Online brokers
Online brokers are digital platforms for self-directed retail trading of equities, options, futures, crypto and FX. Robinhood drove zero-commission pricing in 2019 and now serves 25M+ funded accounts (NASDAQ: HOOD); Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) remains the scale incumbent at $580B+ in customer equity; Charles Schwab finished absorbing TD Ameritrade in 2024. The European mass-market tier (Trade Republic, eToro, Scalable Capital) reset higher off the back of the 2022-23 rate cycle and the European retail-trading boom.
The sector spans US zero-commission brokers, US scaled brokerages and wirehouses, European retail brokers and neobrokers, CFD and derivatives-led brokers, options and active trader platforms, micro-investing and fractional share apps, social and copy-trading platforms, and B2B execution and routing infrastructure.
Revenue comes from payment for order flow (where legal), net interest income on customer cash and margin, FX and conversion spreads, securities lending, premium subscriptions, and increasingly stablecoin and crypto monetisation lines.
Online brokers is part of Fintech.
$11B
Global market size
46
Public companies
Key VC investors
Key strategic buyers
How online brokers companies monetize?
Online brokers monetize through net interest income, payment for order flow and FX and conversion spreads.
Net interest income
Interest earned on uninvested customer cash, margin balances and securities-lending books. The largest single revenue line at Schwab, IBKR and Robinhood since 2022 rate hikes.
Payment for order flow
Wholesalers (Citadel Securities, Virtu, G1X) pay brokers to route retail order flow. The headline Robinhood revenue line; banned in the EU under the 2024 MiFIR review.
FX & conversion spreads
Spread earned on currency conversion within multi-asset trading. Material at eToro, IBKR, Trade Republic and Saxo.
Premium subscriptions
Recurring paid tiers offering access to research, larger margin lines and lower fees. Robinhood Gold, Interactive Brokers Pro and Trade Republic +.
Securities lending
Revenue from lending customer-held securities into short-selling demand. Established line at IBKR and Schwab; faster-growing at neobrokers as portfolios mature.
Crypto take-rate
Spreads and commissions on crypto trading. Robinhood Crypto and eToro Crypto both report this separately; ramped after the 2024 ETF cycle.
Online brokers valuations in May 2026
Public online brokers comps trade at 4.8x EV/Revenue. Median revenue multiple across online brokers M&A deals was 5.0x in the last 12 months. Median revenue multiple across online brokers VC rounds was 8.0x in the last 12 months.
4.8x
Median EV/Revenue as of May 2026 for public online brokers companies
8.2x
Charles Schwab is the highest valued public online brokers company based on EV/Revenue (excluding outliers)
5.0x
Median EV/Revenue across online brokers M&A deals in the last 12 months
8.0x
Median EV/Revenue across online brokers VC rounds in the last 12 months
Online brokers market segments
Online brokers spans US zero-commission brokers, European retail brokers and CFD and derivatives-led brokers.
US zero-commission brokers
Mobile-first brokers built on commission-free trading and PFOF monetisation. Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) is the scale name; Webull, M1 Finance and Public.com compete; SoFi Invest sits inside the broader SoFi neobank.
US scaled brokerages
Full-service brokerages with $1T+ in client assets. Charles Schwab (post-TD Ameritrade) at $9T+; Fidelity ($14T+); Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) at $580B+ customer equity; E*TRADE (Morgan Stanley) at $1T+.
European retail brokers
European mass-market neobrokers and retail brokerages. Trade Republic (Germany), Scalable Capital (Germany), BUX (Netherlands) and Lightyear (UK) anchor the modern tier; Comdirect (Commerzbank), Flatex and DEGIRO sit in the incumbent layer.
CFD & derivatives-led brokers
Brokers anchored in leveraged CFDs and spread bets. Plus500 (LON: PLUS), IG Group (LON: IGG) and CMC Markets lead; eToro mixes CFDs and multi-asset across non-US markets.
Options & active trader platforms
Brokers built around options trading and active retail. Tastytrade (IG Group), Webull and Robinhood Options anchor the US; Saxo Bank and TradeStation sit on the global active-trader side.
Micro-investing & fractional
Apps anchored in fractional shares, round-ups and ETF baskets. Acorns and Stash lead the US; Trade Republic and Scalable Capital dominate European micro-investing with ETF savings plans.
Social & copy-trading
Trading platforms with copy-trading and social-feed mechanics at the core. eToro (NASDAQ: ETOR after the May 2025 IPO) is the scale name; ZuluTrade and Naga compete on the FX side.
B2B execution & routing
Wholesale execution and routing infrastructure for retail brokers. Citadel Securities, Virtu Financial and Apex Clearing dominate US wholesale; Drivewealth provides API-based brokerage infrastructure to fintechs globally.
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For category-leading technology companies who are exploring exit alternatives with either financial or strategic acquirers.
