How We Test

At UK.StockBrokers.com, we have a simple and straightforward mission: to provide thorough and unbiased reviews of online brokers.

For our current analysis of U.K. brokers, more than 900 data points were collected over a 10-week period and used to score brokers. This makes the site home to one of the largest independent databases on the web covering the online broker industry.

We also take pride in UK.StockBrokers.com's data quality. Every 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. Read more about our team.

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 ultimate scores.

Additionally, we consider a broker's regulatory status, which helps us determine whether you should trust the broker to keep your money safe.

Testing devices

All testing is conducted on modern devices that run the most up-to-date operating systems available. Our Desktop PCs run Windows 11, and we use MacBook Pro laptops running macOS 12.4 for trading on the go. For mobile testing, we use the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra devices running Android OS 12.

All testing on mobile devices, which also informs our guide to the best mobile apps in the U.K., is conducted via an 802.11n wireless WiFi connection; 4G 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 our current review of UK trading platforms, all U.K. brokers were assessed on 53 different variables across six areas: 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:

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

See also

• Why Trust Us
• Meet the Team