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Vanguard ReviewHargreaves Lansdown Review
Written by Elizabeth Anderson
Edited by Carolyn Kimball, Jeff Anberg
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Your capital is at risk.
As the U.K.’s biggest investment platform for individual investors, Hargreaves Lansdown offers a wide range of investment choices for either beginners or seasoned investors. While Hargreaves Lansdown offers thousands of funds, stocks, and bonds to choose from, it also offers ready-made portfolios for those not comfortable with choosing their own.
The transaction fees for shares and ETFs are higher than other platforms, but if you have a large investment pot then the price difference is negligible. A trading fee of £11.95 will not seem a huge amount if you are investing £5,000 into an ETF, for example. Hargreaves Lansdown can also work out to a good value in terms of service charges if you hold mostly ETFs or stocks.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£1 -
ISA:
Yes -
SIPP:
Yes
| Investment Choices | |
| Charges & Fees | |
| Website | |
| Education | |
| Mobile App | |
| Ease of Use |
Check out UK.StockBrokers.com's picks for the best investment platforms in 2025.
| #1 Lifetime ISA | Winner |
| #1 Junior ISA | Winner |
| 2025 | #4 |
| 2024 | #5 |
| 2023 | #10 |
| 2022 | #9 |
| 2021 | #10 |
| 2020 | #4 |
Table of Contents
Pros & cons
Pros
- Offers a wide range of accounts, including stock and shares ISAs and SIPPs.
- Lifetime ISAs, Junior ISAs, and Junior SIPPs are available.
- Low or no annual service fee if you hold shares or ETFs.
Cons
- Stock trading fees are high compared to other brokers, at £11.95 per trade.
- The mobile app is basic and charting is unsophisticated compared to better-ranking brokers.
- Service fees are expensive if you hold a high amount in funds.
Hargreaves Lansdown fees
Hargreaves Lansdown is the most expensive U.K. broker for one-off share trading, based on the 21 investment platforms I tested in 2025. Share dealing charges are £11.95 to buy and sell stocks, although the fee is reduced to as low as £5.95 for frequent trading.
If you are completely new to stock trading and are looking to invest low amounts into individual shares, I wouldn’t recommend doing it through Hargreaves Lansdown. Buying £100 worth of shares, for example, would immediately reduce the value of your investment to £88.05. You’d then pay another £11.95 if you subsequently wanted to sell.
If you are looking to invest small amounts, you’d be better off going through a platform such as Freetrade or Trading 212, which don’t charge commission on stock trades. Or you may want to try out paper trading on a broker such as eToro first, which offers demo accounts.
Nevertheless, Hargreaves Lansdown can work out to a very good value for trading larger amounts. Fees for reinvesting dividends are zero at Hargreaves Lansdown, compared to rival AJ Bell, which charges £1.50 for dividend reinvestment. Regular investing — where you invest in the same asset each month through direct debit — is now also free, which is another great benefit of Hargreaves Lansdown.
Funds are free to buy and sell on the Hargreaves Lansdown platform, which is good for those looking to invest in mutual funds (also called open-ended funds) for diversification. There is an annual management charge of 0.45% on mutual fund holdings of up to £250,000, and this charge can work out to be fairly expensive as your investments increase.
Trading fees for ETFs and investment trusts are £11.95, like company stocks. Annual custody fees for ETFs, shares, bonds, and investment trusts are capped at £45 a year through a stocks and shares ISA.
There are no custody charges through a general dealing account, which Hargreaves Lansdown calls a ‘fund and share account’. This means Hargreaves Lansdown can work out very competitive regarding service fees if you don’t hold mutual funds and choose ETFs instead, assuming you don’t trade too frequently and suffer the £11.95 trade fee.
Another pro of Hargreaves Lansdown is that it does not charge anything for Junior ISAs. There are no service fees or trading charges. This is unique among its rival brokers and I think is a real selling point for Hargreaves Lansdown when it comes to saving for your child. For Junior SIPPs, share trading charges are £5.95.
