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

Trading platforms have been assessed for charges, investment range on offer and quality of service, with the best for each type of customer ranked

Investing in the stock market on an app on your phone
Best trading platforms for UK investors ranked – how do they compare?
(Image credit: Getty Images)

UK trading platforms are used by millions of investors to gain access to global stock markets. Now new analysis has ranked the most expensive, best for customer service and most appropriate for high volume traders.

A trading platform allows the new army of DIY investors to buy and sell shares, funds, investment trusts and exchange traded funds (ETFs) directly rather than through a financial adviser or traditional stockbroker.

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Swipe to scroll horizontally
Platform costs by portfolio size

Portfolio value

£1,000

£10,000

£20,000

Freetrade

£0

£0

£0

Trading 212

£0

£0

£0

IG

£0

£0

£0

eToro

£0

£0

£0

CMC Invest

£0

£0

£0

Bestinvest

£62

£89

£119

interactive investor

£156

£156

£156

AJ Bell

£123

£145

£162

Fidelity

£180

£180

£180

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL)

£287

£287

£287

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Trading fee on UK shares

Platform fee on shares (up to £250,000)

Indicative portfolio fees

No charge

No charge

£1,000: £0

£10,000: £0

£20,000: £0

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Trading fee on UK shares

Platform fee on shares

Indicative portfolio fees

£3.99

Investor Essentials (up to £50,000): £4.99 per month

£1,000: £156

£10,000: £156

£20,000: £156

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Trading fee on shares

Platform fee on shares

Indicative portfolio fees

£5.00

0.25% (capped at £3.50 per month)

£1,000: £123

£10,000: £145

£20,000: £162

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Trading fee on UK shares

Platform fee on shares

Indicative portfolio fees

No charge

£96 per year (if fewer than 3 trades per quarter), otherwise no fee

£1,000: £0

£10,000: £0

£20,000: £0

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Trading fee on UK shares

Platform fee on shares

Indicative portfolio fees

£4.95

0.4% (UK shares)

0.2% (US shares)

£1,000: £62

£10,000: £89

Row 1 - Cell 0

(Up to £250,000)

£20,000: £119

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is an experienced financial and business journalist. Formerly on staff at the Daily Telegraph, her freelance work now appears in the money pages of all the national newspapers. She endeavours to make money issues easy to understand for everyone, and to do justice to the people who regularly trust her to tell their stories. She lives by the sea in Aberystwyth. You can find her tweeting @thatlaurawrites