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Freetrade ReviewXTB UK Review
Written by Elizabeth Anderson
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Your capital is at risk.
XTB made a splash in the U.K. with its July 2023 launch of commission-free share trading — having previously offered only CFD trading — and has set itself up as a strong competitor to the likes of Trading 212 and Freetrade. Its low fees and solid educational content will make XTB particularly attractive to newer investors. On the downside, it does not currently offer an ISA or SIPP, so you’re limited to trading through a general dealing account.
-
Minimum Deposit:
£0 -
ISA:
No -
SIPP:
No
XTB pros & cons
Pros
- Low fees: commission-free stock and ETF trading.
- Easy-to-use mobile app.
Cons
- Limited offerings: no mutual funds or bonds.
- Works out expensive if you trade more than £100,000 a month.
- No ISA or SIPP.
- Watch out for the £10 a month inactivity fee.
Overall summary
| Feature |
XTB
|
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
|
| Charges & Fees |
|
| Investment Choices |
|
| Mobile App |
|
| Website |
|
| Ease of Use |
|
| Education |
|
Charges and fees
XTB offers commission-free share and ETF trading for those trading less than €100,000 a month, so you’re unlikely to pay trading fees unless you are a highly active trader. Transactions above this amount are charged commission of 0.2% or a minimum of €10. This makes XTB great value for many investors, in line with other commission-free brokers Trading 212 and Freetrade.
It’s free to open and close an account with XTB, but a withdrawal fee of £12 is applied if you are taking out less than £60. There is also an inactivity fee of £10 a month charged if you don’t make a trade for more than 12 months, or if no cash is put in your account in the previous 90 days. So be mindful of opening an account and then leaving it idle as the costs could quickly rack up.
There are no custody charges for maintaining an account, unlike traditional U.K. platforms that either charge a percentage of your portfolio or a flat fee.
It’s free to pay GBP into your wallet, but a fee of 2% is charged if you want to hold U.S. dollars (USD).
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 four scenarios of how much XTB would cost based on trade frequency:
- 5 trades per year = £0
- 12 trades per year = £0
- 36 trades per year = £0
- 120 trades per year = £0
- 3 fund trades per year = N/A
| Feature |
XTB
|
|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | £0 |
| Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month | £0 |
| Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month | £0 |
| Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month | £0 |
| 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 | N/A |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee | N/A |
| ETFs - Fee | £0 |
| Investment Trusts - Fee | N/A |
| Telephone Dealing Fee | N/A |
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
The XTB mobile app is nicely laid out, featuring favourites and hot stocks on the homepage. The top tabs also feature news, market sentiment and your watch list – although I found it took a while for my watch list to synchronise from the web platform.
When testing the account, it was easy to put money into my XTB account using a debit card, and I could invest the money straight away.
The charting tools are not as extensive as offered on the website – for example, you can’t compare different companies on the same chart. However, you can add indicators and drawings including text.
Tap for a demo of XTB's U.K. trading app.
Are you new to investing?
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Website
XTB’s xStation 5 web platform has many trading tools for investors. There is a calendar of key economic news along with upcoming dividend announcements. You can view many assets, including indices, stocks, commodities and currencies.
XTB is still primarily a CFD broker and I think this comes across on its web platform. New investors may find it difficult to differentiate between real stocks and CFDs. To access stocks, click on ‘STC’; from there, you can search for stocks by country or by typing the company name or ticker into the search bar at the top. Simply click on the star button to add to your watch list or select the chart icon to bring up a detailed chart of a stock’s recent trading performance.
The charting tools and indicators on XTB are not as extensive as other platforms including Trading 212, IG and Interactive Brokers. However, key functions such as overlaying different stocks or indices on the same chart are available to make it easier to draw comparisons. Dividend announcement dates can also be added to a chart, and you can add text to annotate a chart.
