Trading in financial markets requires the right choice of a broker, as security of traders’ funds, profit/loss and opportunities depend on it. Before you start working with a company, it is important to comprehensively assess it. Traders Union analysts have already done it for you. The experts prepared a review of the Best Investment Brokers in South Africa for 2026. Five companies that enjoy huge popularity in South Africa were selected and compared between each other.
1
eToro - Best in South Africa for 2026
You can use eToro to invest in more than 3,000 stock assets, including at zero fee. The minimum deposit and leverage vary depending on the country of registration of a trader. Trading is available in mobile apps and on the web platform on any device. You can deposit and withdraw money via bank transfer and electronic payment systems. The broker offers margin trading, various bonuses and partner rewards.
2
Easy Equities - Best in South Africa for 2026
Easy Equities provides opportunities for active and passive investing. The broker works with traders from different countries and provides a possibility to earn a profit to users who have no stock trading experience. Easy Equities provides access to the following instruments: stocks, ETFs, ETN, mutual funds and IPO. The broker offers individuals, corporate, savings and kids accounts. There are three account currencies: USD, AUD, ZAR. The instruments available to the client depend on the chosen account currency: American, Australian, South African. The broker also offers its clients Baskets and Bundles investment instruments, which make the investing process easier or automated. The trading is carried out on the broker’s proprietary platforms; the mobile application is available for iOS and Android.
3
TradeZero - Best in South Africa for 2026
At the moment, TradeZero has one of the most favorable conditions among stock brokers. The company allows you to trade a variety of assets, including stocks, ETFs, and options. Leverage of up to 1 to 6 makes it possible to rely not only on your own funds but also to quickly increase capital. An important advantage is the presence of two free platforms of proprietary development, including a mobile application that is not inferior in functionality to the desktop version. No commissions are charged for limit orders up to 200 shares.
4
Revolut - Best in South Africa for 2026
Revolut offers commission-free trading with no minimum deposit requirements. Stocks, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals are available for trading. Client funds are kept on segregated accounts, which is a guarantee of their safety. Since fractional share trading is available at Revolut and there is no brokerage commission per transaction per month, you can start with a minimal investment. Deposits can be made in 28 currencies, but the broker translates them into USD since trading is only on the US stock market.
5
Charles Schwab - Best in South Africa for 2026
Charles Schwab provides clients with the Thinkorswim trading platform across multiple devices, along with its proprietary web platform and mobile application. Accounts can be opened without additional service fees. Independent trading can begin with any amount. To transfer assets under management, a portfolio of $25,000 is required. Asset management can be handled either by Charles Schwab employees or by third-party partner organizations. If a client has $5,000 in available funds, it can be used for automated strategies based on robo-advisor recommendations.
TU Expert Review for the best Investment Brokers in South Africa
Financial expert and analyst at Traders Union
Anton joined Traders Union as a financial expert and analyst in 2013. He performs comprehensive internal testing of brokers as a trader. Essentially, Anton “test drives” brokers: he checks the operation of the website and user account, the speed and effectiveness of customer support team, stability of the software, deposit and withdrawal processing times, legal documents of companies and also all additional services (VPS, affiliate programs, contests, bonuses, educational programs, etc.). Based on the results of his “inspections”, he prepares expert conclusions about the operation of brokerage companies in the Forex, stock and binary option markets and also of the cryptocurrency exchanges.
His opinion as for the best Investment Brokers in South Africa is posted below.
eToro - TU Expert Review
eToro is an international brokerage company offering services all across the world. Every registered office adjusts the conditions to suit local traders to enable them to trade on beneficial conditions. The minimum deposit starts from $50 USD and variates depending on the country of residence of a trader. In particular, the minimum deposit for residents of the US, the UK and France is $100 USD. The broker provides retail clients with a negative balance protection and restrictions on opening positions with insufficient margin. The clients can also contact the Financial Ombudsman Service. Investments of traders from a number of European countries are protected by compensation funds. The leverage on eToro varies depending on the type of asset and the registered office chosen for trading. In particular, traders, who chose the office regulated by CySEC or FCA can trade indices with a leverage of 1:10-1:20, ETFs – 1:5. eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk
Easy Equities - TU Expert Review
Easy Equities (EasyEquities) is an international broker offering services to investors from different countries. The company has no restrictions based on the level of professionalism and offers optimal investing conditions that are suitable both to novice market players and to professionals. Specifically, the broker offers its clients pre-selected portfolios of stocks, which can be adjusted, if desired, and used to earn income. EasyEquities offers several accounts to choose from, including accounts for active trading, savings account, and an account for trading fractional shares in properties. There are also kids’ accounts. There are no limitations on the deposit amount; an investor can deposit any amount of money. In addition to stocks, investors are offered mutual funds and ETFs, ETN, IPO, crypto. Transaction fee is only 0.25% from the transaction amount; a minimum of USD 0.01. Easy Equities does not charge non-trading fees. However, when performing financial transactions, investors need to keep in mind that this process takes 2-3 working days on average. You also need to be attentive when withdrawing money from an international account, because the withdrawal fee is set by the bank the investor uses. There are not too many ways to contact the broker’s customer support and you cannot contact the company instantly.
