Flatex
★★★★★3.8/5
Strengths
- Many Trading Venues
- Options & Futures
- Tax-Simple for Austria
- Demo Account
Weaknesses
- Higher Order Fees
- Savings Plan Not Free
Best for
Austrian Investors
Go to Flatex →* Affiliate link · no extra cost for you
Broker Comparison 2026
Flatex vs. Trade Republic
Detailed comparison of all fees, features, and suitability — updated for 2026.
Flatex
vs
Trade Republic
Our Recommendation
Flatex is the better choice for Austrian Investors, while Trade Republic wins for Beginners. Which one suits you depends on your strategy — the detailed comparison below shows every difference.
Numeric Comparison
| Metric | Flatex | Trade Republic | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order fee per trade | 5.90 € | 1.00 € | 4.90 € cheaper at Trade Republic |
| 10y savings plan cost @ €100/month | 708 € | 0 € | 708 € cheaper at Trade Republic |
| Interest on €10,000 cash (1 year) | — | 3.25 % = 325 € | +325 € more at Trade Republic / year |
| Free ETF savings plans | 0 | 2.200 | +2.200 more at Trade Republic |
| Available exchanges | 6 | 1 | +5 more at Flatex |
| BMInsider rating | 3.8/5 | 4.3/5 | +0.5 at Trade Republic |
Bottom line: on €10,000 cash Trade Republic earns about 3.250 € more interest over 10 years.
Trade Republic
★★★★★4.3/5
Strengths
- 1€ per Trade
- Free Savings Plans
- 3.25% Interest on Cash
- Easy-to-Use App
- Crypto Available
Weaknesses
- Only 1 Exchange (LS Exchange)
- No Options/Futures
Best for
Beginners
Go to Trade Republic →* Affiliate link · no extra cost for you
Detailed Comparison
All fees, products, and platform features compared side-by-side. The "Winner" column shows which broker leads in each category.
| Feature | Flatex | Trade Republic | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees & Costs | |||
| Order Fee | 5.90€ + Börsengebühr | 1€ per Order | Trade Republic |
| ETF Savings Plan Fee | 1.50€ | 0€ | Trade Republic |
| Account Fee | 0€/Year | 0€/Year | Tie |
| Minimum Deposit | 0€ | 0€ | Tie |
| Interest on Cash | 0% | 3.25% | Trade Republic |
| Product Range | |||
| Stocks | Tie | ||
| ETFs | Tie | ||
| Crypto | Trade Republic | ||
| Options | Flatex | ||
| CFDs | Tie | ||
| Fractional Shares | Trade Republic | ||
| Number of Exchanges | Xetra, Frankfurt, Wien | LS Exchange | Flatex |
| Platform & Tools | |||
| Mobile App | Tie | ||
| Desktop Platform | Tie | ||
| Demo Account | Flatex | ||
| Security & Regulation | |||
| Regulated by | BaFin / FMA | BaFin | Tie |
| Deposit Protection | 100.000€ | 100.000€ | Tie |
| Founded | 2006 | 2015 | Tie |
| Overall Rating | |||
| Rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | Trade Republic |
Which Broker for Whom?
Depending on your strategy and experience, one broker fits better. Here's how to decide:
For Beginners
Trade Republic
Low barriers, simple app, demo account and no hidden costs — perfect to get started.
More about Trade Republic →For Active Traders
Trade Republic
Low per-order fees, many trading venues and derivatives access — important if you trade regularly.
More about Trade Republic →For Long-Term Investors
Trade Republic
Free savings plans, interest on cash and no custody fee — what matters when you buy & hold.
More about Trade Republic →Detailed Assessment
Who is Flatex?
Flatex is especially popular in Austria as a tax-simple broker with access to many exchanges and derivatives.
Strengths in Detail
- Many Trading Venues
- Options & Futures
- Tax-Simple for Austria
- Demo Account
Weaknesses
- Higher Order Fees
- Savings Plan Not Free
- No Interest on Cash
- No Crypto
Who is Flatex worth it for?
Particularly suitable for: Austrian Investors, Options Trading, Many Exchanges.
Who is Trade Republic?
Trade Republic is a German neo-broker with extremely low fees (€1 per trade) and free ETF savings plans. Ideal for beginners and savings plan investors.
