Best Online Trading Platforms UK 2021

Finding the best trading platform is important for any UK based trader. 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 different variables by importance to find the best broker. We spent hours researching different share dealing platforms in the United Kingdom to help you focus on making the best trading decisions.

Best online brokers in the United Kingdom

The top rated brokers in the UK for 2021 are:

1. Plus500– Our Top Pick Overall – Visit Plus500 “72% of retail CFD accounts lose money”
2. eToro – Best For Copy Trading – Visit eToro “67% of retail CFD accounts lose money”
3. AvaTrade – Visit Avatrade
4. Interactive Brokers – Best for Advanced Traders – Visit Interactive Brokers
5. XTB – Well Rounded Offering – Visit XTB
6. Swissquote – Best Specialized Services – Visit Swissquote
7. Pepperstone – Low Trading and Non-Trading Fees – Visit Pepperstone
8. IG – Easy to Use Trading Platform – Visit IG

Why should you read this guide?

Picking the right stock broker is an important step for any trader. All your trades will be conducted using their platform and services provided by this firm. If this will be your first time trading stocks you should understand what kind of services your broker will be providing and what you should expect after you sign up and deposit your money. Considering the large number of brokers available, 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 be able to choose the best suited for your needs.

Best Trading Apps UK

Most online brokers offer trading apps, enabling traders to trade on the go. This 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 – Great CFD trading app UK for 2021
4. Interactive Brokers App (IBKR Mobile)
5. XTB xStation trading app

4 – Interactive Brokers – Best for Advanced Traders

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Another great thing about Ineteractive Brokers, is that it is at the top, is their educational materials. They are 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. No deposit fees are charged by IB and the first withdrawal of each month is 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 78 stock exchanges and offers 13,000 different ETFs and 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 fees for share trading are 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 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 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.

PROS	CONS
Incredible portfolio covering basically all financial instruments and a wide range of financial markets	Opening an account with IB takes longer compared to other platforms
IB is regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FCA (UK)	Somewhat complex desktop share dealing platform
Great research tools available	Inactivity fee is quite high
$0 required to open an IBKR account.
No deposit fees are charged and the first withdrawal of the month is free.
Decent web platform and trading app
Great educational materials available for those seeking to learn more about online trading

5- XTB – Well Rounded Offering

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

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. XTB offers a portfolio comprised of 103 ETF CFDs and 42 stock index CFDs.

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

Fees

The fees are estimated as the average spread cost associated with each CFD transaction.

In this context, XTB fees are on the low end compared to the industry average. They are charging an average spread of 0.6 for S&P500 CFDs and 2.2 for Europe 50 CFDs.

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

PROS	CONS
XTB offers a wide range of stock, stock index, and ETF CFDs	Real shares cannot be traded
Only $250 are required to open an XTB account
There are two types of accounts that offer different fee structures
Opening an account is very easy and can be done online
Withdrawals are free and no deposit fees are charged
User-friendly and easy to use interfaces
Research tools offered by the xStation 5 platform are decent and include a great news flow, trading ideas, and 35 technical indicators

6 – Swissquote – Best Specialized Services

Open Free Account

What can you trade?

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

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

Fees

Trades with Swissquote are 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 not trying to save a bit 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. 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 starting at 0.50%.

PROS	CONS
Incredible portfolio covering more than 60 stock exchanges around the world	High stock and ETF fees
No inactivity platform fee	Credit/debit card withdrawal is not available
This platform is backed by a bank and it is regulated by various tier-1 jurisdictions	Charges a $10 fee per withdrawal
No minimum deposit required
No deposit fees are charged
Many base currency accounts available
Decent research tools with room for improvement
Wide range of available educational videos
Great user-friendly platform and mobile app

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

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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 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 fees and spreads.

Fees charged by Pepperstone are on the lower end. This is 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 an important competitive advantage of Pepperstone. The fees may be lower for high-volume day traders who sign up for their Razor account.

PROS	CONS
Pepperstone is regulated by two tier-1 agencies – the FCA (UK) and the ASIC (Australia)	Shares can only be traded via CFDs
Low fees	Offers a limited number of stocks and shares to trade
No withdrawal and no deposit fees	Limited research tools
No minimum deposit is required	The platform is a bit outdated and it is hard to navigate for beginners
No deposit fees are charged
Outstanding customer service
Easy account opening process
Great mobile app

8 – IG – Easy to Use Platform

$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 almost 2,000 ETFs.

Fees

Fees for stock CFDs with IG are higher than average, but stock index CFDs can be traded at a 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 did 2 trades the previous month and £3 if more than 3 trades were made.

For U.S. 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 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.

PROS	CONS
No withdrawal fees and no deposit fees charged	Phone support is reportedly lacking in quality
Great mobile trading app	No fundamental data is available for individual shares
Low fees to trade real shares and ETFs
A wide selection of stock CFDs and real stocks to trade
Research tools include trading ideas and high-quality news flow
An account can be opened with $0 if the payment method is a bank transfer

Other brokers to consider

• Hargreaves Lansdown – this Bristol based financial service company offers funds and share dealing accounts to retail investors. Hargrevaves Lansdown is listed on the LSE and is part of the FTSE 100 Index. The HL platform allows investors to hold multiple assets under a single account. UK investors have ISA, SIPP, fund and share dealing accounts available through one interface.
• Saxo Markets – this Danish 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 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 broker 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. In the past 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 are strict. This is why individuals buy shares via a share dealing account.

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

Picking the right share trading account is important for trading in the UK. Depending on which one you choose, there are many variables that come into play. Look for the following:

• 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. Some 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 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 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 online trading industry. Any broker that earns a fee should be able to provide a decent app for traders to be able to trade 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 broker is safe?

There are various ways to evaluate this.

You should make sure the broker is regulated by a tier-1 financial jurisdiction such as the United States, Singapore, Australia, or the United Kingdom.

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

Certain online brokers are stock exchange listed companies, which adds more credibility to them as listed companies have to go through more intense regulatory scrutiny.

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. You will gain or lose from the price movements of the underlying assets.

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

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.

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

Best Brokers United Kingdom 2021

This is the list of the best brokers for stock trading in the UK for 2021:

Rank	Broker	Best For	Website
1	Plus500	Our Top Pick	Official Website
2	eToro	Copy Trading	Official Website
3	AvaTrade	Best for CFDs	Official Website
4	Interactive Brokers	Best for Advanced Traders	Official Website
5	XTB	Well Rounded Offering	Official Website
6	Swissquote	Best Specialized Services	Official Website
7	Pepperstone	Low Trading and Non-Trading Fees	Official Website
8	IG	Easy to Use Platform	Official Website

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.