Best Investing Apps In The UK 2026

My pick for most people is Trading 212: there’s no commission or account fee, it’s simple to use, and it’s where I hold my own stocks and shares ISA. If all you want is a cheap spread of ETFs, InvestEngine is the one to look at, and if you’d rather someone else picks your investments, the robo-advisers in the table will do it for you, for a higher fee. I’ve tested and compared 14 UK investing apps on fees, account types, how easy they are to use and what customers say about them.

When you invest, your capital is at risk.

All 14 compared

Vanguard Investor isn’t in the table, but it’s a solid choice if all you want is Vanguard’s own index funds. It has a minimum monthly fee on smaller pots, so check its charges on Vanguard’s site first. My Vanguard review goes into more detail.

Which investing app is right for you?

Start with what you actually want to do, then match it to the app that does that best. This is how the 14 apps above line up.

If you want to…	Look at	Why
Pick your own shares, funds and ETFs in an ISA	Trading 212	No commission or account fee, easy app, ISA and SIPP in one place
Build a cheap ETF portfolio and leave it	InvestEngine	No platform, dealing or FX fee on its DIY accounts
Get a big welcome offer	IG	One of the biggest sign-up offers around, with an ISA, SIPP and Junior ISA
Save for a first home with a Lifetime ISA	Moneybox	Lifetime ISA, stocks and shares ISA and pension in one app
Have someone else run it for you	Moneyfarm, Wealthify or Nutmeg	They build and rebalance the portfolio, for a higher yearly fee
Have every account type and lots of research	Hargreaves Lansdown or AJ Bell	Huge choice, plus Lifetime ISAs and Junior ISAs
Keep costs flat as a big pot grows	interactive investor	A monthly fee instead of a percentage of your pot
Earn interest on cash you haven’t invested yet	Lightyear	Built around paying interest on uninvested cash
Copy other investors	eToro	Copy investing and the best charts here
Invest for a child	Best Junior ISAs	Not every app offers a Junior ISA, so I compare them separately

How I picked

I score every app on what I call my six pillars:

• Low fees: platform fees, dealing fees and FX fees (the cost of converting pounds into dollars or euros when you buy foreign shares).
• User experience: how easy it is to find your way around, buy something and see how you’re doing.
• Suitability for beginners: simple screens, sensible defaults and good learning material.
• Customer reviews: Trustpilot scores and the themes in recent reviews.
• Account types: ISA, SIPP (a pension you run yourself), Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA and GIA (a general investment account with no tax perks).
• Useful features: things like interest on cash, auto-investing, charts and price alerts.

All the fees and scores in the table were checked on each provider’s own site in October 2026. Fees change, so always check before you sign up.

The best investing apps by category

Best overall: Trading 212

Trading 212 is where I hold my own stocks and shares ISA. It’s the app I’d point most people to if they want to pick their own shares, funds and ETFs (exchange traded funds, which bundle lots of investments into one). The app is easy to understand, there’s no commission, it pays interest on cash you haven’t invested, and you can now hold a SIPP next to your ISA. Read my full Trading 212 review.

Best sign-up offer: IG

IG’s welcome offer is one of the biggest around, and there’s no account fee or commission on UK and US shares when you let it convert the currency automatically. It also pays interest on uninvested cash and offers an ISA, SIPP and Junior ISA. The FX fee is higher than some rivals, and its Trustpilot score is lower, so weigh that up against the offer.

Best for low-cost funds: InvestEngine

InvestEngine is all about ETFs. Its DIY accounts have no platform fee, no commission and no FX fee, which makes it one of the cheapest ways to build a spread-out portfolio. There are no individual shares, and its managed portfolios are closed to new customers at the moment, so it’s one for people happy to pick a couple of funds themselves. Its free education series on YouTube is excellent too. Here’s my InvestEngine review.

Best for ISAs and Lifetime ISAs: Moneybox

Moneybox has the widest spread of ISAs here, including a Lifetime ISA for first-time buyers, plus savings accounts and a pension in the same app. You can round up your spending into investments, and choose either ready-made portfolios or pick your own. There’s a monthly subscription on smaller pots and a higher yearly fee on funds that aren’t Moneybox’s own. Read my Moneybox review.

Best for hands-off investors: Moneyfarm, Wealthify and Nutmeg

These are robo-advisers and managed services: you answer questions about your goals and risk, and they build and run the portfolio for you. Nutmeg now trades as J.P. Morgan Personal Investing. You pay more than you would with a DIY app, but it’s very much set it and forget it. My Moneyfarm review explains how it works, and Moneyfarm vs Nutmeg puts two of them head to head.

