Best broker Switzerland 2025: 6 decisive factors you need to know

Best broker in Switzerland? Yes, it exists – but it is not the same for everyone. The right choice of broker for your securities depends heavily on your individual needs and expectations. In this article, we present six decisive factors to help you find your personal favorite – or several at once . We compare six leading brokers, which we have carefully tested in separate reviews.

Best Broker Switzerland: Be willing to compromise!

In one of our most popular articles “Best ETFs Switzerland and globally: And the Winner is…”, we gradually selected the top ETFs in various categories based on eight criteria. In this article, we now turn our attention to the platforms on which these and other securities can be traded. In contrast to ETFs, where we believe it is possible to determine the really best products according to rational, generally applicable criteria, the procedure for finding the best broker is more complex.

“ There is no such thing as the perfect broker. “

Because the perfect broker for everyone would offer the lowest prices, the widest range of securities, the best service and much more that your investor’s heart would desire. Unfortunately, however, there is no such “one broker”. Rather, all operators of trading platforms, regardless of whether they are domestic or foreign providers, are exposed to strong competition, which forces them to position themselves clearly on the market and differentiate themselves from their competitors.

For you as a Swiss investor, this means that you should know your needs in this regard when choosing a broker. So what is particularly important to me when it comes to managing my securities? But also: Where am I prepared to compromise?

So if, like Toni, you only want to invest in a handful of well-known “bread-and-butter” ETFs, for example, you don’t need a broker with a huge range of alternative niche products. Or if you want to pay (almost) no fees, you might accept longer waiting times for customer service and/or that your trusted “low-cost broker” lends your securities in order to open up an additional source of income that costs you nothing.

” A suitable platform can save you a lot of money and hassle! “

To make it easier for you to choose the right broker – and because a smart choice of platform can save you a lot of money and trouble in the long term – in this article we work with six specific providers that we have tested extensively ourselves and with whom we cooperate out of conviction. These six cooperation partners form the basis of our comparison:

Saxo Bank (Switzerland) | Swissquote | DEGIRO | Interactive Brokers | Yuh | neon

In order to make the sometimes significant price differences more tangible, we sometimes also use three very well-known banks in Switzerland for comparison: Migros Bank, PostFinance and UBS – they are considered popular, but are often significantly more expensive.

Below we will go through the six most important factors that you should definitely know when choosing the right broker.

– Partner Offer –

Click on our recommendations below to go directly to the profiles of leading online brokers such as DEGIRO, Interactive Brokers, Saxo and Swissquote as well as neobanks such as Yuh and neon, which – depending on your individual needs – have interesting offers including a starting bonus.

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And if you don’t want to deal with individual securities, but would rather build up an entire investment portfolio automatically, then you don’t need a broker at all, but a good robo-advisor.

We have taken a closer look at three innovative Swiss providers in the article “Robo-Advisor Switzerland: 3 providers compared”. You can also find the most important facts & figures (incl. promotional codes with start-up bonuses) on our recommendations page.

Best Broker Switzerland Factor #1:
Fees & Costs

This factor should not leave anyone indifferent. After all, every single franc you spend on fees etc. is deducted from your return. Below we have listed the most important costs that the broker can charge you:

Custody fees

This recurring fee is charged to the broker – regardless of whether you trade or not. You use it to pay for the safekeeping and management of your ETFs and other securities. The costs are often based on the size of your portfolio.

A negative example is the major bank UBS: it charges a flat rate of 0.35% per year – a whopping CHF 350 for a custody account of CHF 100,000, year after year. Migros Bank also follows a linear price structure with 0.23%, from CHF 750,000 it becomes slightly cheaper (0.21%).

Other providers at least set a cost ceiling: the leading Swiss online broker Swissquote charges 0.1% per year, with a minimum of CHF 60 and a maximum of CHF 200. PostFinance, which also uses the Swissquote platform, charges a fixed annual fee of CHF 72 regardless of the size of the custody account.

