Degiro is an online broker with low fees. You can buy and sell stocks for a very low fee compared to most German banks. I started using Degiro in 2018. This is my review of their service. My previous review was more negative, but Degiro improved a lot since then. You can read the old review here.
This page has no affiliate links to Degiro. It was not sponsored or approved by them. It is my honest opinion.
It's only in German
Degiro is available in English, but only in English-speaking countries. If you live in Germany, you can't change the language to English1. The interface and all the documents are in German.
If you don't speak German, this can be a problem. You need to answer important questions and understand important documents, all in German.
Low fees
As promised, the fees are very low. You will normally pay less than 1€ per trade, while most banks charge 10-20€ per transaction plus monthly fees. Degiro is one of the cheapest options, even if you are not an active trader. If I used Commerzbank instead of Degiro, I would have wasted hundreds of euros in commissions.
It works fine
In general, Degiro works fine. It does what it should, and has low fees. As a casual investor, I'm happy with that.
Reliability
A few years ago, the Degiro platform was not reliable. It went down a few times per month. That's why my last review was very negative. In 2021, I have no problems. The website always works fine, and I have not experienced down time in a really long time.
The sign up process
The signup process (in 2018) was very easy. After I entered my personal information, I had to upload a scan of a valid ID, and fill a questionnaire to prove that I understood the risks of stock trading. I had to agree to a few more legal and tax-related documents, then I was done. It took less than 1 hour.
Once you are done, you can transfer money to your Degiro account with SOFORT, and a few minutes later, you are ready to trade.
Web and mobile
Since my last review, Degiro redesigned their web interface. It works really well on desktop and on mobile. I find it very easy to use. I don't use the Degiro mobile app, because the mobile website works really well.
When you make a transaction, you can see the expected fees before you confirm the transaction. That's really nice. You can see your portfolio, your favourite stocks and your order history very easily.
There is one very important feature that is missing: a graph of your profits/losses. For example, you can see that you made 10,000€ in profit since you opened your account, but you can't see the difference since last week or last month. It's hard to measure your performance over time. There is a Chrome extension that fixes this. Other people recommend Simple Portfolio for this.
Customer support
You still need write emails and make phone calls for some operations. If you want to change your bank details, you must email their customer service.
If you enter your password wrong too many times, you must call them to unlock your account. In my experience, their customer service is very quick, but I have not used it for a few years.
Deposits and withdrawals
Moving money between my German bank account and Degiro was never a problem. With SOFORT, it takes a minute, and it's very easy. You can also use SEPA transfers and wait a little longer.
Summary
Would I recommend Degiro? Yes. It's much better than before. For a casual investor like me, it does exactly what it should.
Alternatives to Degiro
Interactive Brokers is often mentioned as an alternative to Degiro, and gives you access to US stock options. Comdirect, DKB, Sparkasse and 1822direkt also offer broker accounts. Most classic banks also let you trade stocks, but their transaction fees are usually very high, and their interface is rarely suitable for active traders.