Freetrade review | App, pricing and features

Freetrade is a free trading platform that’s a popular choice for new investors who are looking for an attractive user interface and easy to use platform. Freetrade uses the “freemium” model – which means that it has features that are free for users, but more detail or additional features come at a cost. You can get free shares for referring friends.

Freetrade was a winner in the Finder Investing and Saving Innovation Awards 2022.

We’ve reviewed Freetrade’s features and fees and compiled some pros and cons of Freetrade.

Freetrade products

Stocks and shares ISA
Lifetime ISA (LISA)
Pension
Keep in mind	Capital at risk
	Go to site More Info

You can invest in 3 account types with Freetrade:

• Freetrade general investment account (GIA)
• Freetrade stocks and shares ISA
• Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

It also has a premium account, Freetrade Plus. This has additional benefits, but comes at an additional cost.

Freetrade general investment account

This is included with all of Freetrade’s plans — you can trade as much as you like commission-free.

People usually choose to go with the general investment account after they have used up their ISA allowance for the year, as you may need to pay capital gains tax on any profits you make. Capital gains tax is payable on gains over the allowance of £12,300 in each tax year.

If you haven’t paid into an ISA in the current financial year (which runs from April to April) then the ISA is a more cost effective option.

Freetrade ISA

The Freetrade stocks and shares ISA is a personal account where you can invest up to a certain amount in each tax year without paying tax on your profits. The allowance for the 2022/2023 tax year is £20,000. This means you can invest £20,000 in the available stocks and ETFs and never pay any tax on the profits you make.

You can open an ISA with the Freetrade app. It’s part of Freetrade Standard which costs £4.99 per month (£59.88 per year).

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 it’s tough to beat, especially if you’re looking to invest serious money over the long-term.

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

Compare stocks and shares ISAs

Freetrade self invested personal pension (SIPP)

Freetrade has made self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) available to Plus users. A SIPP is a type of personal pension, with added freedom of what you can invest in.

How much does the Freetrade SIPP cost?

The Freetrade SIPP is included in the Plus subscription, so it costs £9.99 per month (around £120 per year).

What features does the Freetrade SIPP have?

Here are some of the features of the Freetrade SIPP:

• Flat fee. Some SIPPs are charged as a percentage of what you invest – a flat fee can work out cheaper if you have a lot to invest.
• Fractional shares. You can buy fractions of shares – great for when even just one share of a company is expensive.
• Transfer in other pension pots. You can transfer in old pots to Freetrade.
• Tax relief. You can claim tax relief on up to £40,000 of contributions each year.

Your money is locked in until you turn 55.

Compare Freetrade accounts

Here’s a quick view of what each Freetrade account has on offer:

Compare share dealing accounts

What stocks can I trade on Freetrade?

Exchanges covered score	★★★★★
UK - London Stock Exchange
US - NASDAQ
US - New York Stock Exchange
Canada - Toronto Stock Exchange
Japan - Japan Exchange Group
Euronext
Germany - Deutsche Börse
Keep in mind	Capital at risk
	Go to site More Info

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 see Freetrade’s stock list on its website. The table lets you search for stocks and check which ones are tradeable with Freetrade Plus.

Freetrade fees

There are two types of fees you could encounter with Freetrade. These are well displayed on the website. The first type is basic trading costs – these include fees to buy shares, foreign exchange fees and any platform charges involved. As Freetrade works with a “freemium” model, there’s the opportunity to upgrade your account to get access to other types of product and additional shares, we’ve listed these above under “Compare Freetrade accounts”.

Freetrade customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction rating	★★★★★
Customer help in app
Customer help via email
Customer help over the phone
Community or forums
Keep in mind	Capital at risk
	Go to site More Info

Freetrade doesn’t offer financial advice or any financial guidance, so you would need to get this help externally if you need it. Its customer service is available over email and in-chat, but not over the phone.

Reviews for Freetrade are generally positive, and it came top in Finder’s 2021 Share Trading Customer Satisfaction survey, carried out in December 2020. In the 2022 survey, 79% of its customers said that they would recommend it to a friend.

Customers of Freetrade said that the app is easy to use and that Freetrade offers good customer service. One user said that it makes buying shares stress free.

Negative reviews mainly focused on the fee structure — customers found that it was expensive for the additional upgrades. Customers also advised that the app could be improved, but this didn’t stop many from saying they would recommend it.

On Trustpilot, Freetrade has 4.1 out of 5 stars and a rating of Great, based on more than 600 reviews.

The Freetrade app also has 4.6 out of 5 stars on Google Play, based on more than 2,000 reviews and 4.7 out of 5 stars in the App Store, based on over 5,000 reviews (updated 16 February 2022).

Freetrade review: What else do I need to know?

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.

With a slick interface and pink colour scheme, it’s aimed at new investors who are used to well-designed apps like Monzo and Starling and want to dip their toes into the choppy waters of investment. As you get more confident with investing, you might prefer to go with a provider more suited to intermediate or expert investors.

How to set 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 licence or passport)

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

Compare Freetrade plans

Freetrade has a couple of different options to upgrade your features and the stocks you can buy. These plans are called Freetrade Basic, Freetrade Standard and Freetrade Plus. There’s a monthly cost for Standard and Plus, but in exchange you get access to more stocks, tax-free wrappers, such as ISAs and pensions. Here’s the difference between the 3 Freetrade plans:

Freetrade features

Freetrade’s main features include:

• You can trade UK and US shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
• During stock market hours, all orders are instant. Outside of stock market hours, orders are executed at 10am the following day for UK stock and 3pm the following day for US stock, with no commission fee.
• You can start with as little as £2.
• The referral program can get you a free share when you refer a friend.

Freetrade analysis features

Freetrade has a range of ways that you can research and analyse investments, either to analyse the performance of shares that you already own or decide whether to invest at all.

Some features are exclusively for Plus members, but you can access many with its free account. Here’s what it has available:

• Market capitalisation. This is the market value of the company. It’s worked out by multiplying the share price by the number of shares outstanding.
• Dividend yield. This is the dividend per share that investors are entitled to. It’s relative to the share price and is calculated by dividing the total dividends by the number of shares outstanding.
• Price/earnings (P/E) ratio. This is a ratio to represent the stock price relative to its earnings per share (EPS). Earnings per share is the total profit after tax divided by the number of shares outstanding. P/E ratio is the stock price divided by the EPS.
• Beta. This is an indication of the market risk that the stock faces. It assesses how exposed a company is to factors that are impacting the whole market.
• Price-to-book (P/B) ratio. This assesses the stock price in relation to its “book value” per share (BVPS). Book value per share is common equity (assets minus liabilities) divided by shares outstanding.
• Price earnings to growth (PEG) ratio. This is the P/E ratio divided by the growth rate of earnings over 3 or 5 years. The growth rate is either average growth or compound annual growth (CAGR).
• Plus only: Analyst ratings. This shows how analysts rate individual shares (favourable, neutral and unfavourable), which it refreshes daily.

Freetrade Standard review

Freetrade standard is a brand-new addition from Freetrade that’s a middle ground between its free offering and its Plus subscription. It costs half of what you’d pay for Freetrade Plus at £4.99 and lets you invest into an ISA and gets you the full range of stocks, so it’s pretty good for investors that don’t want the additional features that Freetrade plus offers.

You also get 1% interest on cash held (up to £2,000). You don’t get priority customer service, access to the Freetrade web beta or stock collections with Freetrade Standard.

What’s included with Freetrade Standard?

Features of Freetrade Plus include:

• Stocks and shares ISA. You get access to the stocks and shares ISA with this account.
• 1% interest on cash. You can get a great interest rate on cash held in your account, up to £2,000 deposited per month.
• Access more stocks. Some stocks are exclusive to Freetrade Plus and Standard customers, so you get access to these too.
• More control. You get access to tools that give you more control over your investments, such as stop loss and limit orders.

Freetrade Plus review

Freetrade Plus is Freetrade’s premium account. It has additional features, including access to the stocks and shares ISA and self-invested personal pension.

How much does Freetrade Plus cost?

Freetrade Plus costs £9.99 per month which works out as just short of £120 per year. It includes the stocks and shares ISA and SIPP, so you don’t have to pay for both.

What’s included with Freetrade Plus?

Features of Freetrade Plus include:

• Stocks and shares ISA. You get access to the stocks and shares ISA with this account.
• Self-invested personal pension. You can invest for your retirement with the Plus account.
• 3% interest on cash. You can get a great interest rate on cash held in your account, up to £4,000 deposited per month.
• Access more stocks. Some stocks are exclusive to Freetrade Plus and Standard customers, so you get access to these too. There’s also exclusive stock collections, which are groups of stocks that have similar aims.
• More control. You get access to tools that give you more control over your investments, such as stop loss and limit orders.
• Priority customer service You’re prioritised when you need customer service.
• Stock fundamentals. Freetrade is releasing several tools to Plus customers to help with stock analysis, including company financials; forecasts for earnings per share and share price; and key ratios, such as price-to-book and price/earnings-to-growth. It’s already released analyst ratings, which shows how analysts rate individual shares (favourable, neutral and unfavourable), which it refreshes daily.

