eToro vs Freetrade – Which App Is Better?

It depends what kind of investor you are, because the gap has changed. eToro is the more powerful platform, with copy trading, real crypto, research tools and a Cash ISA. Freetrade now puts a Stocks and Shares ISA, a pension and a Junior ISA on its free plan, which eToro can’t match. And if cost is all that matters, Trading 212’s 0.15% currency fee beats both. All figures are from each provider’s own site, checked 29 October 2026.

The quick call, by type of investor:

• Wants the most features (copy trading, research, crypto): eToro.
• Long-term investor wanting an ISA, pension and Junior ISA in one free app: Freetrade.
• Buys mostly US shares and wants the lowest currency fee: Trading 212 (0.15%), then eToro (0.75%), then Freetrade’s free plan (0.99%).
• Wants a Cash ISA in the same app: eToro or Trading 212 (Freetrade doesn’t offer one).
• Mostly buys UK shares in pounds: any of the three; none charges a currency fee or commission.

Best for features and copy trading

eToro

4 on Trustpilot

Social investing app with copy trading

What I like

• 0% commission on stocks
• Low minimum investment
• Copy other investors

Watch out for

• FX fee on non-GBP assets
• Limited research tools
• No SIPP

$50

minimum

~£40

Free

platform fee

Free

trading fee

0% commission on stocks

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Affiliate link. Capital at risk.

eToro vs Freetrade vs Trading 212 side by side

Best free ISA, pension and Junior ISA

Freetrade

4.2 on Trustpilot

Commission-free investing app with a free ISA on the Basic plan

Offer: Free share worth £10 to £100 when you sign up and fund at least £50 within 30 days (share goes into the GIA). Capital at risk, T&Cs apply.

What I like

• Free Basic plan includes ISA, SIPP and Junior ISA
• £0 dealing commission
• Interest on cash up to 3.5% AER on Plus

Watch out for

• 0.99% FX fee on the free plan
• Cash interest capped at small balances
• Paid plan needed for lower FX fees

Free

platform fee

Basic; Standard £4.99/mo, Plus £9.99/mo billed annually

£0 commission

trading fee

FX fee 0.99% Basic / 0.59% Standard / 0.39% Plus

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Meet eToro and Freetrade

eToro

eToro is a trading platform with over 40 million registered users. It’s built around social trading, which lets you interact with other users much like you would on Facebook or Twitter, see the top investors’ portfolios and copy their exact investments with CopyTrader (from $200 per investor). It covers thousands of shares and ETFs with no commission for UK customers, plus crypto and CFDs (contracts for difference, where you bet on a price rather than owning the asset). Since 29 July 2026 its Stocks and Shares ISA has had no commission or custody fee. Read my full eToro review.

Freetrade

Freetrade started as a mobile-only app and now has a web platform too. It’s part of IG Group and offers more than 9,000 stocks, ETFs, funds, investment trusts, gilts and Treasury bills. The free Basic plan includes a Stocks and Shares ISA, a SIPP (a personal pension you run yourself), a Junior ISA and a general account, with paid plans adding lower currency fees and more interest on cash. There’s no direct crypto and no CFDs. Read the full Freetrade review.

Fees: which is cheaper?

Neither charges commission, and eToro and Freetrade’s Basic plan have no account fee. The difference is the currency fee when you buy shares priced in dollars or euros, plus Freetrade’s optional subscriptions.

• Buying £1,000 of US shares: £7.50 at eToro (0.75%), £9.90 on Freetrade Basic (0.99%), £5.90 on Freetrade Standard (0.59%) and £1.50 at Trading 212 (0.15%). You pay a similar amount again when you sell.
• Is a Freetrade plan worth it? Standard costs £59.88 a year paid annually and saves 0.40% on currency against Basic, so it pays for itself once you convert about £15,000 a year into other currencies, before counting its higher cash interest.
• UK shares bought in pounds: no currency fee at any of the three, just 0.5% government stamp duty.

eToro’s other costs are 1% each way on crypto, CFD spreads and overnight fees, and $5 per withdrawal from its USD account (free from the GBP account). eToro now gives UK customers a GBP account, so it no longer converts all your cash into dollars.

Account types: ISA, Cash ISA, pension and Junior ISA

All three offer a general investment account and a Stocks and Shares ISA, and you can put up to £20,000 a year across all your ISAs in 2026/27.

