Independent · fee-focused
Best Stocks & Shares ISA Apps in 2026
A Stocks and Shares ISA shelters your gains and dividends from tax — but ISA fees vary wildly, from completely free apps to platforms charging both a wrapper fee and dealing commissions. We ranked UK apps that offer an ISA on total cost and usability. Here is our top pick, followed by the full ranking.
Best overall: Lightyear
Lightyear is our top pick for this category: best low-fx investing app for the uk and eu.
Get started with LightyearCapital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
The ranked list
1. Lightyear
5/5Lightyear is a UK- and EU-available investing app offering commission-free stocks and ETFs, and a very low currency-conversion fee. Cash does not earn interest on its own: to get a yield you move it into a Vault, which is an investment in a BlackRock money market fund rather than a deposit. UK personal accounts (GIA and Stocks & Shares ISA) pay just 0.10% FX; EU accounts pay 0.35%. There are no account, withdrawal or inactivity fees, and no minimum deposit — making it one of the cheapest ways to hold a global portfolio.
Read the full Lightyear review →Visit LightyearLightyear
Best low-FX investing app for the UK and EU
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
2. Trading 212
4.9/5Trading 212 offers genuinely commission-free investing with no withdrawal fee and an Invest/ISA account for UK users. A strong low-cost pick, though product depth is narrower than full-service brokers.
Read the full Trading 212 review →Visit Trading 212Trading 212
Best for low fees and UK investors
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
3. Robinhood
4.9/5Robinhood pioneered commission-free trading in the US and now offers UK investors commission-free US shares with a very low 0.10% FX fee and a free Stocks & Shares ISA. It trades US-listed stocks, ETFs and options — no UK-listed shares, and no crypto in the UK. A clean app that is light on research; note the $100 account-transfer-out fee.
Read the full Robinhood review →Visit RobinhoodRobinhood
Best for commission-free US-stock investing in the US and UK
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
4. Revolut
4.8/5Revolut bolts simple stock investing onto its popular banking app. Convenient if you already use Revolut, with one free trade per month on Standard, but the 0.25% per-trade commission makes it pricier than dedicated low-cost brokers for active investors.
Read the full Revolut review →Visit RevolutRevolut
Best for investing inside an all-in-one money app
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
5. Webull
4.7/5Webull pairs commission-free US stocks, ETFs and options with surprisingly advanced charting and analysis tools. Strong for active US traders; available in the UK with a 0.50% FX fee (0.35% on its paid Meridian plan) and a flexible Stocks and Shares ISA with no account fee. Only regulatory fees apply on sells. UK-listed shares are the one market Webull does not trade commission-free: new accounts get 90 days free, after which a commission with a 50p minimum applies.
Read the full Webull review →Visit WebullWebull
Best for active traders who want advanced tools free
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
6. InvestEngine
4.7/5InvestEngine is a UK ETF-only investment platform with no platform fee, no dealing commission and no FX fee on its DIY portfolios, across ISA, SIPP and General accounts. All ETFs are GBP-denominated, so you pay only the underlying ETF's ongoing charge. ETFs only — no individual stocks.
Read the full InvestEngine review →Visit InvestEngineInvestEngine
Best for zero-fee DIY ETF investing with a free ISA and SIPP
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
7. Freetrade
4.4/5Freetrade is a UK mobile-first investing app offering commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs and investment trusts, with a genuinely free Stocks & Shares ISA and SIPP on its Basic plan. The main cost for most users is the FX fee on non-GBP trades: 0.99% on the free plan, dropping to 0.59% (Standard, £5.99/mo) and 0.39% (Plus, £11.99/mo). Both paid plans can be bought a year up front instead — £59.88 for Standard and £119.88 for Plus, about 17% off the monthly price.
Read the full Freetrade review →Visit FreetradeFreetrade
Best free ISA and SIPP for commission-free UK investing
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
8. Vanguard UK
3.8/5Vanguard's UK platform charges 0.15% a year capped at £375, with no dealing charges on its funds. It is one of the cheapest ways to hold a simple index portfolio, with two significant caveats: you can only buy Vanguard's own funds and ETFs, and accounts below £32,000 now pay a £4 monthly minimum fee, which is expensive on a small pot.
