Which Are the 7 Best Trading Platforms in the UK?

Each platform below has been tested with a funded account.

Capital.com — The Best All-Round Trading Platform Right Now

4.2
4.4
4.4
Trustpilot Score: 4.6 · Checked February 2026

Capital.com is the platform I’d recommend to anyone who asks “where should I start?” without knowing whether they want to trade short-term or invest long-term — because it does both, and it does both well. The interface is one of the cleanest I’ve used: intuitive enough for someone opening their first account, yet deep enough that I haven’t felt the need to switch away for my own trading. Zero-commission share dealing* on real stocks and ETFs, tight CFD spreads, and an ISA wrapper — all under one roof with no platform fee and no minimum deposit. That combination is difficult to find elsewhere.

DetailInfo
Share dealing£0 commission on real stocks & ETFs *other fees apply
CFD spreadsFrom 0.6 pips (EUR/USD) · tight spreads on indices
PlatformsCapital.com proprietary (web + mobile), TradingView, MT4
Assets5,000+ markets including real stocks, ETFs, and CFDs
Own real shares?Yes — real stocks & ETFs
ISA / SIPPISA available · No SIPP
FCA FRN793714
Capital.com trading platform — web interface overview showing charts and trade execution
Our view of the Capital.com platform trading the UK 100 (FTSE 100), showing the clean chart layout, real-time market data, and integrated trade ticket.

Pros

  • Zero-commission share dealing on real stocks and ETFs *other fees apply
  • Excellent, intuitive user interface across web and mobile
  • Strong educational content and real-time market insights
  • No minimum deposit and no platform fee

Cons

  • No SIPP option for pension investing
  • Smaller share range than IG or Interactive Brokers
  • Relatively newer brand compared to established incumbents

What Makes Capital.com’s Interface Stand Out?

Most platforms force you to choose between simplicity and depth. Capital.com manages to avoid that trade-off. The dashboard surfaces market movers, watchlists, and portfolio performance without burying anything behind three sub-menus. The market insights are genuinely useful — they flagged unusual volume on two FTSE 250 stocks I was watching before I noticed it myself. The mobile app mirrors the web experience closely, which sounds obvious but isn’t — Spreadex and CMC both have noticeable feature gaps between desktop and mobile. Capital.com doesn’t.

How Does Capital.com Handle Investing Alongside Trading?

This is what pushes it to the top of the list. You can buy real shares and ETFs with zero commission (*other fees apply), hold them in a Stocks & Shares ISA, and manage CFD positions from the same platform. IG does something similar, but the interface is more cluttered because it’s been built up over decades. Capital.com’s investing and trading sides feel like they were designed together from the start. For someone who wants to build a long-term portfolio in an ISA while also trading index CFDs occasionally, this is the most seamless setup I’ve tested. If your investing needs extend to a SIPP, you’ll need to look at IG or Saxo instead — Capital.com doesn’t offer one.

What’s the Catch?

The share range is smaller than IG’s 15,000+ instruments or Interactive Brokers’ global coverage. If you need access to obscure small-cap Japanese equities or listed options, Capital.com isn’t the platform for that. The brand is also younger than IG (founded 1974) or Saxo (founded 1992) — Capital.com launched in 2016, though it holds full FCA authorisation (FRN 793714) and client funds are FSCS-protected up to £85,000. For the vast majority of UK traders and investors buying mainstream equities, indices, and ETFs, those limitations won’t matter.

Visit Capital.com Read Full Review

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 62% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

IG — The Platform That Does Nearly Everything

4.4
4.2
4.5
Trustpilot Score: 3.9 · Checked February 2026

If you’ve searched “best stock trading platform” because you actually want to buy shares and own them — not speculate on price movements through CFDs — IG is probably what you’re looking for. It’s one of the only platforms on this list where I can buy FTSE 100 stocks inside an ISA, trade forex CFDs with ProRealTime charts, and manage a SIPP all under one login. That breadth creates trade-offs — the interface tries to serve five different types of investor and doesn’t always get the balance right. But the pricing is competitive, the ISA is fee-free, and the share-dealing commission of £0 with three or more trades a month is hard to argue with.

