It’s safe to say that the world of investment is always evolving. Not only can UK investors now easily build and diversify investment portfolios online, with the best investment apps, you can also do so on the go. If you’ve not already noticed, there has been a real boom in stock investment apps lately. From simple ready made investment apps to all-singing, all-dancing self invested stocks and shares portfolio builders, plenty of people are getting into investing without having as much as a laptop to go by.
It’s the way things seem to be progressing. You can do more on apps nowadays than ever. But is investing really suited to app interfaces? Plenty of people would say yes, and in many cases, I’d be inclined to agree.
That’s why, for this guide, I’ve laid out the best UK investing apps 2022 has to offer. While there are lots of investment platforms and apps available, only a few of them are actually worth your time.
Best Investment Apps in the UK
Here’s a quick snapshot of the best investment apps in the UK for 2022.
| Service | Best App For |
|---|---|
| Moneyfarm | Passive investors who want a simple no fuss approach |
| Nutmeg | Excellent all round platform, strong track record and low fees. |
| Chip | Automated savings to help build your portfolio and investing with minimal fees |
| InvestEngine | A great combination of managed and DIY ETF trading with 0 fees and commissions. |
| Moneybox | Getting started quickly with a hands off approach |
| Wealthify | Ready made portfolios with guidance and support |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | Broadest range of funds and share options. |
| Wealthyhood | DIY ETF investing with 0 commissions |
| Freetrade | Beginners looking to try out stock trading |
| Trading 212 | Trading stocks in the UK, US and European markets. |
| Stake | Active trading of US stocks with no commission trading |
Disclaimer: When you invest, your capital is at risk. This article should not be construed as investment advice. Investments can fall and rise.
Before you go ahead and take a look for yourself, make sure to read my full lowdown on each platform below.
Choosing the Best Investing App for You
The very nature of a mobile app means that you should get a fairly easy route into investing. Apps aren’t designed to be confusing or to require much tweaking. With that in mind, plenty of the big names in investment apps take it easy on you if you’re just getting started. If you’re looking for full-fledged platforms to use on your computer, check out my deep dive article on the best platforms in the UK for investors!
The fact is, investing is very confusing at times. This is even the case for seasoned portfolio owners! Therefore, one of the criteria I’ve looked at with the apps listed here is how easy it is to get started. Not only that, but how easy it is for you to manage an investment portfolio, and how to push for fantastic results.
The best UK investment apps shouldn’t just give you access to a simple interface. They should help you understand the best choices you can make, and why it’s important to diversify. In any case, with all of that in mind, let’s start looking.
Without further ado, let’s investigate the full rundown of the best investment apps in the UK, split into ‘ready made’ passive platforms and ‘DIY’ active platforms.
Best ‘Ready Made (Passive)’ Investment Apps:
These investment platforms provide a straightforward way to invest with ready made, managed investment portfolios. These apps would be best for beginner investors or those who want a passive investment approach.
Moneyfarm
To kick things off let’s take a look at Moneyfarm.
You can invest via a pension, a general investment account or an investment ISA as you see fit. The platform management fee starts at 0.75% for any amount between £500 – £10,000 and then the fee starts to drop based on the amount invested. So it’s all very competitive in terms of fees.
Best For: Passive investors who want a simple no fuss approach
Nutmeg
Nutmeg is one of many stock investment apps in the UK that appears to have been getting a fair amount of press. They’ve got over 200,000 clients now and manage assets in excess of £4.5 billion. Levelling itself to customers as a simple, friendly way to invest your cash in ISAs, pensions and general markets,
However, before you go ahead and download the app for iOS or Android, do be aware that you need at least £500 to invest before you can start. This is where other apps and programs are likely to take the lead – it’s a fairly high opening gambit. Choose a lifetime ISA for stocks and shares and this threshold falls to £100, but it’s still a bit of a peak from the competition. If you only have a smaller amount to start with then
Image Source: Nutmeg
Best For: Longer term investors looking for a solid all round platform with low fees
Chip
Chip is a product that I find really interesting – not only does it help you with investments, it helps you to automate savings as well! Chip is a clever piece of AI tech that actually uses advanced mathematics to work out how much you need to save, and how you can feasibly afford to do so regularly. Specifically, the Chip algorithm works out what you can save every couple of days, without interrupting the money you actually need to live on.
As Chip has a savings function, it comes with the option to either deposit your money in an interest-bearing account as well. Chip offers three different types of accounts, a low interest rate option, a higher interest rate option, and a prize savings account. The latter does not pay any interest, but offers you the chance to win prizes in a monthly draw of up to £10,000 and additional 250 prizes of £10 each.
Finally on the investment side, Chip offers two different account types for investing. In the free account, you can have a general investment account with ETFs. If you wish to have a Stocks & Shares ISA account (to save on taxes), you will have to subscribe to the ChipX account which lets you invest in many more categories. Chip is also rolling out a fractional investing option so you can invest in alternative assets like luxury goods, art, wine, and even vintage cars! Very interesting stuff!
To get the detailed scoop on Chip, you can read my article that nicely contrasts Chip and Plum, another similar app.
Best For: Automated savings to help build your portfolio and investing with minimal fees
InvestEngine
InvestEngine is an online investment service that allows you to invest in a wide selection of ETFs. It offers both active and passive investment options in the form of Managed or DIY portfolios.
InvestEngine offers a similar experience to the likes of Nutmeg or Vanguard LifeStrategy funds in terms of it’s managed portfolios. However unlike Nutmeg they also offer a DIY investment approach for those who are looking for a more hands on experience. Appealing to both beginner and more experienced investors alike.
