Making your first move into investing can be a small, comfortable step rather than a huge, daunting leap – with certain platforms. Ideally, you want somewhere that’s cheap, lets you invest with small amounts and has an app that’s designed with beginners in mind.
Some platforms are free to use and you can invest with just a few quid. So, we’ve sifted out all the expensive options and tried and tested all the major UK investment platforms to bring you our picks of the best trading apps for beginners.
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.
| Price per trade | ETFs: £0 UK: £1 US: 0.1% (min 1¢, max $1) EU: €1 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Platform fees | £0 |
Lightyear's sign up process is extremely straightforward, taking just a few minutes. The app itself is very simple to use with just 3 tabs - explore, accounts/portfolio, transactions.
There's no commission to invest in ETFs, it's free to open an account and hold a stocks and shares ISA, there's also a free cash ISA.
Depositing/withdrawing/converting money only takes two clicks, everything is easy to navigate and it presents all the investment metics and analyst info in an extremely simple way.
| Price per trade | ETFs: £0 UK: £1 US: 0.1% (min 1¢, max $1) EU: €1 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Platform fees | £0 |
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | $50 |
| Platform fees | £0 |
eToro is our top pick for beginner traders largely because of its free CopyTrader feature that lets you copy the moves of other more experienced traders. It's a feature that’s well designed and straightforward enough for beginners to use.
If you’re a beginner and looking to trade stocks, it might be worth piggy-backing off the knowledge of more experienced investors, and eToro lets you do this. As with all investing, success is not guaranteed. It’s free to open and hold an account with eToro and although it costs nothing to use CopyTrader, the minimum investment is slightly steep at $200.
A key thing to take note of is that everything on eToro is denominated in USD and you have to pay a foreign exchange (FX) fee of 0.75% each time you convert your pounds into dollars and vice versa (unless you deposit using a separate eToro Money app). There are plenty of other great features on the eToro platform and although it might not be the overall best for beginners, it’s extremely well designed for those who want to learn the ropes of trading.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | $50 |
| Platform fees | £0 |
IG Invest makes beginner investing effortless on its new app, without compromising on quality or features.
If you’re just getting started with trading and want an app that feels intuitive from the first tap, IG Invest is our top pick. The app combines a clean, beginner-friendly interface with simple but powerful features that help you learn and grow at your own pace.
With 0% commission on shares and ETFs and no platform fee if you make at least 3 trades per quarter, it can work out as an extremely cheap app for beginner traders. Everything is laid out clearly, whether you’re buying your first stock or would prefer a ready-made portfolio from BlackRock for instant diversification.
While IG's flagship platform is known for its professional-grade tools, the IG Invest app is tailored to beginners, making it an ideal trading app for learning the ropes and sticking to simple investing strategies
Trading 212 is our top pick for beginners looking to make smaller investments because it costs nothing to open and hold an account (including a stocks and shares ISA), and you can invest from just £1 into any of the thousands of investments on the platform.
The Trading 212 app is nice and simple to use and we think beginners won’t find it confusing to get to grips with. There are also cool features like the “pies” where you can copy portfolios created by other investors (or create your own if you’re feeling adventurous).
There are plenty of investments and features packed into Trading 212 and if you’re just looking to get started with small investments, we think you’ll like what the platform has to offer.
| Price per trade | £3.99 (free regular investing) |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Platform fees | From £4.99 a month |
Although interactive investor (ii) is a pretty comprehensive platform, it has a lot to offer beginners, too. It’s our top pick for investment choice because no matter what strategy you follow as a beginner, you’ll likely find the investments you want with over 40,000 to choose from.
What makes it handy for beginners is the fact that the mobile app and desktop platform are really easy to use, there’s a wide range of investments to suit whatever style you want to start with, and it has loads of great tools like fund recommendations. There’s even a free Managed ISA (where ii’s experts manage your investments) to help you get your portfolio off the ground.
interactive investor’s flat fee structure isn’t the cheapest for smaller portfolios but it’s still decent value and helpful to know as a beginner exactly how much you’ll be paying each month in platform fees. Some other platforms use percentages which means the fee can vary month-to-month.
| Price per trade | £3.99 (free regular investing) |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Platform fees | From £4.99 a month |
| Price per trade | 0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £1 |
| Platform fees | 0.45% + £1/month |
There’s no point jumping in the deep end if you’re just starting to invest, and Moneybox does an excellent job of catering to beginners by keeping things simple. However, its stand-out feature is the range of account options available.
Right from the get-go, beginner investors can make the most of tax-efficient accounts like a stocks and shares ISA, an investment lifetime ISA (LISA), or a pension. Moneybox also offers loads of other accounts like a cash ISA, a junior ISA, savings accounts, and more.
Being able to access these accounts in such a beginner-friendly format is really useful and puts investors on the best path to their goals straight away.
| Price per trade | 0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £1 |
| Platform fees | 0.45% + £1/month |
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £25/month or £100 lump sum |
| Platform fees | 0.15% |
Dodl ticks plenty of beginner must-haves: it’s cheap, easy to use, and doesn’t have an overwhelming choice of investments. But what makes it stand out is the app's simplicity.
You’re not going to find thousands of investments here, but you will find an easy-to-use app that has a limited number of quality assets to suit most beginners.
Even though the investment choice with Dodl is simplified and streamlined, you can still use a few different types of accounts to start building a tax-efficient portfolio. On the Dodl app you can access a stocks and shares ISA, a pension, or even an investment lifetime ISA (LISA).
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £25/month or £100 lump sum |
| Platform fees | 0.15% |
After bringing investing to the fingertips of beginners in the US, Robinhood is now available in the UK, and it’s our top pick for investing in stocks across the pond.
At the moment, the app is slightly limited in what it can offer UK investors, but it’s a great option if you’re looking to invest in US stocks. There’s no platform fee, no commissions, and no foreign exchange (FX) fee charged by Robinhood.
So, you can deposit and invest from as little as $1 in your favourite US stocks without worrying about a bunch of fees eating away at your portfolio. This isn’t a complete investing package for beginners, but it’s a useful place for those who want to try things out with a cheap, well-designed platform.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £100 |
| Platform fees | 0% - 0.25% |
InvestEngine is our pick of the bunch when it comes to low-cost investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), one of the most popular types of beginner-friendly investments. If you haven’t heard about this type of investment yet, you can find out all about them in our ETFs for beginners guide.
InvestEngine has over 600 ETFs to choose from, which isn’t the largest library around, but the platform has much more to offer beginners than most. It’s free to open and hold an account (including a stocks and shares ISA), and you can buy pieces of ETFs from just £1. It also offers actionable insights and useful tools to keep beginners on track - like automated savings plans and one-click portfolio rebalancing.
Also, if picking your own ETF portfolio sounds a bit complicated to begin with, you can let InvestEngine create and manage an investment portfolio for you for a low 0.25% annual fee.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £100 |
| Platform fees | 0% - 0.25% |
There are few universal elements that help make investment platforms stand out as a top option for beginners. Here are some key thing to look out for when looking for the best app:
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help you find an app and get started investing:
Here’s a quick overview of some key terms and phrases that you may have been scratching your head over:
When analysing trading apps, our experts decide which type of investor each platform is suitable for: beginners, intermediate investors and expert investors. Beginner platforms won’t have riskier options like contracts for difference (CFDs) available, and it will have easy to read charts without too much detail.
In order to rank the beginner platforms, we use our Finder star ratings — high scoring platforms that are suitable for beginners make the shortlist of the best trading apps for beginners, with the top spot getting the title.
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.
The latest free-share, sign-up, refer-a-friend or cashback promo offers from popular trading app Freetrade.
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