If you’re looking to trade stocks and shares or other assets, you’re going to need to find yourself an online platform for making trades. We’ve tried and tested over 31 options and will use that hands-on trading experience to bring you our picks of the best desktop trading platforms in the UK right now.
| Price per trade | £0 on stocks |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | $100 |
If you want to start trading but would prefer to copy the moves of more experienced traders, eToro is our top pick with its excellent CopyTrader feature. On the eToro desktop trading platform there are plenty of ways to filter and search for traders to copy that suits your preferences and you can start from $200.
There are also other social features on the eToro trading platform like the News Feed for sharing thoughts and strategies with other like-minded traders. And if you want to dig into some advanced charting, it uses TradingView to power its charts, which means plenty of tools for technical analysis.
| Price per trade | £0 on stocks |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | $100 |
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Earn up to 4.75% interest on uninvested cash. |
If you're looking to trade fractional shares (pieces of stocks), XTB is our best pick for fractional trading because you can buy or sell pieces of shares starting from £10, commission-free. And unlike some other trading platforms, you're not just restricted to US stocks, you can also trade fractional shares from the UK and the EU.
Aside from the ability to trade fractional shares and pay 0% commission, XTB doesn't charge a platform fee, and it's one of the most straightforward trading platforms to get to grips with. Although we think it's probably best suited for intermediate traders instead of complete beginners, it does offer a free demo account where you can practise on its trading platform and see what you think before making trades with real money.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Earn up to 4.75% interest on uninvested cash. |
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £1 |
| Offer | Get a free share worth up to £100 when you sign up and deposit at least £50. T&Cs apply. Capital at risk. |
Although Freetrade focuses more on investing rather than trading, its new desktop trading platform is an excellent place for beginners to learn the ropes because it provides a simplified experience. On top of the easy sign up process, the platform is straightforward to navigate and there's no commission to pay when buying or selling investments.
You can trade fractional shares (pieces of stocks) on the Freetrade platform for just £2 (US shares only), and there's no fee to hold a Basic Freetrade account. So we think Freetrade offers beginner traders a great platform to find their feet and get to grips with basic investing and trading strategies for a low cost.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £1 |
| Offer | Get a free share worth up to £100 when you sign up and deposit at least £50. T&Cs apply. Capital at risk. |
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) is our best trading platform for funds because along with its free fund dealing, it has one of the largest fund libraries in the UK for investors to choose from, and it provides plenty of unique, fund-specific research on its online trading platform.
Along with the excellent choice of funds and the ability to trade them for free, HL also has a fairly cheap platform fee structure for funds, which starts at 0.45%. As your fund portfolio grows past £250,000 - the platform fee with HL gets lower and eventually costs nothing if you get past £2 million (but that could take a while!).
Trading 212 offers one of the best 0% commission trading platforms around. Along with paying 0% commission to trade assets like stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), you can also copy other trader's 'pies' and pay zero commission. The Trading 212 online trading platform was recently revamped to look and feel even better than ever before (not that we thought it needed much improvement anyway).
Trading 212's trading platform is excellent because you can use its desktop platform to make simple long-term trades (paying 0% commission) or you can use its in-depth price charts and analysis tools to trade on a faster, short-term basis while still keeping your fees low.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £100 |
| Offer | Get a Welcome Bonus of up to £100 when you invest at least £100 with InvestEngine. T&Cs apply. |
If you're looking to trade ETFs, we think InvestEngine will turn your gears. It's our best online trading platform for ETFs because it's free to open and hold a DIY account, you can buy or sell ETFs paying 0% commission, and you can even hold everything in a free stocks and shares ISA account.
Aside from being a super cheap trading platform for ETFs (like seriously cheap, it costs less to invest in Vanguard ETFs than directly through Vanguard), InvestEngine has some fantastic features to help with your ETF trading like 'one-click portfolio rebalancing', a portfolio 'look-through' option to see exactly what your ETFs are investing in, and the ability to set up a regular savings plan to keep your trading strategy on track.
| Price per trade | £0 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £100 |
| Offer | Get a Welcome Bonus of up to £100 when you invest at least £100 with InvestEngine. T&Cs apply. |
| Price per trade | £3 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Limited time offer: Zero commission on 100 US stocks for new customers. T&Cs apply. |
We think Saxo is the best trading platform for tools because it puts plenty of useful resources right at your fingertips. Saxo offers not one, but three trading platforms to choose from: SaxoInvestor, SaxoTraderGO, SaxoTraderPRO. So, this really is a trading platform that has something for everyone, from complete beginners to expert traders.