InvestEngine is focused entirely on ETFs. So if you are looking to invest in individual stocks then the platform isn’t for you. If you are looking for low cost individual stock trading then Fineco or Hargreaves Lansdown are worth checking out. The main benefit of a solely ETF focused platform is low cost and easy diversification.
In terms of fees, on the managed side, InvestEngine has a very low fee of 0.25%, which makes it one of the cheapest platform around. On the DIY side, InvestEngine does not charge anything to the client. There’s a small spread fee though, however this is related to market functioning and you’ll encounter this when transacting at pretty much all the brokers. So all in all, it’s a great deal!
If this interests you further, I’ve got a detailed dive in to the InvestEngine platform which I recommend you read.
Best for: Super low cost platform with a combination of managed and DIY ETF trading.
Wealthify
I’ve looked at Wealthify in more detail elsewhere, and it’s safe to say that it does impress quite a bit. It’s probably one of the best money investment apps in the UK right now purely based on its freedom of choice.
Fund charges appear to level out around 0.22% for the year, and you can expect a maximum of 0.7% applied to your yearly investments. There are, however, transaction fees you need to look out for, with a rate of 0.7% applying on the flat.
The bright and breezy appeal of the interface, as well as the lack of a minimum investment requirement, is going to appeal to plenty of people. It’s one of many Android investing apps that’s worth looking at if you really don’t know where to start.
Best For: Ready made portfolios with guidance and support to get started
Moneybox
Moneybox goes even lower on the opening investment threshold than Wombat. Here, providing you have £1 to your name, you can open an account. Tracker funds are the name of the game here, meaning that you are given a pretty simple platform to start from.
You have access to various ISAs, such as junior ISAs, stocks and shares ISAs, lifetime ISAs and more. You can also invest in your pension as well as more general investments, too.
All Moneybox appears to ask for is a flat rate of £1 per month. However, that’s if you don’t go ahead and invest anything. Competing well with Wombat, you can expect to pay 0.45% a year on anything you invest.
As with Wombat, it’s available for iOS and Android phones, and you can expect to pay up to 0.3% in fund provider rates. That, at the very least, compares very well with Wombat. The interface, too, is likely to appeal to anyone new to investing who doesn’t want to have to fiddle around too much with awkward menus, drop-downs and charts. It’s an app that lets you invest your change and doesn’t mind if you don’t have stacks of capital available.
Best For: Getting started quickly with a hands off approach
Best ‘DIY (Self Invested)’ Investment Apps:
The following investment apps offer a low cost entry for those who want to build their own stocks and shares portfolio. Ideal for more advanced investors and those who want a more hands on investing option.
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown is a very popular UK investment platform, particularly as they are market leaders in large portfolio support. HL has over £127 billion in assets under management – an impressive figure. HL users will also find that there is huge variety of funds and individual company stocks you can invest in. It tends to be very popular with most people getting started with investing, as their site offers a series of impartial guides.
Hargreaves Lansdown offers a range of funds for you to invest in. With over 3,000 options to choose from, there is much more variety on offer here than at many other competitors. HL offers three different investment options to their clients that lets you self-select in to the bucket that is best suited for your skills, time, and expertise.
Hargreaves Lansdown is famous for its introductory guides, which are surprisingly impartial, which makes it a good platform for beginners as well. However the level of choice might be slightly overwhelming for those new to the world of investing. Hargreaves fees are also amongst the lowest in the business for those with serious portfolios. However in certain combinations, especially with certain actively managed funds, the total costs tip in at the higher end of the scale. So please check the costs for these active funds before pulling the trigger.
All in all though, HL is one of the best platforms out there and most will likely have a great experience with them. If you’re interested in learning more, you can read my detailed comparison articles for HL against Moneyfarm and HL against Vanguard.
Best For: Range of investment options, educational resources, and in most cases, also one of the lowest cost platforms!
Wealthyhood
Wealthyhood is a new breed of DIY investments app that started life as an innovative way to offer people opportunities for investing in ETFs from just £10. The service and brand were founded back in 2020 with its main appeal being no-nonsense, jargon free investing where everyone can be successful!
Wealthyhood provides ETF investment options across a series of DIY portfolio-building templates. If the idea of building up an investment portfolio completely from scratch scares you a little, there’s no need to panic. Wealthyhood’s account tiers and intuitive interfaces will more than support you through uncertainty.
It’s free to register with Wealthyhood and take a look around, and you can start taking full advantage of investment tools from £1 per month. Further tiers will become available in the near future.
There are also no commission fees to pay on any ETFs you invest in. However, the provider advises that some fees may apply depending on the package you choose. Please read my detailed review on Wealthyhood for more information.
Best For: DIY ETF investing with 0 commissions
Trading 212
Trading 212 is another trading platform which focuses on commission-free trading. There’s also a very low barrier to entry as you can start trading with as little as £1. Like
Another benefit of
Source: Trading 212
Best For: Trading stocks in the UK, US, and European markets
Freetrade
Source: Freetrade
Best For: Beginners looking to try out stock trading
Stake
Stake were born in Australia and are now taking aim at the UK. They are a digital brokerage platform who specialise in US stocks. In particular making is easy for those in the UK to trade US stocks and shares at very low cost. They boast an impressive 3,800 US stocks and ETFs. More than any other commission-free investment platform available in the UK.
Yes you read that correctly –
If you want to find out more about how we got on when trying out the platform you can read our full Stake review.
Best For: Trading US stocks with no fees
Conclusion
It’s easy to see that there’s tons of choice around for investment apps in the UK. It certainly seems to be more than a craze, meaning you’re likely going to need to look carefully at these apps if you want to move with the crowd.
The best UK investment apps around are likely to give you an easy leg-up into the complicated world of stocks – however, it’s always a good idea to drill down and look at how they each perform for you in the long run. Why not give some of my picks above a try?