Platforms such as Saxo, Interactive Brokers and DEGIRO as well as neobanks such as Yuh and neonare particularly attractive: they do not charge any custody account fees at all – so your balance remains fully invested and is not reduced by annual fixed costs.

You can now avoid custody account fees altogether – this is particularly worthwhile for smaller assets. If you do decide to use a provider with fees, at least make sure that there is a clear cost ceiling.

Brokerage fees (trading fees)

This is the transaction-related commission in favor of the broker that is incurred for every purchase or sale of securities such as ETFs. The corresponding pricing varies greatly depending on the broker. There are basically the following pricing models:

• Variable commissions
• Fixed commissions
• No commissions

Variable commissions

With this pricing model, the fees vary depending on the transaction value: This pricing model often applies to established Swiss brokers such as PostFinance and sometimes Swissquote. (Both have the same Swissquote platform. In contrast to PostFinance, Swissquote also offers relatively favorable fixed commissions, see next point). The fees often decrease as a percentage with increasing transaction value.

This is not the case with Saxo, where the basic “Classic” account solution generally charges 0.08% (minimum fee CHF 3 / USD 1 per trade), i.e. variable commissions – albeit at a comparatively low, constant percentage rate. However, as there is no cost ceiling, Saxo is particularly attractive for small to medium amounts up to around CHF 10,000. For large amounts, the absolute amount becomes increasingly noticeable (e.g. CHF 80 commission for trades worth CHF 100,000).

The two leading Swiss neobanks, Yuh (minimum fee CHF 1) and neon (no minimum fee), also have a linear pricing model, but are significantly more expensive at 0.50%. This means that they are only acceptable in terms of price for trades in the three-digit range – for example with automated ETF savings plans. For larger amounts, these fees quickly become unattractive due to the lack of a cost ceiling (e.g. CHF 50 commission for trades worth CHF 10,000).

” Nowadays, double-digit commission amounts for an ETF trade are simply no longer competitive. “

Fixed commissions

You will be charged a flat fee regardless of the transaction amount. This pricing model generally applies at DEGIRO (maximum flat fee of €2 plus €1 processing fee) and in some cases or depending on the ETF at Swissquote (CHF 9). Some providers such as Cash (CHF 29 via partner bank Zweiplus) or Migros Bank (CHF 40 online and CHF 100 via customer advisors) regularly advertise their supposedly attractive fixed fee model. But let’s be honest: nowadays, double-digit commissions for a simple ETF trade are simply no longer competitive.

No commissions

Some platforms such as DEGIRO and Interactive Brokers waive commissions entirely for certain ETFs, while others such as Saxo, Yuh or neon give you the purchase fees for free if you set up an automatic ETF savings plan. (We’ll take a closer look at who is ahead of the pack when it comes to savings plans later). Either way, there are usually agreements between the brokers and the ETF providers who want to push certain ETFs and therefore take over the commissions or reimburse the brokers.

Important: Commission-free trades are only really interesting for you if these so-called “free ETFs” are attractive and already established products whose ongoing product costs (TER) and other characteristics are comparable to those of top ETFs.

” Commission-free does not mean free. “

The European market leader DEGIRO offers a particularly wide range of attractive and commission-free ETFs. But beware: commission-free is not the same as free. Not even with DEGIRO. The European market leader charges a flat-rate processing fee of €1 for every trade (see section below “Other costs”).

– Partner Offer –

DEGIRO(to the review) offers a very simple fee model with flat rates, which is hard to beat, especially for larger sums. Click on the ad below to go directly to the account opening page with bonus offer.

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Currency exchange fees

This fee is charged whenever you have to exchange currencies for securities trading.

“The costs of currency exchange are generally underestimated, although they often have the biggest impact on trades.“

Unfortunately, many people underestimate the associated costs, partly because they are often well hidden or billed separately. This is a shame, because the costs for currency exchange can have the biggest impact on your trades.

At Swissquote, for example, you pay 0.95% currency exchange fees, which costs you a whopping CHF 95 for a transaction worth CHF 10,000! Nevertheless, you can hold (almost) as many foreign currency accounts as you like with the Swiss market leader. For example, you could transfer existing euro holdings to your multi-currency account with Swissquote to save on currency exchange fees for your next ETF trade in euros. Yuh works in a similar way to its parent company Swissquote.