Scenario pricing: When calculating annual platform costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming a £30,000 portfolio in a general investment account, here are five scenarios of how much Hargreaves Lansdown would cost based on trade frequency:
- 5 trades per year = £59.75 / £104.75 if in ISA.
- 12 trades per year = £143.40 / £188.40 if in ISA.
- 36 trades per year = £430.20 / £475.20 if in ISA.
- 120 trades per year = £1,074 / £1,119 if in ISA.
- 3 fund trades per year = £135
| Feature |
 Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £1 |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £11.95 |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £8.95 |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £5.95 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | Up to £1,125 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | Up to £625 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | Up to £1,250 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | Up to £1,000 |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | £20 - £50 |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | £20 - £50 |
| ETFs - Fee | £5.95 - £11.95 |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | £5.95 - £11.95 |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | £20 - £50 |
What type of trader are you?
New to the world of investing? See my picks for the best UK trading platforms for beginners. More experienced traders should check out my guide to the best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders. If you're looking to trade shares on the go, read my guide to the best UK stock trading apps.
Range of investments
Hargreaves Lansdown offers a very wide range of investments, from company stocks and ETFs to investment trusts and bonds. You can buy company shares through 20 international stock exchanges based in Europe and North America.
It’s easy to feel the platform is overwhelming at times, particularly for beginners, as there are thousands of investments to choose from. Those just starting out may find it helpful to explore Hargreaves Lansdown’s Wealth Shortlist, which highlights funds that Hargreaves Lansdown recommends for the best long-term performance potential.
There are also HL Portfolio Funds, HL Portfolio Building Blocks, and HL Select Funds. These are simple all-in-one investment fund options for people who want diversification straight away. They are managed by Hargreaves Lansdown Fund Managers Ltd, with annual fees starting from 0.62%.
If you are still too overwhelmed by the many investment choices offered, Hargreaves Lansdown is one of the only U.K. brokers to offer financial adviser services. This includes personal advice on investments, retirement, inheritance tax, and financial planning. The charges are either 1% to 2% of the value of your assets, plus VAT, which is about in line with industry averages, or a minimum of £995 — whichever is higher.
Hargreaves Lansdown also offers an Active Savings Account, which means you can earn competitive interest rates for cash held in your account through partner banks. This is unique among U.K. brokers. It also offers a cash ISA on its platform. Hargreaves Lansdown itself pays a generous 3% interest on cash held in your account.
Hargreaves Lansdown is just one of a handful of brokers offering Lifetime ISAs, which is another benefit of its wide range of investment choices.
| Feature |
Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes |
| CFD Trading | No |
| ETFs | Yes |
| Funds | Yes |
| Bonds - Corporate | Yes |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes |
| Investment Trusts | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No |
| Crypto Trading | No |
| Advisor Services | Yes |
Hargreaves Lansdown ISA review
The Hargreaves Lansdown stocks and shares ISA is a great option for both beginners and experienced investors. You can start with a £100 lump sum or £25 a month.
You can invest in thousands of shares, funds, and bonds. Or, if you don’t want to choose your own investments, there are ready-made portfolios managed by Hargreaves Lansdown’s team.
Platform: The app and website are detailed and easy to use. Customer service is reliable, with quick phone support, though there’s no in-app chat at the moment.
Hargreaves Lansdown also lets you access cash ISAs from other banks through its platform. Rates over 4% are available, so you can earn competitive interest without managing multiple accounts.
Pricing: Platform fees are 0.45% for mutual funds under £250,000, with the rate tapering to 0% on amounts over £2 million. For £15,000 in funds, you’d pay £67.50 a year, plus fund manager charges.
So if you have £15,000 invested in mutual funds, you’d pay Hargreaves Lansdown a fee of £67.50 a year. This is on top of separate fees to the fund manager (these are typically less than 0.5% or 1% a year).
