How do we rank share trading platforms?

Online broker fees and features can be complicated. This is how we've compared them.

Posted May 13, 2020

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We’re committed to our readers and editorial independence. We don’t compare all products in the market and may receive compensation when we refer you to our partners, but this does not influence our opinions or reviews. Learn more about Finder .

To find you the best online brokers, we rely on our proprietary algorithm which calculates the rankings of our share trading platforms.

Set up by Finder's data scientists and investment experts, the algorithm takes into account broker fees, trading tools, educational resources and the list of available stock markets on each platform.

Quick stats

Trading platforms compared: 23
Trading categories: 11
Trading features compared: 39

How do we choose our "top picks"?

Our top picks are displayed at the top of our "how to buy stock" pages and feature four trading categories alongside three to four share trading platforms.

The brokers are awarded titles using the methodology below and then filtered to show live partners selected by Finder so that users can click through and sign up immediately. The categories themselves are chosen by Finder's team based on research around user demand.

How do we rank brokerage fees?

There's no getting around the fact that a lot of share trading platforms have complicated fee structures. The brokerage fee (sometimes called the commission) can depend on how often you trade per month, how much you spend per trade and which country the stocks you're buying are from.

Broker fee structures are also completely different across the board. While some brokers offers flat fees, others are "tiered", meaning the more frequently you trade the lower your fee, or percentage-based, where the more you trade the more you pay. Others are a combination of tiered, percentage-based and flat.

To narrow this down, we compare the total broker fees a person would need to pay if they made 1 to 30 trades per month at trade values of between $100 and $10,000. We also compared fees for stocks listed in Australia, the US and the UK, which are the three most popular share trading markets in Australia.

By doing this, we can evaluate which online brokers are better suited to various trading styles such as active traders, long-term investors, ASX investors and global share trading investors.

Which features do we compare?

Along with broker fees, we looked at whether share trading platforms had the following features:

Inactivity fees
Currency conversion/foreign exchange fees
The number of stock markets available
Margin trading
Managed funds
Fractional investing
Educational/training options
Conditional order types
Broker fees for options trades
News and research tools
Charting tools
Support options
Mobile accessible
Appropriateness for beginners
The ability to trade Forex/CFDs

How do we decide which features are more important?

Our selected brokerage fee categories and trading features are weighed based on the expertise of Finder's banking and investments team as well as user research to show which features are the most important to different investor types. The ratios may change as we update the formula to provide a better comparison experience for our users.

To find the best online broker for beginners, we rely on our proprietary algorithm and prioritise how easy the platform is to use for new investors and whether it has training and educational resources. We also look at the brokerage fees for smaller and less frequent trades and whether there is an inactivity fee.
We place less importance on advanced features such as the ability to trade options or forex.

For some investors, Australian shares will always be the priority. Using our share trading algorithm, we prioritise the features that are key to specifically trading ASX-listed shares and exchange traded funds (ETFs). This includes brokerage and inactivity fees for Australian shares and the ability to access the ASX. We put less importance on international share trading features or products such as forex or CFDs.

International brokers give access to some of the biggest companies in the world such a Google (Alphabet), Facebook and Apple. And some share traders will prefer to prioritise platforms that work best for buying global stocks. Our share trading algorithm prioritises global brokerage and foreign exchange fees as well as the number of global markets available on the app. We also remove any brokers that do not offer direct global share trading.

We consider active traders to be "advanced traders" and assume they would want trading features to suit. Our share trading algorithm weighs whether each platform has advanced charting tools, access to both Australian and global shares, a high list of order types, broker analysis and the ability to trade options, forex, CFDs and margin trading. Brokerage fees also prioritise a high level trading activity of more than 10 trades per month.

Many investors aren't interested in trading frequently and prefer to invest a couple of times a year in order to achieve long-term profits. Our algorithm prioritises fees charged for a few trades per month of more than $1,000 as well as platforms that do not have additional charges if an investor chooses to make no trades at any given time (AKA the inactivity fee). We also look at whether the platforms offer managed funds and put less importance on whether the platform features fractional investing, options trading and forex and CFDs.

Index funds or exchange traded funds (ETFs) have become popular in recent years in Australia as a less risky alternative to buying stocks. We see that most index fund investors will be looking for a platform that caters specifically to Australian ETFs as a long-term investment.
The algorithm used is similar to 'long-term investments' however it prioritises the fees for Australian stocks and ETFs if a user makes very few trades per year. It also gives a much higher rating to platforms that do not have additional charges if an investor chooses to make no trades at any given time (AKA the inactivity fee). In addition, we look at whether the platforms offers managed funds (mFunds) and place less importance on whether it features fractional investing, options trading, forex or CFDs.

Because penny stocks (often called micro caps in Australia) are so volatile, they're a favourite among traders that like to take on a little more risk for the chance at bigger profits. Our algorithm prioritises a high frequency of trades per month, advanced charting tools, access to the NSX, the ASX and US exchanges as well as conditional order types and news. As penny stocks tend to be better suited to experienced traders, we put less importance on whether the platform is good for beginners and whether it offers features suitable for long-term investors such as managed funds.

Wall Street stocks are a favourite among Australians, especially with the emergence of household tech giants such Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google. For this category we only include trading platforms that offer access to the US market and then prioritise lower broker fees on US-listed stocks for both active and casual investors. It also takes into account inactivity fees, currency conversion fees and the range of additional available features.

Not sure which category you fit into? Our best overall platform takes into account all features and fees listed above and weighs them a little more equally. This means our "best overall" platform might not come first in any one category but has a high average score for each of them. This platform might best suit someone that wants to have the option of trying out all types of trading features, such as global and Australian shares and ETFs, training tools for beginners and more advanced options such as charting tools.

Does Finder compare all share trading platforms in the market?

No, but we're trying our best to make that happen. Because it takes a long time to find and properly analyse broker fees and features, and it's important that we don't share misinformation, we're not able to cover 100% of the market. However, we do list the majority of Australia's most popular and well-regarded online brokers.

The process of gathering this data in Australia is quite manual. Our banking and investment team hunts down online brokers that are available to most Australian users and exclude those that are limited to "wholesale" (i.e. professional).

We also exclude platforms that don't offer direct share trading via a stock exchange – this includes most robo-advisers, micro-investment platforms and CFD providers that only offer stock CFDs.

Share trading news

Thank you for your feedback!

Kylie Purcell

Kylie Purcell is the investments editor at Finder. She has a background in business and finance news with her work featured on sites including Yahoo Finance, Sky Business and the Adviser Magazine. She held previous roles at SBS, Your Money, TVNZ, CTGN, Switzer Group and Momentum Media. Kylie has a Masters in International Journalism and a Graduate Diploma in Economics. She is currently working towards ASIC RG146 compliance certificates for Financial Advice and Securities and Managed Investments. When she's not writing about the markets you can find her hunting for a good travel bargain.

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How do we rank share trading platforms?

Online broker fees and features can be complicated. This is how we've compared them.

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