Private investors are increasingly using trading apps and the days of calling your broker are long gone. Most investors who want to buy and sell shares, build a portfolio of investment funds or trade sophisticated instruments such as futures and options, contracts for difference or spread betting through an online dealing account. In the past few years, there has been a noticeable shift from desktop to mobile trading by private investors. There were an estimated 3.1 million Android downloads of the top 10 UK investment apps via Google Play Store in 2020/21. These numbers do not even include iOS figures, which account for tech savvy Apple users. The split between Android and iOS downloads is about 50/50.
As with so many decisions to do with finances, when it comes to choosing a trading app, there is no one-suits-all approach. Much of the decision will depend on what you are looking for from a service.
Aside from charges, there are a number of other considerations to take into account before you make a final decision. These include:
How user-friendly do you find the app?
What investments do you want to trade?
Does the app allow you to practise trading?
Apart from trading costs, what other charges does the app impose?
Is there a minimum investment?
Can you use the app to trade tax-efficiently?
Is your app regulated by the authorities?
Are there any extra benefits/rewards?
Here is a selection of apps that cover a range of scenarios, from novices to more sophisticated investors.
1) eToro
Good for beginners. The app offers a decent mobile experience and, along with several of its rivals, provides the added appeal of zero-commission trades. eToro also allows users to follow and even copy the trades of legitimate investors with proven track records. FCA regulated.
2) Freetrade
Good for easy investing. Basic service offers commission-free trading and provides access to large and mid-cap stocks in both the UK and US, as well as initial public offers (IPOs) and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). It also provides limited access to a range of companies listed on the German, Finnish and Dutch markets.
Freetrade Plus costs users £9.99 per month but offers considerably wider investment choice including all other London-listed shares as well as access to all other European shares. FCA regulated.
3) Fidelity Personal Investing
Good for funds. Fidelity enables investors to choose from over 2,500 funds, as well as shares from the FTSE 100, FTSE 250, FTSE All-Share and FTSE AIM 100. Other available investments include investment trusts, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and some Irish shares.
The service allows a user to link family members’ accounts to see everything in one place, while a Watchlist tracks the performance of up to 50 investments at any one time. FCA regulated.
4) Trading212
Good for practising trades using virtual money. Trading 212 offers unlimited commission-free trades with access to over 10,000 stocks and ETFs from the UK, US, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands and other markets.
For those looking for more sophisticated investments, Trading 212 also offers over 3,000 contracts for difference (CFDs) on stocks, forex, gold, oil and indices.
Users can start with a free, lifetime practice account that uses virtual money. FCA regulated.
5) IG
Good for more experienced investors. IG allows users to trade on more than 17,000 global markets, including shares, indices, options and commodities. It features interactive charts, news, automatic trading alerts and real-time signals. Users can spread bet or trade CFDs on commodities, and options trading is available on various assets timed daily, weekly and monthly. FCA regulated.
Sven Franssen