We all know that one mate at the pub who says “I just use the app, it’s free” and somebody else at the table who has paid Hargreaves Lansdown for fifteen years and never once checked the bill. Both of them think they’ve got the best deal. Usually one of them is wrong, sometimes both are.
Picking a stock broker in London used to mean picking a firm with an office in the City and a man on the phone. Now most people pick an app or a platform, and the fees are all over the place. On a £20,000 ISA with one UK share trade a month, you could pay nothing at all at Trading 212 or IG, about £102 a year at AJ Bell, or about £153 at Hargreaves Lansdown. Same shares. Same ISA. Very different bill.
A lot changed this year too. Hargreaves Lansdown rewrote its fees on 1 March 2026. Barclays dropped its platform fee and changed its name. Trading 212 finally got a pension. And the Budget on 28 October left the ISA rules alone after months of talk about cutting them. Most “best broker” lists you’ll find online still show last year’s prices, so this one uses the numbers as they stand now.
Your capital is at risk when you invest. The value of shares can go down as well as up, and you can get back less than you put in.
Top 10 Stock Brokers in London at a Glance
| # | Broker | Yearly platform fee (shares) | Online UK share trade | FX fee on US shares | ISA | SIPP | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AJ Bell | 0.25%, capped at £42 | £5 (£3.50 after 10+ deals) | Not shown in our sources | Yes | Yes | Most people with an ISA |
| 2 | interactive investor | Flat £5.99 a month (Core) | £3.99 | Not shown in our sources | Yes | Yes | Big portfolios |
| 3 | Hargreaves Lansdown | 0.35%, capped at £150 | £6.95 (£3.95 after 20+ deals) | Not shown in our sources | Yes | Yes | Research and service |
| 4 | Trading 212 | None | Free | 0.15% | Yes | Yes (new in 2026) | Low costs, small amounts |
| 5 | Freetrade | £0, £4.99 or £9.99 a month | Free | 0.99%, 0.59% or 0.39% | Yes | Yes | Simple app with a SIPP |
| 6 | Interactive Brokers | None | 0.05%, minimum £3 | Not shown in our sources | Yes | Yes | Global and active investors |
| 7 | IG | None | £0 (with instant FX) | 0.7% | Yes | Yes (£210 a year) | Active traders |
| 8 | Barclays Direct Investing | None | £6 | 1% on the first £5,000 | Yes | Yes (£125 + VAT) | Barclays customers |
| 9 | Charles Stanley Direct | 0.30%, min £60, max £600 | £10 (£100 a year in credits) | 1% under £10,000 | Yes | Yes | Funds plus a London office |
| 10 | Killik & Co | On request (rate card) | On request (rate card) | 0.35% | Yes | Yes | Advice and walk-in branches |
Every UK share you buy also costs 0.5% in stamp duty, whatever broker you use. That’s £5 on every £1,000. More on that further down.
What You’d Actually Pay in a Year
Percentages are hard to picture, so here is what each broker would charge you on two ISAs. Both examples assume you hold shares, ETFs or investment trusts (not funds) and make 12 online UK share purchases of £1,000 each over the year. Stamp duty and FX fees are left out because they’re the same everywhere or depend on what you buy.
| Broker | £20,000 ISA | £250,000 ISA |
|---|---|---|
| Trading 212 | £0 | £0 |
| IG | £0 | £0 |
| Freetrade (Basic) | £0 | £0 |
| Interactive Brokers | £36 | £36 |
| Barclays Direct Investing | £72 | £72 |
| Charles Stanley Direct | £80 | £620 |
| AJ Bell | £102 | £102 |
| interactive investor | £120 (Core) | £228 (Plus, needed above £100,000) |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £153 | £233 |
Charles Stanley’s figure takes off its £100 a year in trading credits. Hargreaves Lansdown hits its £150 share cap at about £42,000, according to Jefferies analysts quoted by Trustnet, so above that the platform fee stops growing. AJ Bell’s cap kicks in even earlier.
So the “free” apps really are cheapest on fees. You give up phone support, research and, at some of them, a wide choice of funds. Whether that matters depends on you.