Read the full Vanguard UK review →Vanguard UK
Cheap index investing, but only in Vanguard's own funds
Visit the Vanguard UK website →We earn no commission from Vanguard UK. It is listed here because a fee comparison that leaves out the market leaders is not a fee comparison.
9. Fidelity
3.5/5Fidelity Personal Investing charges a 0.35% service fee that tiers down above £250,000, with a flat £7.50 a month for accounts under £25,000 that have no regular savings plan. Its most useful feature for cost-conscious investors is how it treats exchange-traded investments: the service fee on shares, ETFs and investment trusts is capped at £90 a year in an ISA or SIPP, and is not charged at all on those holdings in a taxable Investment Account. An ETF investor who has used up their ISA allowance therefore pays Fidelity nothing to hold, and only the £7.50 dealing charge to trade.
Read the full Fidelity review →Fidelity
Broad fund range with a capped charge on shares and ETFs
Visit the Fidelity website →We earn no commission from Fidelity. It is listed here because a fee comparison that leaves out the market leaders is not a fee comparison.
10. AJ Bell
3.4/5AJ Bell is a long-established UK platform that repriced on 1 May 2026. Its custody charge is 0.25%, tiering down on funds above £250,000, and — crucially — capped on shares, ETFs and investment trusts. The cap depends on the wrapper: £3.50 a month in a dealing account or ISA, and £10 a month in a SIPP. The ISA cap is the lowest of the mainstream platforms, which makes AJ Bell one of the cheapest places to hold a large ETF or share portfolio in an ISA; the SIPP cap is nearly three times higher, though still below Hargreaves Lansdown's £150 a year.
Read the full AJ Bell review →AJ Bell
Cheaper than HL on shares, with a low monthly cap
Visit the AJ Bell website →We earn no commission from AJ Bell. It is listed here because a fee comparison that leaves out the market leaders is not a fee comparison.
11. interactive investor
3.3/5interactive investor is the UK's main flat-fee platform: you pay a fixed monthly subscription rather than a percentage of your portfolio. That makes it expensive for a small pot and progressively cheaper as the portfolio grows, with the crossover against percentage-fee rivals typically falling somewhere in the low tens of thousands of pounds.
Read the full interactive investor review →interactive investor
Flat monthly fee — the cheapest option for large portfolios
Visit the interactive investor website →We earn no commission from interactive investor. It is listed here because a fee comparison that leaves out the market leaders is not a fee comparison.
12. Hargreaves Lansdown
3.2/5Hargreaves Lansdown is the largest investment platform in the UK, offering the widest fund range, strong research and well-regarded service. It repriced on 1 March 2026, cutting the account charge from 0.45% to 0.35% and capping the charge on shares at £12.50 a month. It remains a percentage-fee platform, so it is competitive for smaller portfolios of funds and expensive for large ones.
Read the full Hargreaves Lansdown review →Hargreaves Lansdown
The UK's largest platform, with research to match its charges
Visit the Hargreaves Lansdown website →We earn no commission from Hargreaves Lansdown. It is listed here because a fee comparison that leaves out the market leaders is not a fee comparison.
