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InvestEngine vs Trading 212: Which Is Better for UK Investors in 2026?
Two commission-free platforms with no platform fee, built on very different ideas of what a portfolio should hold. Here is how they compare on cost, choice and who each one actually suits.
☆☆☆☆☆ Rated 4.5 out of 5
Trading 212
Zero commission | Shares and ETFs | ISA, Cash ISA and SIPP
Capital at risk.
☆☆☆☆☆ Rated 4.4 out of 5
InvestEngine
Zero platform fee | ETFs only | ISA, SIPP and Business
Capital at risk.
Zero commission | Shares and ETFs | ISA, Cash ISA and SIPP
Zero platform fee | ETFs only | ISA, SIPP and Business
Quick verdict
Both charge £0 to hold and trade, so the choice comes down to what you want to own. Choose Trading 212 for individual shares, a cash ISA alongside your investments and interest on uninvested cash. Choose InvestEngine for an ETF-only portfolio with no currency conversion fee, or a managed portfolio at 0.25% a year.
Fees checked August 2026. Always confirm current terms with the provider.Read our full verdict
Brief overview
Trading 212 is a commission-free platform built around individual shares and ETFs. It charges no platform fee and no dealing commission across its Invest account, stocks and shares ISA and SIPP, and the only charge it applies directly is a 0.15% currency conversion fee when you buy something priced in a currency other than sterling. You can deal fractionally from a very small amount, automate contributions through its Pies feature, and hold cash that earns interest alongside your investments. Our full Trading 212 review goes deeper on how the platform handles ISAs and transfers.
InvestEngine takes the opposite approach. It offers exchange traded funds and nothing else, with more than 890 to choose from, all traded in sterling on the London Stock Exchange. There is no platform fee, no dealing commission and no ISA or SIPP charge on its do-it-yourself portfolios, and because every fund trades in pounds there is no currency conversion fee to pay at all. InvestEngine also runs managed portfolios and LifePlans for 0.25% a year, but both are currently closed to new clients, so new customers choose their own funds. Our InvestEngine review covers the platform in full.
Trading 212 vs InvestEngine at a glance
| Criteria | Trading 212 |
InvestEngine |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | ||
| Best for | DIY investors picking their own shares and ETFs | Passive investors building an ETF only portfolio |
| Regulator | FCA (Trading 212 UK Ltd, FRN 609146) | FCA (InvestEngine (UK) Ltd, FRN 801128) |
| Platform or account fee | £0 | £0 on DIY portfolios |
| Managed option | None, you choose everything | 0.25% a year for Managed and LifePlans (closed to new clients) |
| Dealing commission | £0 on shares and ETFs | £0 on all ETF trades |
| Currency conversion fee | 0.15% | None, every ETF is priced in sterling |
| Deposit fee | Free by bank transfer, 0.7% on card above £2,000 total | None |
| Stamp duty on shares | 0.5% on UK listed shares | Not applicable, ETFs are exempt |
| Account types | Invest, Stocks and Shares ISA, Cash ISA, SIPP | Stocks and Shares ISA, General, SIPP, Business |
| Investment choice | Shares, ETFs, investment trusts, gilts and bonds | More than 890 ETFs, nothing else |
| Individual shares | Yes | No |
| Fractional investing | Yes | Yes |
| Cash ISA | Yes | No |
| Junior ISA | No | No |
| Ready made portfolios | Pies, built by you | Managed portfolios and LifePlans (closed to new clients) |
| Automated investing | Pies and AutoInvest | AutoInvest, Savings Plans and one click rebalancing |
| Interest on uninvested cash | Yes, rate varies° | No, InvestEngine retains it |
| Inactivity fee | None | None |
| Exit or transfer fee | None | None |
| FSCS protection on investments | Up to £85,000 | Up to £85,000 |
| Customer support | In app chat and email, 24/7 | Email and contact form only, extended hours |
| Mobile app | App first, full feature set | App and web, portfolio led |
Fees and product details checked August 2026, taken from each provider’s own published pricing pages. ° marks a figure we could not confirm from the provider’s own site. Always confirm current terms before you open an account.