1. AJ Bell
AJ Bell is the one most people end up at once they’ve done the maths. You pay 0.25% a year on shares, ETFs and investment trusts, but it stops at £3.50 a month, so £42 a year is the most you’ll ever pay to hold shares there. A £10,000 ISA and a £400,000 ISA cost the same to hold. Online share deals cost £5, dropping to £3.50 if you made 10 or more deals the month before, and regular investing is free.
You get a Stocks and Shares ISA, a SIPP, a Junior ISA, a Lifetime ISA and a general account. It has 17,402 reviews on Trustpilot with a score of 4.9, one of the best scores any UK platform gets there.
Good for: most people with an ISA or SIPP who want a proper platform without paying Hargreaves Lansdown prices. Watch out for: funds don’t get the same cap, so a big fund portfolio costs more than a big share portfolio. The company is based in Salford, so don’t expect a London branch.
2. interactive investor
interactive investor (ii) charges a flat monthly fee instead of a percentage. The Core plan costs £5.99 a month for portfolios up to £100,000, Plus is £14.99 and Premium is £39.99. UK share trades cost £3.99 online, or £2.99 on Premium, and regular investing is free.
Flat fees look expensive when you’re starting with £2,000. They look cheap when you’ve got £300,000. On a £250,000 portfolio, ii’s Plus plan costs £179.88 a year to hold. A percentage platform with no cap would charge you a lot more on the same pot, especially if you hold funds.
ii has been owned by the asset manager aberdeen (formerly abrdn) since 2022. Some older lists online say Wealthsimple bought it. That’s wrong.
Good for: portfolios above about £50,000, especially if they hold funds, which percentage platforms don’t cap. Watch out for: you pay the monthly fee even when you don’t trade, which hurts on small accounts. Its main office is in Manchester.
3. Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown is the biggest name on this list and for years it was the most expensive. On 1 March 2026 it made its biggest fee change in about 10 years:
- Platform fee down from 0.45% to 0.35%
- Online share deals down from £11.95 to £6.95, or £3.95 if you made 20 or more the month before
- Cap on shares in an ISA or SIPP up from £45 to £150 a year
- A new £1.95 charge to buy or sell funds, unless you invest through a regular savings plan
Hargreaves says 8 in 10 customers pay the same or less. If you hold a lot of shares in an ISA, though, the cap going from £45 to £150 means you probably pay more. Analysts at Jefferies told Trustnet that HL still costs more than AJ Bell for most people.
What you’re paying for is the research, the app, and phone support from people who actually pick up. HL also went private in 2025 after a group led by the buyout firm CVC bought it, so you won’t find it on the London Stock Exchange any more.
Good for: people who want research, a polished app and phone help, and don’t mind paying for it. Watch out for: the £150 share cap. If your ISA is mostly shares and above £42,000, check whether AJ Bell or ii would be cheaper. HL is based in Bristol.
4. Trading 212
Trading 212 is the one your younger cousin uses. There’s no platform fee, no commission on shares and no custody fee. The only regular cost is 0.15% when you buy shares in another currency, like Apple or Tesla. You can start with as little as £1 and buy fractional shares.
The big news this year is the pension. The FCA approved Trading 212 to run SIPPs in early 2026, and more than 75,000 accounts opened during the test phase, according to FinTech Global. The SIPP charges no account fee, no custody fee, no commission and no transfer fee. Basic-rate tax relief gets added for you. It only takes personal contributions, though, so your employer can’t pay into it.
It has 105,538 reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.6 score, and its UK office is at Aldermary House in the City.
Good for: anyone starting small, anyone who mostly buys ETFs and shares, and anyone who wants a cheap SIPP. Watch out for: Trading 212 also offers CFDs, which are a different, much riskier product. Make sure you open an Invest or ISA account, not a CFD account.
5. Freetrade
Freetrade is another commission-free app. IG Group bought it in 2025, but it still runs as its own app. You pick a plan:
| Plan | Monthly cost | FX fee | Interest on cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £0 | 0.99% | 1% AER on up to £1,000 |
| Standard | £4.99 (paid yearly) or £5.99 (monthly) | 0.59% | 2.5% AER on up to £2,000 |
| Plus | £9.99 (paid yearly) or £11.99 (monthly) | 0.39% | 3.5% AER on up to £3,000 |
All three plans now list a Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP and general account. Share trades are free on every plan.
