Written by StockBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Interactive Brokers vs Hargreaves Lansdown, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, investment options, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
Your capital is at risk.
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, Interactive Brokers 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 - Interactive Brokers would cost £15 per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £59.75 / £104.75 if in ISA. per year.
12 trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £36 per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £143.40 / £188.40 if in ISA. per year.
36 trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £108 per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £430.20 / £475.20 if in ISA. per year.
120 trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £360 per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £1,074 / £1,119 if in ISA. per year.
3 fund trades per year - Interactive Brokers would cost £0 per year, while Hargreaves Lansdown would cost £1 per year.
What type of trader are you?
New to the world of investing? See our picks for the Best UK Trading Platforms for Beginners. More experienced traders should read our guide to the Best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders.
Interactive Brokers and Hargreaves Lansdown are two prominent online brokers in the UK, each offering a wide selection of investment options. Both brokers support trading in shares, ETFs, funds, corporate bonds, government bonds (gilts), and investment trusts. However, Interactive Brokers distinguishes itself by offering crypto and CFD trading, which are not available through Hargreaves Lansdown. On the other hand, Hargreaves Lansdown provides advisor services, a feature absent from Interactive Brokers. Both brokers have received impressive ratings, with each earning a perfect 5 stars for investment choices from UK.StockBrokers.com.
For UK investors seeking diverse trading opportunities, the choice between these two platforms may depend on specific trading needs. Interactive Brokers secures a higher position in investment choice rankings, landing at #2 out of 21 brokers, whereas Hargreaves Lansdown sits at #4. This suggests that while both brokers offer comprehensive trading options, Interactive Brokers may provide a slightly broader range of investments to meet varied investor preferences.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes | No |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Funds | Yes | Yes |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes | Yes |
| Investment Trusts | Yes | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No | No |
| Crypto Trading | Yes | No |
| Advisor Services | No | Yes |
| Investment Choices |
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Low-cost US and UK shares.
Professional’s Gateway to the World’s Markets.
For UK investors comparing the online trading tools of Interactive Brokers and Hargreaves Lansdown, both platforms excel in offering essential features like displaying corporate events on charts and providing browser-based platforms. Interactive Brokers comes out ahead with an impressive array of 80 drawing tools and 96 technical indicators, compared to Hargreaves Lansdown's 11 drawing tools and 15 indicators. This makes Interactive Brokers particularly appealing for those interested in extensive chart analysis. Additionally, Interactive Brokers supports the addition of notes to charts, a feature absent in Hargreaves Lansdown’s toolset.
Both brokers offer functionalities like index and stock overlays on charts, and tools to create alerts for stock price changes, providing traders with the ability to personalize and control their trading environment. While Interactive Brokers offers an extensive range of charting options, it lacks real-time market data, unlike Hargreaves Lansdown which provides this crucial feature. This could be a deciding factor for those who value up-to-the-minute market insights. Ultimately, traders may choose between the two based on their specific needs for advanced charting capabilities or immediate market data access.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 96 | 15 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 80 | 11 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | No |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | Yes |
When comparing Interactive Brokers to Hargreaves Lansdown for retirement accounts in the UK, both online brokers provide Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) and Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) accounts to help you reach your financial goals. This makes each a versatile option for those looking to manage their investments while planning for retirement. Interactive Brokers and Hargreaves Lansdown allow investors to take advantages of tax-efficient savings plans, adding flexibility and control over your retirement planning strategy.
Dive deeper: Best SIPP Providers, Best Stocks and Shares ISA Providers.
Interactive Brokers and Hargreaves Lansdown both offer mobile apps for iPhone and Android devices, meeting the needs of their tech-savvy users. According to UK.StockBrokers.com, Interactive Brokers leads with a top-tier mobile app rating of 5 stars, ranking 4th out of 21 brokers for mobile apps. By comparison, Hargreaves Lansdown enjoys a respectable 4.5-star rating and places 10th in the same ranking, providing a commendable yet slightly less celebrated mobile trading experience for its users.
