Fees suck. Unfortunately they’re not completely avoidable when it comes to share trading… BUT, there’s plenty of good trading apps out there that have done away with most of the fees. What a time to be alive! In this guide, we cover 4 great apps offering unlimited commission-free trades and not charging a regular account fee or “custody” fee.
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. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
These apps are good options for first-timers getting their heads around how trading works. But don’t forget: it’s perfectly possible to lose money investing, without fees being the problem.
As it happens, (*blushes*) Freetrade was my first. Freetrade really started the whole wave of new, low-cost, app-first trading platforms. It attracted a new generation of hobby traders with a super-easy UX that’s a pleasure to use. Trading’s never completely free though, no matter what an app calls itself.
Freetrade ticks plenty of beginner must-haves: it's cheap, easy to use, and doesn't have an overwhelming interface. But what makes it stand out is the app's simplicity. And while previously Freetrade held back most features for those on paid plans (which it still does to an extent), you can now access its full range of stocks and even get an ISA with the Basic plan.
Trading 212 was my second trading app, and I still use it today.
It does a good job of offering some more slightly advanced features but without feeling overwhelming. For example, I like the fact that I can set a target price which triggers a trade (i.e. buy x stocks if the prices goes below £y). But I was a bit miffed to discover that that money isn’t treated as “uninvested cash” (which can earn interest).
Trading 212 costs nothing to open and hold an account (including a stocks and shares ISA), and you can invest from £1 into any of the thousands of investments on the platform. The Trading 212 app is nice and simple to use but there are also cool features like the 'pies' where you can copy portfolios created by other investors or create your own. If you're just looking to get started with small investments, you'll probably like what the platform has to offer. At 0.15% the currency-conversion fee is super-low too.
XTB’s not as well-known as Freetrade and Trading212, but it’s been offering quite a similar service and poaching customers with some very punchy introductory offers. It’s got a bit of a human touch too (expect a welcome phone call when you sign-up, where your dedicated account handler – oooh – will introduce themselves).
Like the other apps here, XTB offers commission-free trades and doesn't charge a regular account fee or custody fee. It's another well-designed app. There might not be masses to set it apart from others, but that's good company to be in! And when it's running a strong welcome promotion, as it frequently does, XTB's likely to appeal.
eToro’s a bit more bullish, if the horns didn’t make that obvious. It offers commission-free trading and even a great virtual account where you can lose pretend money to your heart’s content.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | $50 |
| Platform fees | £0 |
eToro's popular CopyTrader feature that lets you copy the moves of other more experienced traders. It's a feature that’s well designed and straightforward enough to get to grips with quickly. It’s free to open and hold an account with eToro and trades are commission-free. A key thing to take note of is that everything on eToro is denominated in USD and you do pay a foreign exchange (FX) fee of 0.75% each time you convert your pounds into dollars and vice versa.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | $50 |
| Platform fees | £0 |
No. Among the fees that are unavoidable – but nominal – are forex fees (when you buy a stock traded in a different currency) and stamp duty (a tax on shares in UK-incorporated companies).
In some cases, it’s “The Spotify Play”, AKA “The WhatsApp Play”, AKA “Get loads of customers first, and work out how to make money later (ideally after selling the business and making it somebody else’s problem)”.
In others, it’s because trading stocks for free is just the gateway drug that can lead to the hard stuff: “leveraged trading”. Leveraged trading makes these companies big bucks (because most of the traders lose some or all of theirs – literally). Don’t get into that until you really know what you’re doing (and then you’ll probably know not to get into it).
You might not get access to the full range of stocks or features.
Want to buy 1 Apple share today? No problem. Want to buy a fraction of a share, in a little-known Dutch start-up, when it hits the target price you’re looking for, and hold it in an ISA? Maybe not possible with a free platform.
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. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Find out all the details you need to know about IG’s new cashback offer.
Finder has partnered with Finimize to offer in-person tickets to its Modern Investor Summit on 3 December 2025.
Find out all the details you need to know about XTB’s new offer, where you can get a free (full) Rolls Royce share. This is a deal that’s going to fly off the shelves, so you need to act fast.
Find out about IG’s new £200 free stocks offer, including how to get it, whether you’re eligible, and if it makes sense for you.
The latest free-share, sign-up, refer-a-friend or cashback promo offers from popular trading app Freetrade.
See if you can make your money go further with free-share, cashback or refer-a-friend offers from Trading 212. Here’s what’s live right now.
Some trading apps and platforms now offer competitive interest rates on uninvested cash.
We’ve reviewed the best online trading apps in the UK and explained what they’re each best at, with pros and cons for each for different types of investors.
A junior stocks and shares ISA account (JISA) is a tax-efficient way to save for your child’s future, here are the best options and how to compare.