TL;DR
Under £30k: Trading 212 or InvestEngine for zero fees. £30k–£300k: Vanguard (capped at £375/year). Over £300k: AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, or Interactive Investor flat-fee plans.
In short
Platform choice matters more than people think — a 0.45% platform fee on £500k is £2,250/year. Vanguard's £375 cap or Interactive Investor's £21.99/month start to dominate at larger portfolio sizes. We update this article quarterly.
We're working on a full deep-dive for this article — including historical data, charts, and worked examples. In the meantime, you can run a free simulation to explore the underlying numbers yourself.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is cheapest for £500k portfolios?
- Interactive Investor (£263/year) or Vanguard (capped at £375/year). Both beat HL and AJ Bell at that size.
- Can I have ISAs at multiple platforms in the same year?
- Yes, from April 2024. As long as combined contributions don't exceed £20k. Useful for diversifying brokers or accessing better fund choices.
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