Saxo and DEGIRO offer significantly lower currency exchange fees of 0.25%.

Our experience shows: When it comes to currency exchange, Interactive Brokers is hard to beat: 0.002% (minimum fee 2$) – and on top of that, there are multi-currency accounts.

However, it is definitely best to avoid currency swaps by trading your ETFs in your reference currency CHF.

In this respect, neon occupies a special position: ETFs are only available on the BX Swiss exchange in the trading currency CHF, which eliminates the need for currency exchange.

– Partner Offer –

Advantages such as extremely low currency exchange fees make the long-established US provider Interactive Brokers very attractive for many investors.

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Stamp duties

Transactions in Switzerland are subject to federal turnover tax. This tax, also known as stamp duty, is charged on a linear basis, i.e. in proportion to the transaction value, namely 0.075% for domestic securities and 0.15% for foreign securities. This means that for a transaction value of CHF 10,000, you pay CHF 7.50 or CHF 15 to the Swiss tax authorities.

Tax-saving tip: No stamp duty is payable with foreign brokers such as Interactive Brokers or DEGIRO (see also our article “ETF taxes Switzerland: Optimize your portfolio with these 5 tax-saving tips”).

Further costs

Furthermore, the exchanges charge the banks and brokers exchange fees. Depending on the broker, pricing model or exchange, these fees are passed on in full, in part or not at all.

With regard to share and ETF trading, these fees are already included in the commissions at Saxo and Swissquote or are not charged separately. At Interactive Brokers, on the other hand, they are only included in the “fixed price” price model, while at DEGIRO they are only charged to Swiss investors for foreign trading venues, namely as “fees for trading modalities” of €2.50 per foreign exchange per year.

Other costs that some brokers charge separately are processing fees. At DEGIRO, this fee amounts to €1 per trade.

Conclusion on fees & costs

No matter what type of investor you are, you should attach great importance to the cost factor. Because high fees mean lower returns for you.

So prefer trading platforms without ongoing costs and if you do have custody account fees, then they should be capped, as with Swissquote, and not exceed 0.1% of the custody account value.

Ideally, brokerage fees should be (significantly) less than 1% of the transaction value and should not exceed CHF 10. Don’t choose a “free ETF” just because it is commission-free. The product-specific conditions must also be right.

You should also keep currency exchange fees as low as possible (max. 0.25%) or avoid them altogether. The latter is possible with multi-currency accounts or (more simply) by trading securities in the trading currency CHF.

In addition, it may be worth switching to a foreign, stamp duty-free broker such as Interactive Brokers or DEGIRO, especially for large investment sums.

Finally, you should also be aware of other costs such as any stock exchange or processing fees that some brokers charge and take them into account when choosing a broker, even if these fees are usually moderate.

“Best Broker Switzerland” factor #2:
Securities offering

This factor is particularly important if you have clear ideas about your investments. For example, you would like to invest in very specific ETFs and possibly also purchase them on your preferred stock exchange. In such a case, you should only consider a broker that has the appropriate offering.

For Swiss investors who prefer to trade via the main Swiss stock exchange SIX and/or niche products, Swissquote should be unbeatable. Swissquote also offers all of our winning ETFs on the main Swiss stock exchange SIX.

– Partner Offer –

The pioneering broker Swissquote (to the review) not only offers Swiss investors the largest selection of investment products. You also receive all ETFs traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange at a fair fee of CHF 9. Use the promotional code MKT_SFB to earn trading credits and support our blog at the same time. Click on the ad below to go directly to the account opening page.

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Conclusion on the securities offering

The range of securities is important for you insofar as your desired ETFs & Co. should be tradable on your preferred exchange on the platform. If required, we can clarify the products for you with all our recommended providers. Simply write us your request in the comments below.