Dive deeper: Best Stock Trading Apps UK.
When comparing Interactive Brokers and Hargreaves Lansdown for beginner investor education, both offer client webinars and educational materials on share trading, funds, and retirement. However, Interactive Brokers archives their webinars for on-demand viewing, unlike Hargreaves Lansdown. While Interactive Brokers holds an impressive 4.5-star rating for novice education from UK.StockBrokers.com, Hargreaves Lansdown edges ahead with a perfect 5-star rating. In terms of rank for beginner education among 21 brokers, Interactive Brokers sits at #8, whereas Hargreaves Lansdown secures a higher position at #4, making it a slightly more favored choice for newcomers in the UK seeking educational resources.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|---|
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | No |
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | Yes | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes | Yes |
| Education |
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Dive deeper: Best UK Trading Platforms for Beginners.
Interactive Brokers and Hargreaves Lansdown both provide comprehensive market research features for UK investors, including research reports for funds, portfolio allocation insights by asset class, and research coverage for shares, ETFs, and bonds. However, Interactive Brokers stands out by also offering research on CFDs, a feature not available with Hargreaves Lansdown. Whether you're interested in diversified portfolio strategies or specific asset research, both platforms provide valuable tools, with Interactive Brokers offering a slightly wider scope in terms of CFD research.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | No |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Research - Bonds | Yes | Yes |
| Research - Funds | Yes | Yes |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | Yes |
Which broker is better overall, Interactive Brokers or Hargreaves Lansdown? After collecting more than 900 data points over a 10-week period, we found Interactive Brokers to be a better trading platform overall.
Interactive Brokers is a sophisticated trading platform aimed at confident and institutional-grade investors. For newer investors, Interactive Brokers is more intimidating, though it's worth exploring the platform to see if you could save money or access more investments compared to other brokers.
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Interactive Brokers
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Hargreaves Lansdown
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Interactive Brokers provides investors the option to trade cryptocurrencies, a feature not available with Hargreaves Lansdown, appealing to traders seeking exposure to digital assets.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
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| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Hargreaves Lansdown Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
| Investments | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISA | Yes | Yes | |
| SIPP | Yes | Yes | |
| Share Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| CFD Trading | Yes | No | |
| Funds | Yes | Yes | |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Bonds - Corporate | Yes | Yes | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes | Yes | |
| Investment Trusts | Yes | Yes | |
| Spread Betting | No | No | |
| Crypto Trading | Yes | ||
| Advisor Services | No | Yes |
| Trading Fees | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £0 | £1 | |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £3 | £11.95 | |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £3 | £8.95 | |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £3 | £5.95 | |
| 5 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £15 | £59.75 / £104.75 if in ISA. | |
| 12 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £36 | £143.40 / £188.40 if in ISA. | |
| 36 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £108 | £430.20 / £475.20 if in ISA. | |
| 120 trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £360 | £1,074 / £1,119 if in ISA. | |
| 3 fund trades per year (£30k portfolio) | £0 / £14.85 | £135 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | £0 | Up to £1,125 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | £0 | Up to £625 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | £0 | Up to £1,250 | |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | £0 | Up to £1,000 | |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) | £20 - £50 | |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) | £20 - £50 | |
| ETFs - Fee | £3 | £5.95 - £11.95 | |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A | £5.95 - £11.95 | |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | £25 | £20 - £50 |
| Broker Screenshots | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
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| Platforms & Tools | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| iPhone App | Yes | Yes | |
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Stock Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 96 | 15 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 80 | 11 | |
| Charting - Notes | Yes | No | |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes | Yes |
| Research | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research - Shares | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - CFDs | Yes | No | |
| Research - Funds | Yes | Yes | |
| Fund Research - Research Reports | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Yes | |
| Research - Bonds | Yes | Yes | |
| Portfolio Allocation Breakdown | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes | Yes | |
| Education (Funds) | Yes | Yes | |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | No |
| Overall Summary | Interactive Brokers | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
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| Review | Interactive Brokers Review | Hargreaves Lansdown Review | |
| Winner | check_circle |
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