Hargreaves Lansdown
Best for investors who want a premium all-in-one experience with top-tier research and service — but too expensive for simple index fund portfolios
Fees & Charges
| Platform fee | 0.35% per year (max), tiered by account type. Shares in ISA capped at £45/year; shares in SIPP capped at £200/year. Junior ISA: no charge. |
| Dealing fee | Funds from £1.95. Shares max £6.95 per online deal. Regular Direct Debit investments free. Phone/postal: £29. |
| Fund fee | No additional HL charge for buying or selling funds. 500+ discounted funds (average 17% saving on OCF). Underlying fund charges apply. |
| Min investment | £100 lump sum or £25/month via Direct Debit |
Pros
Cons
Account Types
Key Features
Hargreaves Lansdown Review: The UK's Biggest Platform — But Is It Worth the Premium?
Published 15 February 2026
Hargreaves Lansdown is the elephant in the room of UK investing. With over 2 million clients and £172bn under management, it's the platform most people think of first. There's a reason for that: the service is polished, the app is slick, and the research tools are genuinely useful. But you pay for all of it.
Since March 2026, HL charges a maximum of **0.35%** a year on funds — down from 0.45%. That's still roughly double what the cheapest competitors ask. If you're investing £50,000 in tracker funds, that's £175 a year when you could be paying £75 or less elsewhere. For some people, the hand-holding and quality of service justifies that gap. For others, it's dead money.
So who should actually use Hargreaves Lansdown in 2026? Let's break it down — fees first, because that's where the real decisions get made. If you're weighing up alternatives, our [Bestinvest vs AJ Bell fee breakdown](/posts/bestinvest-vs-aj-bell-the-fee-breakdown-that-shows-which-isa-platform-is) is worth a look.
HL's 2026 Fee Schedule
HL's March 2026 fee cut made a meaningful difference, but the platform still isn't cheap. Here's the full picture, verified from the HL charges page:
Platform charge (annual, on funds):
- 0.35% on the first £250,000 (was 0.45%)
- 0.25% from £250,000 to £1m
- 0.1% from £1m to £2m
- Free above £2m
These rates apply to the Stocks & Shares ISA, SIPP, Fund & Share Account, and Junior SIPP. The Lifetime ISA is cheaper at 0.25% on the first £1m.
Platform charge on shares, ETFs, investment trusts, gilts and bonds:
- Stocks & Shares ISA: 0.35%, capped at £45/year
- SIPP / Junior SIPP / Drawdown: 0.35%, capped at £200/year
- Lifetime ISA: 0.25%, capped at £45/year
- Fund & Share Account: No annual charge on shares
- Junior ISA: No HL charges at all (if managed online)
The share caps are actually decent. If you hold a big share portfolio in an ISA, £45 a year is peanuts. The SIPP cap at £200 is less competitive but still reasonable for larger pots.
Dealing fees:
- Shares online: max £6.95 per deal (was £11.95)
- Fund dealing: from £1.95 per deal
- Regular monthly Direct Debit investments: FREE
- Phone/postal dealing: £29
What they don't charge for:
- Opening or closing any account
- Holding cash
- Transferring in or out of HL
- 500+ discounted funds (average 17% saving on OCF)
The bottom line on fees: For a £20,000 fund portfolio in an ISA, you'll pay £70/year in platform fees alone. At Vanguard Investor, you'd pay about £30. At InvestEngine, you'd pay nothing. That £40 difference compounds over decades. But if you hold shares rather than funds, the £45 ISA cap makes HL surprisingly competitive for larger portfolios.
Regulatory status: Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Register (178117)). Your investments are protected up to £85,000 per eligible person under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
The Investment Supermarket
HL offers every mainstream account type a UK investor could want, as detailed on their investment services pages:
- Stocks & Shares ISA — £20,000 annual allowance, the flagship account. See our ISA hub for more.
- Cash ISA (via Active Savings) — access rates from multiple banks
- Lifetime ISA — 25% government bonus, for first home or retirement
- Junior ISA — up to £9,000/year, no HL charges
- SIPP — self-invested personal pension with tax relief. See our pensions hub for more.
- Junior SIPP — pension for children
- Drawdown — for taking income in retirement. Our AJ Bell SIPP drawdown analysis provides useful cost context across platforms.
- Fund & Share Account — general investment account (GIA)
- Active Savings — cash savings from multiple banks through one login
Investment choice is broad. You can pick from thousands of funds, UK and overseas shares, investment trusts, ETFs, gilts, bonds, and IPOs. They also offer Ready-Made Investments — managed portfolios for people who don't want to pick individual holdings. For more on building a portfolio, see our investing hub.
The minimum to get started is £100 lump sum or £25/month via Direct Debit. That's accessible enough for beginners, though some platforms let you start with less.
Service Quality That Competitors Can't Match
Let's be fair — HL didn't get to 2 million clients by accident. Source: About HL.
The app and website are excellent. The mobile app has won multiple awards (including 'Best Investment App' in 2024 and 2025), and it genuinely deserves them. Navigation is intuitive, dealing is fast, and portfolio tracking works well. If you've used clunkier platforms, HL feels like a relief.
Research and tools are best-in-class. Their in-house analyst team produces genuinely useful research on shares, funds, investment trusts and ETFs. Live share prices, interactive charts, stop-loss and limit orders — it's all there. For investors who want to learn and make informed decisions, the research alone has value. For more, see our investing hub.
