Nutmeg vs Hargreaves Lansdown

You might recognise the names of both of these investment platforms, but they don't quite offer the same thing.

Nutmeg is a robo-advisor, which means that it manages your investments on your behalf based on your risk appetite. Hargreaves Lansdown is an established investment platform that’s typically used for share dealing, but it does have some ready made portfolios for those looking for a robo-advisor. We’ve compared them side by side on their products, portfolios, features and costs to help you choose.

Nutmeg vs Hargreaves Lansdown: Vital statistics

Nutmeg stocks and shares ISAHargreaves Lansdown
Finder score★★★★★★★★★★
Customer satisfaction survey★★★★★★★★★★
Fees score★★★★★★★★★★
Stocks and shares ISA available?
FSCS protected?
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Both Nutmeg and Hargreaves Lansdown have individual savings accounts (ISAs) available. These let you invest up to £20,000 in the 2024/2025 tax year without paying any tax on your profits.

Both providers are FSCS protected. This means that up to £85,000 of your deposits are covered if they were to go bust.

Round 1: Products

Nutmeg stocks and shares ISAHargreaves Lansdown
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 riskCapital at risk
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Both providers have stocks and shares ISAs, lifetime ISAs and pensions available.

As we mentioned before, a stocks and shares ISA lets you invest up to £20,000 in the 2024/2025 tax year without paying any tax on your profits. A lifetime ISA is another type of tax wrapper that lets you save up to £4,000 per year towards your first home or retirement and get a top of from the government.

A private pension locks away your savings until you turn 55, and you get a top up from the government for it too.

Winner: Tie

Round 2: Portfolios

Nutmeg stocks and shares ISAHargreaves Lansdown
Portfolios rating★★★★★★★★★★
Risk assessment quiz
Number of portfolios on offer456
Ethical portfolios on offer
Managed portfolios on offer
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Hargreaves Lansdown has 6 ready-made portfolios available to invest in – 3 income and 3 growth. This is on par with its competitors, where you generally see up to 5 portfolios. You get a choice of 3 different risk profiles for each type. It doesn’t have a dedicated portfolio for ethical investing.

Nutmeg has the highest number of portfolios from the robo-advisors we’ve reviewed, with 30 in total. You can choose between Smart Alpha, fixed Allocation, socially responsible and fully managed portfolios. Each one has either 10 or 5 risk profiles to choose from.

Winner: Nutmeg

Round 3: Costs

Nutmeg stocks and shares ISAHargreaves Lansdown
Fees score★★★★★★★★★★
Annual cost of investing £10,000£105.00£45
Annual cost of investing £100,000£1050.00£250
Annual cost of investing £1m£6,900.00£1000
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Both Nutmeg and Hargreaves Lansdown charge based on how much you invest. They have very similar costs, but which one you decide to go with will depend on how much you are investing.

Nutmeg’s fees are pretty simple. For its fully managed portfolio, it charges 0.75% on investments up to £100,000 and then 0.35% on investments beyond that. Nutmeg also charges a 0.19% investment fund cost and a market spread cost of 0.07%.

Hargreaves Lansdown has a very similar charging structure. It charges 0.45% on investments up to £250,000, 0.25% on investments between £250,000 and £1 million, 0.1% on investments between £1 million and £2 million, and investments over £2 million are free.

We got Nutmeg’s figures from the handy calculator on its website. You can enter in the amount that you plan to invest and it’ll give you the cost. In the case of Hargreaves Lansdown, we did it the old fashioned way, with a calculator, pen and paper and the costs outlined above.

Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown

Round 4: Mobile and web features

Nutmeg stocks and shares ISAHargreaves Lansdown
Features rating★★★★★★★★★★
Desktop or web access
iPhone app
Android app
In-app news and research
In-app top-up
Keep in mindCapital at riskCapital at risk
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Both Hargreaves Lansdown and Nutmeg have desktop access and iPhone and Android apps. You can access news and research in both apps and top-up within the app.

Winner: Tie

Round 5: Learning resources

Nutmeg stocks and shares ISAHargreaves Lansdown
Resources rating★★★★★★★★★★
Guides
Videos and walkthroughs
In-depth learning tools (training courses, etc.)
Demo account
Advice
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Hargreaves Lansdown is the clear winner here for its learning resources as it’s got guides, videos, walkthroughs, a demo account and an advice service. Nutmeg has some guides on its products available and a paid for advice service.

Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown

Overall winner: Is Nutmeg better than Hargreaves Lansdown?

Nutmeg is suitable if you are interested in basic investing with pre-made portfolios, but if you’re looking for share trading or DIY portfolios then you’re more suited to Hargreaves Lansdown. Hargreaves Lansdown covers all bases with basic investing, share trading, share dealing, a pension, lifetime ISA and ready-made portfolios. It also has competitive prices, as you can see above.

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.


Zoe Stabler DipFA's headshot
Senior writer

Zoe was a senior writer at Finder specialising in investment and banking, and during this time, she joined the Women in FinTech Powerlist 2022. She is currently a senior money writer at Be Clever With Your Cash. Zoe has a BA in English literature and a Diploma for Financial Advisers. She has several years of experience in writing about all things personal finance. Zoe has a particular love for spreadsheets, having also worked as a management accountant. In her spare time, you’ll find Zoe skating at her local ice rink. See full bio

Zoe's expertise
Zoe has written 167 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Share dealing
  • Reviews and comparisons of trading platforms
  • Robo-advisors
  • Pensions
  • Banking

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