Hargreaves Lansdown vs flatex — which broker is better?

Pros

• The UK's largest platform by assets — over GBP 172bn administered for more than two million clients, with a 45-year track record
• Wealth Shortlist fund research and in-house analyst coverage that no execution-only rival matches for depth
• The best mobile app among the large UK platforms, with near-complete parity to the website across all account types
• UK-based Bristol helpdesk with a strong service reputation — support is consistently the top theme in positive reviews
• No inactivity fee, no account opening or closing fee, free transfers out including in specie, and free cash holding that still earns interest
• Share dealing repriced to GBP 6.95 (GBP 3.95 from 20 deals a month) with the annual charge on shares capped at GBP 12.50 a month
• Free monthly regular investing by Direct Debit on both funds and shares, from GBP 25 a month
• Full UK tax-wrapper range in one login — ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP, Junior SIPP and drawdown — plus the Active Savings cash marketplace

Cons

• Still the most expensive of the three large UK platforms: 0.35% a year on funds is uncapped until GBP 250,000, where AJ Bell charges 0.25% and interactive investor charges a flat GBP 71.88
• The 0.99% foreign exchange charge on the first GBP 10,000 of every overseas trade is punitive for anyone building a US or European portfolio in small increments
• No options, futures, spread betting, CFDs, direct crypto or fractional shares — HL cannot serve a trader or anyone wanting sub-GBP 100 exposure to a high-priced US stock
• Only around 20 exchanges reachable (US, Canada and 14 European venues), against 24 international markets at AJ Bell
• No demo account, so there is no way to test the platform before committing money
• The Woodford Equity Income Fund remains a live reputational issue: roughly 130,000 of the fund's investors held it through HL, and a High Court group claim brought in 2022 had passed 9,600 claims after registration closed on 30 April 2025

Pros

• EUR 5.90 flat commission on German, US, Canadian and other foreign orders with no percentage component up to EUR 40,000 — a EUR 10,000 trade costs the same as a EUR 1,000 trade
• All ETF and fund savings plans execute at EUR 0.00 commission with over 5,000 plans available and no cap on the savings rate
• No custody fee, no account fee, no inactivity fee, and free incoming and outgoing depot transfers
• Genuine spot crypto in around 25 coins at 0.6%–0.7% all-in, held inside the regulated German bank rather than as an ETN wrapper
• Full German banking licence under BaFin and Bundesbank supervision, with an MDAX-listed parent (flatexDEGIRO SE, ticker FTK) publishing audited accounts and over EUR 100 billion in customer securities under custody
• Tax-simple in both markets it serves: automatic German Abgeltungsteuer withholding and automatic Austrian KESt settlement at 27.5% on flatex.at
• Free foreign-currency sub-accounts, so USD or CHF proceeds can be held rather than converted back at a spread every time
• Fast onboarding — flatex advertises a five-minute fully digital account opening, and no minimum deposit applies

Cons

• 0.00% p.a. credit interest on cash balances. Competitors pay 1%–1.75% on the settlement or call account, so an investor holding EUR 20,000 in cash gives up EUR 200–350 a year that never shows up in any fee table
• Currency conversion costs an absolute margin of USD 0.0040 per euro — roughly 0.35% — which is worse than Consorsbank's published USD 0.0030 and far worse than a multi-currency specialist
• No Eurex or US options and futures trading at all. Certificates, knock-outs and Société Générale CFDs are the only leveraged instruments on offer
• Real-time quotes are metered: 25 free per month plus 10 per executed order, then EUR 0.01 per query, and the professional flatex trader 2.0 platform costs EUR 15–39 a month on top
• The EUR 5.90 floor makes flatex expensive for small orders — a EUR 300 purchase pays about 2% in commission before venue costs, where a EUR 1 neobroker charges 0.3%
• Direct foreign market access is narrow: US, Canada, Euronext, Vienna, Zurich and Milan (sell only). There is no direct London, Tokyo, Hong Kong or Nordic access, and stock savings plans cost 1.00% of the rate