The short answer
The cheapest platform depends on three things: how much you invest, what you buy and how often you trade. Percentage fees, such as 0.25% or 0.35% a year, grow with your portfolio. Flat fees stay the same however much you hold. And a growing group of apps charge no account fee or commission at all, making their money in other ways.
Key point
For a small portfolio of ETFs, a no-fee platform is hard to beat. As your pot grows, look at caps and flat fees: AJ Bell never charges more than £42 a year on shares and ETFs in an ISA, and interactive investor’s fee stays at £71.88 a year up to £100,000.
The fees UK platforms charge
Account or platform fee
A yearly charge for holding your investments, taken monthly. It is usually a percentage of your portfolio, though interactive investor charges a flat monthly fee and Vanguard charges £4 a month on smaller pots. AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown cap the fee on shares and ETFs, but not on funds.
Dealing charges
What you pay each time you buy or sell, also called commission. Traditional platforms charge a flat amount per trade, from £1.50 to £6.95, but most waive it for monthly regular investing. App-based platforms usually charge nothing on UK and US shares.
Currency (FX) fees
A percentage taken when your money is converted to buy something priced in another currency, such as US shares. It ranges from 0.1% at Lightyear to 0.99% at Hargreaves Lansdown on the first £10,000 of a trade.
Fund charges
Every fund and ETF has its own yearly charge, called the ongoing charges figure (OCF). You pay it wherever you hold the fund, so it does not change which platform is cheapest, but it does add to your total cost. Vanguard’s own funds, for example, charge from 0.06% to 0.79% a year.
Government taxes
When you buy UK shares you pay 0.5% Stamp Duty Reserve Tax, plus a £1.50 PTM levy on trades over £10,000. Every platform passes these on, so we leave them out of the comparison.
Other costs
- Interest on cash. Several platforms keep some or all of the interest earned on your uninvested cash. It is not a fee, but it is how many no-fee apps make money.
- Card deposits. Trading 212 charges 0.7% on card deposits over £2,000 in total, and Lightyear 0.6%. Bank transfers are free.
- Transfers out. Most of the platforms we compare charge nothing to move your account elsewhere. Robinhood charges $100 to transfer US shares out, and Saxo €50 per holding, up to €160.
UK platform fees at a glance
The headline charges at each of the 14 platforms in the calculator, for online dealing in an ISA unless stated.
| Platform and accounts | Account fee | Shares and ETFs, per trade | Funds, per trade | Currency fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ BellISA, SIPP, general | 0.25%, capped at £3.50 a month on shares and ETFs (£10 in a SIPP) | £5, or £3.50 after 10 deals in a month. Free as a regular investment | £1.50. Free as a regular investment | 0.75% to 0.25%, tiered |
| eToroISA run by Moneyfarm, general | None | £0 for UK residents | £0, in the ISA only | 0.75% from a GBP account, 0.70% in the ISA |
| Hargreaves LansdownISA, SIPP, general | 0.35% on funds. 0.35% capped at £12.50 a month on shares and ETFs | £6.95, or £3.95 after 20 deals in a month. Free as a regular investment | £1.95. Free as a regular investment | 0.99% to 0.20%, tiered |
| Interactive BrokersISA, general | None | UK 0.05%, at least £3. US $0.005 a share, at least $1 | Nil to £4.95 | 0.002%, at least $2 |
| interactive investorISA, SIPP, general | £5.99 a month up to £100,000 (Core). £14.99 (Plus) | £3.99. Free as a regular investment | £3.99 (Core), £1.49 (Plus) | 0.75%, or 0.25% over £50,000 on Plus |
| InvestEngineISA, SIPP, general | None on DIY portfolios | £0, ETFs only | Not offered | None |
| LightyearISA, general | None | £0 | Not offered | 0.1% |
| RobinhoodISA, general | None | £0, US shares only | Not offered | 0.10% on weekdays, 0.30% at weekends |
| SaxoISA, SIPP, general | 0.12% on shares and ETFs. 0.05% on funds | 0.08% | £0 | 0.60% on Classic |
| Trading 212ISA, SIPP, general | None | £0 | Not offered | 0.15% |
| Trading.comGeneral only | None published | £0 | Not offered | 0.25% |
| VanguardISA, SIPP, general | £4 a month under £32,000, then 0.15%, capped at £375 a year | Vanguard ETFs only. Free with bulk dealing twice a day, or £7.50 for a live price | £0, Vanguard funds only | Not applicable |
| Webull UKISA, general | None | UK 0.075%, at least £1. US £0 | Not offered | 0.50% on the free plan |
| XTBISA, general | None up to €250,000, then 0.02% | £0 on up to €100,000 a month, then 0.2% | Not offered | 0.5% |
Checked against each provider’s own pricing pages on 20 October 2026. Charges can change, so confirm them on the provider’s website before you invest.