Saxo's trading platform offers plenty of ways to analyse investments and make trades, but you're also able to have complete control and customisation with Saxo's OpenAPI or FIX API (application programming interface). Or, you can even use third-party tools and plugins with Saxo like TradingView or MultiCharts.
| Price per trade | £3 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Limited time offer: Zero commission on 100 US stocks for new customers. T&Cs apply. |
| Price per trade | From £8 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Get 0% commission on US shares. T&Cs apply. Capital at risk. |
IG is our top pick as the best trading platform for trading options because you can trade listed options on thousands of US shares, ETFs and futures, or trade underlying index, forex, or shares options using spread bets or CFDs. Also, you can buy and sell options with no closing spread (if you hold them until the fixed expiry date) and from $0.85 to open (with commissions capped at $10 per leg).
You need to open a specific account to trade listed options with IG, which is its new 'US options and futures account'. This means you can make the most of the IG trading platform and access educational content from tastytrade and tastylive. Your other option (excuse the pun) is to use spread betting or contracts for differences (CFDs) on IG, but this just involves trading on the price and not actually entering into an options contract.
| Price per trade | From £8 |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Get 0% commission on US shares. T&Cs apply. Capital at risk. |
| Price per trade | £3.99 (free regular investing) |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Pay no account fee for 6 months when you open an ii Trading Account. Offer ends 31 December. Capital at risk. Terms & trading fees apply. New customers only. |
If you’re looking to trade a range of assets, interactive investor (ii) has plenty on offer - there are over 40,000 shares, funds, ETFs, bonds, investments trusts and more. But it’s not just the choice that sets ii apart from other trading platforms, it’s the fact that you get expert investing insights from its in-house team, plus access to original research. This is a big reason why both beginners and more experienced traders will find plenty to keep them occupied when using ii. For example, beginners may want to lean on the “ii Super 60 list” of its top-rated funds, or those with more trading experience may be more interested in the in-depth podcasts or expert stock analysis.
Apart from all the excellent trading resources, ii has a flat fee structure (which is particularly useful for those with larger portfolios). And, if you set up a regular monthly trade (from £25), you can avoid paying the standard £3.99 investing commissions. There’s also a range of account options, including tax-efficient options like ISAs and a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) - or you could just stick with its basic trading account if you’ve exhausted all your tax allowances.
| Price per trade | £3.99 (free regular investing) |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
| Offer | Pay no account fee for 6 months when you open an ii Trading Account. Offer ends 31 December. Capital at risk. Terms & trading fees apply. New customers only. |
| Price per trade | UK: 0.05% (min. £3) US: £$0.005 per share (min. $1) EU: 0.05% (min. €3) |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
Interactive Brokers lets you trade in more markets than you can shake a stick at, 150 global markets to be precise, which is why it's our best international trading platform. Along with letting you make trades in just about every corner of the world, Interactive Brokers has some of the lowest trading fees around and the foreign exchange (FX) fee is just 0.03%, so you don't get punished for trading internationally and making the most of any opportunity you find.
On top of all this, Interactive Brokers lets you deposit funds in 24 international currencies and its trading platform IBKR Desktop aims to serve everyone from beginners to advanced traders, combining tools from its flagship Trader Workstation (TWS) with new features suggested by users.
| Price per trade | UK: 0.05% (min. £3) US: £$0.005 per share (min. $1) EU: 0.05% (min. €3) |
|---|---|
| Min. initial deposit | £0 |
There’s no single best thing to look for in a trading platform as it will depend on your trading style and strategies. However, most of the best trading platforms do share some common features or contain a mixture of helpful characteristics, such as:
Finding the best online trading platform for your individual goals and strategies is a key piece of the puzzle if you’re looking to become a successful investor. Each trading platform will have its own nuances and it’s worth setting yourself up on the platform that best suits your needs.
Some platforms offer demo accounts so you can try them out first, but don’t be afraid to see how you get one with a few different options before you find the best trading platform. If you’re new to trading, you might also decide to start trading with a beginner-friendly platform and then you can always upgrade when you become a more experienced trader.
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.
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