Fees and charges
1. Platform and dealing fees
Trading 212
Trading 212 charges no platform fee and no dealing commission on shares and ETFs, and this holds across the Invest account, the stocks and shares ISA and the SIPP. There is no custody charge and no inactivity fee. Buying and selling is free regardless of how often you trade or how large the portfolio grows, which makes the headline cost genuinely zero for a portfolio held entirely in sterling.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine also charges nothing to hold or to trade. Its ISA, general account, SIPP and business account all carry a zero account fee, and dealing is commission-free on do-it-yourself portfolios. Where a fee does apply it is calculated daily and taken monthly, so there is no annual bill to plan for.
2. The cost that does apply
Trading 212
The charge most Trading 212 investors meet is currency conversion, at 0.15% each time money moves between currencies. Buy a US-listed share or a dollar-priced ETF and the fee applies on the way in and again on the way out. Hold only sterling-denominated funds and you avoid it entirely, though that does narrow what you can buy.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine has no currency conversion fee, because every ETF on the platform is traded in sterling and no conversion takes place. Its only charge is for managed portfolios and LifePlans, at 0.25% a year, and both are currently closed to new clients. On a do-it-yourself portfolio, which is what new customers open today, the platform charges you nothing at all.
3. Other charges to know about
Trading 212
Deposits by bank transfer are free and unlimited. Paying in by debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay is free up to a cumulative 2,000 GBP, after which a 0.7% fee applies to the amount above that threshold, so bank transfer is the sensible default for regular contributions. Withdrawals are free, as are portfolio transfers in and out. Two government charges sit outside the platform: stamp duty at 0.5% on purchases of UK-listed shares, which does not apply to ETFs, gilts or bonds, and the PTM levy of 1.50 GBP on orders above 10,000 GBP. Both would apply at any UK broker.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine does not charge for deposits, withdrawals or transfers. For a full ISA transfer into a do-it-yourself portfolio it can usually take ETFs it already offers in-specie, so they move across without being sold, while other holdings and partial transfers arrive as cash. Because it deals only in ETFs, stamp duty never applies. The costs you do meet are the fund charges themselves, starting from 0.03% a year, plus the market spread between an ETF’s buying and selling price. You can model both against your own balance in our broker fees calculator.
Account types and minimums
1. Available account types
Trading 212
Trading 212 offers a general Invest account, a stocks and shares ISA, a cash ISA and a SIPP. The stocks and shares ISA is flexible, which means money withdrawn during a tax year can be paid back in before the year ends without using up more of the 20,000 GBP allowance. Having a cash ISA alongside the investment accounts is unusual for a commission-free platform, and it means savings and investments sit under one login. The SIPP carries no platform fee, which matters more than it sounds on a pension held for decades. Our guide to the best stocks and shares ISAs puts the wrapper itself in context.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine offers a stocks and shares ISA, a general investment account, a SIPP and a business account for UK limited companies. All four carry a zero account fee. There is no cash ISA, no lifetime ISA and no junior ISA, so anyone saving for a child or a first home will need a second provider alongside it. You can see how both sit against the wider market on our broker comparison hub.
2. Minimum investment and fractional dealing
Trading 212
Trading 212 supports fractional dealing, so a contribution can be spread across several holdings rather than waiting until it covers a whole share. That makes it workable for small monthly amounts, and the Pies feature lets you set a target allocation and have new money divided automatically according to it.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine also deals fractionally, so ETF purchases are not limited to whole units and a modest monthly contribution can be fully invested rather than sitting partly in cash. Its AutoInvest and Savings Plans features do the same job as Pies. You need £100 to open a portfolio, and after that you can put as little as £1 into any ETF.
Platform and app experience
1. Interface and ease of use
Trading 212
The Trading 212 interface is built around browsing and buying quickly, with a search-first layout, clear order screens and the full cost of a trade shown before you confirm it. It is one of the easier platforms to start with, though the sheer volume of choice on offer can feel like a lot for a first-time investor.
InvestEngine
The InvestEngine platform is deliberately narrower. Because there is only one asset type, the interface is organised around portfolios and allocations rather than individual tickers. That makes it calmer to use and harder to get lost in, but it also gives you less to explore if you enjoy researching individual holdings.
