Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown (HL)

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

Overall winner Compare side by side
George Sweeney, DipFA's headshot

By

George Sweeney, DipFA

Updated

Fact checked

Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown: At a glance

Vanguard logoHargreaves Lansdown logo
Finder Score8.9Great8.7Great
Customer satisfaction survey★★★★★★★★★★
Stocks and shares ISA available?
Fees score9.3Excellent6.6Standard
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
Go to Site

Round 1: At a glance

Vanguard logoHargreaves Lansdown logo
Stocks and shares ISA
Lifetime ISA (LISA)
Interest on cash balances
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
Go to Site

Round 2: Investment choice

Vanguard logoHargreaves Lansdown logo
Investment choice score7.8Great9.1Excellent
Available markets 4+
4+
Tradeable assets85+11,000+
Number of ETFs/funds861,500
Fractional shares
Min. initial deposit£500 lump sum (or £100/month)£1
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
Go to Site

Round 3: Fees

Vanguard logoHargreaves Lansdown logo
Fees score9.3Excellent6.6Standard
Platform fees0.15% (£4/month min.)0.35%
Price per trade£0£6.95
Funds/ETFs£0£1.95 funds
£6.95 ETFs (frequent trader discounts apply)
Foreign exchange fee0%0.99%
Regular investingYes
Yes from £25/month (no commission)
£3.95 (20 or more trades in previous month)
Withdrawal fee£0£0
Deposit fee£0£0
Inactivity fee£0£0
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
Go to Site

Round 4: Ease of use

Vanguard logoHargreaves Lansdown logo
Ease of use score9.6Excellent10Excellent
Apple iOS rating4.4/54.7/5
Google Play rating 3.7/53.2/5
UI/UXGoodGood
Desktop or web access
Mobile app
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
Go to Site

Round 5: Tools, resources and features

Vanguard logoHargreaves Lansdown logo
Features score6.7Standard8.3Great
Analysis features
Social features
Learning resources
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
Go to Site

Overall winner: Is Vanguard better than Hargreaves Lansdown?

Vanguard is an excellent platform and it’s hard to beat for fees and value but it does have quite a lot of limitations.

Hargreaves Lansdown is a much more well-rounded investing platform with so much more being offered for slightly more in fees. Yes, HL’s fees are steep for share dealing but Vanguard doesn’t even offer investors the ability to buy or sell individual stocks and shares.

So if we’re judging Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown on what they offer investors as an apples to apples comparison, it’s only really the fees where Vanguard wins. In almost every other area, Hargreaves Lansdown just provides so much more and gives investors much more freedom.

Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown

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
Add to Preferred Sources

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 327 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Investing
  • Personal finance
  • Tax
  • Pensions
  • Mortgages
  • Cryptocurrency
More resources on Finder

More guides on Finder

  • IG 7% interest offer: Boost your uninvested cash

    Investing platform IG is offering a temporary 7% interest rate on uninvested cash to new UK clients.
  • Capital.com review 2026

    Capital.com offers CFD trading and spread betting with premium TradingView chart integrations, more tools than you can shake a stick at. Here’s what our expert thought when testing the platform.
  • InvestEngine vs Vanguard

    Vanguard and InvestEngine are both investment platforms with a lot to offer. We compare their features, fees, account types and more – side by side in InvestEngine vs Vanguard.
  • XTB Review 2026

    Find out about the features, fees, and much more in our expert review of the commission-free XTB trading platform.
  • Lightyear investing review 2026

    The Lightyear app is a cheap option for investing in stocks and ETFs with a free stocks and shares ISA. We provide an expert hands-on review to give you insights.

  • CMC Invest review

    CMC Invest is an app-based investing platform. Our review rounds up the pros and cons.
  • Trading 212 investing review 2026

    We review the features and costs of Trading 212, an investment platform designed to teach you about investing and lets you buy shares with zero fees.
  • eToro UK review 2026

    Online trading giant eToro lets you buy stocks with no commission, but is it the best option for traders and investors?
  • Freetrade investing review 2026: Is it the cheapest platform?

    The Freetrade app lets you buy and sell UK, US, and EU stocks with minimal fees. We look under the bonnet to find out just how free this investing platform actually is.
  • J.P. Morgan Personal Investing review (previously Nutmeg)

    J.P. Morgan Personal Investing is one of the UK’s most popular digital wealth management platforms. Our review looks at whether it’s any good, how it works, the fees, and our overall verdict.

Go to site