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Freetrade ReviewInteractive Brokers UK Review
Written by Elizabeth Anderson, Blain Reinkensmeyer
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Your capital is at risk.
Interactive Brokers is a sophisticated investment platform aimed at experienced investors, although its low fees also put the broker within reach of those just starting out and looking to invest small amounts. IBKR offers a wide range of investing tools and features, but this does make the platform more complicated to use than other competitors that focus on simplicity for beginner investors. That said, you can open a demo account to explore the full platform before committing any money.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£0 -
ISA:
Yes -
SIPP:
Yes
Interactive Brokers pros & cons
Pros
- Low commissions for stock trading and no minimum deposit.
- Shares, ETFs, funds, investment trusts, and bonds are all available at Interactive Brokers.
- Options, futures, forex, and CFDs are also available to traders seeking higher risk.
- 14,000 mutual funds are available with no transaction fees or custody charges; this is unique among other U.K. brokers.
- Fractional shares are available; this is great forbeginner investors.
- The powerful trading tools available at Interactive Brokers earned it my top choice as the best trading platform for active traders in 2024.
- I found IBKR’s fantastic mobile app to be one of the best stock trading apps in the U.K.
Cons
- Can be complex to understand and use as a new investor.
- Educational content is U.S.-focused, not tailored to the U.K.
- IBKR’s most powerful platforms and tools may appear overwhelming to new investors.
- Charges at Interactive Brokers can be confusing.
Overall summary
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Charges & Fees |
|
| Investment Choices |
|
| Mobile App |
|
| Website |
|
| Ease of Use |
|
| Education |
|
Charges and fees
Interactive Brokers’ fees can be confusing but, overall, they are low — particularly if you are looking to buy mutual funds, stocks, or options. IBKR is available in many countries and each has its own pricing structure. Fees are mostly charged using a mixture of fixed fees and percentage fees.
Shares and ETFs: There are no custody or platform charges. Shares and ETFs listed in the U.K. are priced at a fixed £3 per trade, up to the value of £6,000, and $1 for U.S. stocks. This means you’d pay a total of £36 annually to Interactive Brokers if you make 12 U.K. trades a year, and for 120 trades a year, you’d pay £360. For trades above £6,000, the cost is 0.05% of trade value. This means that buying £10,000 worth of shares would cost you only £5, which works out to be very low cost.
Mutual funds: The fee for mutual funds is £4.95. However, IBKR offers 14,000 mutual funds with no transaction fee or platform charges. This is very unusual among all the brokers we tested. In fact, Interactive Brokers is the only platform to offer funds with no custody fees or dealing charges.
Bonds: Trading fees for bonds in the UK are 0.1% for the first £10,000 in trade value, falling to 0.025% on amounts above £10,000.
Stocks and shares ISA: Watch out for the £3 minimum monthly activity fee for a stocks and shares ISA (or £1 for a junior stocks and shares ISA). This fee is applied if you don’t pay at least £3 worth of trading commissions each month, which means you need to make at least one stock trade each month to not be penalized. If you don’t have much in your ISA and don’t intend to trade often, this fee could really eat into your money.
Also, be mindful of withdrawal fees. You can make one cash withdrawal from your Interactive Brokers account for free each month, but additional withdrawals come with a £7 fee.
Scenario pricing: When calculating annual share dealing costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming a £30,000 portfolio in a traditional, taxable share dealing account, here are five scenarios of how much Interactive Brokers would cost based on trade frequency:
- 5 trades per year = £15
- 12 trades per year = £36
- 36 trades per year = £108
- 120 trades per year = £360
- 3 fund trades per year = £0 / £14.85
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £0 |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £3 |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £3 |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £3 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 | 0 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K | 0 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m | 0 |
| Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over | 0 |
| Bonds - Corporate - Fee | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | 0.1% (for <10,000 EUR) 0.025% (for >10,000 EUR) |
| ETFs - Fee | £3 |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | £25 |
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.
Mobile trading apps
Interactive Brokers offers an excellent mobile app. Everything you would want to know about a company stock or asset is there, including the next dividend date, analyst views, and a chart showing recent historical performance. Further information can be found by selecting the ‘Trading Central’ tab at the bottom of the screen, which takes you to extended research including target price and investor sentiment.
Another great feature is the ability to customise the homepage to make it more tailored to your interests. For example, you can change your default region and select whether you want your watch list and market indices displayed on the homepage.
There are more than 90 order types you can make when buying stock — such as market price, limit price, or if the stock drops by a specified percentage. A new feature allows you to place a trade based on a specified amount of cash, rather than in quantity of shares, making it easier for you to spend exactly the amount you expect.
A more basic app called IBKR GlobalTrader is also available for investors looking to trade small amounts, including fractional shares which I believe makes trading more accessible to all investors. It is a slimmed-down version of the main IBKR mobile app. You can make use of both apps — the same login details are carried over, along with your purchases and watch list.
Tap for a demo of Interactive Brokers' U.K. trading app.
Website
Interactive Brokers’ Trader Workstation is a desktop platform designed for seasoned, active traders who trade multiple products. Most everyday investors will not need this and will find enough through the general web platform.
