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Stocks & Shares ISA Platform Comparison

Our Stocks and Shares ISA platform comparison features all major UK brokers and a selection of smaller providers. Each is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

The Stocks and Shares ISA comparison is designed to help you find the most cost-effective provider based on your own investment strategy.

We will enable you to compare the minimum account opening and minimum monthly payment fees of each Stocks and Shares ISA platform to help you choose an account that is within your budget.  We will highlight the investment options that are available to you within that platform too. You can find out more about investing in Managed Funds, Exchange Traded Funds and Company Shares using our beginners guides.

Bear in mind that investment platforms present their fees in different ways so our Stocks and Shares ISA Comparison highlights the management fees and trading fees associated with each account. It is important to have an understanding of what you will need from your Stocks and Shares ISA platform and how you will manage it, before you open an account.

To find out more about ISAs read our Stocks and Shares ISA guide.

ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) were introduced by the UK government in 1999. They offer UK Residents an opportunity to save or invest – tax free – through a range of ISA products.
Ultimately much depends on what you want to use your Stocks & Shares ISA for. The widest range of securities and funds is always a good starting point but it is also important to check out a provider’s fees, including how much you would be charged per transaction and any annual administration and custody fees that might apply.

For investors that are only planning to buy and hold a few funds, execution fees (the fees you are charged every time you buy or sell something in your ISA) will be less of an issue, but don’t forget that funds also apply an annual management fee and frequently additional fees on top of that. If a fund is only going to pass on a 5% return in a year, you don’t want to see 2% go back to the manager in costs.

If you have money available for investment, before opening an account, do be sure that your provider is going to give you access to the markets you want, with no strings attached. If you plan to do a lot of trading on overseas markets, be sure you are completely clear what the fees will be for doing so, as they can be higher than for UK share trading.

Take a look at our Stocks and Shares ISA Platform comparison table below to help with your decision making.

With a Stocks and Shares ISA you are responsible for choosing the shares and funds that go in the ISA, so the performance at the end of the day is down to you.

On a historical basis, the average Pension fund grows by around 7% each year and is a useful barometer for your Stocks and Shares ISA. We would suggest that much will depend on your appetite for risk. A riskier strategy may yield more attractive growth at times, but also comes with the chance of greater volatility when the markets turn against you. A diversified portfolio can help to mitigate your risk.

Within a long term strategy, your Stocks and Shares ISA performance can be boosted using the power of dividends and compounding. Selecting Stocks, Funds or Exchange Traded Funds that pay out dividends – and then re-investing those dividends into more shares in that asset can have an incredibly powerful effect on your Stocks and Shares ISA.

Providers will not charge uniformly – costs are structured in a number of ways. Most important is the fee charged for every trade you make. If you plan on being a frequent trader you should be aware of this, as it can quickly eat into your profits. Some providers have lower fees in place for frequent traders, but before selecting your provider have a good idea about how often you will transact.

Fees may also vary according to the type of investment you want to buy and sell. Not all Stocks and Shares ISA providers offer all the investments you might be interested in and those that do will charge different fees depending on whether you want to transact shares, bonds or Exchange Traded Funds.

Your provider will either act as custodian of your shares itself or outsource this to a bank. This is an important role, as this is the company charged with looking after your assets while they are in your name. In the old days these would have been physical share certificates. There is always a fee associated with this as there is an element of record keeping involved, but competition and technology are driving these fees down.

Minimum investment amounts can be a consideration for some investors, but these days most ISA providers ask for very low minimums.

With money available for investment, there is a process you’ll need to follow in order to preserve you tax-free ISA status when you transfer your ISA. It is important that the money you have within your ISA is kept within the ISA wrapper throughout the transfer process. You’ll need to contact your new Investment ISA provider with the details of your current ISA account and they will manage the transfer on your behalf.

Under no circumstances should you remove the funds from your existing ISA account yourself in order to make a transfer. Doing so would remove your funds from the ISA wrapper and the security of its tax-free status.

Bear in mind that there can be fees associated with migrating your ISA to another provider. Most investors are happy to keep the same provider year on year, but occasionally a reason may arise to transfer to another firm. Make sure you are aware of what the fees are, as they can run into hundreds of pounds.

Remember, regardless of your Stocks and Shares ISA platform, your allowance will be the same, as this is dictated by the government.

Compare Stocks and Shares ISA platforms
We've found 24 ISA providers
Company Deposit Fees* ISAs Investment Options
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers
£1 initial deposit no platform fee
£3 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
£3 / €3 per trade for Western European stocks, with no added spreads, account minimums or platform fees. Pricing on US stocks starts at just USD 0.005 per share. There is a minimum monthly activity fee of £3 
Apply
 
IG
IG
£500 initial deposit
£50 monthly minimum
£96 platform fee
£8.00* per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Trade 3+ stocks per month for active trader cost of £3.00 on UK stocks. Clients holding investments will be charged a platform fee of £8 per month which can be offset against a trade over the period. Platform fee of 0.5% on ETF Smart Portfolio's 
Apply
 
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown
£100 initial deposit
£25 monthly minimum
0.45% platform fee
£11.95* per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Lifetime ISAs
UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
Robo Adviser
Trade 10+ stocks per month for active trader cost of £8.95 or 20+ at £5.95. Additional charge of up to £45 per annum on stocks and shares. There's no dealing charge for buying or selling funds but you'll pay a holding fee of up to 0.45% per annum 
Apply
 
AJ Bell
AJ Bell
£500 initial deposit
£25 monthly minimum
0.25% platform fee
£9.95* per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Lifetime ISAs
UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
Robo Adviser
Trade 10+ stocks per month for active trader cost of £4.95 (reducing to £3.50 from 1st April 24). Additional charge of up to £3.50 per month on stocks and shares. Up to 0.25% platform fee on Funds in addition to £1.50 transaction cost. 
 
