Trading 212

This is where Trading 212 shines brightest. The headline numbers:

• Platform fee: £0. Nothing. No annual charge, no custody fee, no percentage of your portfolio skimmed off each year.
• Dealing fee: £0. Buy and sell stocks and ETFs without paying a penny in commission.
• ISA fee: £0. The Stocks & Shares ISA is completely free to hold. For more on how ISAs work, see our ISA hub.
• Withdrawal fee: £0.
• Inactivity fee: £0.
• Minimum deposit: Just £1.

So where's the catch? There are two:

1. FX fee: 0.15% Every time you buy or sell something priced in a foreign currency (which means most US stocks and many ETFs), Trading 212 takes 0.15% on the currency conversion. Buy £1,000 of Apple shares and you'll pay about £1.50. That's genuinely cheap — Freetrade charges 0.39% to 0.99% depending on your plan, and most traditional brokers charge 0.5% or more. But it's not zero.

If you stick to UK-listed, GBP-denominated shares and ETFs, you avoid this entirely.

2. Card deposit fee: 0.7% after first £2,000 lifetime Your first £2,000 of lifetime deposits via debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay are free. After that, they charge 0.7% on card deposits. That's a sneaky one — deposit £10,000 by card and you'll lose £56 in fees on the amount above £2,000. The fix is simple: use bank transfer instead, which is always free. Most people won't notice this, but it's worth knowing.

Regulatory charges you can't avoid:

• Stamp Duty (SDRT): 0.5% on UK share purchases (this isn't a Trading 212 fee — it's a tax. ETFs, gilts, and AIM shares are exempt)
• PTM Levy: £1.50 on trades over £10,000 on the London Stock Exchange
• French FTT: 0.4% on purchases of large French companies

Compared to competitors, Trading 212 is one of the cheapest platforms in the UK. InvestEngine is similarly free for DIY ETF investing but doesn't offer individual shares. Freetrade offers free trading but charges 0.39%-0.99% FX fees. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95 per deal plus 0.45% platform fee. It's not even close.

Fee information sourced from Trading 212. Note: specific fee pages on their help centre may require app access.

Regulatory status: Trading 212 UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Register 609146). Your investments are protected up to £85,000 per eligible person under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Trading 212 offers three account types for UK investors:

• Stocks & Shares ISA — tax-free investing up to £20,000 per year. No fees. If you're new to ISAs, our beginner's guide to tax-free saving explains the basics.
• Cash ISA — a flexible, easy-access Cash ISA paying interest that tracks the Bank of England base rate minus 0.15%. With the base rate currently at 4.50%, that's roughly 4.35% AER. Interest accrues daily, paid monthly. It's a flexible ISA, so withdrawals and re-deposits don't eat into your allowance twice — see our guide to flexible ISAs for more.
• General Investment Account (GIA) — the standard taxable investment account.

Cash interest on uninvested money: Trading 212 pays competitive rates on cash held in your account — currently 3.8% on GBP, 3.3% on USD, and 2.2% on EUR (variable, subject to change). This applies across Invest and ISA accounts.

What's missing: No SIPP (self-invested personal pension). This is the single biggest gap. If you want to consolidate your investing and pension on one platform, Trading 212 can't do it. No Lifetime ISA or Junior ISA either.

What you can invest in:

• Over 13,000 stocks and ETFs across UK, US, European, and other markets
• Fractional shares from as little as £1 — you don't need £3,000 to buy a single Amazon share
• No mutual funds or investment trusts — it's shares and ETFs only. If you want Vanguard LifeStrategy or Fundsmith Equity, you'll need to buy ETF equivalents where they exist

Pies (AutoInvest): This is Trading 212's standout feature. You create a "Pie" — a custom portfolio of up to 50 stocks and ETFs with target percentage allocations. When you deposit money, it's automatically distributed according to your targets. You can also copy ready-made Pies from BlackRock or the community. It's basically a free robo-advisor you build yourself. Minimum investment is just £1.

Account information sourced from Trading 212.

