Interactive Brokers vs moomoo — which broker is better?

Pros

• US stocks from USD 0.0035 per share on the Tiered plan, minimum USD 0.35 per order and capped at 1% of trade value
• Currency conversion at 0.20 basis points (minimum USD 2) — an order of magnitude cheaper than most European brokers' 0.25%–1.5%
• Roughly 160 market destinations in 36 countries from a single multi-currency account, with 28 settlement currencies
• No inactivity fee since 2021, plus no custody fee and no platform fee
• Trader Workstation offers over 100 order types plus a mature Python/Java/REST API used widely by retail algo traders
• Nasdaq-listed parent (IBKR) with published quarterly financials and around USD 21 billion of equity capital
• Top-tier licences in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, with per-entity investor compensation disclosed
• Paper trading account mirrors the live platform, including the full API

Cons

• Customer support is the standout weakness — ticket-first, slow, and frequently answered with generic templates
• Trader Workstation has a genuinely steep learning curve; the first session is intimidating even for experienced traders
• The fee schedule is complicated: Fixed versus Tiered, pass-through exchange fees, and per-exchange minimums make cost prediction harder than it should be
• Real-time market data is a paid subscription per exchange, so the headline commissions understate the true monthly cost for active traders
• Account opening is longer and more document-heavy than at app-first brokers, and the website navigation is poor
• Spot crypto is only available to US clients via a separate arrangement; EEA clients get futures and exchange-traded products instead

Pros

• Free Nasdaq TotalView Level 2 depth on the US platform — Webull charges USD 3.99 per month for comparable data
• USD 0 commission and USD 0 contract fee on US stocks, ETFs and equity options for US residents
• A desktop terminal with institutional-holdings tracking, heat maps, an options strategy builder and 100+ indicators, plus the newer moomoo NX shell
• Parent Futu Holdings is Nasdaq-listed (FUTU) and clearing runs through an in-house FINRA/SIPC member, Futu Clearing Inc., rather than a third party
• Five regulated entities across the US, Singapore, Australia, Canada and Malaysia, including CIPF cover of CAD 1,000,000 for Canadian clients
• No inactivity fee, no maintenance fee, no minimum deposit, and free ACH in and out
• Multi-market equity access — US, Hong Kong and China A-shares appear on the same platform, which most zero-commission apps cannot do

Cons

• Available to residents of only seven countries — the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand — with no EU, UK or DACH entity
• Parent company Futu was publicly named by China's CSRC in 2022 over unlicensed cross-border brokerage; mainland onboarding stopped and the apps were removed from mainland stores in 2023
• Trustpilot sentiment is mixed at roughly 2.4–3.4 out of 5 depending on locale, with slow support responses the most common complaint
• No futures, no bonds and no traditional mutual fund supermarket for US retail clients — futures exist only via the Singapore and Australia entities
• Non-US residents pay a materially worse schedule on the same US market: USD 0.005 per share with a USD 1.00 order minimum
• Only ACH moves money for free: an outgoing wire costs USD 20 domestic or USD 25 international, and an outgoing account transfer costs USD 75