A $1,000 purchase of Apple will not cost the same depending on which broker you use. One platform can slice your currency conversion and execution costs to a fraction of the other, and over a decade those cents become meaningful dollars. The choice between Interactive Brokers and EasyEquities is therefore less about branding and more about how you trade, what you pay in foreign exchange, and how comfortable you are with a professional trading interface.
By the end of this piece you will be able to judge which platform is likely to cost you less for the trades you actually make, where each service limits your options, and which platform fits a particular investor profile: the buy-and-hold saver, the occasional ETF buyer, or the active trader needing lots of markets and order types.
Fees are the clearest differentiator. They arrive as visible commissions and as invisible frictions: the spread you cross when converting currencies, the custody or inactivity fees that nibble returns, and the rounding or minimums that eat small orders.
Interactive Brokers is built for low-cost execution at scale. Its pricing model rewards larger or more frequent traders with tighter commissions and better currency conversion rates. EasyEquities pitches simplicity and accessibility for retail investors in South Africa, with an interface and pricing that are easy to understand but can carry higher FX and certain platform charges for global trades.
Consider a transparent example: you want to buy $5,000 of a US ETF from South Africa and you fund in rand. If your broker converts rands to dollars at a 1.0% FX margin, that conversion costs you $50. If the broker’s FX margin is 0.2%, it costs $10. Over many purchases and regular monthly investments, that delta compounds. For many retail South African investors, the FX margin is the single largest recurring cost when buying US-listed securities.
Commissions matter too. For small, infrequent trades, some brokers effectively charge a fixed minimum that makes a $50 purchase disproportionally expensive. Interactive Brokers offers pricing tiers that, for active or larger-volume traders, are typically cheaper per trade. EasyEquities removes many psychological barriers with low minimums and fractional shares, but the FX and certain per-trade add-ons can make it more expensive for the same dollar value bought on an irregular basis.
If you trade infrequently and in small sums, EasyEquities often wins on convenience. If you trade larger sums or regularly, Interactive Brokers usually wins on total cost.
There is no contest in sheer market reach. Interactive Brokers gives retail clients access to a vast set of global venues, while EasyEquities focuses on South African equities and a curated selection of global stocks and ETFs that appeal to its user base.
Interactive Brokers provides access to more than 135 markets in over 33 countries, spanning stocks, options, futures, bonds, and forex.
The practical implication is simple: if you want to buy an obscure Canadian small-cap, trade options on a US index, or hold corporate bonds denominated in euros, Interactive Brokers will almost certainly offer those instruments. You also get advanced order types, direct market access, and the ability to hold multiple currency balances.
EasyEquities targets the common investor use cases: South African Exchange (JSE) stocks, fractional access to major US and global stocks and ETFs, and locally listed exchange-traded products. It is designed so that a South African saver can set up a monthly investment into a global ETF without learning FX mechanics. The tradeoff is fewer exotic instruments and limited direct access to many international exchanges.
For dividend strategies, income investors and those who want exposure across many asset classes, the breadth of instruments matters. For someone focused on long-term allocation into a handful of globally diversified ETFs, EasyEquities often supplies everything necessary without the complexity of a large trading platform.
When you invest internationally from a different currency zone, two calculations matter: what you pay to convert money and how taxes are collected or withheld. Both brokers handle these tasks, but differently.
Interactive Brokers allows you to hold multiple currencies in your account, execute interbank currency conversions at tight spreads, and place trades in the market currency without mandatory single-step conversions. That flexibility can substantially reduce FX losses for investors who plan and batch conversions. EasyEquities typically handles FX as part of the trade flow for South African clients, offering convenience and recurring debit arrangements, but at a higher effective spread for smaller purchases.
On taxes, brokerages transmit withholding on dividends and provide the tax documentation your home jurisdiction requires. US-sourced dividends paid to non-resident investors are subject to US withholding tax; the exact rate depends on treaty provisions and whether you submit the appropriate residency forms to the broker. Both Interactive Brokers and EasyEquities allow investors to file required forms like the W-8BEN for US withholding. For local tax treatment — such as South African capital gains and gross foreign income rules — brokers will not change your liability but will provide statements you need for filings.