The good stuff:

• Genuinely free for UK share investing. If you're buying FTSE 100 stocks or UK-listed ETFs in an ISA, your total cost is literally zero (beyond SDRT, which every platform charges). That's remarkable.
• The app is excellent. Clean, fast, well-designed. It's clearly built for mobile-first investors and it shows. Trustpilot rating of 4.6 from nearly 69,000 reviews.
• Pies make passive investing dead simple. Set your allocation, turn on AutoInvest, and forget about it. No other free platform does this as well.
• Interest on uninvested cash. You earn 3.8% on GBP cash sitting in your account, 3.3% on USD, and 2.2% on EUR (variable rates). That's competitive with many savings accounts.
• Fractional shares from £1. Proper democratisation of investing — you don't need hundreds of pounds to build a diversified portfolio.
• FSCS protection up to £85,000 for investments, £120,000 for cash deposits. Client money held at J.P. Morgan and Barclays, assets custodied at Bank of New York Mellon and Interactive Brokers. Verified via the FSCS protection checker.
• Free portfolio transfers in and out — a relatively recent addition that removes a major previous frustration.
• No deposit fees on bank transfers. Card deposits only incur fees after your first £2,000 lifetime total.

The not-so-good:

• No SIPP. Full stop. If you're serious about long-term wealth building, a pension is usually more tax-efficient than an ISA for higher-rate taxpayers. You'll need a second platform.
• Share lending is on by default. Trading 212 automatically lends out your shares to short-sellers and keeps 50% of the interest. Your shares are backed by 102%+ collateral in US treasuries, but you lose voting rights and dividends become "manufactured dividends" with potentially different tax treatment. You can opt out, but many people don't realise it's happening.
• No mutual funds, no investment trusts. ETF-only is fine for many people, but some popular UK funds don't have exact ETF equivalents.
• The CFD side. Trading 212 makes serious money from CFD trading, where most retail investors lose. The investment platform is excellent, but the CFD marketing sits uncomfortably close. Make sure you're in the Invest or ISA section, not CFDs.
• Customer support can be slow. Community forums are full of complaints about response times, which is typical for platforms at this scale with this price point.

Trading 212 is ideal for:

• Beginners starting with small amounts — the £1 minimum, fractional shares, and zero fees mean there's essentially no barrier to entry. Our beginner's investing guide covers the fundamentals.
• DIY investors who want to pick their own stocks and ETFs without paying dealing charges
• Passive investors who want to build a diversified ETF portfolio using Pies and let AutoInvest do the work
• Cost-conscious investors who are fed up paying Hargreaves Lansdown £11.95 per trade. Browse our investing hub for more platform comparisons.
• Anyone who mainly invests in UK shares — zero FX fees, zero platform fees, zero dealing fees

Trading 212 is NOT right for:

• Anyone who needs a pension (SIPP). You'll need InvestEngine, AJ Bell, or Vanguard for that. This alone disqualifies Trading 212 as a sole platform for many people.
• Fund investors. If your strategy relies on OEIC funds like Fundsmith Equity, Lindsell Train, or Vanguard LifeStrategy, you can't buy them here. Only shares and ETFs are available.
• Large portfolio holders who want comprehensive research and analyst reports — Hargreaves Lansdown and interactive investor are better for that.
• People uncomfortable with share lending. If you don't want your shares lent to short-sellers, you can opt out, but the default-on approach rubs some people the wrong way.

For independent guidance on choosing a platform, see MoneyHelper's investing pages.

The zero-fee landscape has three main players in the UK right now:

Trading 212 vs InvestEngine: InvestEngine is also free for DIY investing but only offers ETFs — no individual shares. If you want a pure low-cost ETF portfolio, InvestEngine is arguably cleaner. It also offers managed portfolios at 0.25% and has a SIPP. Trading 212 wins on investment choice and flexibility.

Trading 212 vs Freetrade: Freetrade charges no dealing fees but hits you with 0.39%-0.99% FX fees (depending on your subscription tier) versus Trading 212's 0.15%. Freetrade does offer a SIPP (for £11.99/month on the Plus plan) and now has funds. If you need a pension, Freetrade wins. For pure cost, Trading 212 wins.

Trading 212 vs traditional brokers (HL, AJ Bell, ii): It's a different world. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95 per deal and 0.45% annually. AJ Bell charges £3.50 per deal and 0.25% annually. interactive investor charges £11.99/month. These platforms offer deeper research, wider investment ranges (including funds), and SIPPs. But for a straightforward ISA investing in stocks and ETFs, you're paying 10-50x more for features many people never use. For a detailed example, see our Bestinvest vs AJ Bell fee breakdown.

The bottom line on competition: For a Stocks & Shares ISA investing in ETFs and shares, Trading 212 is the cheapest option in the UK. The only reason to go elsewhere is for something Trading 212 doesn't offer — mainly pensions, funds, or hand-holding.

Sources: Trading 212 | MoneyHelper investing guidance | FSCS protection checker

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.