DetailInfo
Share dealing£0 commission (3+ trades/mo), otherwise £8 UK / $10 US
Platform fee£0
PlatformsIG proprietary, ProRealTime, MT4, L2 Dealer
Assets15,000+ shares, ETFs, funds, investment trusts + 17,000 CFD markets
Own real shares?Yes
ISA / SIPPBoth available
FCA FRN195355
IG trading platform showing FTSE 100 index chart and order panel
Our view of the IG platform trading the FTSE 100, showing charting tools, market depth, and the order panel UK traders use for index trading.

Pros

  • Extensive market access across global equities, indices, and forex
  • Strong research tools and analysis
  • Trusted and long-established UK brand
  • FCA regulated with robust investor protections

Cons

  • Higher fees for infrequent traders
  • Steeper learning curve for new investors

Can I Build a Long-Term Portfolio on IG?

Yes. I hold 14 UK and US equities in my IG ISA, including a couple of S&P 500 trackers (we’ve written a full guide on how to invest in the S&P 500 from the UK if that’s your focus). Dividends are paid tax-free, there’s no platform fee eating into returns, and the share-dealing fee drops to zero if I make three trades in a month. For a buy-and-hold ISA investor making a handful of trades per quarter, the annual cost on a £20,000 portfolio is essentially zero. That puts IG ahead of Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, and most of the platforms that dominate the best investment platforms rankings — on cost alone.

How Complex Is IG for Someone Who’s Never Traded?

It’s not simple. When Adam first opened his IG account, it took him three days to find where the ISA settings were buried in the app. The onboarding funnels you toward CFDs by default — you have to specifically navigate to “share dealing” to buy real equities. If you’re primarily using your phone to invest, it’s worth comparing IG against the options on our best investment apps list. IG Academy has decent educational content, but the platform itself assumes you already know what you’re doing.

What Was My Experience With IG’s Customer Support?

I called IG’s UK line at 2:14pm on 17 January 2026. Connected in 3 minutes 40 seconds. I asked about transferring a SIPP from another provider. The agent was knowledgeable, didn’t rush the call, and followed up by email within the hour. That’s the best support experience I’ve had from any platform on this list.

Visit IG Read Full Review

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Spreadex — The Simplest Platform on This List

4.6
4.5
4.2
Trustpilot Score: 4.3 · Checked February 2026

Spreadex won’t impress anyone looking for institutional-grade tools. It isn’t trying to. What it does is offer spread betting and CFDs with zero commission, no inactivity fees, and a minimum deposit of £1 — in an interface that’s cleaner and less cluttered than anything else I’ve tested. I recommended it to a family member who’d never traded before, and she was placing a bet on the FTSE within twenty minutes of downloading the app. That’s not something I could say about IG or CMC.

DetailInfo
SpreadsAll costs included in the spread
Commission£0
PlatformsSpreadex proprietary (web + app)
AssetsSpread betting & CFDs on indices, forex, shares, commodities
Own real shares?No — spread bets & CFDs only
ISA / SIPPNot available
FCA FRN190941
Spreadex trading platform showing UK 100 index chart and trade ticket
Spreadex platform showing the UK 100 index chart with the integrated trade ticket UK traders use for spread betting the FTSE 100.

Pros

  • Simple, user-friendly interface
  • Low minimum deposit (£1)
  • No inactivity or platform fees
  • Good UK-based customer service

Cons

  • Limited access to global markets
  • Basic toolset may not suit advanced traders

Is Spread Betting Actually Tax-Free?

Under current HMRC rules, spread betting profits are exempt from both Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty. That’s a real advantage for active traders — but it only applies if HMRC considers you a speculator, not someone deriving their primary income from trading. If you’re trading full-time and spread betting represents your main earnings, take professional tax advice on this. The exemption isn’t as unconditional as most broker websites imply. We cover the full picture in our best spread betting platforms guide.

What Can’t I Do on Spreadex?

You can’t buy shares. You can’t open an ISA. Global market access is limited — if you want to trade Japanese equities or emerging market forex pairs, this isn’t the platform. The charting tools are basic. There’s no TradingView integration, no algorithmic trading, no API access. If any of those matter to you, look at Pepperstone or CMC instead. Spreadex is a focused tool for a specific job, and it does that job well.

