Trading 212 and Freetrade are among the pioneers in the 0% commission platform movement that has helped shake up the investment market in recent years, making it easier and cheaper than ever for ordinary investors to trade and manage investments online.
But while there are plenty of similarities between these low-cost services, there are also some key differences to be aware of. Let’s see how they match up.
What is Trading 212?
Formed in Bulgaria in 2004, Trading 212 in 2017 became the first UK share trading platform to allow investors to buy and sell shares for free. It is an app-only service with a minimum investment of £1 (£10 for Contracts For Difference (CFDs)) and low charges.
What is Freetrade?
Launched in the UK in 2018, Freetrade was a pioneer in commission-free investing, developing into a platform that had some £2.5bn under management as of the end of last year. It was bought in early 2025 for £160m by FTSE 250 trading platform IG Group, having previously relied primarily on crowdfunding and venture capital. There’s no minimum investment level.
What do they offer?
Trading 212 offers a choice of a general investing account or an ISA, including a cash ISA, but it doesn’t have a Sipp option. You can buy individual shares and exchange traded funds (ETFs), while additional trading options include CFDs, currencies, commodities and cryptocurrencies. Last year it launched a debit card linked to investment accounts, with up to 1.5% cashback on spending (capped at £15 a month).
Freetrade also offers general investment accounts and ISAs, as well as a Sipp, but no cash ISA. It allows investors to trade UK, European and US shares, ETFs and investment trusts, through its app or the website. It has now added funds to the platform, starting with a range of 300 funds and aiming to eventually offer around 2,000 funds.
Unlike several of the bigger platforms, both Trading 212 and Freetrade offer Flexible ISAs (which allow users to withdraw money from an ISA without their allowance being affected).
Costs and charges
As zero commission brokers, neither service charges commission on stocks and shares or ETFs and there are no account opening or management fees.
With Trading 212 you don’t face the range of potential fees you’ll typically see at more mainstream services, with no account fees, inactivity fees, deposit fees, foreign exchange fees or charges for withdrawal. For ISA and investment accounts there’s a 0.15% foreign exchange fee and a 0.7% fee is levied on non-bank transfer account payments when total deposits go above £2,000.
Similarly, at Freetrade there are no fees for buying or selling funds or UK shares. Its Basic subscription is free and includes access to the general investment account and ISA. The Standard plan is £5.99 a month, adding funds to the options, while the £11.99 a month Plus plan also includes Sipps.
The foreign exchange fee on non-UK trades falls from 0.99% on the Basic Plan to 0.59% and 0.39% on the Standard and Plus plans respectively. Similarly, those paying the higher monthly plan fees get more generous interest on uninvested cash – 5% on up to £3,000 with the Plus plan, compared with 1% on up to £1,000 with the Basic subscription.
Research, tools and features
Trading 212 has a range of articles and investment guides, while traders have access to data (including financial statements and financial ratios) and charting tools as well as an economic calendar. Its YouTube channel is increasingly well stocked with videos on investing and trading.
The firm also has a feature that allows investors to trial a virtual £50,000 practice portfolio, as well as a live chat service.
FreeTrade offers a Learning Hub that includes general guides and articles on investing, markets news and company news. However, the general research and guidance offering is limited, with very few tools to help with finding and selecting investments (although it suggests that visitors to the tools section ‘watch this space’ for new tools and calculators).
User experience
Customer reviews on consumer website Trustpilot give a good idea of overall customer satisfaction. Trading 212 has a 4.6 rating based on almost 69,000 reviews, compared with the 4.3 rating that Freetrade has from almost 6,700 reviews.
It’s worth noting that Trading 212 asks its customers for reviews, but Trustpilot states it has no recent records of Freetrade asking their customers to review them. Overall, businesses that regularly invite their customers to write reviews tend to have a higher TrustScore than businesses that don’t, which may account for some of the higher rating for Trading 212.
Meanwhile, if a decent app is important to you, the Trading 212 app has a score of 4.7 from almost 314,000 reviews, while Freetrade scores 4.4 from 16,300 reviews.
Quickfire advantages & disadvantages
Trading212 advantages
- Offers cash ISA and cashback.
- Wider range of shares and assets.
- Higher service and app review scores.
Trading212 disadvantages
- No Sipp.
- No phone support – contact only through email and online chat.
- CFD fees can add up quickly.
Freetrade advantages
- Easy to open and use.
- Mutual funds now available on paid subscriptions.
- Generous interest on uninvested cash.
Freetrade disadvantages
- Minimal research, tools and guidance features.
- No cash ISA.
- No phone support.
These two are direct rivals, with both offering low-cost, user-friendly investment apps. Investors happy to use Freetrade’s Basic plan have no admin or subscription costs to pay, making it appealing to beginners wanting to dip a toe in the water, while some mutual funds are now available on its other subscription plans.
However, Trading 212 edges it when it comes to investment choice, with a wider range of shares and more esoteric assets. It also has a lot more research features, including tools, calculators and data.
Your best option when searching for the right platform for you is to use our free and easy-to-use comparison tools to find out what you’d potentially be charged for the type of investing you want to do.
