Broker break-even: the amount where the cheapest broker changes

Each broker's charge for one trade is the larger of its minimum and its fixed fee plus its percentage of the amount, then trimmed down to its cap if it has one. That makes every tariff a piecewise-linear curve, so two brokers cross at most once across the range that matters, and that crossing is the break-even. The grid evaluates every broker available in your country at each amount, in lump-sum or monthly mode, so the flips are visible rather than inferred.

Transaction cost only, and that exclusion is deliberate rather than a gap. Fund cost is identical across brokers for the same ETF, so including it would add the same figure to every row and bury the only thing that actually differs. Custody and platform fees, currency conversion and market-data charges are also outside this table. Tariffs are dated snapshots of published price lists, and brokers change them.

Why does the cheapest broker depend on how much I invest?

Because flat fees and percentage fees scale differently. A flat euro charge is punishing on a small purchase and negligible on a large one; a percentage does the opposite. Minimums flatten the bottom of the curve and caps flatten the top, so the ranking can change more than once across the full range of amounts rather than just at a single tidy threshold.

Does this include custody fees or currency conversion?

No. This is the per-trade cost in isolation. Custody or platform charges are annual and depend on your total holding rather than on the trade, and conversion charges depend on which listing you buy rather than on which broker you use. The total cost of ownership calculator brings those together with the fund's own costs and your country's tax treatment.

Why does the broker list change when I switch country?

Because availability and pricing both differ by country. Some brokers do not accept residents of all four countries covered here, and several of the ones that do publish different tariffs per market. The list reflects what a resident of the selected country can actually open and what they would actually be charged.

• ETF broker comparison for the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Italy
• ETF cost calculator: every annual cost of holding one fund
• Which ETF listing to buy, and the 0.1% currency fee to avoid