“Best Broker Switzerland” factor #3:
User-friendliness of the platform

If you prefer to manage your finances via both desktop and mobile, then classic online brokers such as Saxo, Swissquote, Interactive Brokers or DEGIRO are your best bet. We use all of these platforms and, after a short period of familiarization, have no problems using them – however much they differ in terms of look and feel.

What is obvious, however, is that Interactive Brokers offers the most diverse range of platforms: No fewer than seven platforms, including two cell phone apps, with countless features are available for beginners to experienced traders.

Saxo also clearly focuses on diversity with three different platforms – including two that you can use both on the web and via app – and thus specifically targets different types of users. Swissquote, on the other hand, works with a single trading platform that is available both web-based and as an app. However, this can be personalized using individual layouts and widgets. Like Swissquote, DEGIRO offers a single platform that can be used both web-based and as an app – but without any significant customization options.

At the other end of the scale are the platforms of neobanks such as Yuh or neon, which limit themselves to mobile trading via app and completely dispense with web-based solutions on the big screen.

In addition to the look and feel of the platform, useful reports such as transaction confirmations, dividend statements and tax reports also make an important contribution to the user-friendliness of the platform. In terms of informative value and convenience, the domestic providers Swissquote and Saxo are ahead in our opinion.

While Swissquote, for example, automatically sends incoming dividends, including any taxes, separately to the customer’s mailbox in a clearly laid out PDF, this information must be retrieved manually at DEGIRO and Interactive Brokers.

Saxo, on the other hand, will be offering electronic tax statements free of charge from the 2025 tax year. This is practical because the corresponding securities data can be automatically transferred to the tax return – which saves you a lot of time, especially with more complex portfolios.

Conclusion on the user-friendliness of the platform

All platforms today are basically user-friendly – whether you like an interface is simply a matter of taste.

Interactive Brokers and Saxo offer the widest range of functions with several platforms and a high degree of customization. Swissquote only uses one platform (web + app), but can be easily personalized using widgets. DEGIRO deliberately remains lean and offers hardly any customization options, but is fast and clear. Yuh and neon focus entirely on mobile trading via app and completely dispense with desktop or browser solutions.

Domestic brokers such as Saxo and Swissquote make it much easier for you to obtain transaction receipts, tax documents and other reports than many foreign providers.

“Best Broker Switzerland” factor #4:
Security & regulation

With regard to this factor, you should ask yourself the following three questions in particular:

• Is the broker regulated by a reputable financial supervisory authority?
• How are my assets protected in the event of the broker’s insolvency?
• Does the broker lend my securities?

We rate the security standards of all our cooperation partners as high, even if the individual security aspects differ greatly from one another. What Saxo, Swissquote, DEGIRO and Interactive Brokers have in common, and which is also conducive to security, is their high reputation and strong market position.

Saxo, Swissquote (both CH) and DEGIRO (NL/D), for example, have banking licenses and are therefore regulated by the state. This means that ETFs are considered special assets and are therefore protected against broker insolvency. Interactive Brokers, on the other hand, does not have a banking license. As a result, cash and securities are held separately, which means that your assets would also be protected in the event of the broker’s insolvency or would not fall into the bankruptcy estate.

Interactive Brokers also offers above-average deposit protection of USD 500,000, compared to CHF 100,000 and EUR 100,000 for Saxo, Swissquote and DEGIRO.

Securities lending is widespread among ETF providers. Whether an ETF can be lent is always stated in the small print of the product data sheet. However, your broker can also lend your securities to third parties against collateral in order to generate additional income. We consider the associated risk of loss to be very low.

Nevertheless, this risk does not apply to brokers without securities lending. At DEGIRO , your securities can be lent whether you want to or not. DEGIRO uses the income generated from this to offer the lowest possible price level. This means that no money flows directly back to you. In this respect, the rules at Saxo, Swissquote and Interactive Brokers are more advantageous for you: in contrast to DEGIRO, your securities are only lent optionally, i.e. with your consent. You also receive a share of the profits (see also the section below “Additional earnings through securities lending”).

