Fidelity vs Vanguard UK

Ever wondered who would come out on top in a UK battle between Fidelity vs Vanguard? Well, read on to find out how they compare for features, fees and much more.

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Fidelity and Vanguard are two of the most well-established investing providers available to UK retail investors. They’re fairly comparable some ways but quite different in others in terms of what they offer and their target audience. But, who comes out victorious when its Fidelity vs Vanguard UK?

Both Fidelity and Vanguard offer a decent range of account options, including a stocks and shares ISA and a self-invested personal pension (SIPP). However, they’re very different when you look at the fees and choice of investments. So, check out our breakdown of Fidelity vs Vanguard and hopefully this will help you pick who’s best, depending on what’s most important to you – whether that’s fees, investment choice, account types or anything else.

Fidelity vs Vanguard: At a glance

Fidelity Investment AccountVanguard
Finder score★★★★★★★★★★
Customer satisfaction survey★★★★★★★★★★
Fees score★★★★★★★★★★
Stocks and shares ISA available?
FSCS protected?
More InfoMore Info

Fidelity and Vanguard are pretty neck and neck when it comes to their Finder score, with Fidelity scoring a solid 4 out of 5, and Vanguard scoring a slightly higher 4.3 out of 5.

Both platforms offer stocks and shares ISA, and both come with full Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection of up to £85,000.

Fidelity and Vanguard are also both pretty even when it comes to their most recent Finder Investing Customer Satisfaction Awards 2024 results.

However, where the platforms go different ways is with the fees score. Fidelity has a 2.4 score for fees vs Vanguard’s 4.7 fees score (both out of 5).

Round 1: Products

Fidelity Investment AccountVanguard
General investment account
Stocks and shares ISA
Lifetime ISA (LISA)
Pension (SIPP)
Junior ISA (JISA)/Junior SIPP (JSIPP)
Interest on cash balances
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
More InfoMore Info

Both Fidelity and Vanguard tick most boxes when it comes to account types available on each platform. The only account each provider is lacking is a lifetime ISA (LISA).

So, in this category it’s hard to separate Fidelity vs Vanguard.

Winner: Tie

Round 2: Investment choice

Fidelity Investment AccountVanguard
Investment choice score★★★★★★★★★★
Available markets 25+
4+
Number of investments10,00085+
Number of ETFs/funds2,50085
Fractional shares
Min. initial deposit£1,000 (or £25/month)£500 lump sum (or £100/month)
Min. investment£0 (at least one share)£100
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
More InfoMore Info

This category is an easy win for Fidelity.

Fidelity offers a wide range of over 10,000 investments covering a massive choice of markets and assets. The only downsides with Fidelity are that it doesn’t offer fractional investments and the minimum initial lump sum is very high (but you can set up a monthly investment from just £25 which is more affordable).

Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks with Vanguard is that you can only invest in index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), on top of this, you’re also limited to Vanguard’s own funds. So there’s roughly about 85 options and that’s it.

Winner: Fidelity

Round 3: Fees

Fidelity Investment AccountVanguard
Fees score★★★★★★★★★★
Platform fees0.35%0.15%
US shares£7.5£0
UK shares£7.5£0
International shares£7.50
N/A
Funds/ETFs£7.50
£0
Foreign exchange fee0.75%0%
Regular investingYes (£1.50 commission for regular savings plan)
Yes
Withdrawal fee£0£0
Deposit fee£0£0
Inactivity fee£0£0
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
More InfoMore Info

This is an easy win for Vanguard. If you look at Vanguard’s fees vs Fidelity’s, there’s no comparison (and this is reflected in the overall Finder fee score).

Vanguard’s platform fee is extremely cheap at 0.15% (less than half of what Fidelity charges). Fidelity also charges £7.50 each time you want to buy or sell an ETF or fund, whereas this is free with Vanguard.

Winner: Vanguard

Round 4: Ease of use

Fidelity Investment AccountVanguard
Ease of use score★★★★★★★★★★
Apple iOS rating4.8/54.4/5
Google Play rating 4.2/53.7/5
Ways to contact customer servicePhone and online messagingSecure message, email, phone, chatbot
UI/UXBadGood
Desktop or web access
Mobile app
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
More InfoMore Info

On paper, Fidelity and Vanguard are fairly similar when it comes to ease of use.

However, from personal experience using both platforms to invest, I can assure you Vanguard is much better. Fidelity can be quite confusing and not very clear whereas Vanguard is very straight up with everything.

Vanguard’s desktop and mobile app are pretty basic, but they’re functional. Fidelity is quite muddled and hard to make sense of as an investor.

Winner: Vanguard

Round 5: Tools, resources and features

Fidelity Investment AccountVanguard
Tools, resources and features★★★★★★★★★★
Analysis features
Tools for investing/trading
Social features
Learning resources
Additional features
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
More InfoMore Info

Fidelity and Vanguard offer quite similar tools, but Fidelity has a bit more to help investors research and dig into investments.

Both are lacking any sort of social features and Vanguard has no tools for investing or trading (because you can’t trade most assets or investments with Vanguard).

Winner: Fidelity

Overall winner: Is Fidelity better than Vanguard?

Although Fidelity offers more tools and investments, Vanguard is much cheaper when it comes to fees and it’s also a much better platform to use and interact with.

So, in the battle of Fidelity vs Vanguard, it’s Vanguard that takes the crown.

Winner: Vanguard

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 Sweeney, DipFA's headshot
Deputy editor

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. See full bio

George's expertise
George has written 189 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Investing
  • Personal finance
  • Tax
  • Pensions
  • Mortgages

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