How to invest on XTB: A beginner’s guide

For more detailed instructions and a visual walkthrough, follow along below. 

A few things to know before we get started:

• Inside an XTB stocks & shares ISA, you can invest in over 8,000 stocks and ETFs.
• At the time of writing, XTB pays 4% interest on any uninvested cash sitting in your ISA, which is among the highest on the market.
• The ISA is fully flexible, so you can withdraw money and re-deposit it within the same tax year without affecting your allowance.
• There are no account or trading fees for most investors, but a 0.2% commission applies if you trade more than €100,000 per month (so, not most people).

Is XTB good for investing?

Overall, we wouldn't say XTB is our first choice for beginners.

If you're just getting started, you'll probably have an easier time with a platform like InvestEngine or Trading 212 – both are pretty simple, low fuss and don't bombard you with tools you don't need yet. XTB also offers CFDs, which are complicated, high-risk products that behave more like speculation than investing.

That said, XTB has its strengths. It's an information-rich platform with charts, data and analysis coming out of its ears – a big plus if you're a more experienced trader. And because they charge no account or trading fees for most investors, they're one of the cheaper brokers out there, which is always a plus point.

XTB investing tutorial

There are two different types of accounts you can hold on XTB: a General Investment Account (GIA), and a stocks & shares ISA. If your goal is long-term, tax-efficient investing, the ISA is going to be your best bet.

Opening an account

1. Download the app

The mobile app is the simplest way to open an account with XTB. While their desktop platform has plenty of features, you can only open and manage an ISA through the app (at the time of writing).

2. Sign up for an account

You’ll need to provide the usual information required by all FCA-regulated brokers – name, date of birth, tax residency, National Insurance number, that sort of thing.

A quick heads up: XTB also offer CFDs (risky financial instruments that let you bet on price movements without actually owning the asset – more on these later). Even if you never plan to touch them, you’ll have to answer a couple of questions to show you understand how they work.

The good news is, once you’re through this, the rest is smooth sailing.

Want to see how XTB stacks up against other brokers? Easily compare fees and features in a couple of clicks with our broker comparison tool.

Opening an XTB stocks & shares ISA

1. Head to the 'portfolio' tab

After logging in, you’ll see a row of icons at the bottom of the app. Tap ‘portfolio’ – that’s where you’ll find the ISA option. This is also where you can add, move, or withdraw money, and check your trading history.

2. Under 'ISA', click 'open ISA' and follow the steps

You’ll be asked for your National Insurance number again and to agree to XTB’s terms and conditions. That’s it – your ISA will be set up in less than a minute.

Just a quick side note here: even if you hold a stocks & shares ISA elsewhere, you can still open one with XTB because there's now no limit on the amount of ISAs you can fund and hold in a single tax year (with the exception of LISAs) as long as you stay within your £20,000 annual allowance.

3. Deposit funds

You can deposit money via instant bank transfer or a regular bank transfer. Neither option comes with a fee, but the instant transfer is – unsurprisingly – faster. Just follow the on-screen instructions and your money should show up in your account straight away.

What's the minimum deposit for XTB?

XTB doesn't have a minimum deposit, so you can start investing at whatever amount suits you. They also offer fractional shares, so you can get started with less than the cost of a whole share.

4. Browse the investment options

Once you’re on the ‘discover investments’ page, you’ll see XTB’s filters. They’re not as extensive as some brokers’, which some might see as a drawback, but it does make the platform almost impossible to get lost in. Under ‘stocks’, you’ll see: popular, tech, British, and dividend. Under ‘ETF’, it’s: shares, bonds, and commodity.

There are also a few themed options, like AI, gaming, and biotech.

If you already know what you want to invest in, just type it directly into the search bar at the top.

5. Make an investment

Once you’ve done your research and you’re happy with your choice, you’re ready to invest. The process is straightforward and user-friendly.

For this walkthrough, we’ll be using the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF as an example (not a recommendation, just an illustration).