TradeZero - TU Expert Review
The broker is headquartered in the Bahamas and is licensed by Lloyds of London and Bahamas First General, the latter of which is rated A by AM Best. Investor funds are insured. The broker complies with tax reporting and works transparently, there are no facts of fraud or violation of the law. Traders can work with stocks, ETFs, and options. All the most popular stocks from the NYSE, Amex, and Nasdaq lists are available. Work with assets is carried out through one of four terminals, all of which are developed and supported by TradeZero specialists. Two terminals are free, including a mobile one. Paid terminals include web and professional versions. They differ in the available functions, such as the number of windows and additional tools. Among the advantages of the broker, one can note a large selection of assets, fixed commissions, convenience, and functionality of terminals. Disadvantages include an initial deposit of $500 and the presence of commissions for depositing funds. It is also worth noting that technical support does not work on weekends, and on weekdays it is only available until 5:00 pm, Eastern time. In general, the broker offers good conditions that stand out when compared with its many competitors. The platform can be recommended to both novice investors and professionals. As for beginners, a large number of high-quality training materials can be considered a clear advantage.
Revolut - TU Expert Review
Revolut offers investments in shares of more than 800 American and international companies, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals. The broker is focused on independent traders and doesn't offer financial advice or client asset management, but social trading is available for beginners. The mobile app has a list of successful traders who offer connections to their trading platform to copy trades. If the client has experience in trading the stock market, he can switch his profile to public, and the results of his trading will be available to those who prefer not to trade on their own. The company guarantees the security of transactions in the app, which can be downloaded from Google Play or the App Store. In addition to the fingerprint scanning feature, one-time virtual cards are available for online payments when logging into the app. These can be used to make a single transaction, after which the card details are automatically changed. The Sherlock anti-fraud system is used to warn of suspicious transactions on a customer's account. Part of the funds that are on deposit can be reserved in the "cash vault". Up to 0.65% per annum is accrued on these funds daily, and the money can be returned to the main deposit at any time. The main disadvantages of this broker are the limitation of transactions without commission on the free plan and a limited selection of financial instruments for investment.
Charles Schwab - TU Expert Review
An analysis of Charles Schwab’s trading conditions and website shows that the company supports both active online trading and long-term investing. It is possible to start trading stocks with any amount, and the broker also offers an educational program, which makes Charles Schwab suitable for beginners. Customer support is available 24/7. Charles Schwab uses a different model for margin trading. Instead of leverage based on deposit size, it offers margin lending. A client can borrow funds to purchase securities and then pays interest on the margin loan. Interest accrues daily and is charged monthly. The rate depends on the loan balance and Charles Schwab’s current base rate. For example, a client buys $5,000 worth of stocks and borrows an additional $5,000 through a margin loan. With this loan size, the rate may be about 10% per year. After selling the securities, the client must repay the $5,000 loan plus accrued interest, which in this case would total about $500 over a year if the loan is held for the full period. The trader’s net profit is the amount left after selling the assets, minus interest payments, brokerage commissions, and taxes.
Summary
Many brokers operate in South Africa, but not all of them are reliable or offer attractive trading conditions. TU experts selected 5 companies and rated them based on collected data. By reviewing them, you will learn about the Best Investment Brokers in South Africa 2026 and will be able to evaluate the pros and cons of its closest competitors.
Overall score of the best Investment Brokers in South Africa
| eToro | Easy Equities | TradeZero | Revolut | Charles Schwab | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall score |
8.4 |
5.65 |
5.05 |
9.5 |
8.6 |
|
Execution of orders |
9.1 |
5.44 |
4.79 |
9.2 |
8.3 |
|
Investment instruments |
10 |
5.9 |
5.4 |
9.8 |
8.9 |
|
Withdrawal speed |
5 |
5.5 |
4.9 |
9.6 |
8.7 |
|
Customer Support work |
9.3 |
5.8 |
5.2 |
9.4 |
8.5 |
|
Variety of instruments |
7.2 |
5.28 |
4.63 |
9.1 |
8.2 |
|
Trading platform |
9.8 |
6 |
5.4 |
9.9 |
9 |
|
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FAQ
Why is a license important for a broker?
License is the key document testifying to the broker’s reliability. It means that the company complies with the requirements of the financial regulatory authority that issued it. It is recommended that you choose brokers with licenses from top financial regulators: the USA, European Union, the UK, as these jurisdictions have the strictest licensing requirements.
What factors are important when you are choosing a broker?
When you are choosing a broker, it is important to make sure it is a reliable company, consider its fees, the list of trading instruments, deposit and withdrawal methods and other factors. It is important to study a broker in detail, before opening an account with it.
How much money do I need in order to start working in the financial markets?
The initial capital depends on the assets you plan to trade. However, in the majority of cases, $300-500 is a good amount for a start.
Can you earn passive income in the financial markets?
Yes, the best brokers of South Africa offer passive income options. These could include copy trading, PAMM accounts, managed portfolios, etc.
Best Investment Brokers by Countries
Team that worked on the article
Mikhail Vnuchkov joined Traders Union as an author in 2020. He began his professional career as a journalist-observer at a small online financial publication, where he covered global economic events and discussed their impact on the segment of financial investment, including investor income. With five years of experience in finance, Mikhail joined Traders Union team, where he is in charge of forming the pool of latest news for traders, who trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, Forex instruments and fixed income.
Olga Shendetskaya has been a part of the Traders Union team as an author, editor and proofreader since 2017. Since 2020, Shendetskaya has been the assistant chief editor of the website of Traders Union, an international association of traders. She has over 10 years of experience of working with economic and financial texts. In the period of 2017-2020, Olga has worked as a journalist and editor of laftNews news agency, economic and financial news sections. At the moment, Olga is a part of the team of top industry experts involved in creation of educational articles in finance and investment, overseeing their writing and publication on the Traders Union website.