Freetrade

Freetrade is an investment app and web platform used by more than 1.6 million people. It lets you buy and sell investments yourself, without advice, across a range of more than 8,600 stocks, ETFs, investment trusts, gilts and funds¹. You can hold those investments inside tax wrappers: a stocks and shares ISA, a pension (a SIPP), a Junior ISA for a child, or a general investment account with no special tax treatment².

Trading is commission-free: Freetrade does not charge a fee each time you buy or sell a stock or ETF, and it does not charge a fee to hold funds². Its costs come mainly from optional subscription plans and a foreign exchange fee on trades in currencies other than pounds. Freetrade is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and money and investments held with it are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the circumstances described at the end of this page².

What Freetrade offers: stocks, ETFs, funds, trusts and gilts

Freetrade's core offering is self-directed investing: you choose the investments, place the orders and carry the risk. The range runs to 6,700+ global stocks and ETFs with no commission on trades⁶, plus more than 300 investment trusts⁷ and over 1,000 mutual funds from providers such as Vanguard, BlackRock and Royal London⁸.

Alongside individual shares, the platform sells pooled investments for people who want to spread their money across many companies at once. ETFs on Freetrade cover themes such as gold, green energy or the entire global market⁶. Mutual funds are priced once a day and bought and sold through the fund manager rather than on an exchange, which is why fund orders can take longer to complete⁸. Investment trusts are listed companies that hold a portfolio of assets, and Freetrade offers more than 300 of them⁷.

For government-backed assets, Freetrade offers gilts and UK Treasury bills. Treasury bills pay a fixed yield on your cash, are described by the provider as low-risk and are backed by the UK government, with the rate depending on success in the tender process⁷. Gilts can be held in an ISA, pension or general investment account by customers on the Standard or Plus plans⁹. If you would rather not pick investments yourself, Freetrade also offers three ready-made portfolios based on your preferred level of risk⁷. The general mechanics of how investment platforms and funds work are explained in our guide to investing.

Stocks and Shares ISA, SIPP and general investment account

Freetrade's accounts fall into two kinds: tax wrappers and an ordinary trading account. This is the standard shape of the UK platform market, where firms typically offer an ISA, a SIPP or Junior ISA, and a general investment account with no special tax benefits¹⁰.

The Freetrade ISA is a flexible stocks and shares ISA, operated by Freetrade as ISA manager under the ISA regulations⁹. It is free to open, and inside it you can hold stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, REITs, investment trusts and UK Treasury bills, with no UK tax on growth or dividends⁹. Because it is flexible, money you withdraw and put back within the same tax year does not consume your ISA allowance again. The ISA terms also place conditions on you: you must be the beneficial owner of everything in the account, and you must not use the investments or cash in it as security for a loan¹².

The Freetrade SIPP is a self-invested personal pension. Freetrade states the SIPP is available on all of its plans, with a subscription fee possibly applying on the paid plans³. All investments in the SIPP must be bought and held through Freetrade's "Invest by Freetrade" service, and you can invest in anything available through that service, including index, commodity and bond ETFs from providers such as Vanguard, iShares and Invesco¹³. Freetrade publishes guidance on suitable SIPP investments, but it stresses this is guidance, not advice, and the choice is yours¹³.

The Junior ISA is a stocks and shares JISA for a child, investable in global stocks, funds, ETFs, bonds and ready-made portfolios, managed on iOS, Android or a web browser¹⁴. The general investment account (GIA) has no tax wrapper: gains and dividends may be taxable, and it is the account Freetrade uses for things like campaign awards¹⁵. The Basic plan includes all four account types: the ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP and GIA¹⁶.

Taking money from a Freetrade SIPP: age rules and UFPLS only

A SIPP is money you cannot normally touch until later life, and Freetrade's withdrawal options are narrower than some providers. At present, Freetrade only supports Uncrystallised Fund Pension Lump Sums (UFPLS) for customers who want to withdraw funds from their SIPP after their 55th birthday¹⁵. A UFPLS payment takes a chunk of your pension, pays part of it tax-free and part of it as taxable income, and leaves the rest invested.

Other routes are not currently offered: Freetrade's key information document states that annuity purchase, drawing income directly from the fund, or a combination of approaches are options in principle, but that at present only a UFPLS payment is possible from the Freetrade SIPP, and flexi-access drawdown and small pot lump sums are not offered³. If you want drawdown or an annuity, that would mean transferring out to another provider.

