Freetrade in 2026: Commission-Free Sounds Perfect Until You Price the Three Subscription Tiers

Freetrade restructured its pricing in 2025 to a clean three-tier subscription model. The tiers now stand at:

• Basic: £0/month — GIA, stocks and shares ISA, SIPP. 0.99% FX fee on non-GBP trades. 1% AER on up to £1,000 uninvested cash.
• Standard: £4.99/month (£59.88/year on annual billing) or £5.99/month billed monthly. 0.59% FX fee. 2.5% AER on up to £2,000.
• Plus: £9.99/month (£119.88/year on annual billing) or £11.99/month billed monthly. 0.39% FX fee. 3.5% AER on up to £3,000. Priority support.

All plans include commission-free dealing on UK and US stocks, ETFs, investment trusts, mutual funds, and gilts. No dealing charge on any trade. No platform percentage fee on your holdings. The subscription is the entire cost — plus FX on international trades.

That's a fundamentally different model from percentage-based platforms like AJ Bell (0.25%) or Hargreaves Lansdown (0.35%). On Freetrade, your costs don't rise as your portfolio grows — a critical advantage for larger ISA and SIPP holders.

Freetrade is authorised and regulated by the FCA (FRN 735536) and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. Your investments are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000 per eligible claim if Freetrade were to fail.

Commission-free UK share dealing on the Basic plan is genuinely free. No catch, no spread markup on UK shares, no hidden charges. But the moment you buy a US stock or a US-listed ETF, Freetrade charges 0.99% as a foreign exchange fee.

Buy £1,000 of a Vanguard S&P 500 ETF listed in USD and you'll pay £9.90 in FX fees. Do that monthly and you're spending £118.80 per year — double the cost of a Plus subscription that would have cut your FX fee to 0.39%.

The Standard plan drops the FX fee to 0.59% (£5.90 per £1,000 trade), and Plus to 0.39% (£3.90). The breakeven calculation is straightforward: if you're buying more than roughly £850/month in non-GBP investments, Standard pays for itself through the FX saving alone. If you're buying more than £1,700/month in international assets, Plus does too.

For UK-only investors buying FTSE trackers, LSE-listed ETFs, UK investment trusts, or gilts, the Basic plan is unbeatable. Zero platform fee, zero dealing charge, zero FX. The only cost is the opportunity cost of earning just 1% on uninvested cash — substantially below the Bank of England base rate of 4.5%.

One often-overlooked detail: Freetrade now supports UK Treasury bills and gilts across all plans. For investors wanting direct gilt exposure without an ETF wrapper, this is a genuine differentiator versus Trading 212.

Trading 212 is Freetrade's closest competitor. Both offer commission-free trades. Both offer a stocks and shares ISA. Both target younger, mobile-first investors. The differences matter more than the similarities.

Cash interest: Trading 212 pays 3.8% AER on uninvested GBP cash with no cap on the amount. Freetrade's Basic plan pays just 1% on up to £1,000 — a rounding error. Even Plus only manages 3.5% on a maximum of £3,000, capping your interest income at £105 per year. For investors who hold significant cash between trades, Trading 212's uncapped interest is worth substantially more.

FX fees: Trading 212's FX cost is built into the spread rather than charged as an explicit percentage — making direct comparison harder. Freetrade's approach is transparent: you see exactly what you're paying (0.99%, 0.59%, or 0.39% depending on plan).

Investment range: Both offer 6,500+ instruments including US fractional shares. Trading 212 also offers extended hours trading and 24/5 trading on popular stocks. Freetrade recently added mutual funds and gilts — a meaningful expansion for income-focused investors.

ISA features: Both offer flexible ISAs — withdraw and replace within the same tax year without losing allowance. Trading 212 also offers a cash ISA, which Freetrade does not.

Regulation: Both are FCA-authorised. Trading 212 has over 5 million lifetime funded accounts versus Freetrade's 1.6 million+. Both hold client funds in segregated accounts and are FSCS-protected.

Trading 212 is better for investors who hold significant cash between trades and want maximum cash interest. Freetrade is better for investors who value transparent, predictable pricing and want to choose exactly which features they pay for.

Freetrade's flat-fee pricing model is devastating for one specific group: large ISA and SIPP holders who currently pay percentage-based fees.