Compare side by side
| Feature | Lightyear | Trading 212 | Robinhood | Revolut | Webull | InvestEngine | Freetrade | Vanguard UK | Fidelity | AJ Bell | interactive investor | Hargreaves Lansdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 5 / 5 | 4.9 / 5 | 4.9 / 5 | 4.8 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 | 3.8 / 5 | 3.5 / 5 | 3.4 / 5 | 3.3 / 5 | 3.2 / 5 |
| Stock commission | UK personal accounts (GIA and ISA): no execution fee on UK, US and European stocks or ETFs. EU accounts: GBP 1 per order on UK stocks, EUR 1 per order on EUR-denominated stocks, 0.1% on other European stocks, and 0.10% (min $0.10, max $1) on US stocks. ETFs are execution-fee-free on both. | 0% | $0 / £0 commission on US stocks and ETFs; options are $0 commission in the US and $0.50 per contract (buys and sells) in the UK, rising to $1.00 for 'professional' options accounts (390+ options orders a day on average) from 15 October 2026; crypto in the US only | 1 commission-free order a month on Standard (3 on Plus, 5 on Premium, 10 on Metal and Ultra); beyond the allowance 0.25% of the order amount, or 0.12% on Ultra, minimum GBP 0.01; the Stocks and Shares ISA shares the same allowance and rates | $0 on stocks, ETFs and options (regulatory fees on sells). UK: $0 commission on US and Hong Kong / China-A shares and ETFs, on both the free Go tier and Meridian. UK shares are the exception and are not commission-free - Webull markets them as "50p minimum commission", and new accounts get 90 days of commission-free UK trading before the standard rate applies. Webull does not publish the percentage above that 50p floor on its pricing page | £0 dealing commission on all ETFs (DIY portfolios); no platform fee | £0 commission on all UK & US stocks, ETFs and investment trusts (all plans); mutual funds also dealt free with no holding fee since 22 January 2026 (all plans) | No dealing charge on Vanguard funds and ETFs at the scheduled daily trade; £7.50 for optional live 'quote and deal' ETF trades | £7.50 per online share, ETF or investment trust deal (£30.00 by phone); £1.50 for regular savings plan trades and dividend reinvestment; funds free | £5.00 per online share deal (£3.50 if you made 10+ share deals in the previous month); regular investing is free | £3.99 per UK or US share and ETF trade on Core and Plus (£2.99 on Premium); other international shares, including European exchanges, £9.99 on Core, £7.99 on Plus and £5.99 on Premium; funds £3.99 on Core, £1.49 on Plus, free on Premium | £6.95 per online share deal (£3.95 if you dealt 20+ times in the previous month); £1.95 per online fund deal; free via monthly direct debit or dividend reinvestment |
| Withdrawal fee | Free by local bank transfer. USD wire payments are charged (up to $8.50 UK, $6.11 EU). | Free | Free (bank/ACH); instant withdrawal 1.75% (US); account transfer out $100 | Free | Free (ACH); wires $25 to send; account transfer out $75 | Free — no withdrawal fee | Free standard withdrawals; £5 for same-day withdrawal, which is included free on the Plus plan | Free to a linked UK bank account | Free to a linked UK bank account | Free to a linked UK bank account | Free to a linked UK bank account (next-day GBP and EUR); £15 for a same-day GBP or EUR withdrawal | Free to a linked UK bank account |
| Inactivity fee | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| Min deposit | None | £1 | None | None | None | £100 | None | £500 | £25 | £250 (£500 for a SIPP) | None | £100 |
| Fractional shares | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Demo account | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Regulators | FCA, EFSA | FCA, CySEC | SEC, FINRA, SIPC, FCA | FCA, CySEC | SEC, FINRA, SIPC, FCA | FCA | FCA | FCA | FCA | FCA | FCA | FCA |
How to choose
First, prefer a free ISA wrapper — several good apps now charge nothing for it. Then look at the costs inside the wrapper: dealing commissions, FX fees on US shares, and fund ongoing charges. Check whether the ISA is flexible (withdraw and replace within the same tax year). Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and ISA rules can change.
How we rank
Rankings are based on published fees, regulatory standing, available features, and the real cost of common actions (trading, withdrawing, currency conversion). We do not accept payment for placement; affiliate relationships do not influence the order. The fee data behind this ranking comes from the same verified dataset as our UK Broker Fee Index — a quarterly data study where FX fees alone vary almost tenfold between platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which of the stocks & shares isa apps should you choose?
Lightyear is our top pick — best low-fx investing app for the uk and eu. The best choice still depends on your priorities around fees and features.
Do these rankings change?
Yes. Fees and features change, so we update this page regularly — the fee data behind this ranking was last verified on 6 October 2026.