Best Online Trading Platforms UK 2020

Finding the best trading platform is important for any UK based investor. Our analysis of the best share dealing accounts is based on a variety of factors. These include: fees, platform, regulation, safety, customer support to name a few. We analyzed variables by importance to find the best online broker.

We spent hours researching different share dealing platforms in the UK to help you focus on making the best trading decisions.

Best online brokers UK

Here are the best online brokers in the UK for 2020:

1. Avatrade – Best Trading Platform Overall
2. eToro – Best Social Trading Platform
3. Plus500 – Best For Experienced Traders
4. Interactive Brokers – Best for Advanced Traders
5. XTB – Well Rounded Offering
6. Swissquote – Best Specialized Services
7. Pepperstone – Low Trading and Non-Trading Fees
8. IG – Easy to Use Trading Platform

Why should you read this guide?

Picking the right stockbroker is an important step for any UK trader considering that all your trades will be conducted using their interface and services provided by this firm.

Additionally, if this will be your first time trading stocks you should probably understand what kind of services your broker will be providing and what you should expect after you sign up and deposit your money.

However, considering the large number of brokers available in the UK, the task of picking online share trading platforms may seem overwhelming. This is why you should consider reading this entire guide. At the end, you will have a broader perspective of what each of these brokers has to offer. You will then be able to choose the best suited for your needs.

Best Trading Platform Overall

AvaTrade is a CFD and forex broker with more than 10 years in business offering its financial instruments for more than 200,000 active customers around the world. The company is based in the British Virgin Islands. It is authorised and regulated by various tier-1 jurisdictions including the Central Bank of Ireland, the ASIC (Australia), and the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA).

Best For Copy Trading

eToro is a world leading copy trading broker. For UK clients they offer zero-commission trading for stocks and ETfs. This makes it a great option for traders in the UK, looking to invest in stocks of companies around the world.

Best for Experienced Traders

Plus500 Ltd is listed on the LSE (London Stock Exchange). The company is regulated and authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Plus500 is considered safe and reliable. You can only buy and sell shares via CFDs, which means you don’t hold the underlying asset.

Best For Advanced Traders

Interactive Brokers is among the best share dealing accounts for advanced day traders and it is among the biggest discount brokers in the industry. The company was founded more than 20 years ago and has gained a solid reputation in the investment community by providing a range of financial instruments for traders around the world.

Well Rounded Offering

XTB is one of the best UK CFD brokers and it is a publicly-traded company listed in the Warsaw Stock Exchange and regulated by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). This broker is best known for charging low share dealing fees for stock index CFDs and for requiring a low initial deposit of $250.

Best Specialized Services

Swissquote is backed by Swissquote Bank and headquartered in Switzerland. It is best suited for asset managers and high-net worth individuals. What sets them apart from their competitors is their VIP service for those who are willing to pay higher commissions.

Low Trading Fees

Pepperstone offers investors the possibility of trading CFDs with a limited selection of forex pairs, stocks, and cryptocurrencies at a lower cost compared to its peers.

Easy to Use Platform

IG is one of the biggest CFD brokers in the world and it is considered safe, due to a 50-year long history in the financial industry. IG is regulated by financial conduct authority – FCA (UK) along with other various top-tier regulators . Additionally, this company is a publicly-traded business listed in the LSE as IGG.

Best Trading Apps UK

Most online brokers offer trading apps, enabling UK traders to trade on the go. Here is a list of the best trading apps in the UK:

1. AvatradeGO – Best trading app UK
2. eToro – Best trading app for beginners in the UK and copy traders
3. Plus500 – Best CFD trading app UK for 2020
4. Interactive Brokers App (IBKR Mobile)
5. XTB xStation trading app

1 – AvaTrade – Best Trading Platform Overall

AVA Trade EU Ltd was founded in 2006 and provides CFD and forex trading services. The firm is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and their holding company is registered at the British Virgin Islands. AvaTrade is serving more than 200,000 active investors and executing approximately 2 million trade orders per month.

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AvaTrade offers the following financial markets:

• Stocks
• Commodities
• Forex
• Bonds
• Cryptocurrencies
• Stock Indexes

AvaTrade features a straightforward account opening process and the possibility to use third-party stock trading platforms such as Metatrader 4. There are no deposit or withdrawal fees. Bank account transfers and credit card deposits are available. It is possible to open a demo account and test the platform.

What can you trade?

There are a variety of financial assets available through CFDs.

The portfolio of CFDs available on AvaTrade include:

• 56 Currency Pairs
• 17 Cryptocurrencies
• 630 individual stock CFDs.
• 20 stock index CFDs.
• 2 Bonds CFDs.
• 5 ETF CFDs.
• 17 Commodity CFDs.