Conclusion on security & regulation

Even if this issue is structured differently at Saxo, Swissquote, Interactive Brokers and DEGIRO, we rate all four renowned and successful brokers as very secure. However, if you do not wish to have your securities lent for risk reasons, DEGIRO is out of the question.

“Best Broker Switzerland” factor #5:
Customer service & support

Almost all brokers now offer professionally produced explanatory videos and informative FAQs. Customer service is particularly relevant if you have a specific question of a certain urgency and importance. Because in such cases, you can see how efficient the platform’s customer support really is.

As a rule of thumb based on our experience, domestic providers such as Saxo and Swissquote, but also the local neobanks Yuh and neon, often offer more efficient customer service than the international heavyweights DEGIRO and Interactive Brokers. The latter is particularly notable for its long response times, which can sometimes take over a week.

For some, it may also be a relevant plus point that concerns can be dealt with more directly (by telephone) and in a familiar setting (native language and better understanding of CH-specific queries such as tax issues) with the CH providers mentioned.

Conclusion on customer service and support

If you are looking for short response times, a high level of expertise for CH-specific matters and/or direct telephone contact in a familiar setting, you are generally better off with domestic providers such as Saxo or Swissquote than with foreign players.

“Best Broker Switzerland” factor #6:
Additional services

There are countless features that brokers use to set themselves apart from the competition. However, many of them are likely to offer you only a modest additional benefit – if any at all. We consider the following additional services to be particularly interesting:

Systematic wealth accumulation with savings plans

Regular, automatic investing using a savings plan is a key prerequisite for successful wealth accumulation. We have dedicated a separate article to this important topic with “ETF savings plan Switzerland: 3 strong reasons for the autopilot strategy”. Saxo is particularly attractive in terms of price and selection: the broker offers all of its more than 100 ETFs eligible for savings plans without purchase fees.

– Partner Offer –

Saxo(to the review) not only offers a large selection of ETFs eligible for savings plans without purchase fees, but also generally convinces with an attractive price/performance ratio. Click on the ad below to go directly to the account opening page with bonus offer.

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Leverage effect through securities loans

If you are a risk-taker and return-oriented like Toni, securities loans or so-called Lombard loans may be an option worth considering for you. With such a loan, you leverage your securities, which can lead to greater fluctuations in the value of your portfolio and – in the positive case – to considerably higher returns. The lowest possible interest rates are crucial here: Toni has been leveraging his ETF portfolio withInteractive Brokers for several years due to the comparatively attractive interest conditions for Lombard loans. In addition to low interest rates, a high degree of flexibility in terms of maturity, availability and currencies is important to him as a borrower.

	CHF	EUR	USD
DEGIRO	2,50%* – 4,00%	4,75%* – 6,25%	5,25%* – 6,9%
Interactive Brokers	1,50%**	3,478%**	5,830%**
Saxo Bank	2,00%***	3,91%***	6,35%***
Swissquote	3,00%	4,92%	7,35%

Different margin conditions depending on currency and provider as of 17 August 2025. *Fixed advance, i.e. interest is charged on the entire amount allocated, regardless of how much is actually used. **Up to CHF/EUR 90,000 or USD 100,000, then gradually cheaper. ***For the Classic account model; lower interest rates for the Platinum and VIP account models.

If you would like to find out more about Lombard loans, including portfolio simulations, we recommend our article “Lombard loans when buying ETFs: Boosting your return on equity or playing with fire?”.

Additional earnings through securities lending

We have already mentioned securities lending under factor #4 “Security & regulation”. As a reminder, it serves to generate additional income and offset costs. With online brokers, securities lending is only of interest to you if it is optional and you receive a share of the income. This is the case with Saxo, Swissquote and Interactive Brokers. Toni and Stefan both participate in Interactive Brokers’ “Share Yield Optimization Program” by having their portfolios lent by Interactive Brokers and thus receiving a 50% share of the “standard market” interest income. The following illustration uses the example of Swissquote to show how securities lending works in practice.