Up to 16 charts can be created at one time so you can track various assets simultaneously. This is a great feature not offered by many other platforms.
| Feature |
XTB
|
|---|---|
| Web Platform | Yes |
| iPhone App | Yes |
| Android App | Yes |
| Stock Alerts | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 59 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 9 |
| Charting - Notes | Yes |
| Charting - Display Corporate Events | Yes |
| Charting - Stock Overlays | Yes |
| Charting - Index Overlays | Yes |
Investment choices
You can invest in more than 2,800 stocks from 16 stock exchanges through XTB, including the London Stock Exchange, NYSE and Deutsche Boerse. You can also invest in around 160 ETFs. Mutual funds or bonds are not available, although XTB says bonds are on the way.
In my testing, I thought international stocks were nicely integrated into the platform. Simply select ‘stocks’ (STC) and you’ll see a dropdown list of countries that you can open to view available stocks.
XTB recently launched a new product called ‘Investment Plan’, where you can design a personalised portfolio from 350 ETFs that align with your risk tolerance, industry preferences, or regional coverage. This means that while XTB doesn’t offer mutual funds, there is an option for investors to access a diversified, ready-made portfolio.
XTB also recently introduced interest rates on uninvested cash balances for certain currencies. Investors earn 5% per annum on GBP, 2% per annum on USD, and 2% per annum on their EUR uninvested holdings– rates that are competitive with bank savings accounts (check XTB's site for the most up-to-date rates).
| Feature |
XTB
|
|---|---|
| Share Trading | Yes |
| CFD Trading | Yes |
| Funds | Yes |
| Research - ETFs | Yes |
| Bonds - Corporate | No |
| Bonds - Government (Gilts) | No |
| Investment Trusts | No |
| Spread Betting | Yes |
| Crypto Trading | No |
| Advisor Services | No |
Education
XTB has put together a variety of educational content in various formats to help different levels of investors, whether beginner or advanced trader.
I found the course offerings to be very in-depth, with a video course on trading mindset coming in around two hours long. There is also a five-module course aimed at beginners called Trading Basics, which talks through terms such as ‘long’ and ‘short’. These courses are easily accessible on both the mobile app and website.
When you open an account, you are contacted by WhatsApp and email by a dedicated account manager ready to answer any questions you have. I found this very helpful. It’s a great feature for those who open an account and need guidance on what to do next.
| Feature |
XTB
|
|---|---|
| Education (Share Trading) | Yes |
| Education (Funds) | Yes |
| Education (Retirement) | No |
| Client Webinars | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes |
Final thoughts
XTB is a well-established brand that is making further inroads in the U.K. by offering a wider range of assets for retail investors. It appeals to both beginner and experienced investors, with charges that are extremely low unless you are trading a large volume of assets (more than €100,000 monthly).
The lack of a SIPP or ISA account is a drawback for those looking for long-term investments, but XTB’s general dealing account is a strong rival to other newer and traditional platforms on both fees and investment choices.
XTB is rapidly increasing its U.K. offerings, and we are excited to see what else it will launch in the coming year.
About XTB
XTB was founded in Poland in 2002 and now has 13 offices worldwide. It is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE: XTB.PL) and employs around 1,000 people. XTB began offering share trading in the U.K. in July 2023, having previously only offered forex and CFDs.
Is XTB regulated in the UK?
Yes, XTB is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under its U.K. entity XTB Limited (under license number 522157). This means it is authorised to hold customer funds and act as a broker for a wide range of investment products and asset classes. XTB also holds regulatory licenses across other jurisdictions outside the U.K.
Is XTB a good broker?
This depends on your individual circumstances and what you are looking for in a broker. XTB is still fairly basic in its share and investment options for everyday investors, so there may be other platforms — such as Freetrade, CMC Invest and Trading 212 — that also have low fees and are easier to navigate for beginners.
Is my money safe at XTB?
XTB holds regulatory licenses across various countries, making it very safe from a regulatory point of view. Like with any investment platform, there is always a chance you will lose money if your investments don’t perform as well as hoped.
What is the minimum investment for XTB?
You can open an account with £0 but the minimum amount for buying shares is £10, or $10 if buying U.S. shares and €10 for European shares.
Does XTB have fees?
There are no trading fees on trades worth less than £100,000 a month. For amounts above this, a charge of 0.2% applies. There is also a £10-a-month inactivity fee if you don’t trade for 12 months or haven’t added money into your account within the past 90 days.
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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.
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.
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.