Charles Stanley Direct vs CMC Invest 2024

CMC Invest offers commission-free trading of U.K.-listed shares and U.S. equities via a mobile app only. Though a newer entrant to the U.K. share dealing market and currently somewhat limited, it’s powered by global contender CMC Markets, making it likely that its offerings will expand.

Alongside the cost per trade, most UK online brokers also charge a monthly, quarterly, or annual management fee, which varies based on the account type and balance. Based on our thorough review, CMC Invest offers better pricing than Charles Stanley Direct for share dealing.

Assuming a £30,000 portfolio size, here are the total annual costs for share dealing with both brokers, given different monthly activity scenarios.

5 trades per year - Charles Stanley Direct would cost £57.50 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.

12 trades per year - Charles Stanley Direct would cost £138 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.

36 trades per year - Charles Stanley Direct would cost £414 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.

120 trades per year - Charles Stanley Direct would cost £1,380 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 / £120 / £300 per year.

3 fund trades per year - Charles Stanley Direct would cost £0 per year, while CMC Invest would cost £0 per year.

Charles Stanley Direct requires a minimum deposit of £0, while CMC Invest requires a minimum deposit of £0. From our testing we found for accounts between £0 - £250,000 Charles Stanley Direct charges annual custody fees of £60 - £600, while CMC Invest charges annual custody fees of £120.

Charles Stanley Direct offers investors access to ISA, SIPP, Share Trading, Funds, ETFs, Bonds - Corporate, Bonds - Government (Gilts), Investment Trusts and Advisor Services, while CMC Invest offers investors access to ISA, SIPP, Share Trading, Funds, ETFs and Investment Trusts. Neither have CFD Trading, Spread Betting and Crypto Trading. Investing encompasses a wide variety of asset classes, so finding a broker that offers every investment type you are interested in is important.

Self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) and individual savings accounts (ISAs) are tax-advantaged savings accounts that are an important tool for many individual investors. You can read more about how these accounts operate at Gov.UK: Click here for SIPP information and here for ISA information. Our analysis finds that Both Charles Stanley Direct and CMC Invest offer SIPP and ISA accounts.

In our analysis of top brokers for share dealing in the U.K., we research whether each broker offers the ability to trade cash cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ethereum, which is still a somewhat rare offering amongst major U.K. brokers. Our review finds that neither Charles Stanley Direct nor CMC Invest offer crypto investing.

Our testing concluded that the website of CMC Invest is better than the website of Charles Stanley Direct. CMC Invest offers more functionality, is cleanly designed, and is, overall, easier to use for beginners and casual investors.

To compare the trading platforms of both Charles Stanley Direct and CMC Invest, we tested each broker's stock trading app. All features compared, our analysis finds that CMC Invest offers a better mobile app. Dive deeper: Best Stock Trading Apps UK.

Educational offerings are of particular importance to those who are newer to investing, and we examine the availability of several different types of educational materials in our analysis. Our research finds that Charles Stanley Direct offers traders access to Client Webinars (Archived), Education (Share Trading), Education (Funds) and Education (Retirement), while CMC Invest offers access to Education (Share Trading), Education (Funds) and Education (Retirement). Neither have Client Webinars.