For shares or ETFs, the platform fee is 0.45% but capped at £45 a year, making it good value for larger portfolios. Share and ETF trades cost £11.95, so this isn’t ideal for small or frequent trades. However, if you invest at least £25 a month through regular investing, you’ll pay no trading charges. There are no trading charges for mutual funds.
Overall, Hargreaves Lansdown offers a great stocks and shares ISA. However, if you have a high amount invested in mutual funds, you may find a cheaper platform elsewhere.
Mobile trading apps
Hargreaves Lansdown’s mobile app is straightforward to use, although in my opinion is more basic compared to other platforms such as Interactive Brokers and Saxo. There are no charting tools, and you can’t overlay different stocks or indices to compare historical performance.
The news tab is updated regularly and you can also read investment ideas from Hargreaves Lansdown analysts.
Elizabeth's take:
"In my testing of the app, I found it easy to create a watch list or find information about funds or companies. I also found it easy to place a trade."
Tap for a demo of Hargreaves Lansdown's U.K. trading app.
Trading platforms
The website for Hargreaves Lansdown offers a huge range of helpful articles and calculators, such as a useful pension calculator and a household budget calculator.
You can annotate stock charts and overlay charts to compare different stocks and indices, a feature that is not available on the mobile app. However, there are no drawing tools and only 15 chart indicators. Some platforms offer more than 100 chart indicators. Bear in mind though that charting tools are not likely to be needed by most everyday investors, so the lack of in-depth chart tools should not necessarily put you off unless you are an active trader.
| Feature |
Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes |
| iPhone App | Yes |
| Android App | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 15 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 11 |
| Charting - Notes | No |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes |
Education
Hargreaves Lansdown is known for its extensive array of educational material. It offers many guides and articles to people looking to learn more about investing and the stock market.
There are around 200 videos on its YouTube channel that explain investing FAQs and feature fund manager interviews. However, I’d like to see the broker offer a video demonstrating how new customers can get the most from the platform, which would be very useful. Currently, no video walkthroughs appear to exist either on the website or YouTube channel.
| Feature |
Hargreaves Lansdown
|
|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | No |
Final thoughts
Hargreaves Lansdown is a very safe bet if you are looking to invest through an ISA, SIPP or general investment account. It is also one of just a few brokers offering Junior SIPPs, which is good if you are looking to open a pension for a child (although the child will require a separate login and password, which can be a hassle).
If you invest in funds — as many new investors looking for diversification do — Hargreaves Lansdown’s annual service fee of 0.45% is on the higher end. But it’s only really an issue once your investments grow to be worth tens of thousands of pounds. On an investment portfolio worth £100,000, for example, you’d pay £450 a year to Hargreaves Lansdown in service fees. In comparison, Vanguard would charge £150 and AJ Bell would charge £250.
However, if you only invest in shares and ETFs, Hargreaves Lansdown can work out very cost effective as there are no service fees through a general dealing account, or are capped at £42 a year through a stocks and shares ISA.
Hargreaves Lansdown Star Ratings
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Hargreaves Lansdown
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| Charges & Fees |
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Our testing
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.
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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About Hargreaves Lansdown
Headquartered in Bristol, Hargreaves Lansdown has been around for more than 40 years and is the U.K.’s biggest stockbroker for private investors. More than £130 billion is invested through its platform by around 1.8 million customers. The company was founded by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown in 1981 and is now listed on the FTSE 100.
About the Editorial Team
Elizabeth Anderson, lead writer and researcher, has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. In addition to her work with UK.StockBrokers.com, she has written extensively for major publications including BBC, The Times and Bloomberg. A keen investor herself, she is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing.
Carolyn Kimball is a former managing editor for Reink Media and former lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.
Jeff Anberg is a Senior Editor at UK.StockBrokers.com. Along with years of experience in media distribution at a global newsroom, Jeff has a versatile knowledge base encompassing the technology and financial markets. He is a long-time active investor and engages in research on emerging markets like cryptocurrency. Jeff holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature with a minor in Philosophy from San Francisco State University.
Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for UK.StockBrokers.com and ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.