How We Test

UK.StockBrokers.com was established in 2016 with a simple goal: to conduct in-depth, unbiased reviews to help U.K. investors find the best investment platform for their needs.

Our proprietary testing methodologies are constantly being refined, and we fact-check and audit data for our guides, reviews, and articles dynamically to ensure that our readers are getting the best, most up-to-date information. Our team collects data, tests products, and conducts research on an ongoing basis. Every single data point is carefully audited by our in-house analysts to ensure accuracy.

This rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust.

Broker evaluations and testing methodologies

Broker evaluations at UK.StockBrokers.com are based on our collected quantitative data as well as the qualitative observations and opinions of our expert researchers.

Our evaluation process begins with a comprehensive analysis and assessment of the broker's products and services. We examine all aspects of the broker's offering that may be of interest to the broker's customers. This involves a deep dive into all websites operated by the broker, all available content across a variety of mediums, and rigorous testing of the broker's proprietary tools and/or software. All of this research informs our rankings and ratings.

Testing devices

StockBrokers.com UK how we test trading laptop

All testing is conducted on modern devices that run the most up-to-date operating systems available. Our Desktop PC and laptops use Windows 11. For mobile testing, we use the iPhone 15 Pro running the latest version of iOS.

All testing on mobile devices is conducted via an 802.11n wireless WiFi connection; 5G connections are used when WiFi is not available. All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser.

Review categories

For the UK.StockBrokers.com 2025 Annual Awards, 21 U.K. brokers were assessed on 55 different variables across six categories: Charges & Fees, Investment Choices, Mobile App, Website, Education and Ease of Use.

Overall score calculation: Our six primary categories are factored in to compile the Overall ranking for each broker. The weightings of each category were as follows:

Review Category	Weighting
Charges & Fees	35%
Investment Choices	20%
Mobile App	15%
Website	10%
Education	5%
Ease of Use	15%

Each individual category score is also translated into a star rating. Specifically:

95% - 100% = 5 Stars
85% - 94.99% = 4.5 Stars
75% - 84.99% = 4 Stars
65% - 74.99% = 3.5 Stars
55% - 64.99% = 3 Stars
45% - 54.99% = 2.5 Stars
35% - 44.99% = 2 Stars
25% - 34.99% = 1.5 Stars
15% - 24.99% = 1 Stars
5% - 14.99% = 0.5 Stars
0% - 4.99% = 0 Stars

Variables

We hand-collect and audit data across more than 50 variables in our coverage of the best U.K. investment platforms. These variables may or may not be included in our annual scoring methodology. Click below to see all of the variables in our independent database.

Charges & Fees

Feature
Minimum Deposit info	The minimum amount required to open an account.
Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 info	Annual charges for accounts with holdings in funds of £0 - £250,000.
Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K info	Annual charges for accounts with holdings in funds of £250,000 - £500,000.
Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m info	Annual charges for accounts with holdings in funds of £500,000 - £1m.
Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over info	Annual charges for accounts with holding in funds of £1m and over.
Bonds - Corporate - Fee info	Fee per trade in Corporate Bonds.
Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee info	Fee per trade in Government Bonds (Gilts).
ETFs - Fee info	Fee per trade in ETFs.
Investment Trusts - Fee info	Fee per trade in Investment Trusts.
Real-Time Data Fee info	The fee for real-time data if it is not free.
Regular dealing fee info	Reduced fee for regular dealing
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month info	Fee per trade in shares when 0-9 deals were placed in the previous month.
Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month info	Fee per trade in shares when 10-19 deals were placed in the previous month.
Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month info	Fee per trade in shares when more than 20 deals were placed in the previous month.
Telephone Dealing Fee info	Fee per trade by telephone.

Education | Research

Feature
Client Webinars info	Provides educational client webinars through the web, at least one per month.
Client Webinars (Archived) info	Provides an archived area to search and watch previously recorded client webinars.
Education (Share Trading) info	A minimum of 5 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being stocks. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Education (Funds) info	A minimum of 5 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being funds. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Education (Retirement) info	A minimum of 5 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being retirement. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count.
Fund Research - Research Reports info	Are downloadable research reports available for the fund? Morningstar etc.
Portfolio Allocation Breakdown info	Displays a pie graph or bullet list breakdown of the client's current portfolio including % allocations. Examples: domestic equities, foreign equities, bonds, cash, fixed income.
Research - Bonds info	Offers fixed income research. Full quote and research results must be available for fixed income securities such as individual Government Bonds (Gilts).
Research - CFDs info	Offers CFDs research.
Research - ETFs info	Offers ETFs research.
Research - Funds info	Offers funds research.
Research - Shares info	Offers share trading research.

Investment Choices

Feature
Advisor Services info	Offers formal investment advisory services.
Bonds - Corporate info	Offers Corporate Bonds.
Bonds - Government (Gilts) info	Offers Government Bonds (Gilts).
CFD Trading info	Offers CFD Trading.
Crypto Trading info	Offers cryptocurrency trading.
ETFs info	Offers ETFs.
Funds info	Offers Funds
Investment Trusts info	Offers Investment Trusts.
ISA info	Offers ISAs.
SIPP info	Offers SIPPs.
Spread Betting info	Offers Spread Betting.
Share Trading info	Offers Share Trading.