Compared with Trading 212, Freetrade’s FX fee is a lot higher. Buy £5,000 of US shares on the Basic plan and you’ll pay about £49.50 in FX fees. On Trading 212, the same trade costs £7.50.
Good for: people who mostly buy UK shares and like a simple app. Watch out for: the FX fee if you buy a lot of US stocks.
6. Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is a US firm with a UK arm, Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited (FCA number 208159). It’s the one serious traders use because it reaches more markets than anyone else on this list.
There’s no platform fee. UK shares on the fixed plan cost 0.05% of the trade, with a £3 minimum. So a £1,000 trade costs £3, and a £10,000 trade costs £5. On the tiered plan it can go down to £1 a trade, but exchange and clearing fees get added on top. IBKR offers an ISA and a SIPP for UK clients as well as normal accounts.
Good for: people who trade often, buy shares on lots of foreign markets, or have big trades where a percentage is cheaper than a flat fee. Watch out for: the app and desktop platform are complicated. If you just want to buy a FTSE tracker once a month, it’s more than you need.
7. IG
IG is one of the oldest brokers in London, founded in 1974 and based at Cannon Bridge House on Dowgate Hill. Most people know it for spread betting and CFDs, but it runs a normal share dealing account and ISA too.
Since April 2025, UK shares cost £0 to buy if you take IG’s default “instant FX conversion” setting, and US shares are free as well. Platform, custody and inactivity fees are all free. If you switch FX to manual, a UK share trade costs £3. IG’s FX fee is 0.7%, which is a lot higher than Trading 212’s 0.15%. The SIPP costs £210 a year.
Good for: active traders who already use IG or want lots of charts and tools. Watch out for: IG’s CFD and spread betting accounts sit right next to the share account. IG’s own risk warning says about 70% of its retail CFD accounts lose money. Stick to share dealing unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
8. Barclays Direct Investing
You probably knew this one as Barclays Smart Investor. It changed its name to Barclays Direct Investing in May 2026, and in June it scrapped its platform fee completely. It used to charge 0.25% a year. Now holding your investments costs nothing.
Online share, ETF and investment trust trades cost £6. Funds are free to buy and sell, and regular investing is free. Phone trades cost £25. The SIPP is run by AJ Bell and costs £125 + VAT a year.
The weak spot is FX. Buying foreign shares costs 1% on the first £5,000, 0.75% on the next £5,000, and less after that, plus a 0.03% international fee. So £5,000 of US shares costs about £51.50 just in currency charges.
Good for: Barclays customers who want everything in one app, and people who hold mostly UK shares and funds. Watch out for: expensive FX on US shares.
9. Charles Stanley Direct
Charles Stanley has been in the City since the 1790s and its London office is at 55 Bishopsgate. Charles Stanley Direct is its DIY platform. Raymond James, the US wealth firm, bought Charles Stanley in 2022.
You pay 0.30% a year on everything, with a minimum of £60 and a maximum of £600. Online share trades cost £10 and fund trades cost £4, but you get £50 of trading credits every April and October, so the first £100 of trades each year is covered. The SIPP costs £100 + VAT a year, free if you hold more than £30,000 with them.
The £600 cap only kicks in around £200,000, so for a large share portfolio, AJ Bell or ii will cost you a lot less.
Good for: people who want a DIY platform with the option of moving to Charles Stanley’s advisers later, and investors with mostly funds. Watch out for: the 1% FX fee on non-sterling trades under £10,000, and the high cap.
10. Killik & Co
If you searched “stock brokers London” because you want to sit across a desk from someone, Killik & Co is the one to look at. It’s a traditional advisory stockbroker with four London branches:
- Mayfair: 46 Grosvenor Street, W1K 3HN (Bond Street tube)
- Chiswick: 13 Devonshire Road, W4 2EU (Turnham Green tube)
- Hampstead: 2a Downshire Hill, NW3 1NR (Hampstead tube)
- Battersea: 125D Northcote Road, SW11 6PS (Clapham Junction)
Killik offers advisory stockbroking, managed portfolios, ISAs, Junior ISAs, SIPPs and financial planning, plus an investment app. Its FX charge is 0.35%. Stockbroking, advised and managed fees sit on PDF rate cards on its charges page, so ask for the one that matches the service you want.
