eToro vs. Webull

Webull and eToro both have origins outside of the United States. eToro was launched in 2007 in Israel and began operating in the U.S. in 2018 as a crypto platform, with expanded assets added in January 2022. Not your typical investing app, eToro has similarities with a social media platform with the social trading aspect of the platform known as CopyTrader. CopyTrader users copy popular traders and interact with others on the home page “social feed.” With limited stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, eToro is a bit short of a comprehensive trading platform. 

In contrast, Chinese-owned Webull offers a more comprehensive investment and trading platform than eToro. Launched in 2017, Webull offers access to nearly the entire stock and ETF universe, options, and margin investing, making it a fit for beginner investors to intermediate traders. The newly updated Webull 8.0 offers a comprehensive trading platform, with features for both fundamental and technical traders. There are no trading commissions at Webull, adding to the allure of this snappy investing platform. We’ll delve into the features, similarities, and differences between eToro and Webull to help you decide which investment platform is best for your needs.

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• Account Minimum: $100 for stocks and ETFs, $200 for CopyTrader
• Fees: 1% crypto trading fee; no-fee stock, ETF, and options trading

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• Account Minimum: $0
• Fees: $0 commissions for stock, ETF, and options

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Usability

On the surface, both eToro and Webull offer clean, slick interfaces with good user experience on each platform (web-based and app). The eToro website focuses first on the social aspect of the app, with the user news feed on the home page. The eToro website and app are similar, with your portfolio and access to all assets via the “Discover” tab on the home screen. The eToro platform is more limited, with less research, fewer tradable assets, and a less sophisticated platform than Webull. The strong social aspect is reflected in the user experience. eToro’s unique social features, CopyTrade for cryptocurrencies and the Popular Investor Program, distinguish it from Webull. These features make it easy to follow the trades of other investors, and add to the social aspect of the app. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending upon the profitability of the expert trades and your interest in this modernized version of coattail investing. 

Webull offers web-based and downloadable trading platforms and a mobile app, which approximates the features of the computer-based experience. Webull surprises on the upside with excellent usability for such a feature-rich platform. The menu items connect to customizable quotes, stock and ETF detail pages, a customizable trading screen, and comprehensive account tab. The strong Webull usability is reflected in awards for Best Broker for Low-Cost Options Trading and Best Low-Cost Day Trading Platform. Webull surpasses competitors like eToro and Robinhood with seamless usability and depth of features. 

Trade Experience

Desktop Experience

Investors can trade from several screens in eToro, including the trade, watchlist, and discover tabs. The eToro platform offers real-time quotes, along with ETF, stock, and cryptocurrency investing. The distinctive CopyTrade and Popular Investor Program features, in addition to the social news feed, create a game-like environment, and might minimize the importance of investment research and the risk inherent in the financial markets. The Popular Investor Program facilitates sharing of trading insights and knowledge and provides compensation to popular investors with more followers. The custom watchlists are synced across desktop and mobile platforms and can be customized with volatility alerts as well. eToro’s research and screeners are barebones, with minimal features and customization. 

It’s also important to note that when markets decline, no shorting is allowed. This takes a tool designed for declining markets out of the hands of the expert traders and their followers, limiting their ability to adapt to market conditions. Moreover, eToro’s lack of proper volume indicators reduce the accuracy of any volume-related investment strategies. 

Webull’s web-based and downloadable trading tools and features are more comprehensive than those at eToro. The updated Webull 8.0 adds greater customization and additional features to the trading experience. The platform provides templates for stock, ETF, and options trading. In line with more established and larger investment brokers, the new features include 20 additional technical indicators, deeper market news, additional tools for technical and fundamental analysis, and advanced customizable charting. The research continues to impress with probability and testing capabilities not often found in a streamlined investment app like Webull. 

All in all, eToro leans towards confusing investing with social interaction while Webull is a better fit for new to intermediate investors and traders looking for a feature-rich trading platform. 

