Freetrade review | App, pricing and features

What is Freetrade?

Freetrade is a trading and investment app that lets you buy individual UK and US stocks, and invest in a range of funds with a variety of ETFs. (What’s an ETF?).

With a slick interface and pink colour scheme, it’s aimed at millennials who are used to well-designed apps like Monzo and Starling and want to dip their toes into the choppy waters of investment.

Is Freetrade good?

Pretty good! If the name hadn’t given you a clue, Freetrade’s big selling point is the price.

By slashing costs, Freetrade undercuts traditional stockbrokers such as Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor and AJ Bell. A single trade with Freetrade costs £0 (this includes trades, which used to cost £1 up until Feb 28th). Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95, Interactive Investor charges £7.99 and AJ Bell charges £9.95.

This low-cost tactic is similar to Robinhood, the US zero-fee investment app, which has been around since 2013 and launched in the UK earlier this year.

Invest in shares with 0% commission on eToro

• 0% commission on stocks
• No markup, ticketing fees, management fees
• Fractional shares available
• Easy to use platform
• Your capital is at risk

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How the free trading works

With Freetrade you can, erm, trade for free.

Trading used to cost £1, but Freetrade scrapped this fee too.

Simply pick the stock of your choice and click trade to execute immediately.

Freetrade list prices in GBP (pounds) rather than the industry standard GBX (pence), which is weird for a second, but probably aimed at making it as user-friendly as possible.

Is Freetrade safe?

Yes. Freetrade is regulated and authorised by the FCA and covered by the FSCS, so you’ll be protected for up to £85,000 in the event the company goes bust.

Although as always when you invest, your capital is at risk.

How does Freetrade make money?

Freetrade makes money in three ways:

1. 0.45% FX fee for buying shares in other countries
2. £3 per month for its stocks and shares ISA
3. £5 for same day withdrawals

Freetrade also plans to launch a premium account called Freetrade Alpha which is coming soon.

The Freetrade ISA

Also known as a stocks and shares ISA, the Freetrade Investment ISA is a personal account where you can invest up to £20,000 each year in the available stocks and ETFs and then never pay tax on any profit you make.

You can start an ISA using the Freetrade app, and will then pay a £3 fee per month (£36 a year). With trades costing £0 or £1 (plus the FX costs on US trades), it’s a pretty cheap offering compared with Hargreaves Lansdown or other traditional brokers – all of which charge anywhere between £5 and £12 for a trade.

Again, it’s worth remembering Freetrade has a bit of a limited trading universe. It’s not ideal for those who want to hold a variety of things in an ISA (namely, funds and shares from different markets).

On cost though, it is tough to beat, especially if you’re looking to invest serious money over the long-term. Any profit you make in your ISA will not be subject to capital gains or income tax.

You can also transfer your existing ISA into your Freetrade account.

Compare stocks and shares ISAs

Downsides of Freetrade

Signing up, using the app and pressing “buy” is a breeze.

Everything after that point could use a bit of work.

A common criticism levelled at Freetrade is the pretty-but-not-that-helpful charts and graphs which are supposed to help you track the performance of your portfolio.

The charts aren’t actually labelled, and there’s not that much data here to help get a sense into how your stocks are performing. Freetrade have acknowledged the portfolio management side of the app needs improving.

Luckily – much like Monzo, Starling, Revolut and other big digital finance players – Freetrade makes regular updates to its app. You can see Freetrade’s roadmap on its website.

Setting up Freetrade

Setting up is super easy. You can download the Freetrade app on the App Store and Google Play.

Once you open the app, you’ll need to provide:

• Your name
• Your address
• Your National Insurance Number

Some of our team also had to provide additional info:

• Proof of address
• ID (driving license, but Passport seems to work better)

Once you’ve done that, you can then choose an account type.

Currently, you can only get a Freetrade Basic account, but the Freetrade Alpha account will be offered in future.

Funding your account

Once your account is set up you can use Apple/Google Pay or a bank transfer to fund it.

We did have a mixed bag when it came to depositing money in the app. For some it took about 10 minutes, while others waited for the top-up to come through for 6 or 7 hours.

That is one of our main criticisms of the platform, you can spend a lot of time in limbo wondering when your money will be topped up or when you’ll get your free share.

Freetrade referral and free share

After you buy your first share, you’ll be able to refer a friend. Send your lucky pal a link, and once they’ve signed up too, you’ll both get a free share up to £200 in value. Freetrade dish out the free shares on a Friday.

Freetrade fees and charges

What stocks can I trade on Freetrade?

Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Tesco… there’s over 500 UK and US stocks and ETFs on Freetrade, and it’s adding to this each week. You can search for stocks in the table below.

What is the Freetrade community?

The Freetrade community is a forum for all Freetraders to share investing tips, chat about other start ups, the economy and share their ideas on what can help make Freetrade better.

The verdict

Freetrade’s fees are the shining star here. Buying stocks and ETFs for free? Doesn’t get much better than that. No monthly fee or inactivity fee is also great, stopping your portfolio being slowly eroded over time. Opening the account is easy, and you’re quickly ready to go. The app is slick and satisfying to use.

But, the graphs are more pretty than helpful, and the app is quite limited. There are the caveats that come with free trading, as well as the additional costs for buying US shares. Equally, the app only covers products from the UK and US, so it is a bit limiting. Then we had a few problems with the app being laggy when loading money and getting the free referral share.

Overall, Freetrade is a great option if you’re a beginner not looking to invest too much. You can make the most of free trades so your investments aren’t eroded by fees, while having a decent play around and learning the basics.

Compare similar trading platforms

Table: sorted by promoted deals first

Updated April 4th, 2020

Sort by:

Name	Product	Price per trade	Frequent trader rate	Platform fees
Hargreaves Lansdown Fund & Share Account		£11.95	£5.95	Transfer out fee	Your capital is at risk.	Go to site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
IG		0% commission on US shares, and £3 on UK shares	From £5	£0 - £24 per quarter	Your capital is at risk.	Go to site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
eToro Free Stocks		0% commission, no markup, no ticket fee, no management fee	N/A	Withdrawal fee & GDP to USD deposit conversion	Your capital is at risk.	Go to site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Saxo Markets Share Dealing Account		£8	0.05% (min £5)	0.12% per year & transfer-out fee	Your capital is at risk.	Go to site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Capital is at risk.

Frequently asked questions

• How are dividends paid with Freetrade?

  Dividends are paid into your Freetrade account as cash. You’ll get an email, notification and an activity feed item when those are paid.

• Is there a Freetrade web app?

  Not yet. But this is the latest from the Freetrade team: “It shouldn’t be too difficult to do once we have more resources available. We already have all the necessary APIs for the mobile apps anyway.”

• Does Freetrade offer investment advice?

  No, Freetrade is not a financial advice service and does not provide investing advice. Investors are responsible for their own purchasing and trading decisions.

• Will I pay tax on my investment profit?

  Yes, you will likely need to pay tax on any gains you make from buying and selling shares, although this will depend on your personal tax rate. However, you can invest up to £20,000 per year in the investment ISA, which will not be subject to tax.

• How do I withdraw my money?

  You can withdraw your money using the app directly into your bank account. There is a £5 fee for same-day withdrawals.

• Can I get Freetrade on Android?

  Yes you can! Download Freetrade either on the App Store or get it on Google Play.

• What is an Investment ISA?

  Also known as a Stocks and Shares ISA, this is an account that lets you invest up to £20,000 per year in stocks. You do not need to pay tax on any profits you make in your ISA.

• What is an ETF?

  An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an investment fund that is traded on a stock exchange. It operates like a normal stock, but is actually a bundle of various assets such as bonds, stocks and commodities. We have a full guide to ETFs if you’re looking to take a nap.

• Who owns Freetrade?

  The company was founded by Adam Dodds and Davide Fioranelli in 2015.