What is the best stocks and shares app for beginners in the UK?

Beginners will likely want to prioritise low fees. This means you can invest small amounts without being stung by high trading charges. The U.K. brokers with the lowest stock trading fees are Freetrade , Trading 212 , XTB and eToro . You may also want to consider an app that offers good educational material to help you on your way. All the low-cost apps mentioned above — Freetrade, Trading 212, XTB and eToro — offer some educational content and FAQs, but you will find more in-depth articles on their websites. Other apps offering great learning resources are Dodl (run by AJ Bell ) and IG Academy (run by broker IG ). IG Academy has articles on how to use and trade investment products, and in-depth courses for those wanting to learn more about trading.

What is the best app for buying shares in the UK?

It depends somewhat on what you're looking for and your level of experience. Beginners may find it best to start with eToro , which has no trading fees and allows you to buy fractional shares (you must invest a minimum of $10, equal to around £8 currently). For those investing large sums of money and who want more bells and whistles, Saxo or Interactive Brokers offer more extensive research and chart tools.

What is the best day trading app in the UK?

Of all the brokers we examine, Saxo , Interactive Brokers , AJ Bell , Hargreaves Lansdown , eToro and IG all stand out for day trading. However, be mindful of trading fees if buying smaller quantities of shares. EToro, Freetrade, XTB and Trading 212 offer the ability to trade stocks commission-free, so these may be a better fit if you are starting out.

What is the best automated trading app in the UK?

Automated trading allows you to buy and sell stocks and other assets without having to place a manual order. A platform can trade automatically on your behalf based on predetermined entry and exit conditions. Automated trading is aimed at experienced traders and those trading large amounts. U.K. mobile trading apps that allow automated trades include Saxo , Interactive Brokers and IG .

Best Stock Trading Apps UK of 2024

Written by Elizabeth Anderson, Blain Reinkensmeyer
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Carolyn Kimball

March 10, 2024

The UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Review is the result of 10 weeks of hands-on testing and analysis of U.K. investing platforms. It produced thousands of words of research and hundreds of data points. Here's how we tested. Our editorial content is independent and unbiased; here’s how we make money.

In today’s fast-paced world, having a great mobile app is important for any company interacting with consumers. For stock brokers, a mobile app gives customers the ability to check investments through a smartphone and trade on the go.

A great investing app should be easy to use, whether you are a beginner or experienced investor. Fundamentally you need to buy and sell easily, and to find it easy to search for stocks and to create a watch list. Ideally, the app would also have great research and educational material, chart features and the ability to filter investments by sector and country.

In our hands-on testing of the best share trading apps available in the U.K., we were on the whole impressed by the mobile apps offered by the 17 brokers in our review (only one, Vanguard, does not yet offer a mobile app – you have to log in through a web browser on your phone).

All brokers offer similar app features and it was hard to come up with a shortlist of six. To excel in our analysis, a broker had to offer an extraordinary stock trading and investing experience across different usability categories. The ones selected below are those we found easiest to use, and offered an extensive range of investments alongside in-depth research and chart tools. Testing was done through an iPhone 15 Pro (Apple iOS).

Overall, we applaud the industry for offering U.K. investors a wide range of solid mobile experiences.

people Why listen to UK.StockBrokers.com?

Our team has been studying the U.K. and international markets since 2016 and comprises several decades' worth of experience in investment, industry analysis and journalism. Blain Reinkensmeyer, Elizabeth Anderson and Steven Hatzakis have personally conducted thousands of transactions throughout their respective careers, including the trading of shares, options, futures, cryptocurrencies and foreign exchange, and have fully tested each of the brokers' features first-hand on a variety of devices. Find out more about us and the way we examine brokerages.