• Freetrade wins this round for long-term savers: ISA, SIPP and Junior ISA are all on the free plan. One SIPP catch: once you’re old enough to take money out, Freetrade only supports lump sum withdrawals, at £240 each.
• eToro has the only managed ISA of the three (through Moneyfarm) and a Cash ISA paying 4.94% AER (variable) for the first 12 months to eligible new customers, then 3.62%. You need £500 to open it, three or fewer withdrawals keep the boosted rate, and the money sits in a money market fund covered by the FSCS up to £85,000. There’s no pension or Junior ISA.
• Trading 212 has a Cash ISA at 3.60% AER (Bank Rate minus 0.15%) and a SIPP with no account fees, but no Junior ISA.

Personally, I think eToro needs to up its game on account types, and for pensions that’s still true. If you want a pension and a Junior ISA in one place, Freetrade is the stronger choice. See SIPP vs ISA and our Junior ISA guide.

Read nextGains App Review 2026: Budgeting and Cashback All In One Place

Investment options

When you invest, your capital is at risk.

Both give you pretty much every major stock and a wide selection of ETFs. The main difference is that eToro offers real cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, plus CFDs on indices, commodities and currencies. Freetrade offers crypto ETNs (notes that track a crypto price) instead, plus mutual funds, gilts and bonds that eToro only offers inside its ISA.

Be clear about the risks before using eToro’s extras. Crypto has no FSCS or Financial Ombudsman protection and can lose most of its value quickly. And this is eToro’s own CFD warning, word for word:

“CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 55% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.”

What are the apps like to use?

Both eToro and Freetrade have fast, intuitive apps that are easy to navigate, and both now have a web version. If you’re a beginner, it’s very easy to find your way from your portfolio to the market and buy or sell. eToro also gives you a free $100,000 practice account to play around with before committing real money.

Research and education

This is what sets the two apps apart. eToro offers analyst predictions, the latest articles from investing publications and sentiment data showing what other eToro investors think. Its academy has videos, courses and guides, and I personally used a lot of it when I was starting out to brush up on alien terminology. Freetrade has much less research in the app. It has a blog with some good stuff in there, but you have to go digging.

Deposits, withdrawals and opening an account

I tested withdrawing from both apps within minutes of each other, and both were pretty quick: Freetrade was almost instant and eToro took 24 hours, which is normal. Freetrade has no minimum to open an ISA. eToro’s minimum first deposit depends on your country, and later deposits must be at least $50.

Opening an account with either is relatively hassle-free. With Freetrade I had to wait for extra verification, mainly because I have a long name, which was slightly frustrating, but I’m used to it by now. You’ll need ID and your National Insurance number, and you’re usually set up the same day.

Is eToro or Freetrade safer?

Both are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and both offer Face ID and two-factor login.

• eToro: eToro (UK) Ltd, FCA number 583263. Investments covered by the FSCS up to £85,000 if it fails; its ISAs sit with Moneyfarm, which has a separate £85,000 limit. Crypto isn’t covered.
• Freetrade: Freetrade Limited, FCA number 783189, part of IG Group. Eligible investments covered by the FSCS up to £85,000.

The FSCS never covers investments falling in value. You can check any firm with the FSCS protection checker.

Customer reviews

On Trustpilot (checked 29 October 2026), Freetrade scores 4.2 out of 5 from 7,484 reviews and eToro 4.0 from 32,276. Trading 212 is ahead of both at 4.6 from 106,915.

What about Trading 212?

Trading 212 is the third name worth knowing here, and for some people it’s the best of the lot. Like eToro and Freetrade it offers commission-free investing in thousands of shares and ETFs, but it bundles in more for free: a Stocks and Shares ISA, a Cash ISA and a SIPP with no account fees, and the lowest currency fee of the three at 0.15%. There’s no copy trading or Junior ISA, and crypto is through ETNs only.

For me, if you want an ISA, Trading 212 is the better option than Freetrade’s free plan for anyone buying lots of US shares, because the currency fee is so much lower. eToro still wins on social and copy trading and the widest choice of assets, while Freetrade keeps things simple. See eToro vs Trading 212 and my Trading 212 review.

The winner

When looking for an investing app, it’s important to look at the whole picture. For features, eToro is the elite version: social trading, copy trading, research tools and a much wider range make it the more attractive trading platform. But it’s no longer the cheaper one, and Freetrade now wins clearly on account types, with a free ISA, pension and Junior ISA.

So: eToro if you want features and are happy with the 0.75% currency fee; Freetrade if you’re investing for the long term across an ISA, pension or Junior ISA; Trading 212 if lowest cost is the priority. If you choose Freetrade as a beginner, you’d undoubtedly be very happy with it.

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