On a £100,000 stocks and shares ISA, AJ Bell charges £250 per year (0.25%). Hargreaves Lansdown charges £350 (0.35%). Interactive Investor charges around £143.88 on its Investor Essentials plan.

Freetrade? £59.88 on Standard or £119.88 on Plus. No percentage fee means no scaling cost. At £200,000, the saving over AJ Bell doubles to £440 per year. At £500,000, you're saving £1,130 versus AJ Bell and £1,630 versus Hargreaves Lansdown — enough to fund a decent holiday from fee savings alone.

The same maths applies to the SIPP. The absence of a percentage charge means pension pots of £100,000+ are dramatically cheaper on Freetrade than on any percentage-based platform. The pension annual allowance of £60,000 means SIPP balances can grow quickly for higher earners — and every year, Freetrade's flat fee saves more versus percentage competitors.

The catch is real: Freetrade's investment range, while broad at 6,500+ instruments, is narrower than the big platforms. AJ Bell offers access to 4,000+ funds including OEICs, unit trusts, bonds, gilts, investment trusts, and VCTs. If you need access to specific open-ended funds, want to hold individual corporate bonds, or require VCT access for tax relief, Freetrade won't work. Check the Freetrade stock universe before transferring.

No fund access beyond mutual funds added in late 2025. The OEIC and unit trust universe that dominates workplace pension transfers and financial adviser portfolios is largely absent. If your existing ISA or SIPP holds Fundsmith Equity, Vanguard LifeStrategy, or Baillie Gifford funds, verify availability before committing to a transfer — an in-specie transfer won't work for unsupported holdings.

Customer service on the Basic plan is standard only. No phone support at any tier. Response times vary — Freetrade reports via email and in-app chat only. The Plus plan gets priority support, but £9.99/month primarily for faster email response times is a hard sell unless you also benefit from the lower FX fee.

The cash interest rates look generous in isolation but underperform compared to standalone savings products. Even Plus at 3.5% on just £3,000 is substantially worse than a dedicated cash ISA paying 4.68% with no cap. Keep your emergency fund in a proper savings account; use Freetrade for investments, not cash parking.

Research tools are basic. No analyst reports, no detailed fund screening tools, no portfolio analytics beyond simple performance charts. You're expected to know what you want to buy before you open the app. For self-directed investors comfortable with their own research, that's acceptable — Bestinvest and AJ Bell offer considerably more research functionality if you need it.

The lack of phone support is a deliberate cost-saving measure that keeps subscription prices low. For a generation accustomed to in-app support, it's fine. For anyone who prefers speaking to a human about a SIPP transfer or ISA complication, it's a dealbreaker.

The Basic plan is for: UK-only equity investors with small to medium portfolios who trade infrequently and don't hold significant uninvested cash. If you're buying FTSE 100 stocks, LSE-listed ETFs, or UK gilts, it's essentially free investing — no platform fee, no dealing charge, no FX costs.

The Standard plan is for: Regular investors buying both UK and international stocks or ETFs. The £4.99/month is justified the moment you're trading more than roughly £850/month in non-GBP assets, where the FX saving (from 0.99% to 0.59%) exceeds the subscription cost.

The Plus plan is for: Active international investors with large ISA or SIPP balances who want the lowest available FX fees. At portfolio sizes of £100,000+, the flat fee saves hundreds versus percentage-based competitors like AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown.

Freetrade is wrong for: Investors who need a wide fund range (OEICs, unit trusts, VCTs), comprehensive research tools, or phone-based customer support. Anyone transferring a portfolio heavy in open-ended funds should check the Freetrade stock universe before committing — an ISA transfer takes 15-30 business days and you don't want to discover incompatible holdings halfway through. See <a href="/posts/isa-transfers-explained-how-to-move-your-isa-without-losing-tax-free-status">ISA transfer rules explained</a> for more details.

The investment platform market in 2026 splits between percentage-fee incumbents and flat-fee challengers. Freetrade sits firmly in the challenger camp alongside Interactive Investor — and for investors with the right profile, it's the cheapest stocks and shares ISA in the UK market. For the full picture on ISA options, see our ISA comparison guide and investing hub.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. You should seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions.

<p>For related guidance, see our article on <a href="/posts/active-fund-managers-lost-you-money-for-a-decade-the-data-doesnt-lie">why passive funds outperform active managers over a decade</a>.</p>