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Megan is a senior researcher and writer at Which?, with a background in data analysis and stats in the public and charity sectors.
Why you can trust our investment platforms reviews
Real investors
We surveyed 3,053 people who invest with 'do-it-yourself' stocks and shares Isas, asking them to score their provider.
Low fees
To be named a Which? Recommended Provider, a platform can't be in the 25% most expensive platforms for a particular size of investment.
Please note that the content in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
| 83% | 79% | 100% | 55% | ||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 77% | 81% | 62% | 100% | |
| 76% | 76% | 100% | 3% | ||
great value | 76% | 71% | 100% | 29% | |
| 74% | 78% | 78% | 36% | ||
great value | 66% | 76% | 68% | 0% | |
| 66% | 76% | 57% | 35% | ||
| 64% | 71% | 45% | 75% | ||
| 63% | 72% | 65% | 0% | ||
great value | 63% | 67% | 76% | 0% | |
| 62% | 69% | 66% | 9% | ||
| 61% | 72% | 49% | 35% | ||
| 60% | 72% | 48% | 24% | ||
| 59% | 77% | 32% | 28% | ||
| 59% | 63% | 48% | 63% | ||
| 59% | 70% | 45% | 37% | ||
| 58% | 71% | 33% | 58% | ||
| 55% | 62% | 60% | 0% | ||
| 52% | 69% | 29% | 25% | ||
| 52% | 75% | 23% | 0% | ||
| 52% | 61% | 51% | 0% | ||
| 50% | 59% | 47% | 4% | ||
| 46% | 62% | 25% | 16% |
Table notes: Overall score composed of 60% customer score, 30% fees score, and 10% asset score. Customer score is satisfaction with the brand and likelihood to recommend, based on an online survey of 3,053 adults – members of the Which? Connect panel and members of the public – who gave 4,146 experiences, conducted in January 2026. Fees score based on the cost of investing in funds, shares and ETFs (whichever are relevant) relative to other brands. Asset score is based on the number of available assets relative to other brands.
See below for more on how we pick Which? Recommended Providers.
AJ Bell had by far the most assets available to invest in of any of the platforms we surveyed and hosts a wide range of informational materials, such as newsletters, podcasts and webinars.
77%
Annual fees (for funds)
of 23 providers
InvestEngine offers fee-free investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and is rated highly by its customers for value for money. It's a Which? Recommended Provider and also a Great Value provider.
76%
Annual fees (for ETFs)
of 23 providers
Scottish Widows (formerly iWeb) charges no account fees, so it's a very low-cost option if you don't want to trade regularly. Customers rated it highly for its ease of use and value for money. It's a Which? Recommended Provider and also a Great Value provider.
74%
Annual fees (for funds)
of 23 providers
Despite the high customer score and low fees of Trading 212, the platform is not a Which? Recommended Provider or Great Value provider because it offers a product called a CFD (contract for difference). These are complicated and high-risk investments used to speculate, or bet, on the rise and fall of prices for other investment assets such as stocks.
When trading CFDs on Trading 212, 72% of investors lose money. Unlike other providers, it does keep CFDs separate from your main account, but we don't want to endorse a provider with a product that we consider to cause consumer harm.
As well as Which? Recommended Providers, we also endorse the stocks and shares Isas that offer good value for money. These don't have to achieve the very highest scores in our survey, but they must receive good customer scores and come out cheapest in our fee analysis.
To be eligible for our Great Value recommendation, platforms must be in our top three customer score bands and among the 25% least expensive in the asset categories they offer (any combination of funds, shares, or ETFs).
InvestEngine and Scottish Widows are Great Value, as well as Which? Recommended Providers. The other three Great Value picks are listed below.
Freetrade offers investing in funds, stocks and other assets with no account or trading fees.
76%
Policies
of 23 providers
NatWest offers low-cost investing in five ready-made funds, each suited to a different level of risk tolerance from defensive to adventurous.
63%
Annual fees
of 23 providers
Vanguard offers 90 low-cost passive funds, which are great value for those with more in their portfolios to invest. Customers rated its customer service, ease of use and value for money well.
66%
Annual fees
of 23 providers
Megan Thomas, Which? investments writer, says:
Unlike most other products that Which? reviews, the point of investment platforms is to leave you with more money than you had when you signed up.
For that reason, cost makes up a huge part of our analysis and is the reason why some platforms have a low overall score, despite positive customer reviews for their stocks and shares Isas.
It can be easy to feel like you’re stuck with high fees, poor customer service and little to no information on your investments. But, you could save hundreds of pounds a year by switching from one of the most expensive to one of the least expensive platforms.
Our overall score is based on a combination of customer score, fees score, and assets score.
We don't analyse the performance of investments listed on investment platforms, as different investors will choose different investments.
We surveyed 3,053 investors – members of the Which? Connect panel and of the public – who gave 4,146 reviews of stocks and shares Isas in January 2026.
Each platform must get at least 30 responses to receive a customer score, which is based on overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend.
The customer score makes up 60% of the overall score.
We also ask investors to rate their current platform on customer service, ease of use, investment information and value for money.
Customer score sample sizes: AJ Bell (369), Trading 212 (270), Scottish Widows/iWeb (68), Aviva (168), InvestEngine (50), Lloyds Bank (74), Vanguard (273), Moneybox (57), Barclays Smart Investor (216), HSBC (145), Monzo (61), Freetrade (50), Hargreaves Lansdown (937), Interactive Investor (421), Halifax Share Dealing (140), eToro (68), Fidelity (354), NatWest (46), Charles Stanley Direct (56), Bestinvest (39), Legal & General (33), Octopus Money Direct/Virgin Money (38), Santander Investment Hub (47)
The fees score uses snapshots of account and transaction fees at £5,000, £10,000, £25,000, £50,000, £100,000, £250,000 and £500,000. The fees assume four purchases and four sales in a year, spaced out across months.
Fees are weighted higher toward £50,000, as this is close to the average portfolio size, according to HMRC data.
The scores are assigned relative to the cheapest platform, which would receive a score of 100%.
The fees score makes up 30% of the overall score.
The assets score adds up all the assets available within a stocks and shares Isa and assigns a score relative to the maximum available from the provider, which receives 100%.
The assets score makes up 10% of the overall score.
To be considered to be a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) for stocks and shares Isas, the platform needs to have an overall score of 70% or higher.
Companies that reach this score can then be excluded if they're in the top 25% most expensive platforms across our scenarios, based on our fees analysis.
On top of these criteria, we apply statistical tests that place the platforms into ‘bands’ based on their customer score, and only the platforms in the highest two bands – the ones that really stand out against the rest – can be a WRP.
We will not give Which? Recommended Provider status to platforms that offer CFD trading.
To be eligible for our Great Value recommendation, platforms must be in our top three customer score bands and among the 25% least expensive in the asset categories that they offer (any combination of funds, shares, or ETFs).
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