Fees

Avatrade lowered their fees in November 2019, making it one of the most competitive online trading platforms. The inactivity fee is charged if the user doesn’t log into the share trading platforms account for 3 months ($50 per quarter).

2 – eToro – Best Social Trading Platform

eToro is a world leading social trading broker that offers zero-commission trades for stock and ETFs for clients in the UK, which makes it a great choice for UK residents seeking to invest in a wide range of markets.

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Additionally, this online broker has a very user-friendly trading central. This makes eToro attractive for beginners who may not be used to more complex trading central environments such as those featured by Metatrader or other advanced trading platforms. eToro offers a demo account or practice account. Demo accounts are a great way for any trader to try out the platform before investing.

The social-media like environment provided by eToro’s interface allows traders within the web trader platform to connect with each other to exchange ideas, experiences, and even copy their portfolios by using a tool known as Copy Trader.

What can you trade?

eToro allows traders to buy shares and sell shares of thousands of companies around the world listed in 17 different exchanges including the New York Exchange, the London Exchange, and the Frankfurt Exchange.

Additionally, eToro offers the following markets:

• 173 exchange-traded funds
• Currencies
• Commodities
• Indices
• Cryptocurrencies

Fees

eToro charges no stock fees or commissions for trading shares and ETFs. However, other fees may apply including inactivity fees and overnight fees. No management fees or ticketing fees are charged.

Stocks and shares can be traded directly or they can also be traded via CFDs. eToro’s fees for CFDs are relatively low compared to other share dealing accounts.

3 – Plus500 – Best For Experienced Traders

Plus500 is a publicly-traded company listed in the London Stock Exchange and regulated by the FCA, which makes it one of the best brokers if you want to start trading in the UK.

Plus500 only allows traders to buy shares and sell shares via CFDs, which means you will not hold the underlying shares if you trade with this broker.

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76.4% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

One of the advantages of trading by using CFDs is that you can leverage your positions to boost your returns, even though that carries significant risk.

In this regard, Plus500 allows traders in the UK to apply for a Pro Account if they want to access higher levels of leverage, which are otherwise inaccessible for retail accounts.

What can you trade?

Plus500 offers CFDs on over 2000 financial instruments including:

• Shares
• Forex
• Commodities
• Options
• Indices
• Cryptocurrencies
• ETFs

Fees

Plus500 doesn’t charge commissions or fees as they benefit from the spread in the price of the underlying asset. This spread varies from one instrument to the other, which makes it difficult to calculate the actual cost of online trading with this trading platform.

The average spread for the S&P500 is 0.45 while the spread for the Europe 50 index is 1.

Additionally, overnight fees apply if the stock or ETF CFD is held for longer than a day.

4 – Interactive Brokers – Best for Advanced Traders

Interactive Brokers Trading fees charged for shares and ETFs are lower than average and this company offers a neat web platform and mobile app for its users. Additionally, IBKR doesn’t require a minimum deposit to open an IB account, even though a minimum of $2,000 is required to trade on margin.

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Another great thing about IB is that it is at the top when it comes to educational materials, offering investors the opportunity to learn from a wide range of tools including webinars, an in-house academy, and a series of short videos that cover various topics about online trading.

Finally, no deposit fees are charged by IB and the first withdrawal of each month is entirely free.

What can you trade?

Interactive Brokers provides investors with access to 140 exchanges around the world, making it the biggest investment options for stocks in the industry.

Interactive Brokers covers no less than 78 stock exchanges and offers 13,000 different ETFs and even allow retail investors to pour their money into the stock market through fractional shares, which entitles the investor to a portion of a stock in a business that has a high share price.

Fees

IB’s trading fees for share trading is fairly low compared to its competitors as this brokerage firm charges $0.005 per US-listed share with a $1 minimum and a maximum platform fee of 1% of the value of the trade.

On the other hand, IB offers two types of plans for stock traders. The fixed-rate plan charges a flat fee share trades while the tiered plan adjusts the fees depending on the monthly volume of trades. A high volume usually entitles the trader to a lower fee.

It is important to note that the cost of trading shares in other markets around the world is also lower compared to other brokerage firms, but higher than IB’s fees for US-listed stocks. In general, it ranges from 0.1% to 0.2% for trading shares in a minor stock market.

5- XTB – Well Rounded Offering

XTB is one of UK’s best CFD broker and it is a publicly-traded company listed in the Warsaw Stock Exchange and regulated by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). This CFD online broker is best known for charging low online trading fees for stock index CFDs and for requiring a low initial deposit of $250.

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Unfortunately, even though XTB allows certain European clients to trade real stocks and ETFs, UK residents are not among those permitted.