Mobile Experience

The mobile experience is comparable to the desktop versions at eToro and Webull. The eToro mobile app is unique within the investment app arena in that it has a social feed. This facilitates interaction with other investors and offers easy access to popular investor profiles. Beginners may like the familiar social media-like feel, while experienced investors looking to trade may be put off by the app's creative user experience. 

The Webull 8.0 app’s features strengthen the mobile experience as well. Like the desktop version, the app has customizable charting, alerts, options trading, and financial reporting. Advanced traders can access smart trading tools, including 50+ technical indicators, 12 charting tools, and the ability to place orders directly from the chart. The updated mobile app is designed for excellent performance on a small screen. 

The mobile app at Webull is best for serious beginners to advanced investors and traders looking to research investments and trade stocks, ETFs, and options. Beginners might like eToro, but should be mindful about copying others without a basic understanding of investment principles and markets. 

Range of Offerings

Both eToro and Webull offer stock, ETF, and options, but that’s where the similarities ends. Webull users can access roughly all of the U.S. traded stocks and ETFs and can trade long and short. eToro offers a crypto wallet to support its cryptocurrency trading capabilities, while, in 2023, Webull moved crypto trading into a separate business that customers now access through the new Webull Pay App. eToro users can trade a limited 2,095 stocks, 263 ETFs, and 24 cryptocurrencies. Neither platform offers bonds, mutual funds, or other asset classes. 

The offerings contest between eToro and Webull is like that of a bicycle and a car. eToro offers a bare minimum of assets while Webull can go head to head with many trading apps. Neither offer provides the full suite of investments available at a major financial broker like E*TRADE, Schwab, Interactive Brokers, Merrill, or Fidelity.

Order Types

eToro enables simple orders like market, limit, and trailing stop loss, but lacks more complex order types. At Webull, users will find all the typical orders as well as specialty conditional orders like one-cancels-the-other (OCO), one-triggers-an-OCO (OTOCO), and one-triggers-the-other (OTO), giving it the edge in this category. 

It is important to note that larger brokers have an even wider selection of order types. That said, Webull offers basic and complex orders that will meet the needs of the majority of traders. 

Trading Technology

Both platforms offer virtual paper trading accounts, which is helpful for those practicing investment strategies before deploying real money. Other similarities between eToro and Webull include payment for order flow (PFOF) and availability of fractional shares. For example, Webull’s payment for order flow wasbetween $0.00026 and $0.0030 depending on the market maker. The broker acknowledges that PFOF is the only reason it can offer a robust trading platform commission-free. Webull is attentive to best execution practices and monitors the platform's metrics monthly, while eToro is vague regarding its actual execution speeds and order routing. 

eToro attempts to provide traders with the best execution prices and results as is reasonably possible, according to the company. No specific data is offered to substantiate the results of the trading execution claims. The platform leans towards a social, copy-cat, and momentum model. The social news feed works similar to a X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook feed, with top movers and copy-trader portfolios highlighted while typical individual investment research and selection are minimized. 

Webull emphasizes transparency and achieving the best execution speeds and prices. Trades are routed based upon quality of execution, not on payment for order flow. Orders of 100 to 499 shares are executed in 0.015 seconds, with a price improvement per share of $0.0067. The percentage of shares executed at or better than National Best Bid and Offer or NBBO is 99.13%. 

Overall, we found that Webull’s trading technology is better than that of eToro’s, and the trading features are more consistent with a serious investment brokerage platform.

Costs

Neither eToro nor Webull charge commissions to trade stocks, ETFs, or options, while eToro levies a 1% fee to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Margin fees are competitive at Webull at 9.49% for up to $25,000 and down in steps from there to 5.49% on amounts over $3 million. eToro doesn't advertise the use of margin trading very much and restricts its use.

Both are essentially no-cost brokers, but Webull offers a greater number of assets. 

Research Amenities

The research capabilities at eToro are light in contrast with other investment apps. Users can access a basic detailed quote including fundamental data and lists of advancing and declining assets. The basic customizable charting includes tools and studies, for those interested in technical indicators. There are no traditional screeners and limited information about individual assets. The eToro Club, which offers additional features to users with higher assets under management, offers a few financial media subscriptions for those with more than $50,000, but no actual research reports. 

