The UK has more trading platforms than ever, and the differences between them are not small. On a £500 US stock purchase, eToro charges nothing. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95. Over a lifetime of investing, that gap compounds into a significant sum. Choosing the wrong platform is not a minor inconvenience — it is a structural cost that follows you every time you trade.
This guide cuts through the marketing. Here is what the major UK platforms actually charge, who they suit, which ones offer ISA and SIPP wrappers, and the exact maths on what you will pay for common transactions.
The Eight Platforms Worth Your Time
Not every UK broker deserves space in this guide. These eight represent the serious options across the spectrum from zero-cost beginner to professional-grade infrastructure.
| Platform | Min. Deposit | Dealing Charge (UK stocks) | FX Fee | Platform Fee | ISA | SIPP | Available Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading 212 | £1 | £0 | 0.15% | 0% | ✅ | ❌ | UK, US, EU, ETFs |
| eToro | $50 (~£40) | £0 (stocks) | 0.5% (USD/GBP) | 0% | ✅ (UK) | ❌ | UK, US, EU, crypto, CFDs |
| Freetrade | £1 | £0 (Standard); £3 (Plus) | 0.99% | £4.99–£9.99/mo | ✅ (paid) | ✅ (paid) | UK, US, EU, ETFs |
| AJ Bell | £500 | £3.50–£9.95 | 0.75%–1.5% | 0.25% (capped) | ✅ | ✅ | UK, US, EU, funds, bonds |
| Interactive Investor | £1 | £3.99–£5.99 (free trades/mo) | 0.75%–1.5% | £4.99–£19.99/mo | ✅ | ✅ | UK, US, EU, funds, bonds, ETFs |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £1 | £5.95–£11.95 | 1.0% | 0.45% (capped, shares) | ✅ | ✅ | UK, US, EU, funds, bonds, ETFs |
| IG | £250 | £3–£8 (shares); £0 (ETFs) | 0.5% | 0% (shares account) | ✅ | ❌ | UK, US, EU, Asia, options, CFDs, spread betting |
| Saxo | £500 | 0.1%–0.12% (min £3) | 0.25%–0.75% | 0% | ✅ | ❌ | Global (60+ markets), options, bonds, futures, FX |
A note on mobile app quality: Trading 212 and eToro lead for app experience — slick, fast, and designed for retail users. IG and Saxo have powerful platforms that reward learning but reward patience. Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor are functional and reliable, if not beautiful.
Fee Structure: What You Actually Pay
Platform fees come in four layers that combine differently for every investor:
1. Dealing charge — the fee per trade, applied every time you buy or sell. Can be zero (Trading 212, eToro) or up to £11.95 (HL on smaller trades). Active traders who trade frequently feel this most.
2. Platform fee — an ongoing custody charge for holding your investments. Usually a percentage of assets (HL at 0.45%) or a flat monthly fee (ii at £4.99–£19.99). This is where passive investors on large portfolios get penalised by percentage-fee platforms.
3. FX fee — charged every time you trade in a foreign currency (buying US stocks in USD, for example). Often the most overlooked cost. Freetrade charges 0.99%, HL charges 1.0% — on a £1,000 US trade, that is £10 gone before any market movement.
4. Spread — the difference between the buy and sell price. CFD brokers (eToro for CFD positions, IG in CFD mode) widen spreads to make money. For direct stock purchases, the spread is set by the market maker and varies by liquidity.
Worked Examples: Buying £500 of US Stocks on Each Platform
US stocks are the most common foreign purchase for UK investors. Here is the total transaction cost for buying £500 of Apple or Microsoft shares on each platform:
| Platform | Dealing Charge | FX Fee (on £500) | Total Transaction Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trading 212 | £0 | £0.75 (0.15%) | £0.75 |
| eToro (stock purchase) | £0 | £2.50 (0.5%) | £2.50 |
| IG | £8.00 | £2.50 (0.5%) | £10.50 |
| AJ Bell | £9.95 | £7.50 (1.5% on first £10k) | £17.45 |
| Interactive Investor | £5.99 | £7.50 (1.5% on first £10k) | £13.49 (+monthly fee) |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £11.95 | £5.00 (1.0%) | £16.95 |
| Saxo (Classic) | £3.00 (min) | £3.75 (0.75%) | £6.75 |
| Freetrade (Standard) | £0 | £4.95 (0.99%) | £4.95 |
The spread between cheapest and most expensive is stark: Trading 212 at £0.75 versus HL at £16.95 for the same £500 trade. If you make one US stock purchase a month, that gap is £194 per year before any investment return.
The calculation changes significantly on holding costs for large portfolios — where HL's 0.45% platform fee on a £200,000 portfolio costs £900/year, while Interactive Investor's flat £19.99/month cap costs £240/year. Match platform to your portfolio size and trading frequency.