Key online brokers KPIs to track
Funded accounts, assets under custody, ARPU and net new assets are the metrics investors track in online brokers.
| KPI | Definition |
|---|---|
| Funded accounts | Customer accounts with a non-zero balance. The headline scale metric for Robinhood and the European neobrokers. |
| Assets under custody | Total customer balances across cash and securities. Schwab, IBKR and Fidelity report quarterly; the closest equivalent to AUM for brokers. |
| Average revenue per user | Trailing 12-month revenue divided by funded accounts. Robinhood and eToro both publish; reads engagement-led versus asset-led monetisation. |
| Net new assets | Inflows minus outflows of customer assets. The cleanest growth metric - Schwab and IBKR publish monthly. |
| DARTs | Daily average revenue trades. Standard retail-brokerage metric; trends inversely with subscription and NIM revenue when zero-commission applies. |
| Net interest margin | NII as percentage of average interest-earning assets. The dominant revenue line at every major broker since 2022. |
| Customer acquisition cost | Marketing spend per funded account. US neobroker CAC has compressed from $50-$200 to under $50 since 2022. |
| Cost-to-serve | Operating cost per account. Online brokers target $10-$30/account/year; wirehouses run materially higher. |
Main online brokers players globally
The most active online brokers and category leaders globally.
| Company | HQ | Overview |
|---|---|---|
Robinhood robinhood.com |  Menlo Park | Largest mobile-first US retail broker (NASDAQ: HOOD). 25M+ funded accounts at end-2024; acquired Bitstamp (closed mid-2025 for $200M) and TradePMR for $300M to expand into crypto and RIA custody. |
Interactive Brokers interactivebrokers.com | Greenwich | Global multi-asset brokerage (NASDAQ: IBKR). Customer equity passed $580B in early 2025; the active-trader and global-broker reference point with consistent 70%+ pre-tax margins. |
Charles Schwab schwab.com | Westlake | Largest US retail brokerage (NYSE: SCHW), $9T+ in client assets. Completed TD Ameritrade integration in 2024 after the $26B acquisition closed in 2020. |
eToro etoro.com |  Bnei Brak | Multi-asset social trading platform (NASDAQ: ETOR after the May 2025 IPO at a $4.2B valuation). 36M+ registered users across 75 markets; social copy-trading anchors retention. |
Plus500 plus500.com | Haifa | CFD broker (LON: PLUS). Operates in 60+ countries; consistently 50%+ EBITDA margins on FX, equity-index and commodity CFDs. |
Trade Republic traderepublic.com |  Berlin | Largest German mobile neobroker. 8M+ customers across 17 European markets; secured a full banking licence in 2023 and launched a 4% savings product in 2024. |
Scalable Capital scalable.capital | Munich | German neobroker and robo-advisor. 1M+ customers; BlackRock invested at a €1.4B valuation in 2021; operates the Scalable Broker and PRIME+ flat-fee tier. |
Webull webull.com | New York | US mobile broker (NASDAQ: BULL after the April 2024 SPAC). Active-trader focus with options, futures and fractional shares; 4M+ funded accounts globally. |
Saxo Bank home.saxo |  Copenhagen | Multi-asset global broker and B2B technology provider. Serves 1.2M+ direct clients and 200+ institutional B2B partners; pulled its IPO in 2023 and explored M&A through 2024-25. |
IG Group ig.com |  London | UK CFD and spread-bet leader (LON: IGG). Owns Tastytrade (acquired for $1B in 2021) for US options exposure; reported £1B+ in revenue for FY 2024. |
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Key online brokers market trends
eToro's IPO at $4.2B, the EU MiFIR PFOF ban and the active-trader options boom are reshaping online brokers right now.
eToro IPOs at $4.2B
eToro listed on NASDAQ (ETOR) in May 2025 at a $4.2B valuation after the 2022 SPAC collapse. The pricing reset the comp set for international multi-asset brokers and triggered renewed listing chatter at Saxo and Webull-style names.
Schwab finishes TD Ameritrade integration
Schwab completed the multi-year TD Ameritrade integration in 2024, retiring legacy platforms and consolidating onto Schwab thinkorswim. Active-trader retention exceeded expectations; net new assets recovered to pre-deal trends through 2025.
EU MiFIR PFOF ban
MiFIR amendments banning payment for order flow in the EU took effect in June 2026 (with a transitional period from late 2024). Trade Republic and Scalable Capital pre-emptively restructured pricing toward spreads and subscriptions through 2024-25.
Robinhood + Bitstamp + TradePMR
Robinhood closed its $200M Bitstamp and $300M TradePMR acquisitions through 2024-25 to push into European crypto and US RIA custody. The expansion shifted the equity narrative from US retail-only to a multi-segment broker.
Active-trader options boom
US listed options volume hit new records each year through 2023-25, driven by zero-DTE products and retail derivatives engagement. Robinhood, Webull and Tastytrade are the principal retail beneficiaries; Cboe captures the listing economics.
Tokenised equities re-emerge
Backed, Ondo and Robinhood (EU pilot) all launched tokenised stock products through 2024-25. The category remains small but the GENIUS Act and MiCA passporting created clearer regulatory paths than the 2021 cycle.
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