However, the wide selection of stock CFDs provided by XTB should make up for such a disadvantage.

What can you trade?

XTB offers 1,700 different stock CFDs that cover a wide range of international markets. Additionally, XTB also offers a portfolio comprised of 103 ETF CFDs and 42 stock index CFDs.

Moreover, for countries that are allowed to, this brokerage firm offers access to 17 different stock markets and 170 real ETFs.

Fees

Since UK residents can only trade shares via CFDs with this provider, the fees are estimated as the average spread cost associated with each CFD transaction.

In this context, XTB is on the low end compared to the industry average when it comes to costs, charging an average spread of 0.6 for S&P500 CFDs and 2.2 for Europe 50 CFDs.

Additionally, XTB offers two types of accounts – Standard and Pro – designed with different cost structures.

6 – Swissquote – Best Specialized Services

This platform provides a wide range of services aside from stock trading and it is mostly targeted to asset managers and high net-worth clients in the UK. Swissquote considers itself a “global trading platform” as it serves countries in all continents of the world and it is one of the best choices for sophisticated investors who are willing to pay above-market fees to buy shares online in order to enjoy the VIP service offered by this platform.

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What can you trade?

Swissquote offers stock trades from 60 exchanges around the world, which puts it at the top of the list in terms of portfolio variety.

Additionally, Swissquote offers 1,500 different ETFs from different countries and exchanges and it even allows investors to trade penny stocks listed in the US stock market.

Fees

Stock trades with Swissquote are significantly more expensive compared to other platforms available in the UK. The reason for that is that this share dealing platform caters to sophisticated investors who are seeking high-quality service rather than saving money on transaction costs.

The volume of each trade affects the ultimate amount paid in fees which makes it difficult to determine a referential fee per trade. However, the range goes from $9 for trades valued at $500 or less to $190 for trades valued at $50,000 or less for major markets.

For minor markets or less liquid markets, Swissquote charges a commission fee per stock trades starting at 0.50%.

7 – Pepperstone – Fairly Low Trading and Non-Trading Fees

Pepperstone was launched in 2010 and it is overseen by both the UK and Australia’s financial regulators.

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What can you trade?

Investors can only trade shares with Pepperstone via CFDs, which is a bit inconvenient if you are looking to own the shares directly to earn a fixed income through dividend payments.

This online brokerage firm only offers 60 stock CFDs and 14 stock index CFDs.

Fees

Pepperstone stock trading fees are harder to estimate as CFDs generate different types of commissions per trade such as overnight trading fees and spreads.

However, fees charged by Pepperstone are on the lower end. This is especially useful for day trading. Compared to the industry average, the trading fee for a $2,000 long position on the S&P 500 index held by a week may generate a $2 platform fee. The same position for the Europe 50 index may generate a $1.6 fee.

This is for sure the most important competitive advantage for Pepperstone. The fees may be even lower for high-volume day traders who sign up for their Razor account.

8 – IG – Easy to Use Platform

UK residents have the possibility of trading real shares online with IG, along with many other of its products including CFDs, Forex pairs, and options. Additionally, IG’s interface is very easy to use for amateur traders and it features a decent amount of research tools and educational materials including platform tutorial videos, webinars, and educational videos.

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Finally, only $300 are required to open an IG account if the deposit is made via credit, debit card, or PayPal, while a $0 minimum is required if the payment method is a bank account transfer.

What can you trade?

IG’s portfolio of CFDs is comprised of 68 stock indexes, 10,500 stocks, and 1,900 ETFs, while UK residents can buy or sell shares from 8 different stock markets and nearly 2,000 ETFs.

Fees

Fees for stock CFDs with IG are higher than average, but stock index CFDs can be traded at a relatively low cost.

On the other hand, the minimum fee for share trades varies depending on the volume of trades per month. They start at £8 per trade if the trader only did 2 trades the previous month and £3 if more than 3 trades were made.

Additionally, for US-listed shares, the cost of trading is $0.02 per share with manual currency conversion and free if the trader did more than three trades the month before with instant currency conversion.

For shares listed in other stock exchanges around the world, the cost per trade is usually 0.10% of the value of the trade.

For ETFs, the cost varies from 0.17% to 0.19% of the value of the trade.