On top of this all, Freetrade creatively refers to you as a Plustomer. If that doesn’t sell it to you then I don’t know what will.

How do Freetrade’s analyst ratings work?

Freetrade has launched analyst ratings — these show how analysts feel towards stocks, between favourable, neutral and unfavourable. Analysts will constantly research certain stocks in order to determine a current view (a rating) on the company and its share price, stating whether it believes the stock is undervalued (likely to rise in price), overvalued (likely to decrease in price) or just right (like Goldilocks’ porridge).

There are a few different ways this might be presented. Some companies label stocks as “overweight”, “buy”, or “outperform” — these are all positive terms to use about stocks. In contrast, you may hear a stock labelled as “underweight”, sell” or “underperform”, which are all negative terms to use about stocks.

Freetrade’s new analyst ratings tell you how analysts feel about the future prospects of the company in relation to the current stock price.

Is Freetrade Plus worth it?

This really depends on what you want to invest in and how much you want to invest. If you’ve not got much to invest and are alright with not having access to some stocks, a free account or just the ISA is probably fine for you. If you think you can make the most out of all the perks of Freetrade Plus and have a decent amount to invest, then it could be worthwhile.

As boring as it seems, it’s often worthwhile to get out a calculator and work out the costs for exactly what you want to do.

Freetrade app review

Freetrade is mobile only – which means you can’t access your investments on a desktop device. It has a website, but this is generally for information about the platform. Plus members are currently able to beta test a desktop version, more on this below.

You can get insights about your investments through the app, with Freetrade aiming to give you tools to make well-informed investing choices.

There’s also features on the app to get some investment ideas through the “Discover” tab. Here, Freetrade has divided the stocks, shares and ETFs by popularity and sectors. It also has a list of the newest added stocks.

If you lose track of what you’ve been up to, you can see your activity on the “Activity” tab.

Freetrade desktop – currently in beta

Freetrade Plus members are currently able to test Freetrade desktop, which gets users additional insights and more detailed charts. We’ll add more details as we know it.

How to fund your Freetrade account

Once your account is set up you can use Apple Pay, 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 free shares

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, filled out the W-8BEN form and funded their account, you’ll both get a free share worth between £3 and £200. You can get up to 10 free shares each month.

Freetrade dishes out the free shares on Fridays.

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, filled out the W-8BEN form and funded their account with at least £50, you’ll both get a free share worth at least £10. You can get up to 10 free shares each month. Your friend will need to fund your account within 30 days of signing up.

Freetrade dishes out the free shares on Fridays.

Is Freetrade safe?

Yes. Freetrade is regulated and authorised by the FCA and covered by the FSCS, so up to £85,000 of your deposits are protected if 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. £5 for same day withdrawals
3. Fees for Freetrade Plus, the SIPP and the ISA.

Freetrade: Reddit’s review

Reddit users liked that the Freetrade app is easy to use and, of course, that it’s free to use. They share that it has great customer service, with really quick response rates with its in-app chat feature. The Freetrade team is known to give loads of information about what’s upcoming with the product.

Reddit users were frustrated with the limited list of investments available and that there aren’t any options or leveraged products, but on the whole, they like the app and look forward to what’s coming.

What is the Freetrade community?

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

Freetrade vs Trading 212

Finder rating	★★★★★	★★★★★
Customer satisfaction rating	★★★★★	★★★★★
Stocks and shares ISA available?
FSCS protected?
Costs rating	★★★★★	★★★★★
Keep in mind	Capital at risk	Capital at risk. 84% of retail CFD accounts lose money
	Go to site More Info	More Info

Another free trading option is Trading 212 — here’s how it compares to Freetrade on some key features.

We decided that these are both pretty good free-trading options. Trading 212 is more suitable for those with a bit more experience, as it’s a bit more complicated. We’ve compared both platforms in our Freetrade vs Trading 212 article.

Pros and cons of Freetrade

Our verdict: Is Freetrade any good?

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, which stops your portfolio from being slowly eroded over time.

By slashing costs, Freetrade undercuts traditional stockbrokers such as Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor and AJ Bell. A single trade with Freetrade costs £0. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95, interactive investor charges £7.99 and AJ Bell charges £9.95.

It’s really easy to open a Freetrade account, meaning that you’re quickly ready to go. The app is slick and satisfying to use. However, the graphs are more pretty than helpful, and the app is quite limited. Equally, the app only covers products from the UK and US, so it is a bit limiting. We did have a few problems with the app being laggy when loading money and getting the free referral share.

Get started by visiting Freetrade and opening an account. Still not sure? Compare other share trading platforms with our comparison table.

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.

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