You’ll pay more than any app on this list. What you get for that is a named person who calls you about your shares and can answer questions about tax and pensions.
Good for: people with larger portfolios who want advice and a face-to-face relationship. Watch out for: fees that depend on the service. Get the full rate card and work out the yearly cost in pounds before you sign.
Other London stockbrokers worth a call
Killik isn’t the only advisory firm in town. J.M. Finn, Rathbones, Quilter Cheviot, Redmayne-Bentley and RBC Brewin Dolphin all have London offices and offer advisory or managed services. They usually want a minimum portfolio, often tens of thousands, so ask about that first.
Also worth a look
Fidelity charges 0.35% capped at £90 a year on shares and £7.50 a trade. Vanguard costs £4 a month under £32,000 and 0.15% above, but only sells its own funds and ETFs. InvestEngine has no fees on DIY portfolios but only does ETFs. Any of these can beat the top 10 if they happen to fit exactly how you invest.
App, Platform or Proper Stockbroker?
When people say “stock broker” in the UK, they could mean three quite different things:
- Apps like Trading 212, Freetrade and IG. Free or nearly free, done from your phone, no advice. You decide what to buy.
- Platforms like AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, ii, Barclays and Charles Stanley Direct. More funds, research, phone support and pensions, and a yearly fee. Still no advice; this is called “execution-only.”
- Advisory and discretionary stockbrokers like Killik, J.M. Finn and Rathbones. “Advisory” means someone suggests what to buy and you say yes or no. “Discretionary” means they manage the money for you. Both cost the most.
Most people only need the first or second kind. If you’d be nervous picking shares on your own, or you have a big lump sum from selling a business or a house, the third kind might be worth paying for.
Percentage Fee or Flat Fee?
This one decision can save you hundreds a year. Percentage platforms (Hargreaves Lansdown, Charles Stanley, Fidelity) charge more as your money grows. Flat-fee platforms (ii) charge the same whatever you hold.
Rough rule: under about £25,000, a percentage fee or a free app usually works out cheaper. Above about £50,000, a flat fee or a capped percentage (AJ Bell) usually wins. In between, check both with your real numbers.
Funds and shares are often charged differently. AJ Bell’s £42 cap and HL’s £150 cap only apply to shares, ETFs and investment trusts. If your ISA is full of funds, the percentage keeps going up with no cap.
Stamp Duty on Shares
When you buy most UK shares, you pay 0.5% stamp duty (technically Stamp Duty Reserve Tax). On a £2,000 purchase that’s £10, and your broker takes it automatically. You don’t pay it when you sell.
You don’t pay it on:
- Shares listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s market for smaller companies
- ETFs
- Foreign shares, like US stocks (you pay FX fees instead)
- Companies that list on a UK regulated market on or after 27 November 2025, for three years from the date they list. HMRC brought this in to tempt more firms to float in London.
There’s also a small levy on trades of £10,000 or more. Barclays lists it at £1.50.
Is My Money Safe If My Broker Goes Bust?
Your shares don’t belong to the broker. They’re held in a nominee account in your name, so if the broker goes under, the shares should be handed back to you or moved to another firm. It can take months, though.
If something has gone wrong and money is missing, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) covers investment claims up to £85,000 per person, per firm. Bank deposit protection rose to £120,000 on 1 December 2025, but that higher limit is for savings at banks. The £85,000 limit for investments didn’t change.
Some websites quote “SIPC protection up to $500,000” for brokers like eToro or Stake. SIPC is an American scheme. If you’re a UK customer of a UK-regulated firm, the FSCS is what covers you.
How to Check a Broker Is Real
Before you send money anywhere, look the firm up on the FCA Register. Search the company’s name, check it’s “Authorised,” and make sure the website and phone number on the register match the ones you’re using. Scammers copy the names of real firms.
