Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Freetrade vs InvestEngine: Which Is Better for UK Investors?
Ruby Layram
29th Jul 2026
Freetrade and InvestEngine are two of the UK’s most talked-about low-cost investing apps, and both are genuinely beginner-friendly. But they’re built for slightly different jobs. Freetrade is a broad commission-free trading app covering individual shares, AIM stocks and ETFs. InvestEngine is an ETF-only platform built around simple, low-cost portfolio building and automated investing.
Here’s how they actually compare and which one is the best platform for UK investors in 2026.
Also read: eToro vs Trading212: Which Platform is the Cheapest?
Feature at a Glance
| Feature | Freetrade | InvestEngine |
| UK regulator | Authorised and regulated by the FCA | Authorised and regulated by the FCA |
| ISA provider | ISA offered directly by Freetrade under its own FCA permissions (flexible Stocks & Shares ISA) | ISA offered directly by InvestEngine under its own FCA permissions |
| Investor protection | Eligible investments protected under FSCS up to £85,000; client money held in segregated accounts | Eligible investments protected under FSCS up to £85,000 |
| Stock/ETF commission | £0 commission on trades across all plans | £0 commission on DIY ETF trades; Managed Portfolio costs 0.25%/year |
| FX fee | 0.99% (Basic) / 0.59% (Standard) / 0.39% (Plus) | None on ETF trades- all ETFs on the platform are GBP-denominated |
| ISA account fee | £0 on the free Basic plan; optional paid plans below | £0- no ISA platform fee on either DIY or Managed portfolios |
| Paid plan pricing | Standard £5.99/month (£4.99/month billed annually); Plus £11.99/month (£9.99/month billed annually) | No subscription tiers- single ISA product with DIY or Managed options |
| Minimum deposit | From £1; no minimum stated to open an ISA or SIPP | £100 minimum per portfolio; £10 minimum for recurring top-ups/AutoInvest |
| Range of stocks/ETFs | 8,200+ instruments: 900+ ETFs plus 400+ UK large/mid-cap stocks, 500+ AIM shares, and international shares | Wide range of ETFs from providers including Vanguard, iShares, Invesco, Xtrackers and J.P. Morgan; no individual company shares |
| Interest on uninvested cash | 1% AER up to £1,000 (Basic), 3% AER up to £2,000 (Standard), 5% AER up to £3,000 (Plus) | No interest paid to customers- InvestEngine retains interest earned on cash balances |
| Standout feature | Broad access to individual UK, AIM and international shares alongside ETFs, plus tiered cash interest | AutoInvest and ready-made Managed Portfolios for hands-off, automated ETF investing |
| Demo/practice account | Not offered, based on official site and help centre | Not offered, based on official site and help centre |
| Customer support | In-app chat and email support ([email protected]) | Dedicated Client Services team, help centre articles, education content and community forum |
Regulation & Safety
Both platforms are authorised and regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, and both are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which protects eligible investments up to £85,000 per person if the firm fails.
Freetrade’s official materials explain that it holds client money in segregated bank accounts kept separate from its own corporate funds, in line with FCA client asset rules- a standard safeguard that keeps your cash ring-fenced from the company’s own finances.
Neither platform’s FCA authorisation makes your investments themselves risk-free: FSCS protects you if the platform collapses, not from your investments simply falling in value.
Also read: The Best UK Investment Platforms
Fees Compared
On the free tier, both are genuinely low cost.
Freetrade’s Basic plan charges no commission and no subscription fee, but applies a 0.99% foreign exchange fee whenever you buy or sell something priced outside pounds sterling- this drops to 0.59% on the £5.99/month Standard plan and 0.39% on the £11.99/month Plus plan, which also unlock higher interest rates on uninvested cash.
InvestEngine’s DIY portfolio is commission-free with no FX fee, because every ETF on the platform is already denominated in pounds sterling- there’s simply no currency conversion happening. If you’d rather not build your own portfolio, InvestEngine’s ready-made Managed Portfolio option charges 0.25% a year on top of the underlying ETF costs.
