Comparison: Investing

Best UK Stocks and Shares ISA 2026

Last reviewed May 2026

A Stocks and Shares ISA shelters up to £20,000 a year of investment growth, dividends, and capital gains from UK tax. The right platform depends on whether you hold mostly funds or shares, how often you trade, and how big your pot is. We rank the main UK Stocks and Shares ISA platforms on long-term cost for a passive investor. Active traders should run their own numbers.

Our pick

Trading 212

Same logic as our SIPP pick. For the under-£100k passive ETF investor (which is most readers), Trading 212 is the cheapest by some distance: zero platform fee, zero dealing costs, full ETF access. The trade-offs are no mutual funds and a shorter UK track record - acceptable if you only own ETFs anyway. Above £100k or if you want Vanguard mutual funds specifically, Vanguard is the safer pick.

Visit Trading 212 →

Honourable mentions

iWeb

For buy-and-hold investors with £100k+ pots who only trade once or twice a year, iWeb is genuinely cheaper than Trading 212 over the long run because £5 trades occasionally are cheaper than the FX fee on USD ETFs Trading 212 charges. Lloyds-owned, established, but interface is dated.

Visit iWeb →

Interactive Investor

Above £40k, the £4.99/month Investor Essentials plan dominates percentage-based competitors. £60/year for an ISA platform is hard to beat once your pot is sizeable.

Visit Interactive Investor →

How we picked

Fees verified from each provider's public schedule, last reviewed May 2026. We weight platform fee, fund/share dealing, and the realistic break-even points where each provider wins. We do not factor in promotional cashback offers because they expire; the structural fee schedule is what compounds.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest UK Stocks and Shares ISA?
For pots under £100k, Trading 212 with its 0% platform fee and free dealing is the cheapest. For pots above £100k held passively, iWeb (no platform fee, £5 per trade) is often cheaper still because the FX cost on Trading 212 USD ETFs grows with the balance. Above about £40k where you do not need free trades, Interactive Investor's flat £4.99/month is the best value.
Can I have both a Stocks and Shares ISA and a Cash ISA?
Yes. Since April 2024 you can pay into multiple ISAs of the same type and across different types in the same tax year, as long as your total contributions stay within the £20,000 annual allowance. The Lifetime ISA is the one exception: you can still only fund one LISA per tax year. We compare Cash ISA options in our best Cash ISA guide.
Should I move to Trading 212 from Hargreaves Lansdown?
For most readers with passive ETF portfolios, the answer is yes - the fee saving is significant and easy to quantify. A £100k pot pays around £450/year on HL versus £0 on Trading 212. Across 30 years of compounding the difference runs into tens of thousands. The case to stay on HL is if you genuinely value the research, the customer service, and the polish, and you are willing to pay roughly £450/year per £100k of pot for it.
Are these ISAs Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protected?
Yes, all platforms above are FCA-regulated and your investments are covered by the FSCS up to £85,000 per institution if the platform fails. Note that this protects you against the platform going bust, not against your investments losing value.
How does the £20,000 ISA allowance work?
You can pay up to £20,000 across all your ISAs each tax year (6 April to 5 April). The allowance does not roll over; if you do not use it by 5 April it is gone. The allowance is per person, so a couple has £40,000 between them. Existing balances and reinvested dividends do not count - only fresh contributions.
Which funds should I hold in a Stocks and Shares ISA?
For most readers, a single global equity tracker (Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap, HSBC FTSE All-World Index, or LifeStrategy 80/20) does the job. Our low-cost index funds guide covers the specific tickers and the case against picking individual funds. The platform you use should not constrain this decision: every platform on this page can hold a global tracker.

Disclosure: Some links on this page may be affiliate links, which means we receive a small commission if you sign up. This never affects the rankings or which platforms we recommend. We only feature platforms that meet our editorial standards.