Customer service is a real differentiator. UK-based helpdesk, available six days a week. Over 200 service awards. This matters when something goes wrong or you need help with a transfer. Many cheaper platforms offer little more than a chatbot.
The Junior ISA is hard to beat. Zero HL charges and free online dealing. If you're investing for a child, this is one of the best options available.
Regular investing is free. Monthly Direct Debit purchases incur no dealing charges. For drip-feeding into shares or ETFs, this removes one of HL's biggest cost disadvantages.
No exit fees. You can transfer out without charge, which means you're not locked in. And with 500+ discounted funds offering an average 17% saving on ongoing charges, the fund supermarket remains compelling.
The Premium You Pay
The fund platform charge is still expensive. At 0.35%, HL charges roughly double what Vanguard Investor (0.15%) or iWeb (flat £100/year) would cost for a typical portfolio. On £100,000 of funds, you'd pay £350/year at HL versus £150 at Vanguard. Over 20 years, that gap — compounded — adds up to thousands of pounds. Source: MoneyHelper investing costs guidance.
Dealing fees are better but not cheapest. £6.95 per trade maximum is a big improvement from £11.95, but it's still steep when Trading 212 and Freetrade offer commission-free dealing. Even AJ Bell is cheaper at £5 per share deal.
Cash interest retention is opaque. HL doesn't charge you directly for holding cash, but they retain some of the interest your cash earns. They're transparent that they do this, but it effectively means your uninvested cash earns less than it could.
The SIPP cap at £200/year is less competitive. For a pension pot heavily weighted to shares and ETFs, £200 is fine. But compare that to AJ Bell's £10/month (£120/year) for a shares-only SIPP, and HL looks expensive. For a detailed look at pension drawdown costs, see our AJ Bell SIPP drawdown guide.
No fractional shares. You can't buy a slice of an expensive share like you can on some newer platforms. This limits flexibility, especially for smaller investors wanting to build diversified share portfolios.
The Right Investor for HL
HL is a good fit if you:
- Value excellent customer service and are willing to pay a premium for it
- Want everything in one place — ISA, SIPP, savings, dealing — with a polished interface
- Are investing mainly in shares, ETFs or investment trusts (where the annual cap keeps costs down)
- Want comprehensive research tools to make your own investment decisions
- Are setting up a Junior ISA — the zero-charge structure is hard to beat
- Prefer regular investing via Direct Debit, where dealing is free
- Are new to investing and want a platform that holds your hand
HL is probably not for you if:
- You're building a low-cost fund portfolio — the 0.35% charge is simply too high for passive investors. Vanguard Investor, InvestEngine, or iWeb will save you serious money
- You're an active share trader — £6.95 per deal (max) is expensive compared to commission-free alternatives
- You're very cost-conscious and comfortable with a no-frills platform
- You have a large fund-heavy SIPP — the percentage fees on big pension pots add up fast before you hit the tiered reductions
HL vs AJ Bell vs Fidelity
Here's how HL stacks up against the main competitors for a £30,000 fund-based ISA, using verified March 2026 fees:
- Hargreaves Lansdown: 0.35% = £105/year (down from £135)
- AJ Bell: 0.25% = £75/year
- Vanguard Investor: 0.15% (capped at £375) = £45/year
- InvestEngine: 0% (for DIY) = £0/year
- interactive investor: Flat fee from £4.99/month (£59.88/year)
For share-heavy portfolios, the picture shifts. On £50,000 of shares in an ISA, HL's cap of £45/year is actually cheaper than interactive investor's flat fee. This is HL's sweet spot — large share portfolios where the cap kicks in early.
For a deeper fee comparison between specific platforms, our Bestinvest vs AJ Bell breakdown shows how costs add up in practice.
The platform's real competition isn't on price; it's on experience. HL competes with AJ Bell and interactive investor on features and service quality. If you're choosing between those three, the question is whether HL's research, app, and customer service justify the extra cost.
Sources: HL Charges | MoneyHelper investing guidance | FSCS protection checker
Capital at Risk and Regulatory Details
Capital at risk. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions. Source: FCA consumer guidance.
Conclusion
Hargreaves Lansdown is the best-known investment platform in the UK for a reason. The service is genuinely excellent — the app works beautifully, the research is thorough, and the customer support is leagues ahead of most competitors. If you've ever tried to phone a budget platform and sat in a queue for 45 minutes, you'll understand why some people happily pay the HL premium.
The March 2026 fee cut has narrowed the gap meaningfully. The max annual charge dropping from 0.45% to **0.35%** and share dealing falling from £11.95 to **£6.95** are real improvements. But let's be honest: for straightforward index fund investing, you're still paying over the odds. A passive investor with £50,000 in funds could save over £100 a year by switching to a cheaper platform. Over a 20-year investing horizon, that's potentially thousands of pounds lost to fees — money that could have been compounding in your portfolio.
My verdict: use HL if you value the full package — the research, the service, the polish — and especially if you hold shares where the annual cap keeps costs sensible. Use it for your Junior ISA, where it's genuinely free. But if you're a set-and-forget index fund investor, your money works harder elsewhere. The good news is there's no exit fee, so you can always start here, learn the ropes, and move when you're ready.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
This review is based on publicly available information from the platform's website. Fees and features may change — always verify on the platform's website before making investment decisions. GiltEdge is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This is not regulated financial advice. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.