Percentage or flat fee: which works out cheaper?
A percentage fee is cheap on a small pot and expensive on a big one. A flat fee is the opposite. interactive investor’s Core plan costs £71.88 a year whatever you hold up to £100,000. Hargreaves Lansdown’s 0.35% fee on funds passes that at £20,537, and AJ Bell’s 0.25% at £28,752.
Caps change the picture for shares and ETFs. Hargreaves Lansdown stops charging more once you reach £42,857, and AJ Bell at £16,800 in an ISA, so neither grows past that point. Funds have no cap at either.
| Platform | £10,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 | £250,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Bell | £25 | £42 | £42 | £42 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £35 | £150 | £150 | £150 |
| interactive investor | £71.88 | £71.88 | £71.88 | £179.88 |
| Saxo | £12 | £60 | £120 | £300 |
| Vanguard | £48 | £75 | £150 | £375 |
| Trading 212, InvestEngine and other no-fee platforms | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Platform | £10,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 | £250,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Bell | £25 | £125 | £250 | £625 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £35 | £175 | £350 | £875 |
| interactive investor | £71.88 | £71.88 | £71.88 | £179.88 |
| Saxo | £5 | £25 | £50 | £125 |
| Vanguard | £48 | £75 | £150 | £375 |
| eToro ISA, run by Moneyfarm | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
Account fees only, before any dealing or currency charges. interactive investor moves to its £14.99 Plus plan above £100,000. XTB charges 0.02% a year on holdings above €250,000.
ISA, SIPP or general account: does the cost change?
At most platforms the charges are the same whichever account you use. The differences are in the details:
- AJ Bell caps its fee on shares and ETFs at £3.50 a month in an ISA or dealing account, but £10 a month in a SIPP.
- Trading 212 offers a SIPP with no account fee, operated and administered by Platform One.
- Lightyear, XTB, Webull UK and Robinhood offer an ISA but no SIPP. Interactive Brokers only offers a SIPP through a third-party provider.
- eToro’s ISA is run by Moneyfarm and, since July 2026, has no commission or custody fee. It is the only eToro account that holds funds. Trading.com offers a general investment account only.
The account you choose matters far more for tax than for platform fees. Growth inside an ISA or SIPP is free of UK income tax and capital gains tax. Our guides to the best Stocks and Shares ISAs and the best SIPP providers compare the wider features.
How to cut your platform fees
- Match the platform to what you buy. If you only want ETFs, a no-fee platform will usually win. For funds, compare percentage and flat fees at your pot size.
- Invest monthly. AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and interactive investor charge nothing to buy through a monthly regular investment, against £3.99 to £6.95 for a one-off trade.
- Use the caps. At AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown, ETFs and investment trusts have a capped fee and funds do not. A large pot in ETFs costs far less there than the same pot in funds.
- Watch the currency fee. If you buy US shares often, a 0.1% to 0.15% fee costs far less than 0.75% or more. A London-listed ETF avoids it altogether.
- Pay in by bank transfer. Card deposits can carry a fee, such as 0.6% at Lightyear and 0.7% at Trading 212 once you pass £2,000. Paying in by bank transfer avoids it.
- Check before you move. Most platforms charge nothing to transfer out, and AJ Bell will cover exit fees up to £500 on transfers of £20,000 or more. Our compound interest calculator shows how a lower fee adds up over time.