Visit SpreadEX Read Full Review

65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Pepperstone — Fastest Platform for Execution

4.4
4.1
4.4
Trustpilot Score: 4.1 · Checked February 2026

On 14 November 2025, during the US CPI release, I placed a market order on EUR/USD through the Razor account. Filled in 32 milliseconds. The spread widened to about 1.2 pips for a few seconds and was back under 0.2 within fifteen. That kind of execution isn’t theoretical — I watched it happen in real time, and it’s why Pepperstone has been my primary CFD broker since 2024. If you’re trading forex or indices and you care about where your order gets filled, this is the platform I’d pick without hesitation. It also tops our best day trading platforms list for the same reasons.

DetailInfo
SpreadsFrom 0.0 pips (Razor) / ~1.0 pip (Standard)
CommissionRazor: £2.25/side/lot · Standard: £0
PlatformsMT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView
Assets1,200+ CFDs — forex, indices, commodities, shares, crypto
Own real shares?No — CFD only
ISA / SIPPNot available
FCA FRN684312
Pepperstone trading platform showing UK100 FTSE 100 index chart and trade ticket
Our view of the Pepperstone platform trading the UK100 (FTSE 100), highlighting chart clarity, order entry, and index trading tools for UK traders.

Pros

  • Ultra-fast trade execution
  • Competitive spreads on Razor account
  • Strong platform integrations (MT4, MT5, TradingView)
  • No minimum deposit

Cons

  • CFD-only trading (no real shares)
  • Not ideal for long-term investors
  • No ISA or SIPP accounts

What Does It Cost to Trade on Pepperstone?

I use the Razor account because at the volumes I trade, the £2.25 per side commission with near-zero spreads works out considerably cheaper than the Standard’s commission-free structure with its ~1 pip markup. The crossover point is roughly £50,000 in notional position size — below that, Standard is simpler and slightly cheaper. Above it, Razor saves you money on every single trade. For a full breakdown, I’ve written a dedicated Razor vs Standard comparison.

No platform fee. No inactivity fee. No deposit or withdrawal charges. That fee structure is clean — one of the simplest in the industry.

Where Does Pepperstone Fall Short?

You can’t buy shares. You can’t open an ISA. There’s no investment portfolio feature, no fractional shares, no dividend income. If you’re building long-term wealth, Pepperstone isn’t the tool for that — it’s a trading engine, not an investment platform. I pair it with IG for the investing side. If your search brought you here because you want to buy and hold shares, skip to the IG or XTB sections below.

How Did Pepperstone Handle My Withdrawal?

I withdrew £1,500 to my Barclays account on 6 December 2025. The money arrived in two working days. Pepperstone sent a confirmation email within 15 minutes. No fees deducted. The process was straightforward — but I’d note that first withdrawals take longer because of additional verification checks required under FCA anti-money-laundering rules.

Visit Pepperstone Read Full Review

72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

CMC Markets — Best Charting I’ve Used on a Retail Platform

3.9
4.2
4
Trustpilot Score: 4.3 · Checked February 2026

I need to be specific about what I mean when I say CMC has the best charting. Their Next Generation platform has over 80 technical indicators and 12 chart types — that’s comparable to TradingView in depth, and the pattern recognition scanner has flagged setups I’d have missed manually. It also flags plenty of noise, so I treat it as a starting point rather than a signal.

What makes it stand out from Pepperstone’s TradingView integration is the customisability — I can save multiple layouts per instrument and switch between them in a click. For anyone whose trading strategy is built around technical analysis — particularly across CFDs and commodities — CMC’s platform is the one I’d point to first.

DetailInfo
CFD spreadsFrom 0.7 pips (EUR/USD)
Commission£0 on CFDs · share dealing via CMC Invest
PlatformsNext Generation (proprietary), MT4, TradingView
Assets12000+ CFD instruments + shares via CMC Invest
Own real shares?Yes — through CMC Invest (separate product)
ISA / SIPPISA via CMC Invest · No SIPP
FCA FRN173730
CMC Markets trading platform showing UK 100 index chart and spread betting interface
CMC Markets platform displaying the UK 100 index chart, market watchlist, and spread betting interface used by active UK traders.

