Been looking into Australian share trading platforms lately and honestly there's way more options now than I expected. The big names everyone talks about like CommSec and Interactive Brokers are still around, but there's some solid newcomers too.

So I checked out 8 different share trading platforms Australia has available and the differences are pretty wild depending on what you're after. If you want low fees, Stake and Moomoo are hard to beat at $3 per trade. But if you're doing bigger trades, Interactive Brokers' percentage-based model might actually work out cheaper. CMC Invest has this interesting free tier for your first $1,000 which is decent for testing things out.

The thing that surprised me most? Moomoo lets you buy fractional shares starting at just $5. That's pretty cool if you want exposure to expensive stocks without dropping huge cash upfront. Webull's AI chatbot thing is actually useful too - beats scrolling through financial reports yourself.

For direct share trading platforms in Australia, you've basically got two camps: the mobile-first apps like Stake that are super clean and simple, versus the desktop powerhouses like Interactive Brokers if you want access to 170+ markets. eToro sits in the middle with their copy trading feature which some people swear by.

Regulation-wise they're all ASIC-licensed which is the baseline you need. Most support CHESS-sponsored trades too so your shares are properly registered. CommSec's been around for 30 years locally if you want that established vibe, but honestly the newer platforms have better interfaces.

Minimum deposits range from basically zero (Interactive Brokers) to $500 for most others. If fees matter to you, definitely compare - the difference between $3 and $11 per trade adds up fast. What's your deal breaker when picking a platform?