Freetrade vs Questrade — which broker is better?

Pros

• GBP 0 dealing commission on every UK and US stock, ETF and investment trust, on all three plans including free Basic
• Stocks and shares ISA, Junior ISA and SIPP are included on the free plan — most UK app brokers charge for at least one wrapper
• FCA authorised under firm reference 783189 with FSCS cover up to GBP 85,000, and since 2025 part of FTSE 100-listed IG Group
• FX markup falls to 0.39% on the Plus plan, which is competitive for a UK app broker buying US shares
• US fractional shares let small amounts be invested in high-priced names without rounding down to zero
• Around 720,000 customers and GBP 3.3 billion under administration as reported by its listed owner IG Group — real scale rather than a startup pilot
• Account opening is genuinely a few minutes, with no minimum deposit and free deposits and withdrawals
• No inactivity fee, no custody fee and no platform fee on the free tier

Cons

• The 0.99% FX markup on the free plan is the real cost of the account: a GBP 2,000 US order costs GBP 19.80 to convert, which is worse than a flat-commission broker
• UK residents only — there is no route in from Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Ireland, and Freetrade withdrew from its earlier European markets
• No options, futures, forex, CFDs, spot crypto or corporate bonds; the asset range is UK and US equities, ETFs, investment trusts, funds, gilts and T-bills
• No telephone support at all — everything goes through in-app chat and email, with priority routing reserved for Plus subscribers
• Research, screening and charting are minimal; you will need an external tool for anything beyond a price chart and a fundamentals summary
• Monthly billing costs 20% more than annual (GBP 5.99 versus an effective GBP 4.99), so the advertised plan prices require a twelve-month commitment

Pros

• CAD 0 commission on every Canadian and US stock and ETF trade, on both the buy and the sell side, with no ECN fees at all on Canadian orders
• CAD 0 contract fee on US-listed equity options and free assignment — one of only two Canadian brokers offering this
• Questrade Pro is free to all clients and includes Level 2 depth, time and sales, chart trading, hot keys and a multi-leg options strategy builder
• No inactivity fee, no annual account fee and no minimum balance on any registered or non-registered account
• Dual-currency registered accounts let you hold USD inside a TFSA or RRSP, removing forced conversion on every US dividend and sale
• Fractional shares, pre-IPO access, private credit, bonds, GICs, mutual funds and a separate FX & CFD account under one brand
• CIRO-regulated with CIPF coverage of CAD 1,000,000 per account category, and a record as Canada's largest independent broker going back to 1999

Cons

• The 1.5% CAD/USD conversion charge is high and unavoidable unless you deliberately manage currency; on a CAD 20,000 US-stock purchase it costs CAD 300, dwarfing any commission saving
• Cash earns effectively 0% below a CAD 250,000 balance — the published formula is prime minus 8.50%, floored at zero — while Wealthsimple pays 1.25% or more on chequing balances
• CAD 150 to transfer an account out, full or partial, and CAD 9.95 per journalling request unless you pay CAD 19.99 a month for Questrade Plus
• The 'margin rates as low as prime minus 2.5%' headline applies only to USD borrowing for clients trading 5,001+ US options contracts a month; the standard CAD non-registered rate is prime plus 4.25%, and registered accounts pay prime plus 8.10%
• No spot crypto, no exchange-traded futures, and no meaningful international equity access — non-US foreign shares cost 1% of trade value with a USD 195 minimum per side
• Questrade advertises no practice or paper-trading account for self-directed clients, so there is nowhere to learn Questrade Pro without real money at risk