Mobile Apps | Platforms & Tools

Feature
Android App info	An Android smartphone app available in the Google Play store.
Charting - Display Corporate Events info	Can show or hide multiple corporate events on a stock chart. Examples: dividends, earnings, splits, news.
Charting - Drawing Tools info	The number of drawing tools available for analyzing a stock chart. Examples include: pointer, trend line, arrow, note.
Charting - Index Overlays info	Adding an index (FTSE 100 or similar) overlay to a stock chart.
Charting - Indicators / Studies info	The total number of indicators / studies available to be included on a stock chart. Examples: SMA, MACD, RSI.
Charting - Notes info	Add notes to any stock chart.
Charting - Stock Overlays info	Adding a stock (BP, VOD, etc) overlay to a stock chart.
iPhone App info	Offers a downloadable iPhone app through the iOS app store.
Web Platform info	Offers a web (browser) based trading platform. Broker website does NOT count.
Stock Alerts info	Set basic stocks alerts. Examples: price alerts, volume alerts.
Real-Time Data info	Offers real-time data that is not on a delay for free.

View UK.StockBrokers.com scoring variables

Annual Awards

The UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Awards commend exceptional features and services in areas important to the everyday investor in the U.K. The Annual Awards represent the culmination of rigorous research, thorough analysis, and meticulous data collection.

Elizabeth Anderson, a veteran investor, journalist, and expert voice on the U.K. finance industry, serves as the lead writer for online broker reviews and directs research, testing, and scoring at UK.StockBrokers.com.

Category Awards

Category Winners for the UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Awards are brokers that stand out as the best of the best in our carefully curated Awards Categories. These Categories are designed to reflect the features, products, and services that matter most to investors, savers, and traders.

Click below to find a breakdown of the individual methodologies for our Category awards.

#1 Overall

The Overall category winner is determined by our proprietary formula that calculates the sum of rankings from our other core categories, including Charges & Fees, Investment Choices, Mobile App, Website, Education, and Ease of Use.

#1 Beginners

This award considers several factors important to new investors, such as a wide range of available assets, quality and breadth of educational material, ease of use, and a highly competitive pricing structure.

#1 Cash ISA

For the top Cash ISAs, we focused on easy-access ISAs that can be drawn from at any time. Our main priorities were the interest paid, how easy it is to open and view your account, the minimum deposit, whether the ISA is flexible, and how easy it is to withdraw money or transfer to another provider.

#1 Charges & Fees

This award recognizes the brokerage with the lowest share dealing costs, which vary significantly among U.K. platforms. Factors considered include trading commissions, transaction fees, custody fees, and other account fees.

#1 Ease of Use

This award goes to the brokerage that scored the highest in the Ease of Use category. Navigation, task efficiency, layout fluidity, responsiveness, and overall design were assessed to determine the overall usability of each broker’s website and mobile app.

#1 Education

This award recognizes the brokerage that scored the most points for the Education category, which factors in the availability and quality of articles, webinars and other materials surrounding various aspects of share dealing and investing.

#1 Investment Choices

This award recognizes the broker that scored the most points for the Investment Choices category, which considers availability of instruments such as stocks, bonds, CFDs, funds, and trusts.

#1 Mobile App

The Mobile App award recognizes the best mobile app for everyday investors. Key criteria included tools, research availability, ease of use, design, and responsiveness.

#1 Research

When ranking the best investment platforms for research, we looked at the information provided on companies and funds, whether the platforms offer lists or filters to help people narrow down the choices, and whether analyst recommendations were prominently shown. We considered whether research and educational material was presented in different formats, such as through text, video or webinars. We also tested chart tools across the mobile app and web.

#1 SIPP Provider

For the #1 SIPP provider award, we prioritised platform fees and trading charges, investment choice (including whether there are ready-made portfolios to choose from), ease of use, the mobile and desktop experience, the educational material and research available, and whether you have the option to pay for financial advice through the platform.

#1 Stocks and Shares ISA

For the best stocks and shares ISA in the UK, we considered platform and trading fees, investment choice, ease of use, and whether the broker offers a straightforward experience for new investors. We also gave bonus points to platforms that pay interest on cash and offer a flexible ISA.

#1 Website<

The #1 Website award recognizes the best web-based trading platform for the everyday investor. Key criteria include availability of tools, learning materials and data, as well as ease of use, design and responsiveness.

View Award Methodologies

Industry Awards

Industry awards are determined based on the measurable, data-driven criteria that decide our Category rankings as well as the opinion scores of our editorial team. These unique awards are designed to showcase the very best in the industry.

Click below to find a breakdown of the individual Industry Awards methodologies for broker awards.

#1 Flat-Fee Broker

This award recognises platforms that charge a set monthly or annual fee across the entire platform. When choosing the best flat-fee broker in the UK, we considered fees, investment range and account offerings, ease of use, educational materials, and having an intuitive mobile app.

#1 Junior ISA

This award recognises the U.K. investment platform offering the best Junior ISA. We considered fees, investment choice, and ease of use when deciding the winner. We prioritised providers with no management charges or trading fees, and a wide range of investment choices such as mutual funds, shares, ETFs and bonds – as well as ready-made portfolios for those who feel less comfortable with making their own choices. We also looked at how easy it is to access and pay money into the account.

#1 Junior SIPP Provider

This award recognises the U.K. investment platform offering the best Junior SIPP. We considered platform and trading fees, investment choice, minimum deposit, and how easy it is to set up, pay money in, and manage the account online.

#1 Lifetime ISA

Methodology: This award recognises the U.K. investment platform offering the best Lifetime ISA. We considered platform and trading fees, investment offerings, minimum deposit, and ease of use. We focused on the investment version of the Lifetime ISA, but also took into account any interest paid by providers on cash held in the account.