How the calculator works
For each platform we add up three costs for a year: the account or platform fee on your portfolio value, the dealing charge on each trade, and the currency fee on trades in US shares. Platforms that do not offer your account or your type of investment are left out of the ranking and listed underneath it.
- Your portfolio stays the same size all year. In reality fees move with its value.
- Every trade is the same size, and frequent-trader rates apply when your trades a year reach the level each platform needs.
- interactive investor is shown on whichever plan is cheapest for you, Core, Plus or Premium. Saxo is shown on its Classic tier and Webull UK on its free plan.
- Not included: fund and ETF charges, stamp duty and other government taxes, spreads, and interest kept on uninvested cash.
Every fee comes from the provider’s own published pricing, checked on 20 October 2026:
- AJ Bell: ISA, SIPP and dealing account charges, international dealing
- eToro: fee schedule with the country set to United Kingdom, and conversion fees
- eToro ISA: press release of 29 July 2026 removing ISA commission and custody fees
- Hargreaves Lansdown: account pricing pages and overseas share dealing
- Interactive Brokers: stock commissions, spot currency commissions and ISA page
- interactive investor: fees and charges, plans effective 1 February 2026
- InvestEngine: costs page
- Lightyear: pricing and Stocks and Shares ISA pages
- Robinhood: UK fee schedule
- Saxo: UK custody fees and pricing page
- Trading 212: terms and fees for Invest, ISA and SIPP
- Vanguard: fees and charges by account
- Webull UK: pricing page
- XTB: UK account fees, commission and custody
Trading.com figures are from its UK Investment Account pricing, as listed in our review. We re-check every platform at least once a quarter, and sooner when charges change.
Frequently asked questions
What are broker fees?
They are what an investment platform charges you to hold and trade your investments. The main ones are an account or platform fee, a dealing charge each time you buy or sell, and a currency fee when you buy something priced in another currency. The funds and ETFs you hold also have their own charges.
Which UK investment platform has the lowest fees?
It depends on what you buy and how much you have. For ETFs, InvestEngine, Lightyear, Trading 212 and XTB charge no account fee and no commission, and so does eToro’s ISA. For funds in an ISA, eToro’s ISA, run by Moneyfarm, has charged nothing since July 2026. Among platforms that do charge for funds, Saxo’s 0.05% custody fee is the lowest percentage, and interactive investor’s flat fee beats most percentage fees on larger pots. The calculator ranks every platform for your own numbers.
Are commission-free brokers really free?
Not entirely. They make money in other ways, mostly from currency conversion and from interest on your uninvested cash. If you buy US shares, a currency fee of 0.1% to 0.75% on every trade can cost more than a flat dealing charge. Stamp duty of 0.5% still applies when you buy UK shares, wherever you buy them.
What is a platform fee?
It is a yearly charge for holding your investments with a platform, also called an account or custody fee. It is usually a percentage of your portfolio, such as 0.25% or 0.35% a year, or a flat amount, such as interactive investor’s £5.99 a month. Most platforms take it monthly, and some cap it on shares and ETFs.
How much do UK platforms charge a year?
Among the 14 platforms we compare, account fees run from nothing to 0.35% a year. On a £20,000 portfolio of ETFs in an ISA, with 12 monthly buys of £250, the yearly cost ranges from £0 to £71.88. The charges built into your funds and ETFs come on top.
Do you pay stamp duty on ETFs?
No. The 0.5% Stamp Duty Reserve Tax applies when you buy UK shares, including investment trusts, but not ETFs. It is a government tax and every UK platform passes it on, so it does not change which platform is cheapest.
How can I avoid currency fees?
Buy investments priced in pounds, such as a London-listed ETF that tracks US companies, or use a platform with a low currency fee. Lightyear charges 0.1% and Trading 212 0.15%, against 0.75% or more at several traditional platforms. Some platforms also let you hold dollars, so you only convert once.
Does a SIPP cost more than an ISA?
At most of the platforms we compare, no. Hargreaves Lansdown, Vanguard, interactive investor, InvestEngine and Trading 212 charge the same for both. AJ Bell caps its fee on shares and ETFs at £10 a month in a SIPP, against £3.50 in an ISA. Several app-based platforms do not offer a SIPP at all.