Copy trading is an automated service many brokers provide that allows you to replicate another trader’s open positions on your account. Most people who use copy trading services are either newbies who have yet to develop and master their own trading strategy or more experienced traders who may not have much time to analyze the markets themselves.
Although there are numerous instruments you can trade with social trading, this review focuses more on how to copy trade stocks and the best platforms that provide this feature in 2025.
If you want to learn about social trading stocks and the best services for stock copy trading, this article answers all your questions and more.
What is Stock Copy Trading?
Stock copy trading is a feature on many broker platforms that lets you mirror the trades of other, usually more experienced or successful traders. You can copy someone else’s trades in real-time rather than analyzing the market yourself before buying or selling a stock.
If you want to participate in stock copy trading, you have two options: real stocks and CFDs. However, it is important to note that while real stocks confer ownership privileges and may include voting rights, CFD stocks do not.
Also, while most platforms for copy trading stocks may permit leverage trading or short selling for CFDs, it is less common for real shares.
How Does Stock Copy Trading Work?
What is stock copy trading, and how does copy trading stocks work? It’s relatively straightforward. As explained earlier, stock copy trading lets you clone the positions of other successful traders. You can do this by following a few steps.
- Before you can begin, you need an account with a broker that offers the copy trading feature. Popular platforms include eToro, Pepperstone, AvaTrade, ZuluTrade, and Skilling.
- Most platforms will have a dedicated copy trading section on their website or trading app. Here you can view available traders and evaluate their performance metrics, e.g., drawdown, profit/win rate, and risk score.
- Pick a trader with exceptional metrics and decide how much of your funds you wish to invest in mirroring their trades. Trades will be executed automatically once they place an order.
- You can also manually stop copying a trader, change how much you wish to allocate for copy trading, and apply a stop loss or take other risk management procedures.
Pros and Cons of Stock Copy Trading?
Here, we highlight some of the benefits of copy trading stocks and a few disadvantages.
Pros
- It is beginner-friendly. You can start copy trading with little to no knowledge of how to analyze stocks.
- Copy trading lets you spread your risk by implementing multiple strategies from various traders.
- Copy trading saves time. You don’t have to monitor charts or execute trades manually.
Cons
- Copy trading is not always successful. There is also a risk of loss.
- Many platforms and traders charge performance fees or commissions for copy trading.
- You have less control over your trades.
- Copy trading offers limited learning opportunities and encourages overdependence on third-party traders.
- Due to high liquidity, market conditions can change before placing your order.
Top Stock Copy Trading Platforms in 2026
This section explores the best stock copy trading platforms in 2025. We compare their services across several metrics, including fees, available stock markets, regulation, and research tools.
|
Trading Platforms |
Regulatory Bodies | Commission | Stock Market Access |
Research Tools |
| eToro | ASIC (Australia), CySEC (Cyprus), FCA (UK), FSAS (Seychelles), FSRA (Abu Dhabi), and MFSA (Malta). | No commissions for copy trading stocks. | UK, US, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, UAE, Finland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Norway | Economic Calendar, Expected Dividends, Portfolio Comparison, and Portfolio Breakdown. |
| ZuluTrade | HCMC (Greece). | No commissions. | Depends on the individual broker. | Economic Calendar, Simulation, Pip and Margin Calculator. |
| AvaTrade | ASIC (Australia), BVI FSC (British Virgin Islands), CBI (Ireland), FSA (Japan), FFA (Japan), FSCA (South Africa), FRSA (Abu Dhabi), and ISA (Israel) | No commissions. | US, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, UK, China, and Netherlands. | Economic Calendar, Real-time Market Data, and Trading Calculator. |
| Pepperstone | ASIC (Australia), CMA (Kenya), DFSA (UAE), and FCA (UK) | 0.2% per side (for US Share CFDs). | UK, US, Hong Kong, Germany, and Australia. | API Trading, Smart Trader Tools, and AutoChartist. |
| Skilling | CySEC (Cyprus) and FSA (Seychelles). | No commissions (standard accounts).
$40 per million (premium accounts). |
US, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Hong Kong, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, Mexico, and Canada. | Economic Calendar, Advanced Charting Tools, and Performance Stats. |
eToro: Best Copy Trading Platform for Real Stocks Trading
eToro’s CopyTrader feature provides commission-free trading and no additional charges for copy trading stocks.
The broker is highly regulated, with regulatory licenses from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Financial Services Authority, Seychelles, Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) Abu Dhabi.
