Best trading platforms for UK investors ranked – how do they compare?

Trading platforms are used by millions of investors to gain access to global stock markets.

These allow ‘DIY’ investors to buy and sell stocks and shares, funds, and investment trusts themselves, without having to go through a financial adviser or traditional stockbroker.

There are at least 10 major investment platforms in the UK, but picking one can be complex if you are new to investing.

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The trick to finding the best one for you is to look at which platform charges the most competitive trading and platform fees, offers a broad range of investments and provides good customer service.

New analysis by Kepler Trust Intelligence has ranked investment platforms in terms of cost, customer service and appropriateness for high volume traders.

Jo Groves, associate director at Kepler, said: “Competition across the platform market has intensified significantly, which is good news for investors. Headline pricing has fallen, but low fees alone do not tell the full story.

“Hidden costs such as foreign exchange charges, inactivity fees and dealing costs can still have a meaningful impact on long-term returns.

Groves said the right choice for you will depend on your priorities, “whether that is minimising costs, accessing a broad investment universe or receiving a higher level of support and research.”

How much do investment platforms charge?

Most investment platforms charge a fee for using their service, eating into your returns. That is why investment costs are often the most important consideration for investors.

While a few percentage points of difference in fees may not seem substantial, they can add up to thousands of pounds over time and significantly erode the value of portfolios.

For example, a portfolio worth £50,000 that grows at 8% a year would be worth around £547,000 after 30 years with a platform provider that charged no fee.

However, using a platform that charges 0.35% a year would result in almost £49,000 less, purely due to fees eroding returns over time, according to analysis by Kepler.

The table below shows how much fees will set you back when using different platforms per year, depending on the size of your portfolio.

Source: Kepler: Indicative fee calculation by provider and portfolio value.

Which UK trading platform is best?

Best trading platform overall: Freetrade

Freetrade is ranked best low-cost trading platform, thanks to its commission-free trading, simple app, and simple fee structure.

Kepler analysts said it offers less in the way of research and educational tools but does offer automated order tools like stop losses.

The UK fintech, which was acquired by IG in early 2025 and sits as part of IG Group, has more than 1.6 million users and offers an investment account, ISA and SIPP.

Investors can access more than 6,500 UK, European and US shares and ETFs as well as over 1,000 actively managed funds. Freetrade also offers fractional US shares.

There are no charges on trading fees but platform fees vary by plan:

• Basic: no charge, FX fee of 0.99%, now includes an ISA, SIPP and Junior ISA
• Standard: £4.99 per month, FX fee of 0.59% and higher interest rates on uninvested cash
• Plus: £9.99 per month, FX fee of 0.39% and highest interest rate on uninvested cash

Best for high-value portfolios: Interactive Investor

Interactive Investor (ii) is ranked as the best option for high-value investors, according to Kepler.

It offers a flat-fee structure – making it cheaper than percentage charging for those with larger portfolios. It is also good for frequent traders looking for a reasonably priced mainstream platform with the widest range of options.

Interactive Investor has more than 500,000 customers and is owned by fund manager Aberdeen. Customers can open a trading account, stocks and shares ISA, SIPP and Junior ISA.

Investors get to choose from more than 40,000 investment options across 17 international markets, plus over 3,000 funds, 1,000 ETFs and 300 investment trusts.

It also offers multi-currency accounts, which are a good tool to use given the high foreign exchange fee.

Interactive Investor charges one of the lowest trading fees among the mainstream platforms, and these vary by your plan.

• Core: £5.99 per month, trading fee of £3.99 for funds and shares, FX fee of 0.75%
• Plus: £14.99 per month, trading fee of £1.49 for funds and £3.99 for shares, one free monthly trade, FX fee of 0.75% for trades up to £50,000
• Premium: £39.99 per month, no fee for funds and £2.99 for shares, two free monthly trades, FX fee of 0.25%

Best for customer service: Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown is the largest investment platform in the UK, with more than two million customers.

It offers the fullest suite of accounts in the group, and has one of broadest investment ranges with over 8,000 shares, 4,000 funds, 1,900 ETFs and 300 investment trusts across UK, European and North American markets

Kepler’s analysts say that HL’s customer service is what helps it stand apart from the other platforms on the list. They praised the UK-based helpdesk which connects customers with knowledgeable advisers and boasts the shortest average hold time.

HL’s fees have been in headlines this year, after an overhaul led to significant backlash from long-time customers.

Share trading fees were cut from £11.95 to £6.95 and platform fee from 0.45% to 0.35%. The trade-off was a new £1.95 trading fee on funds and a higher cap of £150 (up from £45) on the platform fees for shares.

That makes it one of the most expensive platforms to use, especially for frequent traders.

• Platform fee:
  • Shares: 0.35%, capped at £150 per year
  • Funds: 0.35% up to £250,000, falling to 0.25% and 0.10% thereafter
• Trading fee:
  • Shares: £6.95, falling to £3.95 for investors making 20 or more trades in previous month
  • Funds: £1.95
• FX fee: 0.99% on trades up to £10,000

Despite the high fees, Kepler says: “for investors who value service, range and reputation above all else, it remains a difficult proposition to beat.”

Best for professional traders: IG

IG is likely to appeal most to experienced investors looking for low-cost trading, advanced trading tools and a broad range of global equities.

While its competitive fees may attract a wider audience, Kepler warns that beginners may find the platform more challenging to navigate.

Investors using IG can access over 12,000 UK, US, European, Asian and Australian shares and investment trusts and 3,000 ETFs, but not actively-managed funds or fractional shares.

It offers the following fees:

• Platform fee: no charge
• Trading fee: no charge
• FX fee: 0.7%

Kepler notes that where IG is held back is its customer service, which some users say can be slow.