Detailed comparison of all fees, features, and suitability — updated for 2026.
Comdirect is the better choice for Full-Service Bank Customers, while Interactive Brokers wins for Professionals. Which one suits you depends on your strategy — the detailed comparison below shows every difference.
| Metric | Comdirect | Interactive Brokers | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order fee per trade | 9.90 € | 1.00 € | 8.90 € cheaper at Interactive Brokers |
| 10y savings plan cost @ €100/month | 1.188 € | 120 € | 1.068 € cheaper at Interactive Brokers |
| Interest on €10,000 cash (1 year) | — | 4.33 % = 433 € | +433 € more at Interactive Brokers / year |
| Free ETF savings plans | 150 | 0 | +150 more at Comdirect |
| Available exchanges | 1 | 1 | identical |
| BMInsider rating | 3.7/5 | 4.5/5 | +0.8 at Interactive Brokers |
All fees, products, and platform features compared side-by-side. The "Winner" column shows which broker leads in each category.
| Feature | Comdirect | Interactive Brokers | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees & Costs | |||
| Order Fee | 4.90€ + 0.25% (min 9.90€) | $0.005/Aktie (min $1) or Fixed $1 | Interactive Brokers |
| ETF Savings Plan Fee | 1.5% | - | Tie |
| Account Fee | 0€ (with activity) / 1.95€/Month otherwise | 0€/Year | Tie |
| Minimum Deposit | 0€ | 0€ | Tie |
| Interest on Cash | 0% | bis 4.33% (USD) | Interactive Brokers |
| Product Range | |||
| Stocks | Tie | ||
| ETFs | Tie | ||
| Crypto | Interactive Brokers | ||
| Options | Tie | ||
| CFDs | Tie | ||
| Fractional Shares | Interactive Brokers | ||
| Number of Exchanges | Alle deutschen + internationale Börsen | 150+ Börsen in 33 Ländern | Tie |
| Platform & Tools | |||
| Mobile App | Tie | ||
| Desktop Platform | Tie | ||
| Demo Account | Tie | ||
| Security & Regulation | |||
| Regulated by | BaFin | SEC / FCA / BaFin | Tie |
| Deposit Protection | 100.000€ | $500.000 (SIPC) | Tie |
| Founded | 1994 | 1978 | Tie |
| Overall Rating | |||
| Rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | Interactive Brokers |
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 Interactive Brokers →Low per-order fees, many trading venues and derivatives access — important if you trade regularly.
More about Interactive Brokers →Free savings plans, interest on cash and no custody fee — what matters when you buy & hold.
More about Interactive Brokers →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.
Interactive Brokers is the professional's choice with access to 150+ exchanges, all product classes, and the lowest fees for active traders.
Particularly suitable for: Professionals, Active Traders, International Investors, Options Trading.
Comdirect (Commerzbank subsidiary, founded 1994) and Interactive Brokers (US-domiciled, founded 1978) sit at fundamentally different market positions. Comdirect is the bundled German Direktbank-with-depot — Girokonto, Tagesgeld, Eurex retail, all German exchanges, BaFin-regulated, steuereinfach for German residents. IBKR is the global professional trading infrastructure — 150+ exchanges across 33 countries, full options/futures/FX/bonds, Tier-1 prime-broker spreads, but with the operational complexity and US-tax filing burden that comes with American broker domicile.
This is rarely a "which is better" comparison. The honest framing: Comdirect is for German tax-residents who want operational simplicity. IBKR is for users who actively need IBKR's depth — global market access, advanced options, multi-asset trading — and accept the US-broker-style tax overhead as the price of access.
You are a German tax resident wanting steuereinfach. Comdirect withholds 26.375 % KESt + Soli at source automatically. IBKR is not a German tax-simple broker — every realized gain, dividend, and interest payment must be self-reported via Anlage KAP, with manual handling of US W-8BEN credits, FX gains/losses, and Vorabpauschale.
You want German telephone customer service in German. Comdirect's 24/7 German call centre is staffed by experienced specialists. IBKR's support is English-only and primarily ticket-based.
You hold idle EUR cash and want straightforward interest. Comdirect offers a separate Tagesgeld product (1.0–1.75 %). IBKR pays USD interest at the SOFR-based tier rates (4.33 %+) but only above $10 k thresholds and at variable rates depending on account size.
You want a Girokonto + depot bundle. Comdirect is a real Direktbank — IBAN, Visa Debit, full SEPA. IBKR is depot-only with no consumer banking products.
You want EU-100k deposit protection. Comdirect deposits are protected by the German EdB at €100 000 per customer. IBKR cash is protected by SIPC at $500 000 (higher), but for German residents the EdB protection is the more legally-relevant guarantee. Both are robust; the Comdirect protection is operationally cleaner for EU users.
You trade options actively (5+ contracts/month). IBKR offers global options markets — US options, Eurex DAX/Bund options, single-stock options on European underlyings, options on futures. Per-contract fees are $0.65 (or $0.15–0.55 on the Tiered plan). Comdirect supports Eurex options but with higher per-contract fees and a less powerful options interface. For active options traders, IBKR overtakes economically at ~5 contracts/month.
You trade futures, FX, or bonds. IBKR offers Eurex/CME/CBOE futures, 100+ FX pairs with institutional spreads, direct corporate + government bond markets. Comdirect offers limited Eurex futures but no FX direct or bond market access. For multi-asset traders, IBKR is a structural fit.
