Detailed comparison of all fees, features, and suitability — updated for 2026.
Comdirect is the better choice for Full-Service Bank Customers, while Flatex wins for Austrian Investors. Which one suits you depends on your strategy — the detailed comparison below shows every difference.
| Metric | Comdirect | Flatex | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order fee per trade | 9.90 € | 5.90 € | 4.00 € cheaper at Flatex |
| 10y savings plan cost @ €100/month | 1.188 € | 708 € | 480 € cheaper at Flatex |
| Free ETF savings plans | 150 | 0 | +150 more at Comdirect |
| Available exchanges | 1 | 6 | +5 more at Flatex |
| BMInsider rating | 3.7/5 | 3.8/5 | +0.1 at Flatex |
All fees, products, and platform features compared side-by-side. The "Winner" column shows which broker leads in each category.
| Feature | Comdirect | Flatex | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees & Costs | |||
| Order Fee | 4.90€ + 0.25% (min 9.90€) | 5.90€ + Börsengebühr | Flatex |
| ETF Savings Plan Fee | 1.5% | 1.50€ | 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 | Tie | ||
| CFDs | Tie | ||
| Fractional Shares | Tie | ||
| Number of Exchanges | Alle deutschen + internationale Börsen | Xetra, Frankfurt, Wien | Flatex |
| Platform & Tools | |||
| Mobile App | Tie | ||
| Desktop Platform | Comdirect | ||
| Demo Account | Tie | ||
| Security & Regulation | |||
| Regulated by | BaFin | BaFin / FMA | Tie |
| Deposit Protection | 100.000€ | 100.000€ | Tie |
| Founded | 1994 | 2006 | Tie |
| Overall Rating | |||
| Rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | Flatex |
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 Flatex →Low per-order fees, many trading venues and derivatives access — important if you trade regularly.
More about Flatex →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.
Flatex is especially popular in Austria as a tax-simple broker with access to many exchanges and derivatives.
Particularly suitable for: Austrian Investors, Options Trading, Many Exchanges.
Comdirect (Commerzbank subsidiary, founded 1994) and Flatex (founded 1999, now part of flatexDEGIRO) are the two best-known traditional German Direktbank-style depot brokers. Both are BaFin-regulated, both offer Eurex options access, both serve customers who want phone support and full Regional-Börsen routing — the differences are subtle but real and depend on whether you value bundled banking (Comdirect) or low-cost depot-only (Flatex Austria for AT residents in particular).
This comparison matters most to investors who explicitly want a "real bank" depot rather than a neo-broker, and who place 1–10 manual orders per year on European mid-caps where venue routing matters.
You want a Girokonto + Tagesgeld + depot at the same bank. Comdirect is a real Direktbank with full banking products. Flatex is depot-only with no Girokonto. For users wanting one bank for paycheck + savings + investing, Comdirect remains coherent.
You want US NYSE/Nasdaq direct execution. Comdirect routes US orders directly to NYSE and Nasdaq with reasonable spreads. Flatex routes US orders via European intermediaries with wider spreads on most names.
You value 24/7 German telephone customer service. Comdirect operates a 24/7 call centre with experienced depot specialists. Flatex's phone support runs business hours only.
You want integrated research from Reuters, Morningstar, and analyst targets. Comdirect's WebFiliale integrates analyst research directly. Flatex's interface is more functional than research-rich.
You want German tax-simple status as a German tax resident. Both are steuereinfach for German residents, but Comdirect's processes are slightly more polished — Steuerbescheinigungen format is preferred by most traditional Steuerberater.
You are an Austrian tax resident. Flatex Österreich (operated via flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, Austrian branch) is one of the few foreign brokers that withholds Austrian 27.5 % KESt at source automatically — no FinanzOnline reporting for ordinary trades. Comdirect Austria closed standalone retail in 2022; new Austrian customers go through Commerzbank Austria with less smooth depot integration. For AT residents, Flatex Austria is structurally superior.
You trade Wien stocks (OMV, Erste, Verbund) regularly. Flatex offers direct Wiener Börse access with proper limit-order support and tight spreads. Comdirect routes to Wien but with slightly wider spreads on illiquid Austrian mid-caps.
You want lower per-order commissions on average orders. Flatex charges €5.90 + venue fees per order — for €1 000–€2 000 orders, this is meaningfully cheaper than Comdirect's €4.90 + 0.25 % with €9.90 minimum. On a €1 500 order, Flatex costs ~€6.50 vs Comdirect's €9.90.