Other brokers to consider

• Hargreaves Lansdown – this Bristol based financial service company offers funds and share dealing accounts to retail investors in the UK. Hargrevaves Lansdown is listed on the LSE and is part of the FTSE 100 Index. The HL trading platform allows investors to hold multiple assets under a single account. UK investors have ISA, SIPP, fund and share dealing accounts available through one broker.
• Saxo Markets – this Dansih investment bank offers their online trading services through Saxo Markets UK Ltd based in London. Saxo Markets was founded in 1992 and offers online brokerage services to clients in 180 countries across the globe. Saxo Markets offer their trading platform on a white-label basis to over 100 financial institutions. Saxo Markets is well-known in the industry and has received multiple awards.
• Interactive Investor – based in the UK, part of Interactive Investor Limited, this online investment service provides financial information and is the largest flat-fee trading platform in the UK. Interactive investor serves more than one million users.

What is Share Dealing?

Share dealing allows you to invest in stocks of a company. The profit is made by selling at a higher price or via dividends.

Company shares are units of ownership in a company. Traditionally this was offered as a stock certificate (not common today). The price of shares rises if the company increases in value and vice-versa. Buying shares and stocks happens on the stock exchange. Regulations on which companies can list their company shares and who can buy and sell them are very strict. This is why individuals buy shares via a share dealing account.

What you should look for when picking a stock broker in the UK?

Picking the right share trading account is important for trading in the UK, no matter your experience.

Depending on which broker you choose, there are many variables that come into play. Look for the following when trying to find the best trading platforms:

• Available stocks – each company has a specific list of stocks and shares that you are allowed to trade depending on their coverage and the degree of access they provide to global exchanges. Additionally, some brokers do not offer the possibility to buy shares directly, as you can only trade them via CFDs, which are financial contracts that do not entitle the holder to any kind of ownership of the underlying shares.
• Margin accounts and leverage – a margin account allows you to take on debt to trade UK shares online and the level of leverage may be different, so you should make sure the brokerage firm you chose offers you leverage ratios you are looking for.
• Customer support – customer support is something you don’t think you need until you run into an issue. For that reason, best rated stock trading platforms offer top-notch customer service to address any issue investors may face during their journey.
• Types of orders – having various types of trade orders available is a positive feature. It allows you to prevent losses and lock in profits by using certain price points at which you can exit a given position. These orders can include: stop loss order, limit order, market orders, stop-limit order, AON orders, IOC orders, take profit and others.
• Security – your money and your personal information should be safe from unauthorized accesses. You should make sure the company has a positive track record in this particular topic.
• Research tools – you may not have the best trading idea every single day and that’s when research tools are useful. Your broker should offer certain technical analysis tools. Best platforms offer market news, real time data and real time alerts.
• Education & training materials – the availability of educational material from your online brokerage firm can be a great asset to help you in improving your skills and ultimately the profitability of your trades.
• Costs – each brokerage firm has its own platform fees and commission structure and you should understand how much you will be paying every time you buy shares and stocks.
• Interface and ease of use –traders spend a lot of time in front of the computer screen analyzing charts and looking at different kinds of information before making trades. For that reason, a user-friendly interface is an important feature your broker should be able to offer to trade stocks online. The
• Mobile app – smartphones have revolutionized the world and the online trading industry as well. Any broker that earns a fee should be able to provide a decent mobile app for traders to be able to buy and sell shares online on the go.
• Extra features – each online stock broker has its own way to present itself to traders as the ‘best’. They often do this by introducing some convenient features their competitors do not offer.

How do you know if a stock broker in the UK is safe?

There are various ways to evaluate the safeness of online brokers in the UK.

First of all, you should make sure the stock trading broker is regulated by a tier-1 financial jurisdiction such as the United States, Singapore, Australia, or the United Kingdom.

Additionally, it would be a plus if brokerage is registered and licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is the UK’s financial regulatory body.

You can also review an online broker’s credibility by checking how other traders have reviewed their services.

Finally, certain online stock brokers in the UK are publicly-traded companies, which adds more credibility to them as listed companies have to go through more intense regulatory scrutiny.

However, you should understand that by stock trading your capital is at risk as you can lose your entire balance as a result of unfavorable outcomes from your trades. Losing money by trading stocks is not something your broker can or is obligated to prevent.

Understanding the Risks of Trading with CFDs

Many of the brokers listed in the following review offer the possibility to trade shares via Contracts for Difference (CFD). This means you will not hold the actual share. Instead you will benefit or lose from the price movements of the underlying stock.

CFDs are highly risky financial instruments that are primarily designed for active traders – i.e. day traders – due to the costs associated with holding them for longer than a single day.

Additionally, CFDs do not entitle the holder to receive dividends from the underlying shares, which is a disadvantage of these instruments if you are expecting to buy shares to earn a fixed income from them.

Most of the stock brokers in this list also state that a large percentage of investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and you should be aware of this before you start online trading by using these risky financial instruments.

Best Stock Broker UK 2020

This is the list of the best online brokers for stock trading in the UK for 2020: