Best stocks and shares ISA - Trading 212
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Minimum Deposit |
ISA |
SIPP |
 Trading 212
|
 |
£1 |
Yes |
No |
Trading 212 is a great option for any investor looking to save through a stocks and shares ISA. There are no account management fees and no trading fees, making it the cheapest stocks and shares ISA that I tested.
Cash interest: You also earn 4.9% interest on uninvested cash, accrued daily. This means if you are new to investing and want to take it slow, you can still earn interest on money not yet invested. A 4.9% interest rate is higher than what many other providers are offering on their cash ISAs, so it is a great offer.
Flexible ISA: Another bonus is that Trading 212’s ISA is flexible – something only offered by a handful of investment providers. A flexible ISA means you can withdraw money and pay it back in without losing any of your ISA allowance for that year. If for some reason you need to temporarily withdraw £10,000 and pay it back before the end of the tax year, your overall £20,000 ISA allowance for the year wouldn’t fall to £10,000. I found it easy to withdraw money from the Trading 212 ISA. The money was in my current account instantly through faster payments, although Trading 212 says withdrawals can take up to three days.
Range of investments: The biggest drawback is that Trading 212’s investment options are fairly limited. You can only invest in shares or ETFs, and not mutual funds or bonds. However, you can still get diversification by choosing ETFs, rather than having to pick individual stocks yourself. Low-fee ETFs that match an index like the FTSE 100 or the American S&P 500 can serve this purpose well.
Find out more about its offering in my full review of Trading 212.
Best new ISA - XTB
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Minimum Deposit |
ISA |
SIPP |
 XTB
|
|
£0 |
Yes |
No |
XTB launched its stocks and shares ISA in December 2024 and is a strong rival to Trading 212. XTB’s selling points are its low fees and flexible ISA, which also pays generous interest on uninvested cash.
Fees: There are no platform charges or trading fees with XTB. However, like all platforms, XTB charges a fee for currency conversion if you’re buying shares in companies overseas — 0.5% of the trade value.
When withdrawing money from your XTB ISA, be aware there is a £5 fee if you’re taking out less than £50. For amounts above £50, withdrawals are free. Also watch out for the £10 a month inactivity charge, which is charged if you haven’t made a trade for more than 12 months or if no cash has been put in your account in the previous 90 days.
Cash interest: Through the XTB ISA, you earn 4.75% interest on uninvested cash so this actually makes it a strong choice as a savings platform as well as an investment platform. XTB’s ISA is flexible, meaning you can take money out and replace it without affecting your overall £20,000 annual ISA allowance.
Investment choices: You can invest in both shares and ETFs through XTB. It’s easy to search shares in the app but I found it difficult to sort ETFs by country or sector. Ideally you’d already know which ETF you want to buy before launching the XTB app.
Overall, XTB’s stocks and shares ISA offers a great way to invest in shares or ETFs at very low cost. Discover more about its full offering and account types at my comprehensive XTB review.
Best for investors with more experience - Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers’ (IBKR) stocks and shares ISA is a strong contender for investors who have more experience investing in the stock market. Having said that, it’s still a good option for newer investors willing to take on a learning curve.
Fees: There is a £3 monthly activity fee for IBKR’s stocks and shares ISA (there are no account management fees for a general dealing account). So if you only have a small amount to invest - perhaps less than £8,000 and don't trade often - this can work out more expensive than a broker that charges percentage fees and no minimum fees, such as AJ Bell or Hargreaves Lansdown.
Trading fees for UK company shares are £3 with IBKR – which is cheaper than many of its rivals but more expensive than Trading 212 or XTB, which don’t charge any trading fees at all. U.S. shares start at $1.70 or 0.05% of the trade value.
Many fund trades are free. So if you had a portfolio worth £5,000 or £30,000, for example, and invested in a fund each month, you’d simply pay annual fees of £36.
Mobile app: IBKR has one of the best mobile apps of any broker we reviewed in our annual ranking of the best UK investment platforms. There are also extensive research materials, educational guides, and charting tools on the app. Check out more at my full review of Interactive Brokers.
Stocks and shares ISA comparison
Choosing the right stocks and shares ISA provider is key to maximizing your investment potential while keeping fees low. Below, you'll find a comparison of top providers, highlighting their features, costs, and investment options to help you decide which one suits your needs best.
FAQs
What is a stocks and shares ISA?
A stocks and shares ISA, often called an investment ISA, is a tax-efficient way to grow your wealth by investing in assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or ETFs. Unlike a cash ISA, which offers a fixed or variable interest rate that often lags behind inflation, a stocks and shares ISA provides the potential for higher returns by tapping into the growth of financial markets. Crucially, any profits made within this ISA are shielded from income tax, capital gains tax, and dividend tax, making it an attractive choice for long-term savers and investors.
However, investing through a stocks and shares ISA comes with risks. The value of your investments can fluctuate, meaning you might lose money, especially if you need to withdraw funds during a market downturn. To manage this risk, it’s best to invest with a long-term perspective, at least three to five years (if not far longer), and consider diversified portfolios or funds that spread your money across multiple companies or sectors. This approach can help smooth out market volatility while giving your investments time to grow.
How does a stocks and shares ISA work?
