AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) are two of the most well-established investing providers available to UK retail investors. They’re also fairly comparable in terms of what they offer and their target audience. So, it make sense to pit AJ Bell vs Hargreaves Lansdown against each other in a head-to-head battle.
Both AJ Bell and HL offer a huge range of investments and plenty of account options, including a stocks and shares ISA and a self-invested personal pension (SIPP). So, check out our breakdown of AJ Bell vs HL and hopefully this will help you pick who’s best, depending on what’s most important to you – whether that’s fees, investment choice, account types or anything else.
 |  | |
| Finder score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Customer satisfaction survey | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Stocks and shares ISA available? | ||
| FSCS protected? | ||
| Fees score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown are pretty neck and neck when it comes to their Finder score. AJ Bell has a score of 4.4 out of 5, whereas HL has a slightly lower 4.2 out of 5.
Both platforms offer stocks and shares ISA, both come with full Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection of up to £85,000.
Neither has a particularly high score for fees, with AJ Bell scoring 3.3 out 5 – slightly higher than HL’s lowly 2.4 out of 5.
Both platforms were some of the highest-rated in the Finder Investing Customer Satisfaction Awards 2024, but HL was our overall winner with 97% of investors saying they’d recommend the platform to a friend (compared to AJ Bell’s admirable 95%).
| | |
| General investment account | ||
| Stocks and shares ISA | ||
| Lifetime ISA (LISA) | ||
| Pension (SIPP) | ||
| Junior ISA (JISA)/Junior SIPP (JSIPP) | ||
| Interest on cash balances | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Both AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown tick all the boxes when it comes to account types available on each platform.
So, in this category it’s hard to separate AJ Bell vs HL.
Winner: Tie
| | |
| Investment choice score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Available markets | 24 | 4+ |
| Number of investments | 19,000 | 11,000+ |
| Number of ETFs/funds | 3,400 | 1,500 |
| Fractional shares | ||
| Min. initial deposit | £1 | £1 |
| Min. investment | £0 | £1 |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Investment choice is another close call for these platforms.
However, AJ Bell manages to pip HL to the post, offering a larger choice of investments and a greater number of markets to choose from.
Winner: AJ Bell
| | |
| Fees score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Platform fees | 0.25% per month (max. £3.50) | £0 (0.45% for funds) |
| US shares | £5 | £11.95 |
| UK shares | £5 | £11.95 |
| International shares | 0.75% on first £10,000 | £11.95 |
| Funds/ETFs | £1.50 | £0 funds £11.95 ETFs (frequent trader discounts apply) |
| Foreign exchange fee | 1% | 1% |
| Regular investing | Yes (from £25/month and commission drops to £1.50) | Yes from £25/month (lower commissions for frequent investors) £8.95 (10 to 19 trades in previous month) £5.95 (20 or more trades in previous month) |
| Withdrawal fee | £0 | £0 |
| Deposit fee | £0 | £0 |
| Inactivity fee | £0 | £0 |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Neither platform offers amazing value when it comes to fees. However, AJ Bell recently lowered its share dealing fees to make them more competitive.
Unfortunately, HL lags behind most UK platforms in this area (including AJ Bell) and its £11.95 commission fee is extremely expensive for buying or selling stocks.
HL is a bit cheaper than AJ Bell for funds because its free to trade funds with HL vs a cost of £1.50 with AJ Bell.
Winner: AJ Bell
| | |
| Ease of use score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Apple iOS rating | 4.7/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Google Play rating | 3.2/5 | 3.2/5 |
| Ways to contact customer service | Phone, email, web chat and post | Phone, email and online chat |
| UI/UX | Good | Good |
| Desktop or web access | ||
| Mobile app | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Neither AJ Bell nor Hargreaves Lansdown offers a particularly fancy investing experience that will blow your socks off.
However, both these platforms offer a robust mobile app and desktop platform for investing. If you want a slicker and simpler mobile experience, you might want to check out AJ Bell’s app-only platform, Dodl.
AJ Bell and HL both focus on providing excellent customer service (which is perhaps why some fees are quite high.
Winner: Tie
| | |
| Tools, resources and features | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Analysis features | ||
| Tools for investing/trading | ||
| Social features | ||
| Learning resources | ||
| Additional features | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Again, if you look at AJ Bell vs HL for tools and resources, they’re both pretty comparable with similar offerings for investors.
The only thing lacking with both these providers is the inclusion of some sort of social features for investors.
Winner: Tie
Although both AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown offer pretty similar services, targeting the same type of investors – it’s AJ Bell that comes out on top.
This is because AJ Bell offers a slightly better investment choice and much cheaper fees for share dealing.
There’s not much between AJ Bell vs HL, but our comparison shows AJ Bell has the edge (which is also reflected in the overall Finder score).
Winner: AJ Bell
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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