Strengths in Detail
- 1€ per Trade
- Free Savings Plans
- 3.25% Interest on Cash
- Easy-to-Use App
- Crypto Available
Weaknesses
- Only 1 Exchange (LS Exchange)
- No Options/Futures
- Limited Order Types
- No Desktop Client
Who is Trade Republic worth it for?
Particularly suitable for: Beginners, Savings Plan Investors, Mobile-First.
Flatex vs Trade Republic — old-school depot bank vs neo-broker
Flatex and Trade Republic represent two opposite poles of the German retail-broker market. Flatex is a traditional full-service depot bank founded in 1999 in Kulmbach: every German Regionalbörse, Wien, real Limit/Stop/OCO orders, paper-based onboarding, premium customer service. Trade Republic is the mobile-first neo-broker launched in 2015: one app, one exchange (LS Exchange), €1 per order, 3.25 % interest on cash.
The honest answer to "which is better" depends almost entirely on three things: (1) do you trade German or Austrian stocks beyond the DAX-40? (2) do you trade options or want a real desktop client? (3) do you keep cash in the account?
Flatex wins (1) and (2) by a wide margin. Trade Republic wins (3) and the cost game for passive investing. There is genuinely very little overlap in the use case profile.
When Flatex is the better pick
You trade Austrian stocks (Wien) regularly. Flatex offers direct access to Wiener Börse and 12+ German exchanges including Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, München. Trade Republic only has LS Exchange — for OMV, Verbund, Erste Group or any Austrian small/mid-cap, the price you get on LS is often noticeably worse than direct Wien execution. For an OMV order at €40 with a typical LS-vs-Wien spread of 0.15–0.30 %, that is €0.60–€1.20 of slippage per €400 traded — meaningful when you trade size.
You want all German Regionalbörsen + American NYSE/Nasdaq direct. Flatex routes orders to the venue with the best price including Tradegate, Quotrix and the regional exchanges. Trade Republic does not offer cross-venue smart routing — there is no comparison shop happening on your behalf.
You need real order types. Flatex supports Stop-Limit, Trailing-Stop, OCO (One-Cancels-Other), AON (All-or-None), Iceberg orders, and contingent orders triggered by price thresholds on a different instrument. Trade Republic offers Market and Limit, with a basic Stop-Loss in beta. For anyone running protective stops on a 7-figure portfolio or layering bracket orders around earnings, the difference is structural.
You actively trade options or futures. Flatex has full Eurex access — DAX/Bund options and futures, single-stock options on European underlyings, structured certificates from 30+ issuers. Trade Republic has none of this. Closest substitute on TR is "Knock-Out-Zertifikate" but with limited issuers and worse pricing.
When Trade Republic is the better pick
You are cost-sensitive on small orders. Flatex charges €5.90 per order plus venue fees (€0.85–€2.50 typical), so a €500 order costs ~€7–€8 — that is 1.4–1.6 % round-trip in fees alone. Trade Republic charges €1 flat. For a €100 monthly buy, Flatex eats 7 % of the trade as commission; on Trade Republic it is 1 %. Compounded across 10 years of monthly buys at €100, the fee gap is around €700 in TR favor.
You hold any meaningful idle cash. Trade Republic pays 3.25 % p.a. on EUR cash up to €50 k, credited monthly. Flatex pays nothing on the trading account; their separate Tagesgeld product exists but has its own terms and currently lower rate. On a €15 k buffer, that is ~€487/year for free at Trade Republic — more than enough to fund an entire year of Flatex orders.
You want fee-free ETF savings plans on hundreds of ETFs. Trade Republic offers €0 savings-plan execution on >2 000 ETFs from €1 minimum. Flatex saving plans cost €1.50 per execution outside the partner-program ETFs, and the partner list is shorter. For a 3-fund Bogleheads-style setup, TR is meaningfully cheaper.
You want native crypto in the same account. Trade Republic supports ~50 cryptocurrencies natively, custodial, no separate wallet. Flatex does not offer spot crypto.
Taxes — DACH specifics
Germany — both steuereinfach. Flatex and Trade Republic both withhold 25 % KESt + 5.5 % Soli (= 26.375 % effective) plus optional Kirchensteuer at source. Both apply your Sparerpauschbetrag (€1 000 single / €2 000 jointly) automatically once you submit a Freistellungsauftrag. Loss carry-forward is handled per broker — if you have realized losses on Flatex and gains on TR, you will need to manually file a Verlustbescheinigung at year-end and offset in your annual Anlage KAP.