Pros

  • Advanced charting and analysis tools
  • Highly customisable trading platform
  • No minimum deposit requirement
  • Strong reputation with FCA regulation

Cons

  • Interface can be overwhelming for beginners
  • Limited support for long-term investing accounts like ISAs/SIPPs

What’s the Difference Between CMC Markets and CMC Invest?

This catches people out. CMC Markets is the trading platform — CFDs and spread bets. CMC Invest is the share-dealing and ISA platform. They’re technically separate products under the same brand, with different fee structures and different account logins. If you want to buy actual shares in an ISA, you need CMC Invest specifically. The CFD account won’t let you do that. I’ve spoken to three people who opened a CMC Markets account thinking they could buy shares in an ISA, only to discover they’d signed up for the wrong product. CMC doesn’t make this distinction clear enough on their homepage.

Why Wouldn’t I Just Use TradingView Instead?

Fair question. TradingView is superb — and you can use it with Pepperstone. The difference is that CMC’s charting is natively integrated with their execution engine. There’s no latency between what the chart shows and what the broker fills. On TradingView via a third-party broker, I’ve occasionally noticed a slight delay between the charted price and the execution price. On CMC’s native platform, I haven’t. If charting and execution sitting in the same environment matters to your strategy, CMC has the edge.

Visit CMC Markets Read Full Review

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 64% of retail CFD accounts lose money. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

XTB — Where I’d Tell a Beginner to Start

3.8
4.2
4.4
Trustpilot Score: 0.1 · Checked February 2026

If someone asked me where to open their first trading account tomorrow morning, I’d say XTB — it’s the top pick on our best platforms for beginners list for the same reasons. Not because it’s the most powerful platform on this list — it isn’t — but because it’s the one least likely to cost a beginner money through confusion. The xStation 5 interface is clean.

The education library is useful — not marketing dressed up as tutorials. And the 0% commission on real stocks and ETFs up to €100,000 per month removes the single biggest psychological barrier for someone investing their first £500. I’ve watched Adam’s partner open an account and buy her first ETF in under ten minutes.

DetailInfo
Stock/ETF commission0% up to €100k/month · 0.2% above
CFD spreadsFrom 0.1 pips (EUR/USD)
PlatformsxStation 5 (web + mobile)
Assets8,500+ real stocks & ETFs + 2,500+ CFDs (11,100+ total instruments)
Own real shares?Yes
ISA / SIPPStocks & Shares ISA available · No SIPP
FCA FRN522157
XTB xStation trading platform showing UK 100 index chart and market watch panel
XTB’s xStation platform displaying the UK 100 index chart, market watchlist, and open positions panel for UK traders.

Pros

  • Commission-free trading up to monthly limits
  • Regulated by the FCA
  • Excellent educational content for beginners
  • Clean, user-friendly trading platform

Cons

  • No ISA or SIPP options
  • Limited advanced order types for professional traders

What Does “0% Commission” Actually Mean on XTB?

Commission-free means no dealing charge on buying or selling real stocks and ETFs, up to €100,000 in monthly turnover. Above that, a 0.2% fee applies. But commission isn’t the only cost: there’s a currency conversion charge if you’re buying non-EUR instruments, and a £10 inactivity fee if you don’t log in for 365 days (though notably, XTB doesn’t charge inactivity fees on ISA accounts). The “0%” headline is accurate but not the whole picture — we break down the real costs across all commission-free platforms separately. Some brokers also offer free shares as sign-up incentives, but I’d rather people chose a platform on its merits than because of a welcome bonus.

How Does XTB Compare to eToro for a First-Time Investor?

Both offer commission-free stock trading. XTB has tighter CFD spreads and a significantly better education platform. eToro has copy trading, which XTB doesn’t. eToro charges a $5 withdrawal fee and 0.5% FX on deposit; XTB has no withdrawal fee but charges for currency conversion on non-EUR instruments. XTB now offers a Stocks & Shares ISA directly in-app, while eToro’s ISA requires the separate eToro Money app. If you want to learn by doing, XTB. If you want to learn by copying someone who knows more than you, eToro. For most first-time UK investors buying straightforward equities, XTB’s fee structure is cleaner.

