.
You want broader exchange access including all German Regional-Börsen. Comdirect routes to Stuttgart, München, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Tradegate, Quotrix, plus US NYSE/Nasdaq direct, Wien, Six Switzerland. ING routes primarily to Xetra, Frankfurt, Direkthandel, and US exchanges — fewer regional German options. For mid-cap stocks where regional pricing matters, Comdirect's broader smart-routing produces better fills.
You want integrated research from Reuters, Morningstar, and analyst targets. Comdirect's Live-Trading-Plattform integrates analyst research directly in the order ticket. ING's depot interface is more focused on simple buy/sell flows; research is available but less tightly integrated.
You value 24/7 phone support specifically for depot questions. Comdirect's call centre is available around the clock with experienced depot specialists. ING's phone support is also strong but operates with shorter hours for depot-specific issues.
You want a polished web-based trading UI. Comdirect's WebFiliale, while not the prettiest interface in 2026, is fully functional with order types beyond Market/Limit. ING's depot UI is minimalist and lacks advanced order types like Trailing-Stop or OCO.
You want one bank for paycheck + Girokonto + savings + depot. ING is universally regarded as the most polished consumer banking experience among the German Direktbanks — clean app, instant payments, 4M+ Visa Debit users with worldwide ATM access, and the well-known Extra-Konto for savings (currently 1.5–1.75 % standard, with promo rates higher). Comdirect's banking side is functional but feels older-generation; the consumer experience is noticeably less smooth.
You want a free Girokonto with no monthly fee. ING's Girokonto Direkt is permanently free with no minimum-deposit requirement. Comdirect's Girokonto is also free but requires either €700/month income or active depot use ≥ once per month — fail those conditions and you pay €1.95/month.
You want savings plans starting at €1/month. ING offers savings plans from €1 minimum (similar to TR and Scalable). Comdirect's savings-plan minimum is €25/month — higher friction for micro-savers and 4-fund splits.
You like a more modern and consistent banking app. ING's app is consistently rated higher than Comdirect's in app-store reviews. The user flow for transferring money, setting up savings plans, or buying ETFs is smoother and faster.
You're a casual investor with 1–4 manual orders per year. Both charge similar fees (€9.90 minimum on each), but ING's overall banking experience compensates for the depot's modest functionality. For users who hold mostly ETFs and rarely trade individually, ING is the simpler bundle.
Germany — both steuereinfach. Comdirect and ING both withhold 25 % KESt + 5.5 % Soli (= 26.375 % effective) plus optional Kirchensteuer at source. Both apply the Sparerpauschbetrag automatically once Freistellungsauftrag is filed. Loss carry-forward is per-broker — if you split assets between both, you will need to manually file a Verlustbescheinigung at year-end if you want to combine.
Austria — historical asymmetry. Comdirect Austria operated as an austriakonformer Broker until 2022 when the standalone Austrian retail offering was closed; existing Austrian customers retained austriakonform status, but new sign-ups go through Commerzbank Austria. ING does not have an austriakonformer Austrian product — Austrian residents using ING.de must self-report via Anlage E1kv. For new Austrian customers in 2026, neither broker is straightforwardly austriakonform.
Vorabpauschale 2026: Both apply Vorabpauschale automatically on January 2 by debiting the depot Verrechnungskonto. Both expect ~0.5–1 % of accumulating ETF position value in cash at year-end to avoid forced partial sale.
Quellensteuer on US dividends: Both file W-8BEN; the standard 15 % US withholding is creditable against German KESt automatically.
Eurex-options tax handling: Comdirect supports Eurex options; the controversial €20 000 Verlustverrechnungstopf cap on Termingeschäft applies. ING does not offer options, so this consideration does not apply to ING customers.
Reporting niceness: Both issue paper-style Steuerbescheinigungen that traditional Steuerberater prefer. Comdirect's documents are slightly more detailed for complex Anlage KAP-INV scenarios; ING's are cleaner for simple ETF-only portfolios.
Profile: 1 monthly ETF savings plan at €100, 4 manual one-off purchases per year at €500 each, average €5 000 idle cash buffer (held in the bank's preferred savings vehicle).
| Item | Comdirect | ING |
|---|---|---|
| 120× savings plan execution | €180 (1.5 % per execution) | €210 (1.75 % per execution) |
| 40× manual orders (€9.90 min) | €396 | €396 |
| Venue fees (40× ~€2) | €80 | €80 |
| Depot fee (assume active = waived) | €0 | €0 |
| Cash interest (€5 k × 10 y on Tagesgeld) | €500 (1.0 % avg) | €875 (1.75 % Extra-Konto) |
| Net 10-year cost | €156 | −€189 |
The €345 difference favors ING — almost entirely because of the higher Tagesgeld/Extra-Konto rate. Commission structures are essentially identical (both at 4.90 € + 0.25 % with 9.90 € minimum). Savings-plan fees marginally favor Comdirect (1.5 % vs 1.75 %).
Both lose decisively to neo-brokers (Trade Republic, Scalable PRIME+) on this profile by €1 200–€1 500 over 10 years. The Comdirect-vs-ING comparison is mostly relevant to existing customers deciding whether to migrate between these two banks rather than to either as the optimal new-customer choice.
Pick: ING. The all-around banking experience is more polished, savings plans start at €1, the Girokonto is unconditionally free, and the Extra-Konto rate is competitive. Comdirect's only structural advantage (Eurex options) is irrelevant to a beginner.
Pick: Stay at Comdirect for the depot, but consider Trade Republic for active investing. The depot is fine; the active-trading economics are not. Open TR or Scalable Free in parallel if you place more than 4 manual orders per year or want fee-free savings plans.
Pick: Stay at ING for banking, move investing to Trade Republic. The same advice as above — ING's banking is competitive, ING's depot is not. Migration to TR for the depot saves 200–400 €/year while losing nothing on the banking side.
Pick: Comdirect. ING does not offer options at all. For Eurex-Termingeschäft access in a German tax-simple depot, Comdirect is the only choice between these two banks.
Pick: ING. Higher Extra-Konto rate, smoother app for moving cash between Tagesgeld and depot, and the unconditional free Girokonto. Comdirect requires conditions to keep banking fee-free.
Answers to the most common questions about Comdirect vs ING.
For order fees, Comdirect leads at 4.90€ + 0.25% (min 9.90€), while ING charges 4.90€ + 0.25% (min 9.90€). Note: with CFD brokers, spreads add hidden cost — the lower nominal price isn't always cheaper overall.
Comdirect is regulated by BaFin, ING by BaFin. Both fall under EU oversight. Deposit protection: Comdirect 100.000€, ING 100.000€.
For German/Austrian customers, language, BaFin regulation and tax-simple status often matter most. Check the 'Regulated by' and 'Languages' rows — DACH-focused brokers usually have the edge.
Neither Comdirect nor ING offers free ETF savings plans. If recurring investing matters, check a savings-plan-focused broker.
Both are covered under their home regulator's deposit protection. Comdirect: 100.000€, ING: 100.000€. Securities are held in segregated accounts and protected in case of broker insolvency.
Neither broker pays meaningful interest on uninvested cash. Look elsewhere if cash yield matters.
Both offer native mobile apps with good app-store ratings. Which is better depends on your needs — try both with a demo account if available.
A second broker makes sense when one offers features the other lacks (e.g. options, crypto, more exchanges). A full switch is only worth it if the cost difference or missing features are significant.
Sign up with the broker that fits your strategy. Both are regulated and offer a demo account to test risk-free.
