For UK investors, using a stocks and shares ISA is a bit of a no-brainer. It allows you to invest as you would normally, but any potential gains or dividends are shielded from the taxman.
Once you’ve learnt about all the glorious benefits of using a tax-efficient ISA account like this, you’ll want to choose the best stocks and shares ISA for you – whether that’s because you’re a beginner, or you’re someone with a particular investing strategy in mind. We’ve tested more than 15 platforms offering investment ISAs and here are our top picks.
DIY and ready made portfolios Easy to use No extra cost for a S&S ISA
To choose the best investment ISA for each category, we evaluated all the share dealing platforms we’ve reviewed on our site (that offer ISAs) against a range of metrics, and then selected platforms offering stand-out features for specific investing aspects. Keep in mind that our best picks may not always be right for you – it’s important to compare for yourself. Read our full methodology here to find out more.
Best stocks and shares ISAs in the UK, December 2023
When it comes to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), IG is hard to beat.
ETFs let you invest in a whole basket full of stocks with one single investment. This gives you some automatic diversity and it can reduce your commissions by trading less than if you were investing in individual stocks and shares.
The IG share dealing ISA lets you choose from over 5,000 ETFs. So there’s plenty of options for you to stick your teeth into. One thing to be aware of is that with IG, more is better. The investing commissions drop drastically if you make 3 or more investments each month (and this also wipes out the quarterly custody fee of £24).
Pros
Great learning resources and a demo account
Massive choice of over 13,000 investments including ready-made portfolios
Fee discounts for active investors
Cons
Only cheap when investing regularly
Choice of options, tools, and markets might overwhelm newbies
Quarterly platform fee of £24 if you make less than 3 trades per quarter
CMC burst onto the UK investing scene in late 2022, and it's come a long way. We selected CMC Invest as our best stocks and shares ISA for US shares because you invest in over 3,000 US stocks commission-free.
On top of this, you can also hold a USD currency account to help lower your FX fees and deal with less currency fluctuations. The CMC Invest app also has plenty of other features for ISA investors like 2% uncapped interest on cash, ESG ratings, and analyst ratings.
When trying out the flexible CMC Invest ISA, the only major downside is that it costs £10 per month as part of the “Plus” plan. This could provide good value if you’ve built up a large ISA portfolio over the years, but it’s more expensive than some other providers for smaller portfolios.
Pros
No minimum deposit
Free to open a Core account
0% commission on trades
Over 3,000 investments
2% uncapped interest paid on cash in all account plans
Cons
Limited range of UK stocks
Only US and UK stocks available
Costs £10 per month to use an ISA with Plus plan
Stock analysis reserved for Plus customers
No SIPP yet
Frequent trader rate
N/A
Fractional shares
Foreign exchange fee
0.5%
FCA regulated
ISA fee
£10 per month
Price per trade
£0
Min. initial deposit
£0
Offer
Get your first 3 months free when you upgrade to Plus plan. T&Cs apply.
We chose InvestEngine because when it comes to low fees, it’s hard to beat free.
InvestEngine is a platform that only lets you invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which is limiting. But for those of you who want to build an ETF portfolio, it costs nothing to open and hold a DIY stocks and shares ISA with InvestEngine. There’s also no commission when buying or selling ETFs.
Although the DIY option is free (where you choose investments yourself), there is a 0.25% fee if you want an expertly managed portfolio. However, this fee is competitive with most other robo-advisors and platforms offering ready-made portfolios.
Pros
DIY and ready made portfolios
Easy to use
No extra cost for a S&S ISA
Low fees compared to other robo-advisors
The DIY option is one of the cheapest ways to invest
Ethical options and a great ETF screener
Cons
Percentage fees can work out expensive for large managed portfolios
You can only invest in ETFs
The risk questionnaire uses jargon that might confuse newbies
We surveyed customers of the major platforms in the UK and Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) was top for customer satisfaction, making it a winner in the 2023 Finder Share Dealing Customer Satisfaction Awards.
86% of respondents in our survey said they’d recommend HL to a friend. It’s known for great service and great features - none of which comes cheap. Also, it’s worth pointing out that this research was carried out based on the overall service (it wasn’t ISA specific).