A stocks and shares ISA works by allowing you to invest up to £20,000 per tax year in a tax-efficient account, with the allowance remaining unchanged for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 tax years. Contributions can be made to one or multiple ISAs, provided the total doesn’t exceed this annual limit. Once funds are added, you can invest in a variety of assets, such as stocks, ETFs, bonds, or mutual funds, depending on your risk appetite and financial goals. The key advantage is that any returns, whether through growth or dividends, are completely tax-free, making it an excellent tool for long-term wealth building.
Opening a stocks and shares ISA is straightforward. You’ll choose a provider, complete an application with basic personal and financial details, and decide whether to fund it via a lump sum or regular contributions. You can even transfer funds from an existing ISA without losing your tax benefits. The flexibility of this account means you can withdraw money whenever needed, and those withdrawals are also tax-free, offering a convenient way to supplement your income in retirement. However, remember that the value of investments can fluctuate, so a long-term approach is often the best way to maximize your returns.
Can I pay into two stocks and shares ISAs?
Yes, you can pay into multiple stocks and shares ISAs. Thanks to new flexible ISA rules introduced in April 2024, there are no restrictions to how many stocks and shares ISAs pay into each year. It used to be the case that you could only pay into one each tax year, but now you can open as many as you wish at as many providers as you'd like assuming you remain below the overall limit for contributions.
shopping_cart_checkoutShopping around?
There is nothing to stop you from opening and paying into several investment ISAs if you want to test out more than one platform. Just be sure to stay below the annual limit of £20,000 for individuals or £40,000 for married partners.
Can I have both a cash ISA and a stocks and shares ISA?
Yes, you can have both a stocks and shares ISA and a cash ISA. However, make sure your chosen provider accepts transfers in, if moving assets between the two, as not all providers do. Also, your investments in the stocks and shares ISA will need to be sold and held as cash before being transferred to your new provider. Make sure to keep the money in the ISA wrapper, rather than withdrawing the money to your bank account. You can also make partial transfers, so you don’t need to transfer the full amount. Check out my complete guide to ISAs in the UK to learn about all of the different options.
How much can you withdraw from a stocks and shares ISA without paying tax?
All withdrawals from an ISA are tax-free. This is the main benefit of ISAs as growth and withdrawals aren’t subject to capital gains tax, income tax, or dividend tax. In other words, you won’t pay any tax on the money you take out regardless of how much your investments grow.
What is the best stocks and shares ISA for beginners?
Vanguard is my top pick for beginners due to the uncomplicated investment choices and low fees despite its larger minimum deposit requirements. If you are new to investing, you are likely to want a platform that either charges no fees or low percentage fees rather than a fixed fee. This means you won’t pay any charges, or if you are charged fees it’ll be a small percentage of your investment. For example, if you invest £200 in a platform that charges an overall percentage fees of 0.30%, you’d only pay 60p (compared to a flat fee of £4.99 a month at a different ISA provider).
Providers offering no charges or low charges for their stocks and shares ISAs also include Trading 212, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, and Bestinvest. These platforms could all be a good starting point for beginners.
Other stocks and shares ISAs we rate
- Vanguard UK: Perfect for beginners with a simple, low-cost ISA limited to Vanguard funds. Minimum investments start at £500 or £100 monthly.
- AJ Bell: Great for investment choice, offering thousands of options. Annual fees start at 0.25%, but fund trades cost £1.50 each.
- Hargreaves Lansdown: Has a wide range of investment options and great customer support.
- Interactive Investor: Good value for portfolios of £20,000 and up due to flat fees starting from £4.99 a month.
- Bestinvest: Offers a flexible stocks and shares ISA with low charges and a free coaching session to get started.
Why you should trust us
Elizabeth Anderson has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. She’s written for major national newspapers, contributed to corporate reports and research, and reviewed dozens of share dealing platforms, SIPP providers, ISAs, and brokerage firms. Elizabeth started her career at Bloomberg and has worked for the BBC, The Telegraph, The Times and the i newspaper. She is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing. A keen investor herself, Elizabeth invests through general dealing accounts, ISAs and several SIPPs.
Steven Hatzakis is a well-known finance writer with 25+ years of experience in the foreign exchange and financial markets. He is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for Reink Media Group, leading research efforts for ForexBrokers.com since 2016. He has served as a registered commodity futures representative for domestic and internationally-regulated brokerages. Steven holds a Series III license in the US as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
All content on UK.StockBrokers.com is handwritten by a writer, fact-checked by a member of our research team, and edited and published by an editor. Our ratings, rankings, and opinions are entirely our own, and the result of our extensive research and decades of collective experience covering the U.K. brokerage industry.
Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Click here to learn more about how we test.
How we tested
At UK.StockBrokers.com, our online broker reviews are based on our collected quantitative data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research and collect hundreds of data points while testing brokerage firms, share dealing platforms, SIPP providers, ISA providers, and other financial service providers relevant to U.K. investors.
Mobile testing is conducted on modern devices that run the most up-to-date operating systems available:
- For Apple, we use MacBook Pro laptops running the latest version of and the iPhone 15 running the latest version of iOS.
- For Android, we use the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra devices running Android OS 14.
All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser.
Our researchers thoroughly test a wide range of key features, such as the availability and quality of trading platforms for web, desktop, and mobile, charting, real-time and streaming quotes, and educational resources – among other important variables. We also evaluate the overall design of the mobile experience, and look for a fluid user experience moving between mobile and desktop platforms.
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