Best stock trading apps & platforms for beginners 2025
We’ve tested and scored over 35 platforms to find the best trading apps. Our top picks are simple to use with low costs, all packed into an excellent app.
If you’re looking for the best trading apps, I’ve got you covered. Whether you’re a beginner making your first investments or someone who’s already got skin in the game, I’ve tried and tested over 35 UK investing platforms to bring you our picks of the best trading platforms.
2.5% interest in vaults Over 6,000 investments 0% commission for ETFs
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.
Finder’s best trading apps and platforms in the UK for 2025
We’ve selected platforms that let you invest smaller amounts and those with low fees. Plus, they must be easy to use, and simplify the investing process.
We’ve hand-tested all of these apps, putting ourselves in your shoes to make an investment. Some trading apps tick a lot of boxes when it comes to the numbers, but we think they’re just not well suited for beginners, so we’ve sifted these out. The platforms we’ve picked are those we’ve evaluated to be the best for certain beginner product features or categories. If we show a “Promoted” pick, it’s been chosen from among our commercial partners and is based on factors that include special features or offers and the commission we receive.
Keep in mind that these picks are suggestions and that the exchange that is best for you will depend on your individual needs. There are other products on the market not included in our picks.
Lightyear's sign up process is extremely straightforward, taking just a few minutes. The app itself is very simple to use with just 3 tabs - explore, accounts/portfolio, transactions.
There's no commission to invest in ETFs, it's free to open an account and hold a stocks and shares ISA, there's also a free cash ISA.
Depositing/withdrawing/converting money only takes two clicks, everything is easy to navigate and it presents all the investment metics and analyst info in an extremely simple way.
eToro is our top pick for beginner traders largely because of its free CopyTrader feature that lets you copy the moves of other more experienced traders. It's a feature that’s well designed and straightforward enough for beginners to use.
If you’re a beginner and looking to trade stocks, it might be worth piggy-backing off the knowledge of more experienced investors, and eToro lets you do this. As with all investing, success is not guaranteed. It’s free to open and hold an account with eToro and although it costs nothing to use CopyTrader, the minimum investment is slightly steep at $200.
A key thing to take note of is that everything on eToro is denominated in USD and you have to pay a foreign exchange (FX) fee of 0.75% each time you convert your pounds into dollars and vice versa (unless you deposit using a separate eToro Money app). There are plenty of other great features on the eToro platform and although it might not be the overall best for beginners, it’s extremely well designed for those who want to learn the ropes of trading.
XTB has quickly become a top choice for investors and traders thanks to its user-friendly app that makes stock trading accessible to everyone.
What really sets it apart, though, is its free stocks and shares ISA wrapper, giving investors a simple and cost-effective way to grow their portfolio tax-efficiently.
With no ISA platform fees eating into returns, investors can put more of their money to work, while still using fractional shares and enjoying the sleek design and powerful trading tools the platform is known for. It’s a standout feature that makes XTB one of the best stock trading apps for anyone looking to future proof their portfolio from day one.
IG Invest makes beginner investing effortless on its new app, without compromising on quality or features.
If you’re just getting started with trading and want an app that feels intuitive from the first tap, IG Invest is our top pick. The app combines a clean, beginner-friendly interface with simple but powerful features that help you learn and grow at your own pace.
With 0% commission on shares and ETFs and no platform fee if you make at least 3 trades per quarter, it can work out as an extremely cheap app for beginner traders. Everything is laid out clearly, whether you’re buying your first stock or would prefer a ready-made portfolio from BlackRock for instant diversification.
While IG's flagship platform is known for its professional-grade tools, the IG Invest app is tailored to beginners, making it an ideal trading app for learning the ropes and sticking to simple investing strategies
Pros
Great learning resources and a demo account
Massive choice of over 13,000 investments including ready-made portfolios
Commission-free investing
Over 5,000 UK and international ETFs
Cons
Heavy emphasis on trading
Choice of options, tools, and markets might overwhelm newbies
Quarterly platform fee of £24 if you make less than 3 trades per quarter
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 simplicity of its app.
Freetrade's 0% commission stock trading app does an excellent job of packing thousands of investments and features into a slick platform. There's no minimum deposit to open an account, and you can invest in fractional US shares from just £2.
