DEGIRO bonds are best suited to a cost-conscious European investor who wants to hold a handful of individual bonds inside a mostly-ETF-and-equity portfolio — flat trading fees of about €3 and a BaFin-licensed banking parent are the standout features. The trade-off is a shallow, euro-dominated menu of 327 bonds, basic fixed-income tooling and no interest on idle cash.
DEGIRO built its name on cheap, no-frills investing for Europe. For someone buying individual bonds, that reputation is only half the story: the pricing and the banking licence are genuine strengths, but the bond menu is small and the fixed-income tools are basic. This review covers who DEGIRO fits for bonds, and who will outgrow it fast.
DEGIRO launched in the Netherlands in 2013, bringing wholesale-style pricing to retail investors and quickly becoming one of the most-used low-cost brokers in Europe. In 2020 it combined with the German online broker flatex to form flatexDEGIRO, and client accounts now sit inside flatexDEGIRO Bank — a licensed German bank supervised by BaFin.
That bank status is more than a footnote for a bond investor. It means client cash is held under a banking licence and covered by the German deposit-guarantee scheme, rather than parked with a third-party partner. The group serves more than 2.5 million clients across 18 European countries, each with a localised platform. In late 2025 the banking entity changed its legal form to a Societas Europaea (SE); the licence and client protections carried over unchanged.
For bonds, this matters because the account you buy them in is a bank account with the supervision and protection that implies — a stronger footing than many app-first rivals that rely on a partner bank behind the scenes.
DEGIRO lists 327 tradeable bonds. That is the honest headline: a real, if modest, menu. You can buy government and corporate bonds on Euronext and Frankfurt exchanges, with orders routed through regulated venues rather than a single in-house dealer. There are no fractional bonds, and many issues carry large minimum denominations.
The book is overwhelmingly euro-denominated: around 325 of the 327 lines, with a single Swiss-franc and a single sterling issue alongside. The strength here is connectivity — orders clear on regulated exchanges, and the sliver of non-euro paper is just enough to add a token of diversification. The binding constraint is depth and granularity: three hundred-odd lines is a fraction of what fixed-income-focused brokers list, and with no fractional access and chunky minimums, building a diversified ladder in small clips is difficult.
Set against peers, DEGIRO is neither the broadest book nor a specialist fixed-income desk. It is the accessible, low-cost option for a few core holdings — where a dedicated bond investor would quickly hit the edge of the catalogue, a diversified investor adding two or three bonds will usually find something that fits.
Cost is DEGIRO's best category. The bond fee is set by venue, not by whether the issuer is a government or a company: any bond on the main European exchanges (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal) costs about €3 — a €2 commission plus €1 handling — and that fee is flat, so it does not grow with your ticket. There is no custody fee, no account fee and no inactivity fee.
Because the fee is flat, its bite shrinks as the trade grows:
| Trade size | Commission | Cost as % of trade |
|---|---|---|
| €1,000 | ~€3 | 0.30% |
| €5,000 | ~€3 | 0.06% |
| €20,000 | ~€3 | 0.015% |
Against a traditional bank — where bond dealing can run to tens of euros plus a percentage of the notional and an annual custody charge — a flat €3 with no custody fee is a wide advantage, and it widens further on larger tickets.
Two honest asterisks belong in the total-cost sum. Currency conversion runs at 0.25% each time you buy an asset priced in another currency, which bites on the franc or sterling lines bought from a euro balance. And a €2.50 annual connectivity fee applies per non-home exchange you use. Neither is large, but both belong in your reckoning before you buy.
DEGIRO makes buying a bond cheap. It does almost nothing to help you find the right one.
The platform is clean and quick to learn: search an instrument, choose the venue, set a limit order, confirm. Onboarding is fully online and same-day, and the service reaches 18 European countries with a localised app and web platform in each.
For bonds specifically, the tooling is basic. ISIN search works and you can separate government from corporate issues, but there is no rich screener for yield, rating, duration or lot size, and analytics such as yield-to-maturity or duration are limited. Order types cover market and limit rather than a full suite.
The weakest element, named plainly, is research depth: this is a competent execution platform, not a fixed-income terminal. It fits an investor who already knows the bond they want and simply needs to place the order cheaply; it will frustrate anyone expecting to discover and compare bonds inside the account.
Safety is a strength. DEGIRO's accounts sit inside flatexDEGIRO Bank SE, a licensed German bank regulated by BaFin, with the Dutch operation registered with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and supervised by the AFM. Securities are held in a segregated legal entity, separate from the broker's own balance sheet.
Protection splits into two layers worth keeping separate:
The €20,000 compensation ceiling is modest next to schemes that reach €100,000, and is worth knowing. In practice, for bonds held in segregated custody the separation of assets is the more important protection — compensation schemes exist for the rare case of fraud or shortfall, not ordinary market losses. The group's long operating history and clean supervisory record read as reassurance rather than a red flag.
The extras are where a bond investor gives ground. DEGIRO pays no interest on uninvested cash — 0%, in any currency, at any balance — while the ECB deposit-facility rate sits at 2.25%. Cash waiting to be deployed simply earns nothing, so the account rewards staying fully invested rather than parking a war-chest between purchases. There is no fractional investing either, so small fixed amounts cannot be put to work in part-units.
Country reach is wide — 18 European markets with same-day online onboarding — and support runs by email, phone and FAQ, with independent reviews reporting mid-pack response times.
Tax help is partial: annual statements and, in some countries, locally relevant documents, but no end-to-end filing and a patchy record on accuracy. How much this matters depends heavily on your country of residence, so a resident who needs turnkey tax reporting should confirm exactly what DEGIRO provides in their market before relying on it.
DEGIRO suits a cost-conscious European investor running a mostly-ETF-and-equity portfolio who wants to add a few individual bonds cheaply, inside a bank-licensed account, and who stays fully invested rather than holding large cash balances. For that reader, the flat €3 fee, the absence of custody charges and the BaFin-licensed parent line up neatly.
It is the wrong choice for a dedicated bond investor who wants a deep catalogue, small-lot laddering, a proper yield-and-rating screener, and interest on cash between purchases. Those investors will hit the 327-line ceiling, the €20,000 securities-compensation cap and the 0% cash rate quickly, and should look elsewhere.
How it stacks up when the requirement changes:
| If you want… | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Low, flat trading costs on a bank-licensed account, bonds a small part of a broader portfolio | DEGIRO |
| A deep multi-currency bond universe, small-lot access and interest on cash | Interactive Brokers |
| A broad fixed-income catalogue with stronger research tools | Saxo Bank |
| Mainly interest on idle cash alongside a simpler bond selection | Trade Republic |
Bondfish complements your broker by screening the full universe of bonds available across major brokers and helping you identify the best opportunities through independent analysis — the research layer a cheap execution platform like DEGIRO leaves out.
DEGIRO is a cheap, well-regulated way to hold a few individual bonds: a flat ~€3 fee, no custody or account charges, and a BaFin-licensed bank behind the account. The ceiling is just as clear — a shallow 327-line, euro-heavy menu, basic bond tools, a €20,000 securities-compensation cap and 0% on idle cash. Use it if bonds are a small, occasional part of a broader portfolio; look elsewhere if fixed income is the main event.
This article is for general information only and is not investment advice. Bond investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Figures such as bond counts, fees, interest rates and protection limits can change — verify current terms with the broker before investing. Consider your own circumstances or consult a licensed financial professional before investing.