Pros
Wide range of accounts
No platform fee for some accounts
Free fund trading
Great customer service reviews
Excellent mobile app
Discount for regular investors
Cons
Expensive to buy or sell shares
Fee structure is slightly complex
No demo account
Some investors may not need all the features
As a listed company, HL has to please shareholders
We chose Trading 212 because along with charging no commission to buy or sell over 12,000 global stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), it offers some additional noteworthy features.
It’s free to open and hold a Trading 212 stocks and shares ISA and you can invest in fractional shares with as little as £1, and the 0.15% foreign exchange (FX) fee is one of the lowest on the market.
There are also some useful social features like “Pie” (what Trading 212 calls portfolios) copying and the Social Feed, which lets you see what other investors paying no commission are up to.
Pros
Free to use – there aren’t any fees for trading with Trading 212.
Can be used in the web browser and on a mobile app.
Practise mode allows you to give it a go without putting down any money.
Loads of educational tools and guides to teach you more about trading.
Cons
No personal pension, lifetime ISA or junior ISA.
The tutorial for demo mode isn’t comprehensive, you do need to have a little play around to work it out.
We chose Freetrade as our best stocks and shares ISA for beginners because it’s simple to set up an account and the app is excellent.
Another great thing about the Freetrade investment ISA is that there’s no commission for buying or selling stocks and you can invest with as little as £2.
Experienced investors might find the Freetrade ISA to be too simplistic, but we think that for beginners, it will hit the mark. There’s over 6,000 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to choose from and the flat fee structure means you pay the same amount no matter how big your portfolio grows.
Pros
Easy to sign up
0% commission on trades
Option to invest in an ISA
Easy to navigate app and buy stocks
Cons
The graphs and charts aren’t very helpful
Not much data or research to help you decide
ISA option isn’t free
Some stocks are hidden behind a paywall
Frequent trader rate
N/A
Fractional shares
Foreign exchange fee
0.59%
FCA regulated
ISA fee
£5.99 per month
Price per trade
£0
Min. initial deposit
£0
Offer
Get a free share worth up to £100 when you open an ISA. ISA rules & terms apply.
Whether you’re looking for a wide range of assets, thousands of stocks to choose from, ready-made portfolios, or access to loads of ethical options - interactive investor (ii) has you covered.
We picked this as our best stocks and shares ISA for investment choice because it has an unparalleled selection of assets (over 40,000). Also, instead of leaving you to flounder within its supersize investment pool, ii does an excellent job providing insights and research to help you find the right assets for your goals.
The only drawback with ii is that the share dealing commissions are higher than some other options and the flat monthly fee for the plans will be best value if you’ve a large portfolio.
Pros
Flat monthly fee is good value for large portfolios
Massive choice of investments
A platform designed for every type of investor
Lots of account choices
Invest online or with the ii app
Cons
Platform fee is expensive for small portfolios
Share dealing charges are quite high
Free monthly trade(s) with premium plans
Cheapest plan has a maximum portfolio size
Adding a SIPP costs more
Frequent trader rate
£0
Fractional shares
Foreign exchange fee
1.5%
ISA fee
From £4.99 a month
Price per trade
£3.99 (with one free trade per month)
Min. initial deposit
£0
Offer
Open an ISA before 31 December and get £100 cashback. New customers only, invest £5k or more. Terms & fees apply. Capital at risk.
If you don’t want to pick your own ISA investments, robo-advisors like Nutmeg will build and manage a portfolio for you.
Nutmeg was one of the original robo-advisors to hit the UK, and it has the widest choice of ready-made investment options we’ve seen.
In total, there are 30 portfolios to choose from across a range of risk levels and investing styles (fixed allocation, socially responsible, fully managed, smart alpha). The major drawback with Nutmeg is that the fees are slightly higher than some other robo-advisor ISAs.
Pros
Quick to set up and easy to use (both app and desktop)
Gives you a global and diverse portfolio
Choice of different risk profiles
Option to invest in socially responsible portfolios
We picked Vanguard as our best stocks and shares ISA for index funds because not only did Vanguard invent the whole concept of index funds, its ISA also has a low annual percentage cost of 0.15%.
There are around 75 fund options, ranging from broad index-tracking funds, to newer additions like target date retirement funds, LifeStrategy funds (a fund made up of multiple funds), and ESG index funds - covering both equities and bonds.
You can pick your own funds with the Vanguard ISA, or if you prefer, you can opt for the Vanguard Managed ISA. With this, the expert team will pick and manage a portfolio for an added fee of 0.3%, which is cheaper than many robo-advisors.