Previously, Freetrade held back most features for paying subscribers (which it still does to an extent), but you can now access its full range of stocks and even use a free stocks and shares ISA wrapper with the Basic plan.
InvestEngine is our pick of the bunch when it comes to low-cost investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), one of the most popular types of beginner-friendly investments. If you haven’t heard about this type of investment yet, you can find out all about them in our ETFs for beginners guide.
InvestEngine has over 700 ETFs to choose from, which isn’t the largest library around, but the platform has much more to offer beginners than most. It’s free to open and hold an account (including a stocks and shares ISA or a SIPP), and you can buy pieces of ETFs from just £1. It also offers actionable insights and useful tools to keep beginners on track - like automated savings plans and one-click portfolio rebalancing.
Also, if picking your own ETF portfolio sounds a bit complicated to begin with, you can let InvestEngine create and manage an investment portfolio for you for a low 0.25% annual fee.
Trading 212 is our top pick for beginners looking to make smaller investments because it costs nothing to open and hold an account (including a stocks and shares ISA), and you can invest from just £1 into any of the thousands of investments on the platform.
The Trading 212 app is nice and simple to use and we think beginners won’t find it confusing to get to grips with. There are also cool features like the “pies” where you can copy portfolios created by other investors (or create your own if you’re feeling adventurous).
There are plenty of investments and features packed into Trading 212 and if you’re just looking to get started with small investments, we think you’ll like what the platform has to offer.
Although interactive investor (ii) is a pretty comprehensive platform, it has a lot to offer beginners, too. It’s our top pick for investment choice because no matter what strategy you follow as a beginner, you’ll likely find the investments you want with over 40,000 to choose from.
What makes it handy for beginners is the fact that the mobile app and desktop platform are really easy to use, there’s a wide range of investments to suit whatever style you want to start with, and it has loads of great tools like fund recommendations. There’s even a free Managed ISA (where ii’s experts manage your investments) to help you get your portfolio off the ground.
interactive investor’s flat fee structure isn’t the cheapest for smaller portfolios but it’s still decent value and helpful to know as a beginner exactly how much you’ll be paying each month in platform fees. Some other platforms use percentages which means the fee can vary month-to-month.
Pros
Flat monthly fee is good value for large portfolios
After bringing investing to the fingertips of beginners in the US, Robinhood is now available in the UK, and it’s our top pick for investing in stocks across the pond.
At the moment, the app is slightly limited in what it can offer UK investors, but it’s a great option if you’re looking to invest in US stocks. There’s no platform fee, no commissions, and no foreign exchange (FX) fee charged by Robinhood.
So, you can deposit and invest from as little as $1 in your favourite US stocks without worrying about a bunch of fees eating away at your portfolio. This isn’t a complete investing package for beginners, but it’s a useful place for those who want to try things out with a cheap, well-designed platform.
There are few universal elements that help make investment platforms stand out as a top option for beginners. Here are some key thing to look out for when looking for the best app:
Easy to use. First things first, a beginner-friendly app needs to be straightforward to use. This means it should be simple to sign up and open accounts, and the process of making investments should be as seamless as possible.
Low fees. Most beginners are going to start off with smaller investments, so it’s important that the platform fees and commissions (cost of buying or selling an investment) don’t take a big bite out of your portfolio before you even get started. Check out our guide on investment fees to find out more about the different types of costs you might come across.
Simple pricing. Unfortunately, some platforms are cheap, but you need a PhD to decipher all the fees. A beginner-friendly app should be both affordable and clear when it comes to fees and costs.
Beginner-friendly investments. You don’t want to jump into the deep end with complex “trading instruments”. As a beginner, you should be looking to use investments you can grasp, such as funds, ETFs and individual shares.
Learning materials. While you’re finding your feet, it can be helpful for platforms to provide learning resources or even a demo account, but you can often find this info elsewhere if you need.
How to pick a beginner-friendly platform
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help you find an app and get started investing:
Do you want an app with no platform fees? Some apps are free to download and use but there can be limitations compared to other options.
