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Hargreaves Lansdown vs Trading 212
Find out what we thought when we compared two of the biggest share trading platforms in the UK.
Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212 both let you buy shares and exchange traded funds (ETFs) on various stock exchanges. Trading 212 is commission free, so you won’t pay commission when you buy or sell investments. Hargreaves Lansdown charges £11.95 commission per trade, however in exchange for this you’ll get additional tools, research and features. Find out what we thought when we compared Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212 on the investments offered, fees and features.
Hargreaves Lansdown vs Trading 212: Vital stats
 |  | |
| Finder score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Customer satisfaction survey | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Stocks and shares ISA available? | ||
| FSCS protected? | ||
| Costs score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to site More Info | More Info |
Both Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212 scored 5 stars out of 5 in our trading app analysis, which looked at more than 80 (and counting) features and fees of trading platforms. Hargreaves Lansdown is a winner in the Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards 2024.
One major benefit of both providers is that you can invest in an individual savings account (ISA), which means that you can invest up to £20,000 in the 2024/2025 without having to pay tax on your profits. Your allowance is reset each year.
As it’s commission free, Trading 212 scores better for fees compared with Hargreaves Lansdown.
Both providers are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which means that your deposits are protected by up to £85,000 if your platform were to go bust.
Round 1: Stock exchanges
| | |
| 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 | Capital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to site More Info | More Info |
You can trade on most of the main stock exchanges with both Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212. Essentially, you can virtually trade any stock that you can name, unless it’s on the Japan Exchange Group, as neither platform offers this.
- Winner: Tie
Round 2: Financial instruments
| | |
| Financial instruments score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Shares | ||
| ETFs | ||
| Bonds | ||
| Funds | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to site More Info | More Info |
With both Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212, you’re able to invest in company shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are collections of investments that are traded on stock exchanges. Hargreaves Lansdown also offers bonds and funds, which Trading 212 does not offer. This makes Hargreaves Lansdown a firm winner, however if you’re not interested in bonds or funds and you’d like to invest in fractional shares, Trading 212 may be better for you.
- Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
Round 3: Fees
| | |
| Costs score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Minimum deposit | £1 | £1 |
| Standard trading fee | £11.95 | £0 |
| Best trading fee | £5.95 | £0 |
| Foreign exchange fee | 1% | 0.15% |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to site More Info | More Info |
Trading 212 doesn’t charge any commission to buy or sell shares, but you’ll face a foreign exchange fee of 0.15%. Meanwhile, Hargreaves Lansdown charges a commission of £11.95 per trade, which can be reduced to £5.95 if you make regular trades. The foreign exchange fee is 1% with Hargreaves Lansdown, so Trading 212 works out cheaper on both counts.
What does this mean?
Say you wanted to buy 5 shares in a company with a share price of $25, which is about £20.39 in GBP.
Assuming you carry out the transaction in one trade, you’d pay £11.95 in commission with Hargreaves Lansdown, plus £1.02 in foreign exchange fees.
With Trading 212, you’d pay around 15p in foreign exchange fees.
Hargreaves Lansdown would cost approximately £12.97 and Trading 212 would cost approximately 15p.
- Winner: Trading 212
Round 4: Mobile and web features
| | |
| Features rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| iPhone app | ||
| Android app | ||
| Desktop/web app | ||
| Notifications | ||
| Watch lists | ||
| Community or forums | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to site More Info | More Info |
The main benefit of Trading 212 over Hargreaves Lansdown is that it has social features — there’s a community where you can ask other investors questions and you can share your “pies” (portfolios of stocks), which other users can copy. There aren’t any social features with Hargreaves Lansdown.
Both Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212 offer most of the features you’d expect from a share trading platform, including mobile apps and share price notifications. Both Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212 have desktop trading and great charting tools.
- Winner: Trading 212
Round 5: Learning resources
| | |
| Resources rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Guides | ||
| Videos and walkthroughs | ||
| Demo account | ||
| In-depth learning tools | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to site More Info | More Info |
The best way for beginner investors to learn about how to invest is using a provider’s learning resources. Both Hargreaves Lansdown and Trading 212 have excellent resources available, including demo accounts, guides and videos. Trading 212 has an excellent set of videos on its YouTube account that teach investors how to get started, and all about the different features available on the platform.
- Winner: Trading 212
Our verdict: Is Hargreaves Lansdown better than Trading 212?
While these platforms have a lot of the same features, stocks and tools available, Trading 212 comes out significantly cheaper per trade compared with Hargreaves Lansdown, which is a huge aspect of investing, so we’d say that Trading 212 is better than Hargreaves Lansdown. This is just a snapshot, as Hargreaves Lansdown is very comprehensive and has additional trading accounts available, but on the whole, we don’t think it’s worth the additional commission.
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