Best Broker Switzerland: Conclusion

There is no such thing as the perfect broker for everyone. The lowest prices, the largest selection and the best service – that would be squaring the circle. As we have seen from our six factors, each broker has its own strengths and weaknesses. The decisive factor is what is important to you and where you are prepared to compromise.

Broker comparison Switzerland as a guide

In terms of securities trading, we summarize below the key strengths and weaknesses of four leading online brokers – Saxo, Swissquote, DEGIRO and Interactive Brokers – as well as the two largest Swiss neobanks, Yuh and neon.

We have tested these providers in detail in separate reviews, are convinced by them and have therefore entered into a cooperation. You can find more detailed information about these providers, including promotional codes and links to the reviews, on our recommendations page.

Of course, there are many other brokers on the market – our selection is intended to provide you with practical guidance when choosing the right platform for you.

Best Broker Switzerland “Saxo”: Attractive price/performance ratio

After the concert of fee cuts in 2024 and 2025, Saxo offers very attractive pricing for Swiss banks: no custody account costs, fair trading fees and all ETF savings plans without purchase commissions. If diversity in platforms and/or security aspects such as a Swiss banking license with deposit protection of CHF 100,000 are also important to you, Saxo should be your favorite.

Best Broker Switzerland “Swissquote”: Comprehensive product range

If you value efficient customer service with an understanding of Swiss-specific concerns and an unbeatably wide range of products in various asset classes – and accept slightly higher costs in return – then the domestic market leader Swissquote is probably your first choice.

Best Broker Switzerland “DEGIRO”: Low flat fees for all trades – particularly attractive for large sums

If, on the other hand, you value a simple pricing model without custody account fees and stamp duty and with incredibly low flat fees – no matter how high your investments are – and accept restrictions in terms of product range and features (e.g. no automatic savings plans), then you will feel very much at home with the European market leader DEGIRO.

Best Broker Switzerland “Interactive Brokers”: Extremely low fees & high complexity

Ultimately, you will be particularly happy with Interactive Brokers if you want to benefit from the extremely favorable prices for trading (especially on US exchanges), Lombard loans, currency exchange and the multi-layered platform offering. On the other hand, you should not be put off by the complex fee structure, the cumbersome manual reporting and the sometimes sluggish customer service.

Or the neobanks?

Neobanks such as Yuh or neon offer a convincing overview, compactness and an easy-to-understand fee model, ideal for smaller investment sums or automated ETF savings plans, some of which are available without purchase commissions. The range of investment products is currently still limited, but individual ETFs are certainly attractive. If you want to get started and gain your first experience in securities trading via the mobile app, this is an easy way to get started.

Do I even have to commit to a single broker?

No, of course not. With the exception of Swissquote, neither the online brokers Saxo, DEGIRO and Interactive Brokers nor the neobanks Yuh and neon charge custody account fees or other ongoing costs. This means that you can use several providers at the same time without additional costs or simply try them out.

One possible approach is therefore a multi-broker strategy in which you specifically combine the strengths of different platforms and use exactly the services that are most beneficial to you. This allows you to put together the best of different “broker worlds” to suit your taste. This is exactly how Stefan, for example, has deliberately spread his investment portfolio across several platforms.

Which is your best broker in Switzerland? Let us know which criteria are decisive for you when choosing your preferred broker and what experiences you have had – we look forward to hearing your opinion in the comments column.

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Updates

2025-08-22: Comprehensive update and addition of the online broker Saxo Bank (Switzerland).

2025-01-15: Interest rates for Lombard loans updated.

2024-11-11: Mentions that DEGIRO has introduced foreign currency accounts.

2024-07-21: It was pointed out more clearly that a broker comparison Switzerland was used for better understanding.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: Investing involves risks of loss. You must decide for yourself whether you want to bear these risks or not.

Errors excepted: We have written this “Best Broker Switzerland…” article to the best of our knowledge and belief and have included a broker comparison Switzerland with six previously carefully tested providers for a better understanding. Our aim is to provide you as a private investor with the most objective and meaningful financial information possible. However, should we have made any errors, forgotten important aspects and/or no longer have up-to-date information, we would be grateful if you could let us know.

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