2. Mobile app
Trading 212
The mobile app carries the full feature set rather than a reduced version of the website, including Pies, order types and the multi-currency account. It is updated frequently, and most people run the platform entirely from a phone without needing to open a browser.
InvestEngine
The InvestEngine app covers portfolio building, AutoInvest and rebalancing, and mirrors the web platform closely. Because the product itself is simpler there is less to fit on a small screen, and reviewing or adjusting an allocation takes only a few taps.
3. Tools and automation
Trading 212
Pies and AutoInvest let you define a target allocation and have each contribution split across it automatically. A free practice account with virtual money is available for testing an approach first, and an optional share lending programme pays a share of the income back to you.
InvestEngine
AutoInvest, Savings Plans and one-click rebalancing cover the same ground, and are arguably the strongest part of the product. Set an allocation once and new contributions are distributed to it, with a single tap to bring drifted weightings back into line.
Investment choice
1. Individual shares
Trading 212
Trading 212 gives access to individual shares across the London Stock Exchange, the New York exchanges, Xetra, Gettex, Euronext and several other European markets. Fractional dealing means even high-priced shares are reachable with a small contribution.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine does not offer individual shares at all. This is the single largest difference between the two platforms, and for many people it will settle the comparison before any fee is weighed up.
2. ETFs and funds
Trading 212
ETFs are well covered, including sterling-denominated share classes that avoid the currency conversion fee entirely. Traditional mutual funds are not offered, so anyone wanting an index tracker structured as a fund rather than an ETF will not find it here.
InvestEngine
ETFs are the entire proposition, with more than 890 available, all traded in sterling on the London Stock Exchange. The range covers broad global trackers, regional and sector funds, bond ETFs and thematic strategies, which is enough to build a diversified portfolio without needing anything outside the platform.
3. What else is available
Trading 212
Beyond shares and ETFs, the platform covers investment trusts, gilts and bonds, and offers a multi-currency account holding twelve currencies so money can be kept in the currency it will be invested in.
InvestEngine
There is nothing else. No investment trusts, no directly held gilts or bonds, no mutual funds and no shares. The platform is built on the view that a portfolio of ETFs is sufficient for most long-term investors.
Safety and regulation
1. Regulation
Trading 212
Trading 212 UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 609146, and is registered in England and Wales. The wider group holds separate permissions in Germany, Cyprus and Australia, but UK clients are served by the UK entity and covered by UK rules.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 801128. It is a UK-only business and does not accept clients based elsewhere, which keeps the regulatory picture simpler than that of a multi-jurisdiction group.
2. How your money is protected
Trading 212
Investments are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to 85,000 GBP per person per firm if the firm fails. That protection covers failure of the provider, not investment losses. A portfolio that falls in value is not a compensation event, and no scheme protects against market movements.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine is also covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, with the same 85,000 GBP limit for investments, and client assets are held separately from the firm’s own money. As with any platform, the protection applies to the failure of the business rather than to the performance of the ETFs you hold.
Customer support
1. How to get in touch
Trading 212
Trading 212 offers support through in-app chat and email around the clock, and publishes an average first response time measured in seconds rather than hours. There is no general telephone line for account queries, so everything runs through written channels.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine support runs Monday to Friday from 5.30am to 11pm, and at weekends from 7am to 10pm, by email and contact form only. There is no live chat or published phone line, although InvestEngine will try to arrange a call on request. It says it aims to reply within a few hours, but a late-night query may wait until morning.
2. What to expect
Trading 212
With several million clients, replies tend to follow standard scripts before reaching a specialist. Straightforward account questions are handled quickly, while anything involving a transfer or a tax wrapper technicality can take longer to resolve.
InvestEngine
A smaller client base tends to mean more considered replies, and the public community forum means many common questions already have visible answers without needing to open a ticket at all.
Learning resources
1. Guides and articles
Trading 212
Trading 212 publishes a learn section covering the basics of investing, order types and how its own features work, aimed mainly at people making their first purchase rather than at experienced investors.
