Hargreaves Lansdown vs comdirect — 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

• The broadest product range of the three German incumbents: shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, certificates, warrants, CFDs and direct Eurex options and futures in one depot
• Excellent platform stack — ProTrader for real-time multi-monitor trading, O&F-Trader with a margin simulator, CFD Trader with a free demo, plus a documented REST API and stock3, TraderFox and Quant4you integrations
• Cash sits behind Commerzbank AG: statutory EdB cover of EUR 100,000 plus the voluntary BdB Einlagensicherungsfonds protecting private individuals up to EUR 3 million, with direct ECB supervision as a significant institution
• Custody is now free for depots opened from 15 July 2026, and the second depot has always been free
• Cheap Eurex derivatives pricing: EUR 1.50 per single-stock option contract and EUR 1.50 for the MicroDAX future, each with a EUR 9.90 execution minimum
• Fully tax-simple for German residents — automatic Abgeltungsteuer withholding, Freistellungsauftrag, loss-offset pots and free annual tax certificates
• A EUR 1.00 Pure Depot exists for investors who only need gettex and savings plans, and a 15% Viel-Trader discount rewards 125+ trades per half-year

Cons

• Standard commissions are among the highest in the market: EUR 4.90 plus 0.25% of order value, minimum EUR 9.90 and maximum EUR 59.90, plus a EUR 2.50 venue fee — roughly four times what flatex charges on a EUR 10,000 order
• Savings plans cost 1.50% of the amount invested per execution. On a EUR 500 monthly ETF plan that is EUR 7.50 a month, or EUR 90 a year, where Consorsbank and flatex both charge zero
• Customer service is the standout failure: 1.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot across 4,117 reviews, dominated by complaints about extremely long telephone hold times and unhelpful responses, despite the advertised 24/7 desk
• The advertised EUR 3.90 per trade applies only to new depot customers for 36 months, after which the full tariff returns — the headline number is not the price you end up paying
• The cheap Pure Depot is heavily restricted: gettex only, no off-exchange trading, no derivatives, no IPOs, no ProTrader, no securities credit, no joint or second depot
• No spot cryptocurrency and no wallet — exposure is limited to crypto certificates and ETNs, and foreign trades settle at Commerzbank reference rates rather than a published percentage markup; comdirect's own cost disclosure estimates the conversion at 1%