Abstract
The complaint is real: eToro users are angry that an October 2026 redesign made portfolio views, charts, stop-loss/take-profit workflows, local-currency display, and formerly free analysis harder or impossible to use. But a solo developer cannot realistically build a true eToro competitor because brokerage, custody, trading, compliance, withdrawals, and market-data licensing are the product.
Background
eToro: Trade. Invest. Connect. is a free investing and trading app with a 4.0★ lifetime rating and 23,787,128 listed installs on 2026-10-14. The store positioning is broad: stocks, ETFs, crypto, options, social investing, copy trading, smart portfolios, and a virtual portfolio.
What it does
A regulated multi-asset broker app with real-money trading, crypto, options, copy trading, social feed, academy content, and a demo portfolio.
What changed
Recent reviews focus on the October 2026 app overhaul: more taps, missing customization, chart changes, local-currency issues, and some analysis features moving behind a paywall.
Why it is soft
The soft spot is the mobile experience, not the regulated brokerage rails. A solo builder can copy the old dashboard feel, but not the full broker.
Strengths
eToro still has strengths a new entrant cannot casually replace: real brokerage accounts, funding and withdrawal rails, copy trading, a large installed base, broad asset coverage, and years of user habit. Some reviewers still praise the simple UI, market selection, smart portfolios, and ease of buying and selling shares, so this is not a dead product.
Brokerage moat
Trading, custody, options, crypto, compliance, identity checks, and money movement are far beyond a part-time solo build.
User habit
Many complaints come from long-time users who liked the previous app and are reacting to lost workflow, not discovering eToro for the first time.
Feature breadth
Stocks, ETFs, crypto, options, social features, academy content, and virtual portfolios make the incumbent hard to displace completely.
Market gap
The complaint clusters are unusually concrete: users are not asking for a new broker in the abstract; they want the old fast portfolio view, chart controls, local-currency clarity, and free analysis back.
Redesign broke trading flow
The loudest recent cluster says core actions now take more taps: editing positions, viewing charts, setting stop loss or take profit, returning to portfolio, and reading P/L.
Free features became paid or vanished
Several users say analyst targets, chart tools, custom portfolio views, and other information they relied on are missing or locked behind a subscription.
Currency and transparency confusion
Reviewers complain about GBP/USD display problems, hidden spreads, unclear fees, wallet confusion, and values that no longer match what they expect.
Trust, support, and access risk
Older complaints repeatedly mention verification loops, blocked withdrawals, login failures, chatbot support, and account restrictions.
Update 15 Oct 2026: previous version was better. no way to get rid of the AI slop button from the new update. can't customise columns anymore. can't choose take profit $ amount anymore, only %'age. more taps to trade. shortcut back to portfolio after buy/sell has been removed. this is feedback after only 10 minutes use...
Edit again: I used etoro for many years. A lot of people don't like this platform. Many 1* reviews. But it offered a couple of perks that others don't. One of them being the analysts price targets. It is the sole reason for me using etoro. But apparently, there is a pay wall now. some features have also disappeared and the app has become problematic to navigate. There is no earthly reason for me to continue to use Etoro if the only thing that gave them any kind of edge is gone.
When scrolling through the portfolio, the list jumps because the filter bar is removed when scrolling downwards and then displayed when scrolling upwards. This is really so annoying and it has been so for a very long time now and not been fixed. The same happens on the watchlist page. But on the watchlist page you can manually hide the filter bar which eliminates the jumping when scrolling. But the hiding is not saved in preferences. You need to hide it manually every time you open watchlist.
- Do not build a broker. Build a non-custodial classic dashboard: watchlists, manual positions, paper trading, P/L, notes, alerts, and clean local-currency views.
- Copy the old workflow, not the whole company. One-tap charts, customizable columns, candle charts, drawing tools, and stop-loss/take-profit planning directly address the October backlash.
- Be painfully transparent. Keep a free local mode, charge only for Pro convenience features, and never remove previously free controls without a migration path.
Build complexity
Estimated, not derived: one developer, part-time, no funding, and no paid acquisition. This is for a companion dashboard and paper portfolio, not a licensed brokerage or account-connected trading app.
| Workstream | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Android app shell, local storage, watchlists | 2.0 |
| Manual portfolio, P/L, local-currency display, custom columns | 2.0 |
| Charts, indicators, drawing tools, alerts, market-data adapter | 3.0 |
| Paper trading and demo portfolio workflows | 1.0 |
| CSV import/export and migration helpers | 1.0 |
| Play listing, billing, onboarding, basic support | 1.0 |
| Total | 10.0 |
Expected revenue
Estimated, not derived: the realistic product is freemium with local watchlists and paper trading free, plus a transparent $4.99/month Pro plan for alerts, extra portfolios, export, and advanced chart layouts. Without trading execution, month-12 revenue is modest.
| Month 12 funnel | Users | Assumption |
|---|---|---|
| Installs | 2,500 | Organic search from unhappy dashboard users |
| Activated | 1,000 | Adds watchlist, position, or paper trade |
| Retained | 350 | Still using after first month |
| Paid | 120 | $4.99/month Pro |
| Revenue | $600 | Rounded month-12 MRR |
Biggest challenges
The hard part is not drawing a nicer portfolio screen; it is convincing finance users to trust an unknown app that cannot move money, cannot execute trades, and may need market data whose terms limit redistribution or commercial use.
Regulatory boundary
Crossing from tracking and education into recommendations, brokerage, or custody changes the company from an app into a regulated financial business.
Cold-start trust
People already distrust financial apps when access to funds is involved; a new solo-built app starts with no brand, no reviews, and no compliance reputation.
Incomplete replacement
Many angry reviewers want to move portfolios, withdraw funds, or place real trades elsewhere. A dashboard companion does not solve that whole job.
AI angle
There is no strong AI angle here. In fact, some reviews explicitly dislike the new AI-flavored experience and call the assistant unhelpful. AI could help parse exported statements later, but it does not remove the main moat: brokerage licensing, account access, market data, and user trust.
Do not lead with AI
The market gap is classic usability: fewer taps, clearer charts, local currency, and stable customization.
Possible later use
Statement parsing or natural-language search across a user’s own trading journal could be useful, but it should not define v1.
Conclusion
Skip it. Do not build a direct eToro competitor as a solo developer. The review gap is real, but the valuable part of the product is regulated brokerage infrastructure. The only realistic indie wedge is a small classic dashboard and paper-portfolio companion, and that is a modest side-business, not a broker replacement.
Time to v1
Transparent Pro plan
Month-12 MRR
Deciding fact