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Lightyear vs Scalable Capital: fees, markets and protection

Facts for both companies from their official pages; each was checked on the date shown in its review.

Facts verified on October 28, 2026

Key differences

Only Lightyear lists US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq), Euronext, and London Stock Exchange.
Only Scalable Capital lists European Investor Exchange (Hanover Stock Exchange) and gettex (Munich Stock Exchange).
Only Lightyear is licensed by EFSA and FCA.
Only Scalable Capital is licensed by BaFin.

Criterion	Lightyear	Scalable Capital
Rating	4.6/5 on other platforms 5.5K ratings	4.5/5 on other platforms 122.4K ratings
Regulators	EFSA, FCA	BaFin
Markets	US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq), Euronext, London Stock Exchange, Xetra (Deutsche Börse)	European Investor Exchange (Hanover Stock Exchange), gettex (Munich Stock Exchange), Xetra (Deutsche Börse)
Products	stocks, ETFs, fractional shares, bonds, funds	stocks, ETFs, bonds, funds
US stock or ETF order	0.1% of the order, minimum $0.10, maximum $1	€0.99 per order
Currency conversion fee	0.35%	—
Investor protection	Estonian Investor Protection Sectoral Fund, SIPC (US securities held with Alpaca)	Entschädigungseinrichtung deutscher Banken (statutory deposit guarantee)
Deposits and withdrawals	Bank transfer, Visa / Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay	Bank transfer
Available only in	Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark +20	Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands
Minimum deposit	—	No minimum
Founded	—	2014
Headquarters	—	Germany
	Read review	Read review

Which regulators license Lightyear and Scalable Capital?

Lightyear is licensed by EFSA and FCA; Scalable Capital by BaFin.