Aviva
Aviva
£500 initial deposit
£25 monthly minimum
0.40% platform fee
£7.50 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Robo Adviser
Platform fee for Shares, ETFs and Investment Trusts of no more than £45 per year. Platform fees reduce on investments over £50,000. Choose from a range of ready-made funds based on your preferred risk level or from Aviva's full range of 2,000 funds. 
 
Barclays
Barclays
£50 initial deposit
£25 monthly minimum
0.25% platform fee
£6.00 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
Robo Adviser
0.25% platform fee on investments up to £200,000 and 0.05% on investments above £200,000 
 
Bestinvest
Bestinvest
£100 initial deposit
£90 monthly minimum
0.4% platform fee
£7.50 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Robo Adviser
Platform fees reduce to 0.2% for ISA transfers over £250,000. There are no fees for fund transactions. BestInvest provide four ready made portfolios designed for inexperienced investors. 
 
Charles Stanley
Charles Stanley
£500 initial deposit
£50 monthly minimum
0.35% platform fee
£11.50 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
No fund transaction costs but up to 0.35% platform fee. Minimum of £24, maximum of £240 per annum to hold shares, ETFs and Bonds in addition to £11.50 transaction fee. Foundation portfolio's available to help you get started. 
 
Chelsea Financial Services
Chelsea Financial Services
£1 initial deposit
£10 monthly minimum
0.60% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Funds
Robo Adviser
Investors can choose from 5 EasyISA portfolio's or build their own portfolio from a range of 2,500+ funds 
 
evestor
evestor
£1 initial deposit 0.53% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs Funds
Robo Adviser
Clients can choose from three managed portfolios, low medium or high risk 
 
Fidelity International
Fidelity International
£1000 initial deposit
£50 monthly minimum
0.35% platform fee
£10.00 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
Platform fee of 0.35% or flat £45 fee for holdings below £7,500. Share dealing costs relate to ETFs and Investment Trusts. ISA prize draw for new account holders that deposit a lump sum before 31 March 2020 
 
Halifax
Halifax
£2000 initial deposit
£100 monthly minimum
£12.50 platform fee
£12.50 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
Robo Adviser
£12.50 platform fee for holding an ISA account. Choose from 2,000+ funds or three ready-made portfolio's with a £2,000 lump sum or £100 monthly payment 
 
Interactive Investor
Interactive Investor
£100 initial deposit
£25 monthly minimum
£119.88 platform fee
£7.99 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
Clients pay a flat fee of £9.99 per month which includes a credit of £7.99 every month to buy or sell any investment (available for 90 days). You can also choose from 3 quick start funds 
 
Legal & General
Legal & General
£100 initial deposit
£20 monthly minimum
0.61% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Funds
Robo Adviser
Choose from five ready-made funds or create your own portfolio by picking from 40 investment funds 
 
Moneyfarm
Moneyfarm
£1 initial deposit 0.75% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs Funds
Robo Adviser
Answer a series of questions and Moneyfarm will match your appetite for risk with one of their seven investment portfolios 
 
Nationwide
Nationwide
£20 initial deposit 0.56% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Funds
Choose from four funds managed by Aegon 
 
Nutmeg
Nutmeg
£500 initial deposit 0.75% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Lifetime ISAs
Funds
Robo Adviser
Open an account with £500 and a monthly contribution of your choice. Choose a level of risk you are comfortable with and Nutmeg will manage your portfolio for you 
 
OneFamily
OneFamily
£500 initial deposit
£50 monthly minimum
1.50% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Lifetime ISAs
Funds
One fund available in a Stocks and Shares ISA: The Ethical Equity Stocks and Shares ISA is invested in the Family Charities Ethical Trust, which invests mainly in FTSE4Good UK 50 companies 
 
Saxo Markets
Saxo Markets
£1 initial deposit
£1 monthly minimum
no platform fee
£3.00 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs UK Shares
Non-UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Bonds
Trade from £3 on UK stocks, $1 on US Stocks with no platform fee. Currency conversion fee of 0.25%. 
 
Scottish Friendly
Scottish Friendly
£100 initial deposit
£10 monthly minimum
1.50% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Funds
Robo Adviser
Choose from 3 Investment ISA products; My Easy Choice, My Choice and My Prime. Investors can assign parts of their investment to separate accounts for specific purposes 
 
Vanguard
Vanguard
£500 initial deposit
£100 monthly minimum
0.15% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Funds
ETFs
Robo Adviser
Our cheapest featured platform with fees capped at £375 per year. However, a limited choice choice of 75 funds available 
 
Virgin Money
Virgin Money
£1 initial deposit 1% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs Funds
Bonds
Robo Adviser
Clients can choose between 5 investment funds. A sixth Climate Change Fund is available at the higher 1.3% annual fee with minimum deposit of £500 
 
Wealthify
Wealthify
£1 initial deposit
£1 monthly minimum
0.60% platform fee Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
Funds
Robo Adviser
No minimum deposit or monthly contribution. Investors have access to 10 funds which includes 5 ethical funds designed to suit your preferred level of risk. 
 
Willis Owen
Willis Owen
£25 initial deposit
£25 monthly minimum
0.40% platform fee
£7.50 per trade
Stocks & Shares ISAs
Junior ISAs
UK Shares
Funds
ETFs
Robo Adviser
Trade Shares, ETFs and Investment Trusts for £7.50. Choose from 2,500+ Funds or ready-made portfolios based on 3 levels of risk 
* The Fee Per Trade applies to stocks and shares and is the maximum fee charged for a one-off trade. Many ISAs charge less if you are a regular, active trader.

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