Finally, repatriation and withdrawal are practical matters. Interactive Brokers offers multiple withdrawal rails and currency conversion options that favor larger, consolidated accounts. EasyEquities emphasizes simple rand funding and withdrawals with local rails, which can be faster and easier for day-to-day savers but may route money through currency conversions you do not control.
Execution quality and tools distinguish a professional platform from a retail-first app. Interactive Brokers provides a suite of tools — the desktop Trader Workstation, a mature mobile app, a web platform, and APIs for automation. Order types include limit, stop, conditional, algos, and complex option strategies. For traders who care about execution algorithms, slippage, or precise order routing, IBKR is designed for that world.
That power comes at a cost: the interface can be intimidating. Getting the best prices from IBKR requires an initial time investment: understand order types, set up currency balances, and, if you want margin, learn the margin rules. But once set up, the control and potential cost savings for frequent traders or for those who manage concentrated portfolios are real.
EasyEquities strips away most of that complexity and replaces it with an approachable mobile and web experience. Its strengths are clarity and features tailored to recurring savers: scheduled buys, fractional shares so a small monthly debit buys consistent percentages rather than whole shares, and prebuilt global baskets. For long-term savers who do not need options, futures, or advanced analytics, the frictionless experience reduces mistakes and keeps costs predictable.
Choose Interactive Brokers if you value control and market access. Choose EasyEquities if you value simplicity and predictable, small-dollar investing.
Both platforms operate under reputable regulators. Interactive Brokers is regulated in multiple jurisdictions, including the US, UK, and Australia, and segregates client assets in line with local rules. EasyEquities operates under South African financial supervision and provides custodial arrangements appropriate for retail clients in that market. Check the specific regulatory disclosures and client protection notes on each broker’s site for country-specific details and the protections that apply to your account.
Customer support is another axis where the brokers differ. IBKR’s global footprint includes extensive online resources, webinars, and 24/6 support for many regions, but its user community and documentation are often where answers live. EasyEquities emphasizes local-language support, easier onboarding for South African residents, and a community-driven knowledge base. For new investors, EasyEquities’ support model reduces the friction of first trades; for technically demanding questions, IBKR’s documentation and API support are superior.
These platforms serve different audiences. An early-career saver in Johannesburg who wants to contribute R500 monthly into a global ETF, avoid manual forex operations, and own fractional shares will likely choose EasyEquities and gain consistent exposure with minimal hassle. The convenience of local funding rails, scheduled buys, and a simple fee message is persuasive.
A frequent trader, a buy-and-hold investor with large periodic purchases, or someone who needs bonds, options, or direct access to many exchanges will probably find Interactive Brokers more economical over time. The better FX pricing and market access reduce costs for large or regular flows, and the advanced order capabilities protect execution quality for more sophisticated strategies.
There is also a middle ground. Some investors use both: EasyEquities for automated, small, recurring investments into a few core ETFs, and Interactive Brokers for one-off trades, larger allocations, or strategies requiring instruments not offered on the retail app. That split approach can combine the convenience of one platform with the cost-efficiency and depth of the other, at the expense of maintaining two accounts and the paperwork that entails.
Cost sensitivity, trade frequency, and the range of instruments you need determine the better fit. There is no single right answer for every investor.
One practical last test before you open an account: pick a realistic portfolio action you expect to do in the next six months and estimate the total cost on both platforms. Include the FX margin on funds, any commission or platform fee, and the impact of minimums or rounding on small trades. The broker that is cheaper for your actual pattern of trades is almost always the better choice.
Online links for further reading include Interactive Brokers’ market access and pricing pages, and EasyEquities’ product and fee information. Those pages give you the up-to-date specifics required to run the six-month test in your local currency and with your expected trade sizes.
Buying global stocks is no longer exotic. The decision that matters today is not whether you can access foreign markets, but how much of your savings those access costs will consume over time. Choose the platform that aligns with how you actually invest: small, steady contributions favor convenience; larger or active strategies favor low-cost execution and broad market access. Either way, be deliberate about the costs you accept—those costs compound more reliably than the markets.