Whether you go for the Managed ISA or not, the key downside with Vanguard ISAs is that you’re limited to Vanguard funds only, and you can’t buy individual stocks or other investments.
Pros
Built for new and experienced investors
Start with a £100 monthly direct debit or a £500 lump sum
Choice of ready-made portfolios and DIY portfolios
Using a stocks and shares ISA usually means that you can invest tax-free – but there is an exception.
When you buy US stocks using your investment ISA, you won’t have to pay any capital gains or dividend tax in the UK. However, if your US stock pays dividends, a withholding tax (WHT) of 15% will automatically apply.
There’s nothing you need to do about this and your provider will take care of it for you but it’s worth being aware of this when people say that you pay absolutely zero tax on investments held in stocks and shares ISAs. This is true for UK investments, but you may still have to pay a little to Uncle Sam in the US.
Best stocks and shares ISAs for customer satisfaction
We asked people who’d used a share dealing platform within the previous 12 months to rate their satisfaction with the service they received and whether they’d recommend the provider to a friend. Our independent survey of 805 investors was carried out in December 2022 and the top provider won our 2023 Finder Share Dealing Customer Satisfaction Award. Where there was a draw on the satisfaction star rating, we used the “would recommend” percentage as a tie-breaker.
We’ve shown survey results for the brands listed in the table below. Keep in mind, we didn’t separate ISAs from the rest of the accounts, so this gives you more of an overall picture.
DIY stocks and shares ISAs vs robo-advisors: What’s the difference?
“Robo-advisors” is a strange term, but it’s pretty accurate. A robo-advisor is a platform that collects basic information about you and your investment goals, then uses computer-generated decisions to put your money to work – hence “robo”.
You start by choosing a portfolio, based on your goals and attitude towards risk. The next step is to deposit funds (as a lump sum or regular investment), and the provider does the work for you. It creates and manages a portfolio that’s either completely automated or uses a combination of professional management and automation.
DIY (do it yourself) investing is hands-on. You can pick all your own individual stocks and shares if you like. Or if you want to go for a more diversified approach, you can invest in funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which contain a whole basket of investments. This is the type of account you’re looking for if you’ve got specific strategy or assets in mind for your investment ISA.
Frequently asked questions
There’s no single best ISA provider because it depends on the type of investor you want to be. This is why we’ve organised our top stocks and shares ISA into different categories to help you choose.
Definitely. Using a tax-efficient account like this means protecting most of your gains from the taxman. If you don’t use a stocks and shares ISA, you may have to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on anything over £6,000 and dividend tax on any income over £1,000.
You can invest up to your full £20,000 allowance each tax year in your stocks and shares ISA. However, if you pay into another type of ISA during the same tax year – a cash ISA, for example – this will reduce how much you can invest during that tax year (by the amount you save in another personal ISA).
You can open as many stocks and shares ISAs as you like, but you can only pay into one stocks and shares ISA each tax year. Also, if you carry out an ISA transfer (using an official ISA transfer service), this doesn’t count as paying into a new ISA.
The Vanguard stocks and shares ISA is pretty cheap, but it’s limiting. You can only use it to invest in index funds and ETFs owned by Vanguard. You can’t invest in individual stocks and shares or pick funds from other companies.
It’s hard to compare because it depends on the timeframe you’re looking at. Also, different ready-made portfolios have different objectives. Some are lower risk, in an attempt to minimise any potential losses, but this usually means lower returns. The best returns usually come from taking on the most risk, which isn’t something everyone is comfortable with.
This is completely up to you. However, you only get a fixed allowance to use each year and it doesn’t roll over. Also, the ISA allowance isn’t guaranteed and could be lowered or removed completely if the government decides to in future years, which is why people say “use it or lose it”.
The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. A stocks and shares ISA may not be right for everyone and tax rules may change in the future. If you are unsure if an ISA is the right choice for you, please seek independent financial advice.
George is a deputy editor at Finder. He has previously written for The Motley Fool UK, Nasdaq, Freetrade, Investing in the Web, MoneyMagpie, Online Mortgage Advisor, Wealth, and Compare Forex Brokers. He's focused on making personal finance and investing engaging for everyone. To do this he draws from previous work and his Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA), sharing what he’s learnt. When he’s not geeking out about money, you’ll find him playing sports and staying active.
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