Austria — Flatex is austriakonform, TR is not. Flatex Österreich (operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank AG, Austrian branch) is one of the few foreign brokers that withholds the Austrian 27.5 % KESt at source automatically — no FinanzOnline reporting required for ordinary stock trades. Trade Republic in Austria functions as a non-austriakonformer Broker: you report everything yourself via Anlage E1kv. Vorabpauschale, dividend tax credits, US W-8BEN withholding all need manual treatment in the FinanzOnline form.
Vorabpauschale 2026: Flatex applies the Vorabpauschale calculation centrally on January 2 and debits cash automatically. Trade Republic does the same. 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. Standard 15 % US withholding tax credited against German KESt automatically, against Austrian KESt manually for TR (automatic for Flatex Austria).
Cost example — €10 000 portfolio over 10 years
Two profiles, identical capital, identical buys: 1 monthly ETF savings plan at €100, 4 manual one-off purchases per year at €500 each (€2 000/year), average €5 000 idle cash buffer.
| Item | Flatex | Trade Republic |
|---|---|---|
| 120× savings plan execution | €180 (€1.50 each) | €0 |
| 40× manual orders | €236 (€5.90 each) | €40 (€1 each) |
| Venue fees (40× ~€1) | €40 | €0 (LS in price) |
| Depot fee (assumed waived) | €0 | €0 |
| Cash interest (€5k × 10y × rate) | €0 | +€1 625 (3.25 %) |
| Net 10-year cost | €456 | −€1 585 |
The €2 041 difference is real money — equal to ~20 % of the original €10 000 capital. For this profile, Trade Republic dominates economically. The Flatex case only competes if (a) the user trades exotic venues, (b) needs option strategies, or (c) values customer-service reachability and printed Erträgnisaufstellung that some accountants prefer.
Flip the scenario to 20 manual orders per month on illiquid mid-caps where Xetra/Wien pricing matters: Flatex trade fees still cost ~€1 700 over 10 years, but the better execution on €5 000+ orders saves ~€2 500 in spread — Flatex wins net, and the comparison is no longer about commission.
Verdict by investor profile
Beginner with a €50/month savings plan
Pick: Trade Republic. €0 savings plan, €1 manual orders, 3.25 % cash, native crypto. Flatex would charge ~€86/year just for one savings plan plus four manual buys — eating ~14 % of the contributions. There is no scenario at this size where Flatex is the right answer.
DACH dividend investor with €100k+ buying mid-caps
Pick: Flatex. Direct Wien access for OMV/Erste/Verbund, real Stop-Limit and contingent orders for protective stops, Tradegate/Xetra smart routing, Eurex access for covered-call writing on European single-stock options. The TR fee advantage on small orders evaporates when each trade is €5 000+ and execution quality dominates. For Austrian residents specifically, Flatex Austria + austriakonform tax handling alone justifies the choice.
Crypto-curious mass-market saver
Pick: Trade Republic. All-in-one mobile app, fast onboarding, 3.25 % on emergency cash, 50 cryptos in one place, free savings plans. Flatex is structurally not designed for this user.
Active options trader on European underlyings
Pick: Flatex (or upgrade to Interactive Brokers). Trade Republic does not support options. Flatex is the only retail-friendly German broker with full Eurex DAX/Bund options access plus single-stock options on European names. For US options or 5+ trades per day, Interactive Brokers becomes a better choice; for occasional Eurex strategies and German tax simplicity combined, Flatex remains relevant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most common questions about Flatex vs Trade Republic.
For order fees, Trade Republic leads at 1€ pro Order, while Flatex charges 5.90€ + Börsengebühr. Note: with CFD brokers, spreads add hidden cost — the lower nominal price isn't always cheaper overall.
Flatex is regulated by BaFin / FMA, Trade Republic by BaFin. Both fall under EU oversight. Deposit protection: Flatex 100.000€, Trade Republic 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.
Trade Republic offers free ETF savings plans from 1€. If a savings plan matters to you, that's a clear edge.
Both are covered under their home regulator's deposit protection. Flatex: 100.000€, Trade Republic: 100.000€. Securities are held in segregated accounts and protected in case of broker insolvency.
Trade Republic leads on cash interest at 3.25%. Watch the conditions — some brokers require a paid plan or cap the amount.
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.
Ready to Get Started?
Sign up with the broker that fits your strategy. Both are regulated and offer a demo account to test risk-free.