At Webull, the research amenities include detailed quotes, screeners, tools and calculators. The charting features are vast and the platform offers data for both fundamental and technical investors. With the addition of Webull 8.0, the tools for intermediate and even advanced traders are on the rise and include advanced customizable charting. Hands down, the research features are superior at Webull in contrast with eToro. 

Portfolio Analysis

Neither platform wins any portfolio analysis awards. Each platform lacks linking of external accounts or in-depth asset allocation or backtesting strategies. Users can view basic account information and quotes, including price charts. The portfolio analysis at eToro lags that of most competitor investment apps. Webull narrowly improves upon eToro and offers account performance, realized and unrealized gains and losses, the internal rate of return, and margin data. 

These two platforms are essentially tied in this category. 

Education

Neither of these two brokers is exceptional when it comes to education. The eToro Trading Academy delivers educational training in video and written guide formats. The content is divided between beginner and advanced. That said, advanced investors are unlikely to find the breadth of investments or research that they need at eToro. The educational topics are not comprehensive. Investing subjects largely cover crypto, options, trading, and how to use the platform. Webull’s investor education is satisfactory with short courses and articles. The topics span stocks, ETFs, trading, and options. Users will also find several videos about how to navigate the Webull platform on the Learn menu. 

This category is a tie as well. Investors will find more extensive educational offerings on the major investment brokerage platforms. 

Customer Service

eToro lacks phone customer service and relies on digital help tickets and the FAQ/help section for user questions. Platform usage help can be obtained via videos and articles at eToro as well. Webull provides phone service with live agents during business hours. Webull also offers email and FAQ along with platform video and article guidance. Webull ekes out a lead in the customer service category, although wait times for phone contact can be long.

Security

Both platforms offer two-factor authentication and biometric logins as well as Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance. eToro also offers a digital wallet in which to store cryptocurrency. For additional security, Webull also offers an extra passcode for trading access. Webull has an edge with excess SIPC insurance for larger account sizes. 

Both platforms are secure, but Webull wins the category with additional SIPC insurance and trading security. It is important to remember that no insurance protects account holders from changes in asset values. Instead, SIPC policies protect against the failure of the brokerage holding your assets and cash. 

Account Types

When it comes to account types, eToro only offers individual taxable cash accounts and options accounts, while Webull offers individual taxable cash and a margin account for those with more than $2,000 of assets. Webull users also have access to the standard retirement accounts:

• Traditional individual retirement account (IRA)
• Roth IRA
• Rollover IRA

Webull and eToro both lack the breadth of available accounts found at the major brokerage firms like Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, eTrade, or Schwab. Between eToro and Webull, Webull clearly prevails with margin, taxable, and retirement accounts. A joint brokerage account would elevate Webull’s standing even more among the popular investment apps.

Final Verdict

Webull and eToro are vastly different platforms, suitable for distinct investors. If you want to take a small amount of money to invest, follow other traders, and play at investing, then eToro works. Due to eToro’s emphasis on how other investors are trading, their opinions on various assets, the focus on momentum investing, and the minimal research information, we wouldn’t recommend eToro as your only investment app. New investors will not get a well-rounded, research-based investment education at eToro—nor will you get that at Webull for that matter. Choosing stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto is a risk-return tradeoff and the social aspect at eToro may add to that risk by playing to the crowd-following impulses we all share. 

Webull is a better alternative for investors who want access to stocks, ETFs, and options. You’ll still need to look elsewhere for basic investment education, but its fundamental and technical trading features are quite good, and even  rival some of the more well-known investment platforms. Most technical traders will find what they need at Webull because the overall platform user interface and charting capabilities are excellent. Webull stands out in the investment app arena by demonstrating an ongoing commitment to improving the platform. If you are looking for the streamlined investment experience, Webull is a nice balance of keeping to its investment app roots while embracing some of the best features of its larger competitors.