With eToro, you can assess US and UK exchanges, along with 15+ exchanges from other countries, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain, and Switzerland. You can copy trade both real and CFD stocks with CopyTrader.
However, while eToro charges variable spreads and overnight fees, copy trading real stocks is commission-free. Also, signal providers on eToro do not charge a performance fee but are paid directly by the platform based on their performance.
CopyTrader has several features that allow you to assess the performance of a stock. For example, when you select a stock on the CopyTrader platform, you can view its market cap, price-to-earnings ratio, revenue, and volume. You can also monitor news updates related to different stocks.
In addition to the stock analytics features, eToro provides robust metrics for trader selection. For each investor you can copy, eToro will display their portfolio, showing a detailed list of assets and the percentage profit and loss on each asset.
CopyTrader also displays the average risk score, daily, weekly, and maximum drawdown, as well as the percentage of profitable trades.
Pros
- Easy-to-use platform.
- Wide range of assets available.
- Offers advanced trading features.
Cons
- Not available in all U.S. states.
- Doesn’t offer crypto-to-crypto crosses.
- Charges an inactivity fee.
ZuluTrade: Best Copy Trading Platform for Day Trading
ZuluTrade is a trading system that supports multiple brokers and offers copy trading for stocks and other assets, including forex, commodities, and indices. They are regulated by the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission (HCMC) in Greece.
You can open an account with any of ZuluTrade’s integrated or co-branded brokers or any other broker that provides an MT4, MT5, or ActTrader trading account. Provided you’ve registered and linked your broker to ZuluTrade, you can copy-trade CFD stocks from various markets, depending on your broker’s available assets.
ZuluTrade allows several investors to register and provide trading signals for others to copy. They also have a leaderboard that ranks these investors based on performance using various criteria. You can compare leaders on ZuluTrade based on their percentage of winning trades, return on investment (ROI), and maximum drawdown. ZuluTrade does not charge a fee for using its services.
You can also secure your ZuluTrade account with ZuluGuard, a feature that protects your funds and lets you set the maximum amount you wish to risk by following a leader.
Pros
- Can be linked with multiple brokers.
- Long list of traders to copy.
- Intuitive trading app.
Cons
- Not available to US residents.
- Users may experience slippage.
AvaTrade: Best Copy Trading Platform for Regulated Copy Trading
AvaTrade is one of the most highly regulated copy trading platforms for stock market CFDs. The broker and its numerous subsidiaries are overseen by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the Abu Dhabi Global Markets’ Financial Regulatory Services Authority (FRSA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the Israel Securities Authority (ISA).
After you’ve created an account with AvaTrade, you can begin copy trading with the AvaSocial trading app. However, AvaTrade is also compatible with ZuluTrade and DupliTrade for users who are more familiar with both platforms.
On AvaSocial, you can view the complete list of traders to copy and see the best-performing traders within a period. There are hundreds of options for you to choose from, and the platform allows you to examine each trader’s realized profit and loss, maximum drawdown, live return percentage, and copy trading fee.
While AvaTrade itself doesn’t charge a commission for copy trading, signal providers charge a performance fee, which is usually a percentage of the profits earned from successful trades. This fee differs and can be as much as 30%.
Unfortunately, copy trading for real stocks is not available on AvaTrade. However, they provide over 500 CFD stocks from the US, UK, and other major Asian and European exchanges.
Pros
- Multi-regulated copy trading platform.
- Cross-platform compatibility (Can also be used with ZuluTrade and DupliTrade) .
- Seamless user interface for AvaSocial.
Cons
- Not available to users in the US.
- Inactivity fees are relatively high.
Pepperstone: Best Copy Trading Platform for Scalping
With Pepperstone, you can explore signals from other traders and replicate their trades in your account. This copy trading broker is compatible with numerous platforms, including MT4, MT5, cTrader, and TradingView. They offer share CFDs from exchanges in the UK, US, Hong Kong, Australia, and Germany.
Pepperstone is well-regulated in different regions by trusted agencies such as the Financial Conduct Authority (UK), Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), and Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Kenya.
Commissions for CFD stock trading depend on the exchange you are trading with and typically range between 0.07% and 0.20% per side. However, US Share CFDs are charged at $0.02 per side. Signal providers on pepperstone may charge a performance fee. This can range between 0% and 50% of your profits. Fees are due only if the trade stays profitable.
As with most copy trading platforms, you can review and select the traders to copy by looking at their number of trades, win rates, drawdown, and risk-reward ratio.