InvestEngine
The InvestEngine insights section leans towards portfolio construction and the mechanics of ETFs, which fits the product. There is less on individual company analysis, because that is not something the platform asks you to do.
2. Practice and community
Trading 212
A free demo account with virtual money lets you test the platform before committing real capital, which is genuinely useful for a first-time investor. There is also an active user community, though it sits outside the platform itself.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine runs a dedicated customer forum where investors compare portfolios and ask questions publicly. There is no practice mode, so the first portfolio you build is a real one.
3. Who the material suits
Trading 212
The learning material suits someone who wants to understand how markets and order types work, because the platform expects you to make individual decisions and gives you the tools to research them.
InvestEngine
The material suits someone who wants to understand asset allocation rather than stock picking. If you have already decided that index investing is your approach, it covers what matters.
Which platform suits which investor
1. Best for
Trading 212
Trading 212 suits investors who want individual shares alongside funds, who value a flexible ISA, or who want a cash ISA and a SIPP under the same login. It also suits anyone who expects to hold uninvested cash, since that cash can earn interest while it waits.
InvestEngine
InvestEngine suits investors who have settled on ETFs and want the cheapest way to hold them, particularly in a SIPP where a percentage platform fee compounds painfully over decades. It also suits limited companies investing surplus cash through a business account.
2. Less suited to
Trading 212
Less suited to someone who finds a large investment universe distracting, or who wants a portfolio built and rebalanced for them. There is no managed option here: every decision is yours to make.
InvestEngine
Less suited to anyone who wants individual shares, investment trusts or a cash ISA, and to anyone who habitually holds a large cash balance, since uninvested cash earns nothing on this platform.
3. A note on costs
Trading 212
For a sterling-only portfolio the running cost is effectively zero. Add US-listed holdings and the 0.15% conversion fee applies on every buy and every sell, so frequent trading of dollar-priced assets is where cost quietly creeps in.
InvestEngine
For a do-it-yourself ETF portfolio the platform cost is zero whatever the balance, so the only ongoing charge is the funds’ own annual charges. Not sure which fits? Our broker matcher narrows it down in a couple of minutes.
Pros and cons
Trading 212
Cons
Pros
InvestEngine
Cons
Pros
Verdict
1. The short answer
Trading 212
Choose Trading 212 if you want the wider platform. Shares, ETFs, investment trusts, gilts, a flexible stocks and shares ISA, a cash ISA and a SIPP all sit under one login at no platform cost, and cash can earn interest while it waits to be invested. The price of that breadth is a currency fee on anything not priced in sterling.
InvestEngine
Choose InvestEngine if you have decided that ETFs are all you need. It removes the currency fee entirely by trading everything in sterling and charges nothing at all on do-it-yourself portfolios. Its managed portfolios and LifePlans are currently closed to new clients, so you need to be happy choosing your own funds.
2. Who should choose which
Trading 212
If you expect to buy individual companies, want a cash ISA alongside your investments, or hold meaningful uninvested cash, Trading 212 is the more complete answer. Our Trading 212 review looks closely at how it handles ISAs, pies and transfers, and Trading 212 vs Vanguard covers the other obvious alternative.
InvestEngine
If your plan is a handful of global index ETFs held for twenty years, InvestEngine is the tighter fit and structurally avoids the one fee Trading 212 does charge. Our InvestEngine review has the detail, and the compound interest calculator shows what a small annual saving is worth over that horizon.
Risk disclaimer
This article is for general information and education. It is not personal financial advice and does not take account of your circumstances. When you invest, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than you put in. Past performance is not a guide to future returns.
Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and ISA and pension rules may change. If you are unsure whether a product is right for you, seek advice from an FCA authorised adviser.
Fees and product details were checked in July 2026 and may have changed since. Always confirm current terms on the provider's own website.
Ready to start investing?
☆☆☆☆☆ Rated 4.5 out of 5
Trading 212
No platform fee | Invest from a small amount
Capital at risk.
☆☆☆☆☆ Rated 4.3 out of 5
InvestEngine
No platform fee | ETFs only
Capital at risk.
FAQ
Not sure either one fits?
Compare the best UK brokers side by side.
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