How much are you planning to invest? If it’s only a small amount to start with, you’ll want a platform that allows smaller investments, and ideally no commissions so the fees don’t erode your investments.
What do you want to invest in? Each platform will offer various types of investments. Think about what you’d like to invest in and find an app that offers what you want.
Are you looking to practise first? Some trading apps, such as eToro and Trading 212, let you use a demo account so you can learn how things work before investing with real money.
Beginner investor jargon buster
Here’s a quick overview of some key terms and phrases that you may have been scratching your head over:
Stocks and shares ISA. This is a type of investing account that’s exclusive to people in the UK. At the moment, you can put in up to £20,000 each tax year into this type of ISA (but this could change in future). It’s sometimes called a “tax wrapper” because the account itself works in the same way as a normal investing account but it’s wrapped with a layer of protection to prevent any UK taxes needing to be paid if you make profits from your portfolio.
Lifetime ISA (LISA). This is another category of ISA (individual savings account) where you can hold your savings as cash or invest them. The rules are slightly different, you need to be aged between 18 and 40 to open an account and you can only put in up to £4,000 each tax year. The main benefit is that the government will top up your deposits by 25%, so you could get an extra £1,000 every year. But, here’s the kicker – the money can only be used towards your first home or retirement. For anything else you pay a 25% penalty which would leave you with less money than you started with.
Exchange-traded fund (ETF). This is a type of investment that bundles together a bunch of investments (usually stocks) so that with one single purchase, you can own a whole basket of assets. This helps you spread your risk and stay diversified, it can also save you money in fees and commissions if you only have to make one trade (instead of multiple trades). But, it’s important to be aware you don’t get to pick the stock held in an ETF and they usually have a small ongoing fee that you’ll have to pay when holding the ETF.
Portfolio rebalancing. When you’re holding multiple investments in your portfolio, over time, you might find that things become slightly unbalanced and different to your original strategy because some investments will gain value and others might lose value. This means that occasionally you may need to even out how much you’re investing in each area with a tactic known as portfolio rebalancing.
What makes a trading app beginner friendly?
When analysing trading apps, our experts decide which type of investor each platform is suitable for: beginners, intermediate investors and expert investors. Beginner platforms won’t have riskier options like contracts for difference (CFDs) available, and it will have easy to read charts without too much detail.
In order to rank the beginner platforms, we use our Finder star ratings — high scoring platforms that are suitable for beginners make the shortlist of the best trading apps for beginners, with the top spot getting the title.
Frequently asked questions
This will depend on what you’re looking for as an investor. Each platform is designed with a target audience in mind, so it’s best to think about what type of investor you want to be and then you can find the best trading app to suit your style.
In most cases, yes. We only include apps and platforms on Finder that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s top tier regulator.
However, it’s worth keeping in mind that when investing, you could get out less than what you put into an investment. So always take plenty of time to research your investments and try to keep a long-term outlook.
At some stage, you might want to do this. But if you’re a beginner, try out one of the apps designed for investors like you first. You can always upgrade to a more sophisticated app once you learn more about trading and investing.
There’s usually no fee to close your account so there’s nothing to stop you from moving to another platform later.
This depends on the type of trading strategy you’re planning to use. We’ve used different categories to help you find the best trading platform, but key things to look out for are that it should be straightforward to use and make trades, and the fees and costs should be as low as possible.
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is probably the most popular trading platform software used by day traders, closely followed by MetaTrader 5 (MT5). However, if you use this day trading software, you need to link it up with a brokerage like IG or XTB. However, some trading platforms like Interactive Brokers (IBKR) are not compatible with MT4 or MT5.
If you’re looking for the best forex broker, you want to use a platform that allows fast trade executions, has a large range of currency pairs, and has low spreads for forex trading. Some of the best trading platforms that tick all these boxes include XTB, eToro, IG, Saxo and Interactive Brokers.
Yes! Some platforms will let you start trading or investing with as little as £1 or £2. For example, Freetrade you can invest in fractional shares from £2, or XTB lets you invest from just £10. With eToro you can invest from $10 (but you need $100 to open your account), and if you want to start trading ETFs you can open an account with InvestEngine from £100, but then you can invest with just £1 after that.
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.
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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