Pensions3 providers Updated May 2026

Best UK Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA (LISA) 2026

Quick answer - our pick

AJ Bell (Stocks & Shares LISA)

Best for: Retirement-focused LISA holders investing for 10+ years

AJ Bell wins on the maths. A 0.25% platform fee with a 2,000-fund universe gets you a Vanguard LifeStrategy or HSBC FTSE All-World tracker for around £2.50/year on a £1,000 pot. Hargreaves Lansdown is the equal pick on fee if you value the UX and customer service more than the slightly broader fund research. Moneybox at 0.45% plus a £1/month subscription is roughly 5x the cost of AJ Bell on small pots and only makes sense if you are already deep in the Moneybox ecosystem. The 25% government bonus does the same thing across all three, so the choice is purely about cost and fund choice.

Visit AJ Bell (Stocks & Shares LISA) See full comparison
A Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA holds investments instead of cash, plus the 25% government bonus on contributions up to £4,000 a year. It is the right LISA for retirement use at 60, or for first-time buyers with a 5+ year time horizon where equities beat cash by a wide margin. If you are buying a first home within roughly three years, the Cash LISA is the safer wrapper because equity volatility can knock 20% off your deposit at exactly the wrong moment. Our [Cash LISA comparison](/compare/cash-lisa) covers those.

Fees at a glance

Annual platform fee paid out of the pot. The £100k column is illustrative; in practice you cannot hold £100k in a single LISA because contributions are capped at £4k/year, but the figure shows how providers scale with the underlying assets if you hold the wrapper for 20+ years and let returns compound. Provider names link to each platform's published fee schedule.

Full comparison

Provider Platform feeFund choice Best for
AJ Bell (Stocks & Shares LISA)0.25%Broad - 2,000+ fundsRetirement-focused LISA holders investing for 10+ years
Hargreaves Lansdown (Stocks & Shares LISA)0.25%Very broadHigh-balance LISA holders who value premium service
Moneybox (Stocks & Shares LISA)0.45% + £1/mo subscriptionLimited - 3 tracker portfoliosExisting Moneybox users who want to switch from Cash LISA to investing in-app

Provider details

AJ Bell (Stocks & Shares LISA)

Retirement-focused LISA holders investing for 10+ years

Platform fee0.25%
Fund choiceBroad - 2,000+ funds
Accepts transfersYes
PlatformWeb + app

Pros

  • Lowest mainstream platform fee on Stocks and Shares LISA
  • Wide fund choice including Vanguard LifeStrategy
  • Solid app and research

Cons

  • £1.50 fund dealing per trade
  • Not as cheap as Trading 212 (which does not offer a LISA)
  • No cash-only option
AJ Bell charges page Visit AJ Bell (Stocks & Shares LISA) →

Hargreaves Lansdown (Stocks & Shares LISA)

High-balance LISA holders who value premium service

Platform fee0.25%
Fund choiceVery broad
Accepts transfersYes
PlatformWeb + app

Pros

  • Most polished LISA platform UX
  • Tiered fund fee: 0.25% up to £1m, 0.10% £1m-£2m, 0% above £2m
  • Strong customer service

Cons

  • Same headline fee as AJ Bell but fund choice is more guided
  • Share/ETF custody charged separately at 0.45% (capped at £45/year)
  • Often pushes own-brand funds and views
Hargreaves Lansdown charges page Visit Hargreaves Lansdown (Stocks & Shares LISA) →

Moneybox (Stocks & Shares LISA)

Existing Moneybox users who want to switch from Cash LISA to investing in-app

Platform fee0.45% + £1/mo subscription
Fund choiceLimited - 3 tracker portfolios
Accepts transfersYes
PlatformApp-only

Pros

  • Same polished app as the Moneybox Cash LISA
  • Three diversified tracker portfolios (Cautious / Balanced / Adventurous)
  • Useful if you want one provider for both cash and invested LISAs

Cons

  • £1/month subscription on top of the 0.45% platform fee makes it expensive vs AJ Bell
  • Very limited fund choice - no individual fund selection
  • App-only, no web interface
Moneybox Lifetime ISA page Visit Moneybox (Stocks & Shares LISA) →

Honourable mentions

Hargreaves Lansdown (Stocks & Shares LISA)

Runner-up

Best for: High-balance LISA holders who value premium service

Same headline fee as AJ Bell, more polished interface, and the tiered fee schedule helps if your pot ever crosses £1m. Worth picking if you already use HL for your other wrappers and value having everything in one login.

Visit Hargreaves Lansdown (Stocks & Shares LISA) →

Moneybox (Stocks & Shares LISA)

Runner-up

Best for: Existing Moneybox users who want to switch from Cash LISA to investing in-app

The right pick only if you already use Moneybox heavily and want a single app for both the Cash LISA and the invested one. The fee structure makes it the wrong default choice for cost-conscious savers.

Visit Moneybox (Stocks & Shares LISA) →

How we picked

Fees verified from each provider's published charges page, last reviewed May 2026. We focus on the total annual cost of holding the LISA at two illustrative pot sizes (£1,000 and £100,000) and the breadth of the fund universe. Platform fee comparisons assume you hold funds rather than individual shares.

Frequently asked questions

Should I get a Stocks and Shares LISA or a Cash LISA?
Stocks and Shares LISA for retirement use at 60 or any time horizon of roughly 5 years or longer, where equities beat cash by a wide margin. Cash LISA for first-time buyers buying within 1-3 years, where equity volatility could lose you the deposit at the worst time. The 25% government bonus is identical in both. Our Cash LISA comparison covers those, and the Lifetime ISA UK guide explains the wider rules.
What funds should I hold in a Stocks and Shares LISA?
For a retirement-focused LISA most readers should hold a single global tracker fund: Vanguard LifeStrategy 100, HSBC FTSE All-World Index, or an equivalent low-cost all-world ETF. The LISA is small (£4,000 per year max) and the time horizon is decades, so simplicity wins. Avoid concentrated single-country or single-sector funds inside a wrapper this small.
How does the LISA compare to a SIPP for retirement?
For basic-rate taxpayers without an employer match, the LISA usually returns more pound-for-pound than a SIPP because withdrawals are fully tax-free at 60. For higher-rate taxpayers or anyone with an employer pension match, the SIPP wins. Most readers benefit from doing both. Our LISA vs SIPP deep dive covers the trade-offs.
Can I transfer my Stocks and Shares LISA between providers?
Yes. Use the receiving provider's LISA transfer form. Stocks and Shares LISA to Stocks and Shares LISA is straightforward but typically requires selling and re-buying funds at the new provider, which means a short out-of-market period. Plan the transfer so you are comfortable being in cash for 1-2 weeks during the switch.
Is the LISA bonus paid on transfers in?
Yes, on Help to Buy ISA transfers, because those balances came from another government-incentive ISA. No on standard ISA-to-ISA transfers - you only get the bonus on fresh contributions to the LISA from your bank account. So transferring an existing Stocks and Shares ISA into a LISA does not earn the bonus on the transferred amount; only new contributions do.

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.