Freetrade is a popular choice for investors looking to invest in an ISA with UK and US stocks. Other than the fact that it’s free, one of its main draws is its slick app that can be likened to new digital banks like Monzo.
Freetrade is commission free, but works on a “freemium” model — so you have to pay for additional features and stocks, including the ISA. If you’d rather not trade with Freetrade then we’ve found some alternatives.
 |  | |
| Finder Score | 9.1Excellent | 7.6Great |
| Customer satisfaction survey | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| FSCS protected? | ||
| Stocks and shares ISA available? | ||
| Price per trade | £0 | US: $3 |
| Foreign exchange fees | 0.99% | 0.5% |
| UK - London Stock Exchange (LSE) | ||
| US - New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | ||
| US - NASDAQ | ||
| App | ||
| Desktop or web access | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| Go to Site |
A similar provider to Freetrade is Stake — but only if you’re interested in trading US shares, as Stake doesn’t offer any additional stock exchanges. It offers funds, which Freetrade doesn’t have. Like Freetrade, Stake is commission free, so you’ll just pay a foreign exchange fee of 0.5%, a bit less than Freetrade’s foreign exchange fee.
Stake’s company financials and details are better than Freetrade’s.
You can read our full review of Stake if you’d like to find out more about it.
|  | |
| Finder Score | 9.1Excellent | 9Excellent |
| Customer satisfaction survey | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| FSCS protected? | ||
| Stocks and shares ISA available? | ||
| Price per trade | £0 | £0 |
| Foreign exchange fees | 0.99% | 0.75% |
| UK - London Stock Exchange (LSE) | ||
| US - New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | ||
| US - NASDAQ | ||
| App | ||
| Desktop or web access | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk. 61% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to Site | Go to Site |
eToro is another potential alternative to Freetrade. It’s got better charting tools than Freetrade and offers desktop trading and social trading. The platform isn’t quite as straightforward as Freetrade, so if you’re looking for something simple, this may not be the one for you.
You can’t invest in an ISA with eToro, so you’d potentially need to pay capital gains tax on profits over £3,000 in each tax year.
You can read our comprehensive review of eToro if you’d like to learn more.
|  | |
| Finder Score | 9.1Excellent | 10Excellent |
| Customer satisfaction survey | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| FSCS protected? | ||
| Stocks and shares ISA available? | ||
| Price per trade | £0 | £0 |
| Foreign exchange fees | 0.99% | 0.15% |
| UK - London Stock Exchange (LSE) | ||
| US - New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | ||
| US - NASDAQ | ||
| App | ||
| Desktop or web access | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk. 77% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
| Go to Site | Go to Site |
A very similar provider to Freetrade is Trading 212. It’s got a lot more stock exchanges available to invest in, including UK, US and most European shares, as well as Canadian stocks. It’s got much better charting features, company details and company financials compared with Freetrade.
Trading 212 also has a mobile app, but you’re able to access its trading platform in your browser, which is a huge benefit. If you want to try out the platform with a demo account, you can do this as well.
At the moment, the main drawback of Trading 212 is that it’s not taking on new users — you have to join its waitlist, which it says it’s working through.
If you’re willing to wait on its waitlist and want to find out more about Trading 212, you can read our full review.
Freetrade is a popular trading platform for beginners — it’s really user friendly, has plenty of stocks available and it’s commission free. There are plenty of Freetrade alternatives if you’re looking for something slightly different, whether you’d prefer a free ISA or better charting tools.
If you’re still searching for an investment app that suits you, you can compare trading platforms with our comparison table. This lets you choose factors that are important to you to help you narrow down the platforms.
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.
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The Freetrade app lets you buy and sell UK, US, and EU stocks with minimal fees. We look under the bonnet to find out whether there are any catches.