Two age warnings matter. Pensions transferred into the Freetrade SIPP may lose a protected pension age benefit, meaning you would not be able to draw the money until age 57¹⁶. And the normal pension access age is itself rising over time, so the age at which you can withdraw depends on when you were born and the rules then in force. On the plus side, you have a right to cancel within the first 30 days of starting the plan or of a transfer in³, and there is no minimum or maximum amount for transfers in³. The wider rules on pension access are in our pensions guide.

Markets you can invest in through Freetrade

Freetrade divides its market coverage by region. In the UK, you can trade hundreds of stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange and AIM⁶. In the US, you can invest in stocks listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ, including selected over-the-counter (OTC) securities, with US-focused ETFs also available⁴. European coverage gives access to major exchanges in Germany, France and more⁶.

For markets Freetrade does not offer directly, it provides indirect exposure through pooled investments. Asia Pacific markets, including China, Korea, Japan and India, are reachable via ETFs, trusts, funds and ADRs, and Central and South American companies can be invested in the same way⁴. ADRs, or American Depositary Receipts, are US-listed certificates that represent shares in a foreign company.

US stocks can also be bought fractionally. Freetrade offers fractional shares in companies such as Tesla, Nvidia and Microsoft, so you can invest a fixed amount rather than the price of a whole share⁶. Fractional shares are partial shares of a company; dividends are paid to you pro rata to the fraction you own, and buying and selling them is commission-free¹⁷. Two things to know: fractional orders are made possible by Freetrade's US broker-dealer, so order execution works a bit differently, and not every share is available fractionally¹⁷. The Standard plan adds NYSE, NASDAQ and OTC stocks with unlimited commission-free trades¹⁸.

How Freetrade's charges work: plans, FX fees and what is free

Freetrade's charging model has three parts: what is free, what the subscription costs, and the foreign exchange fee. Trading itself is free of commission. Freetrade states it does not charge commission to buy or sell stocks and ETFs, and there are no fund holding fees². It is also free to buy and sell mutual funds, with no dealing commission, and Freetrade will not charge you for transferring holdings into or away from the platform¹⁹.

The subscription plans sit on top. The Basic plan is free and includes unlimited commission-free investing across the full range, plus all four account types¹⁶. The Standard and Plus plans are paid subscriptions, billed monthly or annually, with annual billing working out cheaper than paying month by month²⁰. The paid plans add features such as US fractional shares on Standard¹⁸ and access to gilts in your ISA, pension or GIA⁹. Freetrade's current plan prices are on its own pricing pages, and it also notes that its cost comparisons with other providers are based on costs published on those providers' websites as of 24 March 2026²⁰.

The main other charge is the foreign exchange fee, which applies to trades in currencies other than pounds. The FX fee is lower on the Plus plan than on the Standard plan¹⁵. Freetrade warns that other charges may apply in places, and that fluctuations in foreign exchange rates may affect investments denominated in currencies other than GBP and the amount you get back when you sell⁴. If you hold a share lending position, the plan pricing is also listed in Freetrade's share lending documentation²¹.

Placing orders: market, limit and stop orders

Freetrade supports more than simple buy and sell orders. You can set up recurring orders, limit orders and stop losses, which let you control what you invest in and when, rather than only trading at the live market price⁴. Automated orders, meaning limit orders and stop losses, are available on the free Basic plan as well as the paid plans¹⁶. A limit order buys or sells at a specified price or better; a stop loss triggers a sale when a price falls to a level you set. Neither is guaranteed to fill: if the market never reaches your price, the order may not be executed.

Execution speed depends on what you are trading. Stocks and ETFs trade on an exchange, so orders are filled during market hours. Mutual funds work differently: your order goes to the fund manager after the daily cut-off, and Freetrade states it may take several days for the fund manager to confirm your transaction¹⁹. That delay is normal for funds, which are priced once a day, and it is not a fault in your account.

One further rule sits in the ISA terms. If a fund you hold, such as an ETF or a mutual fund, has its dealing suspended, Freetrade can delay any withdrawal or associated sale of those investments until 7 days after the suspension has ended¹². Suspensions are rare but they do happen with funds that hold hard-to-sell assets, and during one you would not be able to get at that part of your money.

Transferring investments to or from Freetrade

Freetrade does not charge for transfers in either direction: it states it will not charge you for transferring holdings into or away from its platform¹⁹. That does not mean a transfer is always free overall, because your existing provider may charge exit fees, and Freetrade itself advises checking for exit fees or loss of benefits with your current provider before transferring an ISA⁹. Some providers also offer loyalty bonuses or other perks that stop when you leave.