Visit XTB Read Full Review

71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Saxo — The Premium Platform for Serious Investors

3.8
3.5
4
Trustpilot Score: 3.5 · Checked February 2026

Saxo is the platform I’d point someone toward if they’ve outgrown the basics and want institutional-grade research, global market access, and professional-level tools — all within a properly regulated UK environment. The SaxoTraderGO platform gives you access to over 70,000 instruments across 40+ global exchanges, which is a depth of coverage that only Interactive Brokers matches on this list. The trade-off is price: the £500 recommended funding amount, custody fees on larger portfolios, and the general positioning of the platform make it clear this isn’t aimed at someone investing their first £500. It’s built for experienced investors who know what they want and are willing to pay for quality.

DetailInfo
Share dealingFrom £3 per trade (Classic) · lower tiers for higher volumes
Platform feeCustody fee: 0.12% per year on portfolio value (capped)
PlatformsSaxoTraderGO (web + mobile), SaxoTraderPRO (desktop)
Assets70,000+ instruments — stocks, ETFs, bonds, funds, forex, CFDs, futures, options
Own real shares?Yes — 70,000+ instruments
ISA / SIPPBoth available
FCA FRN551422
SaxoTrader platform overview — NZD/MXN exotic forex pair trading interface
Our view of the SaxoTraderGO platform showing UK market analysis, integrated research tools, and the portfolio overview that experienced traders rely on.

Pros

  • Unmatched range of 70,000+ tradable instruments
  • Professional-grade research and analysis tools
  • ISA and SIPP both available
  • FCA regulated with strong investor protections

Cons

  • Higher minimum funding (£500 recommended)
  • Custody fees eat into returns on smaller portfolios
  • Platform complexity may overwhelm newer traders

What Makes Saxo’s Research Worth the Premium?

Saxo’s in-house research team produces daily market commentary, quarterly outlooks, and instrument-specific analysis that’s a cut above what most retail platforms offer. The SaxoTraderGO platform integrates this research directly into the trading workflow — you can read an analyst note on a FTSE 100 constituent and place a trade from the same screen. The depth of third-party research partnerships (including Morningstar ratings on funds and ETFs) means you’re getting institutional-quality data without needing a Bloomberg terminal. For someone managing a £50,000+ portfolio across multiple asset classes, this level of research support justifies the custody fee.

How Does Saxo Compare to IG for Long-Term Investing?

Both offer ISAs, SIPPs, and real share ownership. IG wins on cost for smaller portfolios — no custody fee and commission-free dealing with three or more trades per month. Saxo wins on breadth — 70,000+ instruments versus IG’s 15,000+, plus access to bonds, listed options, and futures that IG doesn’t offer in its share-dealing account. If you’re a UK investor buying FTSE 100 stocks and a handful of ETFs in an ISA, IG is the better value. If you want to build a globally diversified portfolio that includes Danish government bonds, Japanese small-caps, and commodity futures alongside your UK equities, Saxo is the only platform on this list that can do all of it.

Who Shouldn’t Use Saxo?

If you’re investing under £10,000, the custody fee will drag on your returns disproportionately. If you only trade UK and US equities, you’re paying a premium for global access you won’t use. And if you’re a complete beginner, the platform density will slow you down — XTB or Capital.com would be a better starting point. Saxo is excellent at what it does, but it’s not trying to be everything to everyone, and the pricing reflects that.

Visit Saxo Read Full Review

64% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

What About Trading 212, Hargreaves Lansdown, and the Others?

We tested more platforms than made this list. The seven above earned their place through our scoring methodology — the ones below fell short in one or more weighted categories, though several came close.

Trading 212

Adam’s had a funded account since 2024 and it’s a strong product — zero commission, zero platform fee, fractional shares, a solid ISA. Where it lost marks was research and education: the in-app tools are thin compared to IG or CMC, and there’s no equivalent to XTB’s education library. The fee structure is arguably the cleanest of any platform we tested, so if low-cost passive investing is your priority, it’s worth a look. It narrowly missed the seven and could make the next update.