Neither platform charges a fee just for holding a Stocks and Shares ISA.
Stocks & Shares ISA Comparison
Both providers offer a Stocks and Shares ISA directly, run under their own FCA permissions rather than outsourced to a separate third-party ISA manager, based on how each describes its ISA on its own site.
Freetrade’s ISA is described as ‘flexible’, meaning you can withdraw money and pay it back in within the same tax year without losing that portion of your annual ISA allowance.
InvestEngine’s ISA carries no platform fee at all, whether you choose the DIY or Managed route, and its help centre confirms there are no set-up, platform or withdrawal charges.
Investment Range: What Can You Actually Buy?
This is the clearest structural difference between the two.
Freetrade gives you access to over 8,200 instruments, including more than 900 ETFs, over 400 UK large and mid-cap stocks, more than 500 AIM-listed companies, and a range of international shares — so you can buy individual companies as well as funds.
InvestEngine, by contrast, is built specifically as an ETF investing platform. Its official site describes ETFs from providers such as Vanguard, iShares, Invesco, Xtrackers and J.P. Morgan, with fractional investing letting you put as little as £1 into any ETF. But based on InvestEngine’s own site and help centre, individual company shares aren’t part of what’s on offer.
If you specifically want to buy shares in, say, an individual UK or US company, Freetrade supports that; InvestEngine doesn’t.
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Interest on Cash & Unique Features
Freetrade pays interest on uninvested cash sitting in your account, tiered by plan: 1% AER on up to £1,000 for Basic members, 3% AER on up to £2,000 for Standard members, and 5% AER on up to £3,000 for Plus members, credited monthly.
InvestEngine’s help centre states plainly that it does not pass on interest to customers on uninvested cash — it retains any interest earned from its banking and custody partners instead.
On features, InvestEngine’s signature tools are AutoInvest and Managed Portfolios: AutoInvest lets you set up regular weekly, fortnightly or monthly contributions that get automatically allocated across your chosen ETFs, while Managed Portfolios are ready-built, professionally run options for people who’d rather not choose their own funds.
Freetrade’s strength is breadth, the ability to build a portfolio mixing individual UK and international shares with ETFs, all inside one app, alongside cash interest as a built-in perk of the paid plans.
Which Is Better for UK Beginners?
Neither platform is universally ‘better’- it depends on what kind of beginner you are.
- If you want the simplest possible route into investing: pick a few ETFs or a ready-made portfolio and let automation do the rest, InvestEngine’s AutoInvest and Managed Portfolios, zero ISA fees and no FX charges make it a strong, low-cost starting point.
- If you think you’ll want to buy individual UK or international company shares at some point, not just funds, Freetrade’s much wider range covers that in a way InvestEngine currently doesn’t.
- If earning interest on cash you haven’t invested yet matters to you, Freetrade’s tiered interest rates are a built-in advantage that InvestEngine doesn’t offer.
- If you want to invest small, regular amounts purely in diversified ETFs with the lowest possible ongoing cost, InvestEngine’s £0 ISA fee and £0 ETF FX fee are hard to beat.
What to Do Next
- Decide whether you want access to individual shares or you’re happy sticking to ETFs. This alone will likely settle which platform suits you.
- Check both providers’ current fee pages directly, since pricing and interest rates can change.
- If opening a Stocks and Shares ISA, confirm your annual ISA allowance and whether you’ll need flexible withdrawal features.
- Start small. Both platforms allow low minimum contributions, so you can try one out before committing a large sum.
- Read each platform’s key documents (like the Key Investor Information Documents for any ETFs you choose) before investing.
This article is for information and education only and is not regulated financial advice. Fees, rates and features are correct as of 24 July 2026 based on the platforms’ own official websites and are subject to change — always check current terms before opening an account. Investing puts your capital at risk and the value of investments can go down as well as up, meaning you could get back less than you put in. Please do your own research or speak to a regulated financial adviser before making investment decisions.
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