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Freetrade vs Hargreaves Lansdown 2023

StockBrokers.com

Written by StockBrokers.com

August 03, 2023

Is Freetrade better than Hargreaves Lansdown? After scoring the best share dealing accounts across 46 different variables, our analysis finds that Hargreaves Lansdown is better than Freetrade. As the U.K.’s biggest investment platform for individual investors, Hargreaves Lansdown offers a wide range of investment choices for either beginners or seasoned investors. However, its fees are generally more expensive than rival brokers, which can become an issue for large investment pots.

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Broker Screenshots Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
Website Gallery (click to expand)
Mobile Trading Apps Gallery (click to expand)
Education Gallery (click to expand)
Overall Rating Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
Overall Rating 4.5/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Charges & Fees 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Investment Choices 4/5 Stars 5/5 Stars
Mobile App 4.5/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Website 3/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Ease of Use 5/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Education 4.5/5 Stars 5/5 Stars
Review Freetrade Review Hargreaves Lansdown Review
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Investments Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
ISA info Yes Yes
SIPP info Yes Yes
Share Trading info No Yes
CFD Trading info No No
Funds info No Yes
ETFs info Yes Yes
Bonds - Corporate info No Yes
Bonds - Government (Gilts) info No Yes
Investment Trusts info Yes Yes
Spread Betting info No No
Crypto Trading info No No
Advisor Services info No Yes
Trading Fees Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
Minimum Deposit info £1.0 £1.0
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month info £0 £11.95
Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month info £0 £8.95
Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month info £0 £5.95
5 trades per year (£30k portfolio) info £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) £59.75
12 trades per year (£30k portfolio) info £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) £143.4
36 trades per year (£30k portfolio) info £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) £430.2
120 trades per year (£30k portfolio) info £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) £1074
3 fund trades per year (£30k portfolio) info N/A £135
Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 info £0, £71.88, £143.88 Up to £1,125
Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K info £0, £71.88, £143.88 Up to £625
Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m info £0, £71.88, £143.88 Up to £1,250
Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over info £0, £71.88, £143.88 Up to £1,000
Bonds - Corporate - Fee info N/A £20 - £50
Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee info N/A £20 - £50
ETFs - Fee info £0 £5.95 - £11.95
Investment Trusts - Fee info £0 £5.95 - £11.95
Telephone Dealing Fee info N/A £20 - £50
Platforms & Tools Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
Web Platform info No Yes
iPhone App info Yes Yes
Android App info Yes Yes
Stock Alerts info No Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies info 0 15
Charting - Drawing Tools info 0 0
Charting - Notes info No No
Charting - Display Corporate Events info No Yes
Charting - Stock Overlays info No Yes
Charting - Index Overlays info No Yes
Research Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
Research - Shares info Yes Yes
Research - CFDs info No No
Research - Funds info No Yes
Fund Research - Research Reports info No Yes
Research - ETFs info Yes Yes
Research - Bonds info No Yes
Portfolio Allocation Breakdown info Yes Yes
Education Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
Education (Share Trading) info Yes Yes
Education (Funds) info Yes Yes
Education (Retirement) info Yes Yes
Client Webinars info No Yes
Client Webinars (Archived) info No No
Overall Summary Freetrade Hargreaves Lansdown
Overall Rating 4.5/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Charges & Fees 5/5 Stars 4/5 Stars
Investment Choices 4/5 Stars 5/5 Stars
Mobile App 4.5/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Website 3/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Research [DELETED] N/A N/A
Ease of Use 5/5 Stars 4.5/5 Stars
Education 4.5/5 Stars 5/5 Stars
Review Freetrade Review Hargreaves Lansdown Review
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Comparing online share dealing platforms side by side is no small task. For our 2023 review of U.K. brokers, nearly 600 data points were collected over a 10-week period and used to score each broker. Let’s compare Freetrade and Hargreaves Lansdown.

Freetrade vs Hargreaves Lansdown Comparison

For our 2023 Review, we assessed the best trading platforms in the UK for online share dealing. Let's compare Freetrade vs Hargreaves Lansdown.

Is Freetrade a good broker?

Overall Freetrade is a great platform to help you get to grips with investing. Costs are low, and its user-friendly mobile app offers great investment inspiration. Sophisticated investors, however, may find that other platforms offer a wider range of investment options and tools.

Is Hargreaves Lansdown a good broker?

As the U.K.’s biggest investment platform for individual investors, Hargreaves Lansdown offers a wide range of investment choices for either beginners or seasoned investors. However, its fees are generally more expensive than rival brokers, which can become an issue for large investment pots.

Which broker is less expensive?

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, Freetrade offers better pricing than Hargreaves Lansdown 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 - Freetrade would cost £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £59.75 per year.

12 trades per year - Freetrade would cost £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £143.4 per year.

36 trades per year - Freetrade would cost £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £430.2 per year.

120 trades per year - Freetrade would cost £0 (Basic plan), £71.88 (Standard), £143.88 (Plus) per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £1074 per year.

3 fund trades per year - Freetrade would cost £1.0 per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £1.0 per year.

How do Freetrade and Hargreaves Lansdown compare in terms of minimum deposits required?

Freetrade requires a minimum deposit of £1.0, while Hargreaves Lansdown requires a minimum deposit of £1.0. From our testing we found for accounts between £0 - £250,000 Freetrade charges annual custody fees of £0, £71.88, £143.88, while Hargreaves Lansdown charges annual custody fees of Up to £1,125.

Which broker offers a wider range of investment options?

Freetrade offers investors access to ISA, SIPP, ETFs and Investment Trusts, while Hargreaves Lansdown offers investors access to ISA, SIPP, Share Trading, Funds, ETFs, Bonds - Corporate, Bonds - Government (Gilts), Investment Trusts and Advisor Services. 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.

Do Freetrade and Hargreaves Lansdown offer ISA or SIPP accounts?

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 Freetrade and Hargreaves Lansdown offer SIPP and ISA accounts.

Do Freetrade and Hargreaves Lansdown offer cryptocurrency?

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 Freetrade nor Hargreaves Lansdown offer crypto investing.

Which broker offers a better website experience?

Our testing concluded that the website of Hargreaves Lansdown is better than the website of Freetrade. Hargreaves Lansdown offers more functionality, is cleanly designed, and is, overall, easier to use for beginners and casual investors.

Which stock trading app is better?

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

Do Freetrade and Hargreaves Lansdown offer educational resources?

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 Freetrade offers traders access to Education (Share Trading), Education (Funds) and Education (Retirement), while Hargreaves Lansdown offers access to Client Webinars, Education (Share Trading), Education (Funds) and Education (Retirement). Neither have Client Webinars (Archived).

Overall winner: Hargreaves Lansdown

Read Next: Best UK Trading Platforms 2023


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