Hargreaves Lansdown

The biggest platform in the UK by client numbers, and the customer service is the best we encountered — better even than IG’s. But the fees pulled it down hard in our scoring: £11.95 per share trade and a 0.45% platform fee on funds is significantly more expensive than IG, IBKR, or XTB for the same job. If you value hand-holding and premium support above all else, HL is worth considering. On cost, it couldn’t compete.

AJ Bell

A solid all-rounder with a good ISA and SIPP at £5 per trade. It scored well on account types and tax wrappers but didn’t differentiate itself enough on platform quality or fees to displace any of the seven. A safe middle-ground pick, but not a standout in any single category.

Freetrade

Commission-free with a clean mobile app, popular with younger investors. It scored well on fees and onboarding simplicity but fell short on market access — the range is limited compared to IG or IBKR — and there’s no desktop platform to speak of. If you only trade on your phone and only want UK and US equities, it works. Beyond that, it runs out of road quickly.

Interactive Brokers

Objectively the most capable platform we tested, with access to 150+ markets in 33 countries including options, futures, and bonds. The issue is usability — the Trader Workstation interface feels dated and the learning curve is steep. On a sub-£50,000 portfolio, the complexity doesn’t justify itself over IG or XTB for most retail investors.

eToro

CopyTrader is genuinely useful and the fractional shares from $10 make it accessible for beginners. However, the 0.5% FX conversion fee on every GBP deposit and the $5 withdrawal fee drag down overall value. For pure stock investing, XTB offers a cleaner fee structure.

For MT4 and MT5 users who want a multi-asset broker with competitive costs, Admiral Markets is another option we’ve tested — see our full Admiral Markets review for the breakdown. If your needs lean more toward long-term investing than active trading, several of these platforms may suit you better than the CFD-focused brokers in our main list. Our best investment platforms UK guide covers that angle in more detail.

Do Fees Really Make That Much Difference?

Yes. More than most people realise, and in ways that aren’t obvious until you sit down with a calculator.

Take a concrete scenario: £10,000 portfolio, buy-and-hold strategy, 12 UK share trades per year, held for five years. On Interactive Brokers, your annual dealing cost is £36. On IG with fewer than three trades per month, it’s £96. On eToro, the 0.5% FX conversion on your initial £10,000 deposit costs you £50 before you’ve bought anything — and that cost repeats on every additional deposit. Compound those differences over five years and the drag on returns is measurable.

Then flip it for active traders: the Razor vs Standard cost comparison I referenced in the Pepperstone section is the clearest illustration. At small position sizes, the Standard account’s commission-free structure wins. As you scale up, the Razor account’s near-zero spreads plus £2.25 per side becomes cheaper. The crossover happens around £50,000 in notional value per trade.

But here’s what matters more than any single line item: a £3 saving per trade is meaningless if the platform’s execution quality costs you 2 pips in slippage. A 0% commission platform that charges 0.5% on FX conversion costs more than a £5-per-trade platform if you’re buying US stocks every month. Fees are a system, not a number. We’ve broken this down further in our cheapest online broker comparison, and for forex-specific costs, our lowest spread forex brokers guide.

Annual Cost Comparison by Scenario

Scenario IG (3+/mo) IG (<3/mo) CMC XTB IBKR (Tiered) IBKR (Fixed) eToro
£10k, 12 UK trades/yr £0 £96 Varies £0 £12 £36 £50 (FX)
£50k, 12 UK trades/yr £0 £96 Varies £0 £30 £36 £250 (FX)

Illustrative. Assumes UK shares settled in GBP. eToro cost reflects 0.5% FX on initial deposit. Verify all fees at broker websites. Spreadex and Pepperstone not included in this as its specific to investing.

Bar chart comparing annual costs of UK share dealing platforms in 2026 showing XTB and IG at zero cost versus eToro's hidden FX fees of up to £250 on a £50,000 portfolio
Annual dealing costs for a UK share investor making 12 trades per year. The 0% commission headline doesn’t always tell the full story — eToro’s FX conversion adds up fast.

What Type of Account Should You Actually Open?

The account type you choose matters more than which broker you pick.

