Freetrade vs flatex — 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

• 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