When you click into the asset, you’ll see plenty of info: its risk score, top holdings, historical performance, and TER (that’s the annual charge from the fund provider).

Not a fan of the candlestick chart? Tap the ‘expand’ symbol (top left), hit the ‘settings’ icon (top right), and switch to line view.

You’ll also see two different order types:

Market order: This just means you buy or sell at the best price available right now (or when the market is next open). Fast and simple – what you see is (more or less) what you get.

Stop/limit order: This lets you set the exact price you want to buy or sell at. Your trade will only go through if the asset hits your chosen price, which is handy if you don’t want any surprises.

To choose how much you want to invest, you can either choose the value of the shares you’re buying or the volume. You can also type in how much you want to invest, or use the plus and minus buttons to adjust the amount. 

Although XTB often quotes a £10 minimum online, many funds – including Vanguard S&P 500 – actually let you start with as little as £1 thanks to fractional shares. You can check the exact minimum for any fund in the information tab before you invest.

After that, click ‘buy’, ‘confirm market order’, and you’re all set. 

6. Manage your ISA and keep an eye on your investments

You’ll be able to see everything you’ve invested along with the performance of each in by clicking through to your ISA tab, with the option to filter them by instrument name, value, and net profit. 

To top up or withdraw funds, just click the settings symbol in the top right. 

Investment plans (optional extra)

Outside of your ISA, XTB lets you build “investment plans” in their GIA – basically custom ETF portfolios that you can set up and automate with standing orders from your bank. You can mix up to nine ETFs per plan and run up to 10 plans at once, with no extra management fees. Remember though, these obviously don’t get the tax advantages of an ISA.

It's also important to know that if your General Investment Account is inactive for 12 months, XTB will begin charging an inactivity fee of €10 per month. This would certainly add up quickly, so if you’re going to use a GIA, make sure you keep an eye on it.

One quick note on CFDs...

You’ll notice that XTB talks a lot about CFDs (Contracts for Difference) and we’d be remiss not to mention them here.

As we’ve already noted, CFDs let you speculate on whether an asset’s price will go up or down, without actually owning the asset itself. You can use leverage (i.e., borrow money to increase your exposure), which can magnify gains but also means you can lose more than you put in (though negative balance protection means you can't lose more than your account balance).

These products are aimed at experienced traders, not long-term investors.

The reality is, most people lose money with CFDs: according to XTB’s own stats, 72% of retail investors lose money when trading CFDs with them. Firms are legally required to report how many customers lose via this method because they can be so dangerous.

If your focus is on long-term returns rather than short-term trading, you can safely ignore CFDs (and, frankly, you should).

How do you withdraw from XTB?

Withdrawing your funds is pretty straightforward, but you'll need to get your bank account linked first. You'll need to head to the "withdraw" tab, and add the bank account you want your money to go into. After that, you'll have to fill out a form to confirm you own the account, which involves uploading a bank statement as well as some form of personal ID.

Once you've got that sorted, next time, you'll just be able to click on your bank account under the withdraw tab. If you make a withdrawal request before 1pm, it'll be processed on the same (business) day. If it's after 1pm, it'll be processed the next day.

Is XTB safe?

That all depends on what you mean by safe – as with any broker, your investments could fall as well as rise in value. However, XTB is authorised and regulated by the FCA, meaning you're covered by FSCS protection up to £85,000 if they go bust or fail to properly keep your assets separate.

To sum up

There’s a lot more to XTB than we’ve covered here – we’ve mostly stuck to the basics to help you get started.

Their proprietary xStation 5 trading platform lets you customise your watchlists, set up push notifications for price movements or margin calls, use advanced charting tools, and access a wide range of real-time market data, if you're into that sort of thing.

But for most people looking to build wealth steadily, the stocks & shares ISA is the main event. It’s simple, low-cost, and one of the few platforms that pays interest on your cash. While the features are still fairly bare-bones for now, it’s already a very competitive choice for long-term investors – and there are likely more improvements on the way.

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