For an ISA transfer, the account is opened with a valid application and your first subscription, or, for a transfer, a valid transfer form and receipt of the cash or investments from the previous ISA manager¹². Freetrade describes its ISA transfers as free, with a quick process and support at each step⁹. For a pension, Freetrade will not charge you to transfer in, but it again asks you to check with your existing provider what fees may apply¹⁵. There is no minimum or maximum transfer amount for the SIPP³.

Junior ISA transfers follow a set process: you open the JISA in the app or on the web platform, fill in an online form with the old provider's name, account number and approximate value, and Freetrade contacts the current provider for you¹⁴. You can usually choose between transferring the child's existing investments as they are, or selling them down and transferring as cash¹⁴.

One limit matters if you hold fractional shares. Fractional shares cannot be transferred in specie, meaning as stock, so a move to or away from Freetrade involving fractional holdings has to be done in cash: the fractions are sold and the money moves¹⁷. Separately, Freetrade does not offer a single-transaction "bed and ISA" service, where shares are sold and repurchased inside an ISA in one step, so moving taxable holdings into a Freetrade ISA is a process you would carry out yourself²². The tax consequences of selling investments to move them are covered in our tax guide.

Using the Freetrade app and web platform

Freetrade is primarily an app-based service, with a web platform alongside it: you can find and trade stocks on both⁶. The Junior ISA, for example, can be managed on iOS, Android or from a web browser¹⁴. On the Basic plan, US stocks come with early market access through pre-market trading¹⁶.

Security features are built in. The app is locked behind a PIN you choose, with optional fingerprint or Face ID login, and for web and app access you can enable multi-factor authentication using SMS or an authentication app to add an extra verification step when signing in².

There is no dedicated phone helpline. Freetrade's SIPP terms state that contact is by email or by chat through the mobile app or website, and that there is currently no dedicated phone helpline⁵. If you prefer to bank or invest by phone or in person, that is a real difference from traditional brokers. For context on how these platforms compare with old-style stockbrokers, see our guide to investing.

Freetrade gives no investment or tax advice

Freetrade is an execution-only service. Its campaign terms state the position plainly:

Freetrade campaign terms²³

The same applies to tax. Freetrade's terms state it does not give tax advice or take account of your individual tax position²³, and its ISA calculator carries the same message: you are responsible for making your own investment decisions⁹. Even the guidance Freetrade publishes on suitable SIPP investments is explicitly not advice, and the responsibility for choosing what to invest in rests with you¹³.

This matters when things go wrong. If an investment loses money, an execution-only platform has not done anything wrong simply because the investment fell: the decision was yours. If you want someone to recommend investments or take your tax position into account, that is a different service, and you can read about how to find a financial adviser, including how advisers are regulated by the FCA²⁵.

Making a complaint to Freetrade

If something goes wrong, complain to Freetrade first. Its complaints process accepts complaints in three ways: through the in-app chat, by email to complaints@freetrade.io, or by letter to Freetrade, 3rd Floor, WeWork, 145 City Rd, London EC1V 1AZ²⁶. For complaints about the SIPP, the same three channels apply⁵, and for its promotional campaigns, such as the ISA top-up offer, Freetrade directs customers to its Customer Service team at hello@freetrade.io, with the complaint handled under its complaints procedure²³.

FCA rules allow Freetrade up to eight weeks to deal with a complaint, though it says it makes every effort to resolve complaints as quickly as possible²⁶. At the end you receive a final written response. If you disagree with it, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service²⁶. The ombudsman is free to use: it states that bringing a complaint is straightforward and will not cost you anything²⁷.

How your investments and cash are protected

Freetrade is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority⁵. Dealing in investments is a regulated activity in the UK, so trading platforms require authorisation from, and are supervised by, the FCA²⁸. You can check Freetrade Limited's entry on the FCA Register yourself using firm reference number 783189²⁹.

Your investments are held in a nominee account, in line with standard practice for UK platforms, so they are legally held on your behalf rather than mixed with Freetrade's own assets². Cash you have not invested is held in dedicated client money accounts, kept separate from Freetrade's own funds². Freetrade states it monitors and reconciles its records daily and is subject to regular third-party audits conducted by PwC².

As a final level of protection, Freetrade is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Freetrade states it contributes to and is covered by the FSCS, which provides compensation to individuals if an FCA-regulated firm is unable to meet claims, subject to limits⁵. The FSCS also sits behind Freetrade's share lending programme²¹. What the FSCS does not do is protect you from investment losses: if your investments fall in value, that is your loss, and the scheme only steps in if the firm itself fails. The scope of FSCS protection for investments and cash is explained in our guide to consumer protection.