By Experience Level: Which Platform Suits You
Beginners: Trading 212 and eToro
First-time investors should start where friction is lowest and costs are minimal. Both Trading 212 and eToro offer zero-commission stock trading, intuitive mobile apps, and fractional shares — so you can buy £50 of Amazon without needing thousands.
Trading 212 edges ahead for most UK beginners: the ISA is included with zero platform fee, the FX rate (0.15%) is the best on this list, and the interface is genuinely simple. The pie investing feature lets you build an automated portfolio of ETFs and rebalance automatically.
eToro adds a social layer — you can see what other investors are holding, follow popular portfolios, and use CopyTrader to mirror top performers. For some, this is motivating. For others, it is noise. The eToro ISA is available in the UK. Note that eToro's core business model includes CFD products and crypto; for straightforward stock and ETF investing, stay in the "invest" account, not the "trade" account.
What beginners should not do: start with CFDs, leverage, or spread betting. These products are designed for sophisticated traders. eToro and IG both offer them — treat them as advanced features for a later date, if ever.
Intermediate Investors: AJ Bell and Interactive Investor
Once you are past the beginner stage — building a meaningful portfolio, considering ISA and SIPP wrappers, wanting access to funds and investment trusts as well as stocks — the flat-fee platforms become more attractive.
AJ Bell is the strong middle-ground option. Percentage-based fee (0.25%) capped at £3.50/month for ETFs, making it cheap for ETF-heavy portfolios. ISA and SIPP are both available. Good fund selection, competitive dealing charges, and a platform built for investors who want more than the no-frills apps without paying HL-level prices.
Interactive Investor is the flat-fee specialist. At £4.99/month (Investor plan, limited trades) rising to £19.99/month (Super Investor), ii includes free trades per month and no percentage custody fee. For portfolios above £60–80k, this beats percentage-fee platforms meaningfully. ISA and SIPP are both included. The platform is comprehensive — UK and international shares, funds, investment trusts, bonds, and ETFs.
Hargreaves Lansdown remains the largest UK investment platform for a reason: unmatched breadth of products, a trusted brand, and strong research tools. The cost penalty is real — 0.45% platform fee (funds) and £11.95 per deal on smaller share trades is expensive. HL makes sense if you value the research tools, the phone service for complex queries, and the breadth of product access above the premium you pay. For pure cost efficiency, HL is hard to justify below £250k portfolios where the capped platform fee starts neutralising the percentage drag.
Advanced Investors: IG and Saxo
IG is the platform for investors who need more than a stock and fund portfolio. Options, CFDs, spread betting, international markets across Asia and the US — IG covers the full spectrum of investable instruments for active traders. The ISA wrapper is available. Zero platform fee on the share dealing account. Dealing charges are competitive at £3–8 for shares; ETFs trade for free. For anyone trading US or European options or wanting CFD access with institutional infrastructure, IG is the market leader in the UK.
Saxo is the institutional-grade option: 60+ markets, bonds, futures, FX, options, and one of the widest product sets available to retail investors anywhere. The platform is complex and rewards those who invest time in learning it. FX fees are among the most competitive on the list (0.25% at Saxo Platinum), and the execution quality is excellent. Saxo Classic has a minimum deposit of £500 and does not cap commissions — not the right tool for small, infrequent trades, but powerful for sophisticated portfolio management.
ISA and SIPP Wrappers: Which Platforms Offer What
Tax-efficient wrappers are not a luxury — they are the single most impactful decision most UK investors make. Capital gains and dividends inside an ISA or SIPP are completely free from UK tax. Outside a wrapper, you pay CGT on gains above £3,000/year and income tax on dividends above £500/year.
| Platform | Stocks & Shares ISA | SIPP (Pension) | Lifetime ISA | Junior ISA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading 212 | ✅ (free) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| eToro | ✅ (UK only) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Freetrade | ✅ (paid plan) | ✅ (paid plan) | ❌ | ❌ |
| AJ Bell | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Interactive Investor | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| IG | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Saxo | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
If pension investing is your priority, the short list narrows: AJ Bell, Interactive Investor, Hargreaves Lansdown, and Freetrade (on paid plans) are the platforms that offer SIPPs. For most investors not yet at SIPP stage, all the main platforms offer a Stocks and Shares ISA.
The ISA allowance is £20,000 per tax year. Use it before holding anything in a general investment account. The compounding effect of tax-free growth over 20–30 years is enormous — see our guide to the best Stocks and Shares ISAs in 2026 for a full breakdown of ISA-specific platform costs.
Regulatory Status: FCA Registration and FSCS Protection
Every platform on this list is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This matters: FCA-authorised brokers must follow client money rules (your cash must be held separately from the firm's own money), maintain adequate capital reserves, and comply with best execution requirements.
All platforms listed are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per person per firm. This means that if your broker fails, FSCS will compensate you up to £85k for investment accounts and £85k for cash held separately. It does not protect against investment losses — only against firm failure.
