XTB vs Trading 212

Ever wondered who would come out on top in a battle between XTB vs Trading 212? Well, read on to find out how they compare for features, fees and much more.

Compare side by side Compare platforms
Overall winner Our verdict

Trading 212 and XTB are two of the cheapest trading platforms available to UK retail investors. So, it make sense to pit XTB vs Trading 212 against each other in a head-to-head battle.

Both Trading 212 and XTB offer a decent range of investments without having to pay a platform fee to use either brokerage. So, check out our breakdown of XTB vs Trading 212 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.

XTB vs Trading 212: At a glance

XTB logoTrading212 logo
Finder Score9.2Excellent10Excellent
Customer satisfaction survey★★★★★★★★★★
Fees score9.1Excellent9.8Excellent
Stocks and shares ISA available?
FSCS protected?
Go to site
More info
More info

XTB and Trading 212 are pretty close when it comes to their Finder score, with XTB scoring a solid 9.2 out of 10, and Trading 212 scoring an even more impressive out of 10.

Only Trading 212 offers stocks and shares ISA, but both come with full Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection of up to £85,000.

Trading 212 and XTB both received positive feedback in our most recent Finder Investing Customer Satisfaction Awards 2025 results.

Both platforms offer excellent value to UK investors, it’s free to open and hold an account with XTB and no commissions means it has an excellent fee score of 9.1 out of 10. However, Trading 212 is one of the best all-round performers for low fees and has a score of out of 10.

Round 1: Products

XTB logoTrading212 logo
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 risk. 73% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyCapital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Go to site
More info
More info

Both platforms offer a fairly limited selection of accounts, but Trading 212 has a free stocks and shares ISA (it also offers a cash ISA too).

XTB and Trading 212 also pay high interest on cash balances held in your investment accounts.

Winner: Trading 212

Round 2: Investment choice

XTB logoTrading212 logo
Investment choice score8.3Great9.8Excellent
Available markets 3+3+
Number of investments5,400+13,000+
Number of ETFs/funds1,3002,000
Fractional shares
Min. initial deposit£0£0
Keep in mindCapital at risk. 73% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyCapital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Go to site
More info
More info

XTB and Trading 212 offer a similar range of asset types, mostly focused around individual stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

However, Trading 212 has a much larger selection of investments to choose from with over 13,000+ available, compared to XTB, which has around 5,400+.

Winner: Trading 212

Round 3: Fees

XTB logoTrading212 logo
Fees score9.1Excellent9.8Excellent
Platform fees£0£0
Price per trade£0£0
Funds/ETFs£0
£0
Foreign exchange fee0.5%0.15%
Regular investingYes (ETF investment plans)
Yes (AutoInvest feature)
Withdrawal fee£5 fee if less than £50, otherwise £0£0
Deposit fee£0£0 (0.7% deposit fee for more than £2,000 on card, Google Pay or Apple Pay)
Inactivity fee€10£0
Keep in mindCapital at risk. 73% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyCapital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Go to site
More info
More info

Although XTB is pretty cheap, it’s FX fee of 0.5% is much higher than Trading 212’s 0.15%.

Also, although it’s free to hold an account with XTB and there’s no commission for trades, it has an inactivity fee to watch out for and there’s also a withdrawal fee of £5 if you want to take out less than £60.

With Trading 212, there’s no withdrawal fees, a low FX fee, no inactivity fees, no commissions, and it’s free to use a stocks and shares ISA wrapper – making Trading 212 hard to beat when it comes to fees.

Winner: Trading 212

Round 4: Ease of use

XTB logoTrading212 logo
Ease of use score9.6Excellent9.6Excellent
Apple iOS rating4.7/54.6/5
Google Play rating 4.5/53.9/5
Ways to contact customer servicePhone, email and in-app chatPhone, email and in-app chat
UI/UXGoodGood
Desktop or web access
Mobile app
Keep in mindCapital at risk. 73% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyCapital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Go to site
More info
More info

Both platforms are pretty hard to separate in this category, although Trading 212 is probably more approachable for beginners whereas XTB would be better suited to intermediate traders and investors.

XTB and Trading 212 both have positive reviews on the App Store and Google Play.

Winner: Tie

Round 5: Tools, resources and features

XTB logoTrading212 logo
Features score8.3Great10Excellent
Analysis features
Tools for investing/trading
Social features
Learning resources
Keep in mindCapital at risk. 73% of retail CFD accounts lose moneyCapital at risk. 78% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Go to site
More info
More info

XTB offers some useful trading and analysis tools but Trading 212 as a more well-rounded offering, it even includes social investing elements with its “pies” and its “communities” and news feed.

Winner: Trading 212

Overall winner: Is XTB better than Trading 212?

These are two of the best trading apps available in the UK and they’re also two of the cheapest options.

However, everything XTB does, Trading 212 does it slightly better and cheaper, so it’s Trading 212 that takes the crown in this showdown,

Winner: Trading 212

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 241 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Investing
  • Personal finance
  • Tax
  • Pensions
  • Mortgages

More guides on Finder

  • Trading 212 vs interactive investor (ii)

    Trading 212 and interactive investor (ii) are both investment platforms with a lot to offer. We compare their features, fees, account types and more – side by side in Trading 212 vs ii.

  • interactive investor (ii) vs Vanguard

    Vanguard and interactive investor (ii) are both investment platforms with a lot to offer. We compare their features, fees, account types and more – side by side in interactive investor (ii) vs Vanguard UK.

  • Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown (HL)

    Vanguard and Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) are both investment platforms with a lot to offer. We compare their fees, features, account types and more – side by side in Hargreaves Lansdown vs Vanguard UK.

  • 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.

  • AJ Bell vs Vanguard

    Vanguard and AJ Bell are both investment platforms with a lot to offer. We compare their features, fees, account types and more – side by side in AJ Bell vs Vanguard.

  • Vanguard vs Nutmeg: Fees, features, and more

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

  • Fidelity vs Vanguard UK

    Fidelity and Vanguard are both investment platforms with a lot to offer. We compare their features, fees, account types and more – side by side in Fidelity vs Vanguard UK.

  • AJ Bell vs Hargreaves Lansdown (HL)

    AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown are both investment platforms with a lot to offer. We compare their features, fees, account types and more – side by side in AJ Bell vs HL.

  • XTB Review 2025

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

  • Hargreaves Lansdown review

    Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK’s biggest and most comprehensive wealth manager, so it’s not the cheapest. We cover everything in this review.

Go to site