Through the web portal, you have access to a huge amount of data, learning materials, and investment options. The PortfolioAnalyst tab gives you detailed information about your historical investment performance, your top portfolio movers, and your ESG score. It’s easy to buy or sell shares or investments. A mutual fund scanner allows you to search for mutual funds according to where it's free to buy, country, provider, or type (such as equities or bonds).
Overall the web portal offers very useful material and options for any investor. I found it to be one of the most comprehensive of all the U.K. platforms I tested.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes |
| iPhone App | Yes |
| Android App | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 96 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 80 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes |
Are you new to investing?
We thoroughly tested 17 top U.K. brokerages to find the best choices for beginner investors. Read more in our guide.
Investment choices
There is a huge range of investments available through Interactive Brokers, and this is one of the broker’s main selling points. The IBKR GlobalTrader platform allows you to trade across 90 stock markets worldwide, including the Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange, and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Interactive Brokers is rare among U.K. investment platforms in offering access to stock markets in Asia.
Through Interactive Brokers, you can invest in company shares, ETFs, funds, and bonds. Options, futures, forex, and CFDs are also available to traders seeking higher-risk investments.
You can invest from as little as $1 by buying fractional shares, which is a great entry point for new investors looking to invest small amounts of money. You can also make deposits in up to 28 different currencies, which is more than any other U.K. platform offers.
One downside of Interactive Brokers is that it doesn’t offer ready-made diversified portfolios that investors can simply buy into without having to worry about selecting their own investments. This is likely because IBKR is aimed at investors who are experienced in choosing their own assets.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes |
| ETFs | Yes |
| Funds | Yes |
| Bonds - Corporate | Yes |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | Yes |
| Investment Trusts | Yes |
| Spread Betting | No |
| Crypto Trading | No |
| Advisor Services | No |
Education
I find comprehensive platforms like the one offered by Interactive Brokers initially difficult to navigate. Fortunately, you can open a simulated trading account with up to $1,000,000 in virtual currency to learn about the platform and see if it's right for you before committing any actual money.
The research materials offered by IBKR are excellent. When selecting a stock, you can see upcoming events such as dividend declarations, fundamentals such as analyst ratings, and a ESG rating, along with news such as research reports, press releases and market commentary. The research material is among the most comprehensive of the 20+ investment platforms I test in the U.K. and is available to users in demo mode — so you don’t even need to trade real money to access it.
The educational materials currently available on the Interactive Brokers U.K. site are also excellent, although mostly U.S.-focused. However, IBKR offers a wide range of free webinars, courses, and commentaries that are useful for any investor in any region.
| Feature |
Interactive Brokers
|
|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
Final thoughts
I believe Interactive Brokers is a clear winner for professionals and frequent U.K. traders seeking an institutional-grade trading platform. It also offers low charges and extensive investment options worldwide. For newer investors, IBKR is more intimidating but the demo account offers a good way to learn more about the platform and investing in general.
About Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers was founded in 1977 by Thomas Peterffy and is headquartered in Connecticut in the U.S. It is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker ‘IBKR.’ Interactive Brokers says it has 2.56 million account holders across 200 countries, with 2.7 million trades executed a day across the whole group.
Is my money safe with Interactive Brokers?
Yes, Interactive Brokers is regulated by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) in the U.S. and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) in the U.K., meaning customers’ money is protected up to the value of £85,000 in the U.K.
Is Interactive Brokers good in the UK?
Interactive Brokers is a highly sophisticated trading platform. While aimed at more experienced investors, it is targeting a wider range of Britons through its low fees.
Does Interactive Brokers charge fees?
Interactive Brokers does not charge custody fees but does charge trading fees of £3 for stocks and ETFs in the U.K.
How much does Interactive Brokers charge in the U.K. for ISA?
It’s free to open and hold an ISA with Interactive Brokers, but you will pay trading charges for stocks and ETFs. Interactive Brokers is the only U.K. platform to offer funds with no custody fees or dealing charges.
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Methodology
For the UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Review, we assessed, rated, and ranked 17 U.K. share dealing platforms over a 10-week time period. Each broker’s platforms and features were exhaustively tested by hand and graded on 53 different variables. In total, over 25,000 words of research were produced.
We thoroughly tested and compared features of prime interest to everyday investors, including but not limited to:
- Investment choices, such as whether the broker offers trading of shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, and CFDs; and offers SIPP and ISA accounts.
- The broker’s charges and fees for investing.
- Functionality and design of mobile apps and website platform, and a fluid experience moving between app and web.
- Usability of tools such as charting and watch lists.
- Market research, such as screening, news and analysis.
- Educational resources including tutorials, online courses, videos, webinars and articles.
Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Our lead researcher and writer, Elizabeth Anderson, has more than a decade’s experience as a financial journalist and market researcher. Elizabeth’s expertise is backed by a team of veteran fellow traders, data auditors, editors and project managers who work to ensure that UK.StockBrokers.com reviews and guides are the most unbiased and complete in the industry. Read more about our team.
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Show allAbout 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.
Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.
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.
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.