Review sites aren’t proof. Trustpilot’s stock broker category lists 177 companies, including some brand-new “trading” firms with one review each and no sign of FCA approval.
CFDs Aren’t Shares
IG, CMC Markets, XTB, eToro, Capital.com and Trading 212 all sell CFDs (contracts for difference) alongside normal shares. With a CFD you never own the share. You bet on its price with borrowed money, and you can lose more than you put in. Most retail CFD accounts lose money; IG puts it at about 70% of its own retail clients.
If you’re investing for the long term, open a share dealing account, ISA or SIPP. Stay out of the CFD tab.
What the 2026 Budget Changed for Investors
Less than people expected. On 28 October 2026:
- The cash ISA limit stays at £20,000 for under-65s. The plan to cut it to £12,000 from April 2027 is gone.
- The planned 22% charge on interest from cash sitting in a stocks and shares ISA won’t happen.
- The government will design a new “starter” incentive for first-time stocks and shares ISA investors. No details yet.
- From April 2027, Business Asset Disposal Relief’s lifetime limit falls from £1m to £500,000, and a new Founders’ Relief gives a 10% capital gains tax rate on up to £10m of lifetime gains.
Your £20,000 ISA allowance resets on 6 April 2027. If you haven’t used this year’s yet, you have until 5 April.
How to Pick Your Broker
- Decide what account you need. ISA, SIPP, Junior ISA, or all of them. Every broker in the top 10 now does both ISA and SIPP.
- Work out your real yearly cost. Take your portfolio size and how often you trade, and do the maths like the table above.
- Check FX fees if you buy US shares. They range from 0.15% at Trading 212 to 1% at Barclays and Charles Stanley.
- Think about help. If you’ll want to phone someone, rule out the cheapest apps.
- Check the FCA Register. Takes two minutes.
- Transfer, don’t cash out. If you’re moving an ISA, use the new broker’s transfer form. Withdrawing the cash yourself loses the ISA tax protection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the cheapest stock broker in the UK?
For holding and trading shares, Trading 212, IG and Freetrade’s Basic plan charge nothing in platform fees or commission. The catch is FX: Trading 212 charges 0.15%, IG 0.7% and Freetrade Basic 0.99% on foreign shares. For a bigger portfolio on a full platform, AJ Bell (capped at £42 a year on shares) and interactive investor (flat fee) are usually the cheapest.
Which broker is best for a stocks and shares ISA?
AJ Bell suits most people because its share fee is capped at £42 a year and it has a big choice of funds. If you only buy shares and ETFs and want to pay nothing, Trading 212 is hard to beat.
Are there stockbrokers in London I can visit in person?
Yes. Killik & Co has branches in Mayfair, Chiswick, Hampstead and Battersea. Charles Stanley is at 55 Bishopsgate. J.M. Finn, Rathbones and Quilter Cheviot also have London offices. Call ahead, because most of them want an appointment and a minimum portfolio.
How much money do I need to start investing?
You can start with £1 at Trading 212 and buy fractional shares. On most platforms you can set up a monthly direct debit from about £25.
Do I pay stamp duty when I buy shares?
Yes, 0.5% on most UK shares when you buy. Not on AIM shares, ETFs, foreign shares, or new London listings for their first three years.
What’s the difference between a stockbroker and a financial adviser?
An execution-only broker just carries out your trades. An advisory stockbroker suggests shares to buy. A financial adviser looks at your whole situation, like pensions, tax and mortgage, and recommends a plan. Advisers and advisory stockbrokers charge more because they take responsibility for the advice.
Is Hargreaves Lansdown still worth it after the 2026 fee changes?
It’s cheaper than it was if you trade often or hold funds. Online deals dropped from £11.95 to £6.95. If your ISA is mostly shares and worth more than about £42,000, though, the new £150 cap means you pay more than before, and AJ Bell will usually cost less.
Ready to Pick One?
Grab your last annual statement, find what you actually paid, and compare it with the table above. If you’re paying more than £100 a year on an ISA under £50,000, you’re probably overpaying and a transfer could save you that every single year.
If you’re also buying US funds, see our Top 10 Mutual Funds Comparison. It covers US funds in dollars, so it’s for US accounts rather than your UK ISA.