You trade non-DAX markets — Tokyo, Hong Kong, ASX, TSX. IBKR routes to 150+ exchanges. Comdirect offers Wien, Six Switzerland, US — but no Asian or Australian markets directly. For international stock picking beyond US/EU, IBKR is one of the only retail-accessible options.
You hold $50 k+ in USD cash and want institutional rates. IBKR pays SOFR-based USD interest at tier rates. Comdirect does not pay competitive USD interest at all. For users with US-dollar exposure, IBKR is structurally cheaper.
You manage capital across multiple accounts (family office / advisor model). IBKR supports sub-accounts, joint accounts, custodial accounts, and the IBKR Pro / Lite tier. Comdirect is single-user only.
Germany — Comdirect is steuereinfach, IBKR is not. Comdirect withholds 25 % KESt + 5.5 % Soli + optional Kirchensteuer at source. IBKR Germany (operated through IBIE — IBKR Ireland) does not automatically withhold German taxes. You receive an annual Steuerreport listing transactions, dividends, fees, Vorabpauschale base — but you must manually file Anlage KAP, claim Sparerpauschbetrag, calculate FX gains/losses on USD positions, and handle US W-8BEN credits. This requires either tax-software (Smartsteuer / WISO) with Excel imports, or a Steuerberater familiar with international broker statements (~€200–€500/year).
Austria — Comdirect Austria has historical austriakonform status; IBKR does not. Comdirect Austria existed as austriakonformer Broker until 2022 (existing customers retained status). IBKR is not austriakonform — Austrian residents must self-report via Anlage E1kv.
Vorabpauschale 2026: Comdirect calculates and debits Vorabpauschale automatically on January 2. IBKR reports the Vorabpauschale base in the year-end statement; you must report it manually in Anlage KAP-INV. The basis on accumulating ETF positions is the same, but operational handling diverges sharply.
Quellensteuer on US dividends: Comdirect credits the standard 15 % US withholding against German KESt automatically. IBKR withholds 15 % (W-8BEN filed) but does not auto-credit — you claim the credit in Anlage KAP.
Currency-gain tracking on USD positions: A practical IBKR pain point. EUR-tax-resident clients holding USD-denominated positions trigger taxable currency gains/losses on every position close, which must be tracked separately from the underlying capital gain. Comdirect, by virtue of its EUR-only operations, abstracts this away.
Profile change: this comparison only makes sense at higher capital. €100 000 portfolio, 8 manual orders/month at €2 000 average, monthly €500 ETF savings plan, €15 000 average idle EUR cash buffer.
| Item | Comdirect | Interactive Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| 120× savings-plan execution | €180 (1.5 % per execution) | ~€100 (per-share min) |
| 960× manual orders €2 000 | €9 504 (€9.90 each) | ~€960 ($1 each) |
| Venue fees / FX | ~€600 (€0.50 average) | ~€100 (institutional spread) |
| Cash interest (€15k × 10y) | +€1 500 (1.0 % Tagesgeld) | +€4 500 (3.0 % avg EUR rate) |
| Tax-handling cost (Steuerberater) | €0 | ~€2 500 (10y × €250) |
| Net 10-year cost | €8 784 | −€840 |
The €9 624 difference favors IBKR — but only if you absorb the tax-handling burden as a Steuerberater fee. For DIY tax filers, IBKR's net cost drops to ~€−3 340 (vs Comdirect's €+8 784), making the gap €12 124 in IBKR's favor.
The Comdirect case is competitive only when (a) you place few enough orders that the commission gap doesn't matter, OR (b) you place a high subjective value on no-thought tax-handling and German telephone support, OR (c) you are an existing Comdirect Girokonto customer where bundle convenience is real.
Pick: Comdirect (or better, Trade Republic / Scalable). IBKR's complexity and tax-filing burden are wasted on a first-time investor. Steuereinfach handling matters at this stage.
Pick: Comdirect (or Trade Republic for cost). The IBKR depth is unused at this profile. Steuereinfach + German support more than compensate for the higher commissions.
Pick: Interactive Brokers. Comdirect's options interface is functional but not for serious volume. For 5+ contracts/month, IBKR is structurally correct.
Pick: Interactive Brokers. Comdirect does not route to Asian/Australian exchanges. For these markets, IBKR is one of the only retail options.
Pick: Interactive Brokers (with Comdirect or DKB for Girokonto). When you need US options, Eurex futures, FX hedging, corporate bonds, and equities under one roof, no other broker available to retail in Germany matches IBKR's breadth.
Answers to the most common questions about Comdirect vs Interactive Brokers.
For order fees, Interactive Brokers leads at $0.005/Aktie (min $1) oder Fixed $1, 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, Interactive Brokers by SEC / FCA / BaFin. Both fall under EU oversight. Deposit protection: Comdirect 100.000€, Interactive Brokers $500.000 (SIPC).
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 Interactive Brokers 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€, Interactive Brokers: $500.000 (SIPC). Securities are held in segregated accounts and protected in case of broker insolvency.
Interactive Brokers leads on cash interest at 4.33%. 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.
Sign up with the broker that fits your strategy. Both are regulated and offer a demo account to test risk-free.