A General Investment Account (GIA) has no limits and full flexibility, but profits above the £3,000 annual exemption (2025/26 tax year) are subject to Capital Gains Tax. A Stocks and Shares ISA allows up to £20,000 per tax year, with all gains and dividends completely tax-free — we compare ISA-offering platforms in our best investment platforms guide. A SIPP (Self-Invested Personal Pension) offers tax-free growth plus tax relief on contributions, but your money is locked until age 55 — rising to 57 from April 2028. If you’re curious how your pot compares, we’ve published the latest data on the average pension pot in the UK.

My honest view: if you’re investing rather than trading, and you haven’t filled your ISA allowance, you should be using an ISA before you consider a GIA. The tax savings compound over time in ways that are easy to underestimate. On a £20,000 portfolio growing at 7% annually, the difference between ISA and GIA over 20 years runs into five figures — and that’s before accounting for dividend tax.

Account Type Availability

Platform GIA Stocks & Shares ISA SIPP
Capital.comYesYesNo
IGYesYesYes
SpreadexSpread bet & CFD account onlyNoNo
PepperstoneCFD account onlyNoNo
CMC MarketsYesYes (CMC Invest)No
XTBYesYesNo
SaxoYesYesYes
Flowchart showing which UK trading platform to choose in 2026 based on whether you want CFD trading, share dealing, or copy trading, with recommendations for Pepperstone, IG, Spreadex, CMC Markets, XTB, Interactive Brokers, and eToro
Not sure where to start? This decision tree maps your goal to the right platform — based on our real-money testing across all seven brokers

What Tax Will You Pay When You Trade?

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT): 0.5% on UK share purchases settled electronically through CREST. It’s automatically deducted by your broker — you won’t see a separate charge, but it’s built into the transaction. SDRT doesn’t apply to CFDs, spread bets, ETFs traded on overseas exchanges, or AIM-listed shares. If you’re on Pepperstone or Spreadex, you’ll never encounter this because you never own the underlying asset.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT): 18% for basic-rate taxpayers and 24% for higher-rate taxpayers on gains above the £3,000 annual exemption (2025/26 tax year). This does not apply to gains inside an ISA or SIPP — which is precisely why the account type table above matters so much.

Dividend Tax: 8.75% (basic rate), 33.75% (higher rate), and 39.35% (additional rate) on dividend income above the £500 annual allowance (2025/26). From April 2026, basic and higher rates are scheduled to rise to 10.75% and 35.75% respectively [verify against latest Finance Act before publication]. Again — none of this applies inside an ISA. This is why the ISA column keeps coming up, and why our investing hub focuses heavily on tax-efficient wrappers.

Spread betting: Profits are currently tax-free under HMRC rules for speculators. But — and this is important — if HMRC decides trading is your primary income source, the exemption may not apply. Get professional advice if this is relevant to your situation.

Sources: HMRC CGT rates (gov.uk) · FSCS (fscs.org.uk)

Is Your Money Safe if a Broker Goes Bust?

Every platform on this list is authorised and regulated by the FCA. In practice, that means: client funds must be held in segregated accounts separate from the broker’s own money, conduct-of-business rules apply, and the broker has a legal obligation to treat customers fairly.

Then there’s the FSCS. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers up to £85,000 per eligible person per firm for investment claims. You can verify any broker’s FCA authorisation at register.fca.org.uk. I’ve included the specific FRN numbers in each broker’s fact table above — if those numbers aren’t on the register, don’t use the platform.

The nuance most people miss: FSCS protects you if the broker fails financially. It does not protect you against market losses. If you buy £10,000 of shares and they fall to £6,000, that’s your risk. If the broker goes bust and your £10,000 is in a segregated account, the administrator should return it. If there’s a shortfall, FSCS covers up to £85,000. That’s a meaningful safety net — but it isn’t insurance against bad trades. Regulation is one of the core criteria in how we test every platform, and you can read more about our editorial standards on our corporate governance page.

Final Thoughts

There’s no single best trading platform — and anyone who tells you otherwise is either selling something or hasn’t used enough of them. What I can tell you after two years of funded testing is that the right platform depends entirely on what you’re actually doing with your money.