Best range of accounts: Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell

The two big traditional platforms offer every account type, including a Lifetime ISA and Junior ISA, with a huge choice of shares, funds and investment trusts. AJ Bell has the highest Trustpilot score in my table. Both charge a percentage platform fee and a fee per share deal, so they make more sense for bigger pots or fund investors.

Best charts and copy investing: eToro

eToro’s charts on mobile and desktop are excellent, you can set price alerts, and you can copy other investors’ portfolios. Copying someone else isn’t a shortcut to good returns, so go in with your eyes open. My eToro review UK covers the details, and eToro vs Trading 212 compares it with my top pick.

What does an investing app actually cost?

The headline fee is rarely the whole bill. These are the charges to look for. The table above shows the main ones for each app, and the provider’s own fee page has the rest.

• Platform or account fee: a yearly charge for holding your investments. It’s either a percentage of your pot, a flat monthly fee, or nothing at all.
• Dealing fee: a charge each time you buy or sell. Lots of apps now charge nothing, while the older platforms charge per deal but often make regular monthly investing free.
• FX fee: the cost of swapping pounds into another currency, usually when you buy foreign shares and again when you sell. On a “free” app this is often the biggest cost if you buy a lot of US shares.
• Fund charges: every fund and ETF takes its own yearly fee, called the ongoing charge figure (OCF). You pay it wherever you hold the fund, and it’s on the fund’s factsheet.
• Stamp duty: you usually pay 0.5% tax when you buy UK shares electronically, whichever app you use.
• Subscriptions and management fees: some apps charge a monthly plan for extras like lower FX fees, and robo-advisers charge for picking and running your portfolio.

Which type of fee suits your pot size?

This is where a lot of people get caught out. A percentage fee grows with your money, and a flat fee doesn’t. A 0.25% yearly fee costs £12.50 on £5,000, but £250 on £100,000. A flat fee of £6 a month is £72 a year whether you have £5,000 or £100,000.

So in that example the percentage fee is cheaper below about £28,800 and the flat fee is cheaper above it. Free apps beat both, as long as they offer what you want to buy.

Small differences matter because fees come out every year, and that money stops growing for you. If £20,000 grew by 5% a year for 25 years (growth isn’t guaranteed), paying 0.5% more in fees would leave you roughly £7,600 worse off. Try your own numbers in my compound interest calculator.

Should you start investing yet?

An app makes investing feel instant, but investing works best with money you won’t need for at least five years, because prices can drop and take a while to recover. Before you download anything, I’d tick off these three things.

• An emergency fund: a few months of essential spending in an easy access savings account, so a broken boiler doesn’t force you to sell at a bad time. My emergency fund calculator helps you work out how much.
• No expensive debt: I built up £24,000 of debt in my twenties, and clearing it is what got me into money in the first place. Paying off a credit card is a guaranteed saving on the interest; investing returns aren’t guaranteed.
• Your workplace pension sorted: if your employer adds more when you pay more in, that extra money is hard to beat anywhere else.

If you’re still not sure, my guide on saving vs investing helps you decide which pot your money belongs in.

How to choose an investing app and get started

1. Pick the account first. For most people that’s a stocks and shares ISA, then a pension. A GIA only makes sense once your ISA allowance is used. My beginner’s guide to opening an ISA walks you through it.
2. Decide DIY or ready-made. Pick your own funds and pay less, or let a robo-adviser do it for a higher fee.
3. Check the fees for how you’ll actually invest. Funds or shares, UK or US, monthly or lump sum: each one changes which app is cheapest.
4. Check it’s regulated. Search the app’s name on the FCA register before you hand over any money.
5. Start small and automate it. Set up a monthly payment so you don’t have to think about it. Use a sign-up offer if there’s one going (here’s how to get free shares), but don’t choose an app for the offer alone.

Is my money safe in an investing app?

Check the app is authorised by the FCA (the Financial Conduct Authority). You can search any firm on the FCA register. Regulated firms must keep your investments separate from the company’s own money, so if the firm went bust your investments should come back to you.

If anything is missing, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) can cover eligible investments up to £85,000 per person, per firm. The £120,000 figure you might have seen is for money in bank accounts, not investments. None of this protects you from your investments falling in value.