Pros
- Highly regulated trading platform.
- Excellent research tools and resources.
- Compatible with numerous trading platforms .
Cons
- No real shares for copy trading.
- Not available to US residents.
- MetaTrader copy trading may not offer as many features as other brokers’ proprietary platforms.
Skilling: Best Copy Trading Platform for Beginners
Skilling Copy provides a large social trading community with hundreds of investors and trading strategies for you to choose from. For each signal provider on the platform, you can view their net profit, maximum drawdown, all-time ROI, win rate, minimum investment amount, number of investors, and how much investor funds they have under management.
Most traders also briefly describe their trading strategy to help you decide if they are a good fit. You can manually adjust your risk exposure by setting a stop loss.
Skilling Copy is accessible via the broker’s cTrader platform, provided you own a standard or premium account. Standard accounts do not pay a commission for trading stocks on Skilling. However, premium accounts are charged a commission of $40 per million of trading volume.
In addition to commissions, individual signal providers may charge management, performance, and volume fees, which typically vary from one trader to another. Most performance fees range from 10% to 30%.
Skilling is a multi-regulated broker. They are regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). They have also rebranded one of their subsidiaries as TradingMoon. TradingMoon is regulated by the Financial Services Authority, Seychelles.
Skilling only offers CFD instruments, meaning you cannot copy trade real stocks on this platform. CFD shares provided on Skilling Copy are listed from exchanges in several countries, such as the United States, Belgium, Spain, France, Hong Kong, and Norway. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find evidence for copy trading UK stocks on their platform.
Pros
- Beginner-friendly copy trading platform.
- Extensive list of assets for trading.
- Offers relatively fast order execution.
Cons
- Not available to US residents.
- No real stocks available.
How to Choose a Copy Trading Platform to Copy Stock Trades
Although you may find many stock social trading platforms, not all might fit your copy trading needs. Before making a choice, you need to consider several critical factors, such as commissions, regulations, user interface, research tools, security, range of assets, and customer service.
Below, we explore each of these factors in more detail.
Commission
Commissions should play a vital role when you are choosing a platform for social trading stocks or any other asset. Many zero-commission brokers, such as eToro, do not include any additional charges for copy trading on their platform. Overall, zero-to-low-fee brokers are always a better choice when it comes to social trading equity and other assets.
Regulations
One common feature among the best stock copy trading platforms in 2025 is that they are all highly regulated. Compliance with regulatory standards set by a governing body ensures that user funds are safe and guarantees a level of protection from fraudulent practices.
User Interface
The complexity of your platform’s user interface will determine how long it can take you to get started with copy trading. Ideally, you want to go for a broker whose copy trading app doesn’t take time to master.
Choosing a platform with a seamless user interface makes it easy for you to follow top stock traders, copy investment portfolios, and view stock copy trading strategies with ease.
Wide Range of Assets
Choosing a broker with an extensive list of assets gives you more options to choose from when trading. You should be able to copy trade US stocks as well as shares from most of the major exchanges across Europe and Asia. In addition, they should also provide access to other financial instruments like indices, forex, and commodities.
Research Tools
Research tools make it easy for you to select the right trader and evaluate different stock copy trading strategies. A good copy trading platform should provide you with tools and metrics that you can use for personalized market analysis, such as real-time market data, an Economic Calendar, and a copy trading stock portfolio guide.
Security
Fund security is a priority for any tested and trusted equity copy trading platform. Before you make a final decision on which broker to select, explore their website to check out what security measures they have in place to safeguard your funds.
In addition to regulatory information, you can check if they offer features like two-factor authentication and if they keep user funds in segregated accounts.
Customer Service
Occasionally, you may experience difficulties while mirror trading stocks, regardless of the broker you use. However, it’s important that you select a platform that offers responsive customer service. Top-rated platforms usually offer a wide range of channels where you can receive assistance quickly, including email, call lines, social media, and a live chat feature.
Bottom Line
Automated stock trading copy platforms are growing in popularity due to their ease and convenience. However, a major area of concern for traders is selecting the right platform that provides exceptional services, affordable fees, and top-tier security.
Platforms like eToro, AvaTrade, ZuluTrade, Pepperstone, and Skilling are popular and are some of the safest platforms for copy trading stocks from various markets, including the US and the UK.
Do you agree with our list of the best copy trading platforms for stocks in 2025? What other platform do you think should have been on this list? Share with us in the comments.