If you want an all-round platform that balances trading and investing well, Capital.com is where I’d start. If you want one platform that handles share dealing, an ISA, and spread betting under the same roof, IG is the most complete option I’ve tested. And if execution speed on CFDs and forex is your priority, Pepperstone remains outstanding.

Most people reading this will be better served by two platforms rather than one — a trading account for short-term positions and an ISA for long-term holdings. That’s exactly what I do, and it’s the setup I’d recommend to anyone asking.

Whatever you choose, check the FCA register before you deposit a penny, make sure you understand the fee structure beyond the headline number, and start with an amount you can genuinely afford to lose. The platforms on this list are all regulated and legitimate — but the risk is real, and no ranking can change that.

What’s Changed Since the Last Update?

February 2026: Complete rewrite. Added real-share ownership and ISA availability data. Added tax section covering SDRT, CGT, dividend tax, and spread betting exemption. Added account type guidance (GIA vs ISA vs SIPP). Replaced broker marketing screenshots with dated screenshots from our funded accounts. Verified FSCS figure. Expanded from ~3,200 words to ~6,000 words. Rewrote individual broker assessments with updated Q4 2025/Q1 2026 testing data.

December 2025: Updated fee tables for 2026. Changed year references. Minor text updates.

FAQs

Which platform is best for day trading in the UK?

Pepperstone for forex and indices — execution speed is its core advantage, and I’ve consistently recorded fills under 40ms during high-volatility sessions. IG for equities — the Level 2 order book via ProRealTime gives you depth-of-market data that most retail platforms don’t offer. If you want a tax advantage, spread betting on either Spreadex or IG means profits are currently CGT-exempt under HMRC rules. For a full breakdown, see our best day trading platforms guide.

Is Trading 212 or eToro better?

I haven’t included Trading 212 in the main list because I haven’t tested it with funded accounts long enough to have a confident opinion. But for a direct comparison based on publicly available data: Trading 212 has no withdrawal fee and no FX conversion fee on GBP accounts. eToro charges $5 per withdrawal and 0.5% FX on every GBP deposit. Trading 212 offers a stocks and shares ISA directly in-app. eToro’s copy trading has no equivalent on Trading 212. For a passive buy-and-hold investor, Trading 212’s fee structure is hard to beat. For someone who wants social features, eToro.

What is the 7% rule in stock trading?

It’s a risk management principle from William O’Neil’s CAN SLIM methodology — sell if a position falls 7% below your purchase price to cap losses. Whether it’s useful depends on your timeframe. For a buy-and-hold investor in an ISA, a 7% dip in a diversified portfolio is routine and shouldn’t trigger panic selling. For a leveraged CFD trader, 7% of the notional position could mean substantially more than 7% of your actual capital. I use stop-losses on every CFD trade, but I don’t apply a blanket 7% rule to my ISA holdings.

What happens to my shares if my broker goes bust?

If you hold real shares — not CFDs — you own the underlying asset. In administration, those shares should be identifiable, ring-fenced, and transferable to another broker. The process takes time, but the asset is legally yours. CFD positions are different — they’d likely be closed at prevailing market prices during the administration process. FSCS covers up to £85,000 per person if there’s a shortfall between what you’re owed and what the administrator can return.

Can I hold accounts on multiple platforms at the same time?

Yes, and I’d actively recommend it. I use Pepperstone for short-term CFD trading and IG for long-term ISA investing — different tools for different jobs. The only restriction to be aware of is that you can only pay into one Stocks and Shares ISA per tax year (though you can hold multiple ISAs from previous years with different providers). There’s no limit on the number of general trading accounts you can hold simultaneously.

References

  1. XTB Official Website – Trading Platform & Fees
  2. IG Group – Share Dealing & Trading Platform
  3. CMC Markets – Next-Generation Trading Platform
  4. Spreadex – Spread Betting & CFD Trading
  5. Capital.com – Trading & Investing Platform
  6. Saxo – SaxoTrader Platform (FCA FRN: 551422)
  7. Pepperstone – Forex and CFD Broker
  8. FCA Register – Financial Services Register
  9. Trustpilot – User Reviews for Trading Platforms