Practical implications:
- If your total holdings exceed £85,000, consider spreading across two platforms to maintain full FSCS protection
- FSCS covers both ISA and non-ISA accounts, but each firm is a separate limit
- For eToro, the FSCS coverage applies to the UK entity (eToro (UK) Ltd), not the Cypriot parent. UK accounts are covered
- Saxo and IG both operate segregated client accounts — your assets are not at risk from the firm's own financial position, separate from the FSCS question
All eight platforms hold UK FCA registration numbers. Do not use any broker without FCA authorisation — the FCA register at fca.org.uk allows you to verify any firm.
Common Mistakes That Cost Real Money
1. Ignoring FX fees on US and European stocks. A 1% FX fee on a £1,000 US purchase is £10. On £10,000 of annual US stock purchases, that is £100 per year in avoidable costs. Trading 212's 0.15% FX fee saves £85/year on the same volume compared to HL's 1.0%. Check the FX rate before you open an account, especially if you plan to hold US equities.
2. Overtrading on a dealing-charge platform. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95 per deal for smaller traders. Five trades per month costs £719/year in dealing fees alone. If you trade actively, use a zero-commission platform or one with very low per-trade costs. HL's cost structure is designed for investors who trade infrequently and hold funds.
3. Choosing a platform by app design, not by costs. Both eToro and Trading 212 have excellent apps. But the quality of the UI is not the quality of the fee structure. eToro charges 0.5% FX versus Trading 212's 0.15%. On a £5,000 US portfolio, that difference is £17.50 per trade. Over a year of regular purchases it compounds into hundreds. Assess total cost of ownership, not aesthetics.
4. Not using an ISA wrapper. Buying £10,000 of Apple in a general investment account and selling at £15,000 generates a £5,000 gain. Above the £3,000 annual CGT exemption, you pay 18% or 24% capital gains tax. The same transaction inside an ISA: zero tax. The wrapper is free on most platforms and takes five minutes to open. There is almost no scenario where a general investment account is preferable to an ISA for UK retail investors.
5. Using a percentage-fee platform for a large portfolio. HL's 0.45% fee on a £300,000 portfolio is £1,350/year. Interactive Investor's Super Investor plan at £19.99/month is £240/year on any portfolio size. The platform designed for beginners is almost never right for investors with large balances. Reassess your platform when your portfolio passes £50–100k.
6. Confusing CFD accounts with stock accounts. IG and eToro both offer CFD products alongside standard share dealing. CFDs use leverage, incur overnight financing charges, and are not held in your name — they are derivatives. CFD positions are not FSCS-protected as investments. Make sure you know whether you are buying the stock outright or trading a derivative on it. For long-term investing, you want the stock — not the CFD.
The Platform Decision Framework
Before you open an account, answer three questions:
What will you primarily hold? If ETFs and global index funds are your primary vehicle, platform fees and FX costs matter most. A low-fee ETF platform like Trading 212 or InvestEngine (not reviewed here but worth noting for ETF-only investing) is the right choice. If you want a full investment portfolio including funds, investment trusts, and international shares, AJ Bell or ii provides the breadth.
How often will you trade? Infrequent investors (one trade per month or less) can absorb dealing charges on premium platforms, but only if the holding costs are worth it. Active traders need zero-commission or very-low-cost execution — a £10 dealing charge makes no sense on a platform you use weekly.
What is your portfolio size? Under £50k: zero-fee platforms (Trading 212, eToro, Freetrade) or percentage-based with low rates (AJ Bell). Over £100k: flat-fee platforms (ii) become significantly cheaper than percentage platforms. Over £250k: HL's capped fund fees become competitive, and the research infrastructure justifies the cost for investors who use it.
For most UK investors building long-term wealth through stocks and index funds, the pathway looks like: Trading 212 or eToro to start (low friction, zero cost), then AJ Bell or Interactive Investor as the portfolio grows and ISA/SIPP planning becomes important, with IG or Saxo available if you ever need professional-grade execution and product depth.
If you are still deciding which assets to hold on your chosen platform, see our guide to the best index funds for UK investors in 2026 — the case for passive investing and the specific funds worth holding.
The Bottom Line
Platform choice is not a one-size-fits-all decision, and the right answer changes as your portfolio grows. What does not change: the cost structure should match your investing behaviour.
Zero-commission platforms are not inherently inferior to legacy brokers — for most investors, Trading 212 or eToro will outperform HL on total returns simply by not leaking £200–£700/year in avoidable fees. The institutional platforms (IG, Saxo) are genuinely better for advanced investors who need them — but they are overkill for someone investing monthly in five ETFs.
Use the ISA. Check the FX fee before trading US stocks. Reassess your platform when your portfolio balance crosses £100k. Those three habits will save you more than any fund selection decision.
If you are comparing ISA products specifically — including platforms not covered here that specialise in ISA accounts — see our full Stocks and Shares ISA comparison. And if you hold significant cash savings alongside your investments, our Cash ISA guide covers the best rates available in 2026.