You want depot-only without bundled banking pressure. Flatex is purely a depot bank — no Girokonto cross-sell, no banking app to ignore. For users who already have a Girokonto elsewhere and just want a clean depot, Flatex is structurally simpler.
You want fully-featured Eurex options with multi-leg orders. Both offer Eurex, but Flatex's WebFiliale supports more complex options structures (vertical spreads, butterflies) with proper bracket-order handling. Comdirect's options interface is more basic.
Germany — both steuereinfach. Comdirect and Flatex both withhold 25 % KESt + 5.5 % Soli + optional Kirchensteuer at source. Both apply Sparerpauschbetrag automatically once Freistellungsauftrag is filed. Loss carry-forward is per-broker.
Austria — Flatex Austria is austriakonform; Comdirect Austria has historical austriakonform status. Flatex Österreich actively withholds Austrian 27.5 % KESt at source for current customers. Comdirect Austria existed as an austriakonformer Broker until 2022; existing Austrian customers retained the status, but new sign-ups now go through Commerzbank Austria with mixed reporting practices. For new Austrian customers in 2026, Flatex Austria is the operationally cleaner choice.
Vorabpauschale 2026: Both apply Vorabpauschale automatically on January 2 by debiting the Verrechnungskonto. Both expect ~0.5–1 % of accumulating ETF position value in cash at year-end.
Quellensteuer on US dividends: Both file W-8BEN; the standard 15 % US withholding is creditable against German KESt automatically. For Austrian Flatex customers, the credit is also automatic.
Eurex-options tax handling: Both support Eurex options; the controversial €20 000 Verlustverrechnungstopf cap on Termingeschäft applies to both. Flatex's tax-statement separation of options vs equities is slightly cleaner; Comdirect's combined statement requires more parsing for the Termingeschäft category.
Profile: 1 monthly ETF savings plan at €100, 4 manual one-off purchases per year at €1 500 each (mid-cap range), average €5 000 idle cash buffer.
| Item | Comdirect | Flatex |
|---|---|---|
| 120× savings-plan execution | €180 (1.5 % per execution) | €180 (€1.50 each) |
| 40× manual orders €1 500 | €396 (€9.90 minimum each) | €260 (€5.90 + €0.65 venue avg) |
| Venue fees on top | €80 (€2 each) | included above |
| Depot fee (assume waived/active) | €0 | €0 |
| Cash interest (€5 k × 10 y on Tagesgeld) | €500 (1.0 % avg) | €0 (no Tagesgeld) |
| Net 10-year cost | €156 | €440 |
Comdirect comes out ~€284 ahead over 10 years, primarily because of the bundled Tagesgeld interest. Strip that out (e.g. user keeps cash elsewhere) and Flatex wins by ~€216 on commission alone. The choice depends on whether you actually use the Comdirect cash side.
Both lose decisively to neo-brokers like Trade Republic on this profile (TR would cost ~€100 over 10 years with €1 625 cash-interest credit, net negative). The Comdirect-vs-Flatex comparison is mostly relevant to investors who explicitly want a traditional Direktbank-style depot.
Pick: Comdirect. The Girokonto + Tagesgeld + depot combination delivers more for users who want one bank. Flatex's depot-only model is a friction at this preference.
Pick: Flatex Austria. Austriakonformer status alone justifies the choice for new AT customers. Comdirect Austria is no longer a meaningful option for new sign-ups.
Pick: Flatex. €5.90 per order with venue fees beats Comdirect's €9.90 minimum at this volume. Eurex options support is comparable; Flatex's options interface is slightly cleaner.
Pick: Flatex (slight edge over Comdirect). Both offer Eurex retail access. Flatex's tax statement separates options vs equities more cleanly, helping with Anlage KAP filing under the €20 000 Termingeschäft loss-cap rule.
Pick: Neither — use Trade Republic or Scalable. Both Comdirect and Flatex are too expensive for small monthly contributions. Save these for users with specific needs (Eurex, Wien direct, Austrian tax-simple status).
Answers to the most common questions about Comdirect vs Flatex.
For order fees, Flatex leads at 5.90€ + Börsengebühr, while Comdirect 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, Flatex by BaFin / FMA. Both fall under EU oversight. Deposit protection: Comdirect 100.000€, Flatex 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 Flatex 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€, Flatex: 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.