Types of investing account

Stocks and Shares ISA

A stocks and shares ISA lets you invest up to £20,000 a year with no tax on the growth or income. There’s also the Lifetime ISA and Junior ISA. If you’re just starting, this is usually the account to open first. Compare them in my best stocks and shares ISAs guide.

Personal pension (SIPP)

A personal pension is for retirement, and you can run one alongside your workplace pension. You can’t touch it until 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028, so only put in money you’re happy to lock away.

• You can pay in up to 100% of your earnings each tax year, or £3,600 if you don’t earn.
• The annual allowance (the most you can pay in and still get tax relief) is £60,000 for most people.
• You get tax relief at your highest rate of income tax.
• The Lifetime Allowance, which used to cap how big your pension could get before extra tax, was abolished in April 2024.

Compare providers in my best pension providers guide, or read SIPP vs ISA if you’re deciding which to fill first.

General investment account (GIA)

Every investing app has one. It’s quick to open and handy for testing a platform, but there’s no tax wrapper. Gains above £3,000 a year (across everything you sell, property included) can be hit with capital gains tax at 18% or 24%, depending on your income. Dividends above £500 a year are taxed too, at 10.75%, 35.75% or 39.35% in the 2026/27 tax year, which is another reason to fill your ISA allowance first. More in my GIA vs stocks and shares ISA guide.

Looking to trade rather than invest?

Up the Gains is built around long-term investing: index funds, ISAs, pensions and the kind of compounding that takes years to pay off. That’s where my reviews go deep.

If you want to trade actively, with leverage, CFDs, spread betting or forex, most of the apps on this page aren’t built for you, and specialist sites like Finder or BrokerChooser cover that world properly. The exception is Trading 212, which works as both a long-term ISA and a perfectly good app for buying and selling shares more often inside an ISA.

One thing to know before you try it: with ordinary shares and funds, the most you can lose is what you put in. With leveraged products like CFDs, losses build much faster, and you can lose your money very quickly.

FAQs

What is the best investing app in the UK?

For most people who want to pick their own investments, Trading 212. For the cheapest way to buy ETFs, InvestEngine. If you want someone else to manage it, look at Moneyfarm, Wealthify or Nutmeg.

Which investing app is best for beginners?

Pick one that’s authorised by the FCA, simple to use and cheap. Trading 212 is my pick if you’re happy to choose a global tracker fund yourself. Moneybox is easier still if you’d rather pick a ready-made portfolio.

What is the cheapest investing app in the UK?

It depends what you buy. For ETFs, InvestEngine’s DIY account has no platform, dealing or FX fee. For individual shares, Trading 212 has no commission or account fee, though you pay a small FX fee on foreign shares. Fund charges apply wherever you hold a fund.

Can I invest small amounts?

Yes. Several apps let you start with very little, and investing a small amount each month is far better than waiting until you have a big lump sum. Work out your goal and how long you have, then build a monthly amount around that.

How do free investing apps make money?

Usually from a mix of FX fees on foreign shares, keeping part of the interest earned on cash you haven’t invested, paid subscription plans, and in some cases other products like CFDs. That’s fine, as long as you know where the cost sits for the way you invest.

Is a robo-adviser worth paying for?

It can be if it’s the thing that gets you started, or stops you fiddling with your investments. It costs more each year than doing it yourself, so if you’re happy to buy a global tracker fund and leave it alone, DIY is cheaper. My Moneybox vs Moneyfarm comparison shows the trade-off.

Can I have more than one investing app?

Yes. You can have accounts with as many providers as you like, and since April 2024 you can pay into more than one stocks and shares ISA in the same tax year. Your total ISA payments still can’t go over £20,000.

Can I move my ISA to a different app?

Yes. Ask your new provider to do the transfer, and don’t withdraw the money yourself or it loses its tax-free status. A transfer doesn’t use up your allowance. Check whether your old provider charges an exit fee first. My guide on how to transfer an ISA covers the rest.

Do I pay tax on investing apps?

Not inside an ISA or pension. In a general investment account, you may pay capital gains tax on profits above £3,000 a year and tax on dividends above £500 a year.

Where can I learn about the stock market?

Investopedia is great for terminology, and The Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha are good for stock ideas and deeper reads. If you’re brand new, start with my guide on how to invest your first £100.

More comparisons

• All my comparisons in one place
• Best Stocks and Shares ISAs
• Best pension providers
• Best Junior Stocks and Shares ISAs
• The 3 savings accounts everyone should have
• eToro vs Freetrade vs Trading 212
• Best budgeting apps
• Best money saving apps