Hargreaves Lansdown vs Scalable Capital — 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

• Free savings-plan executions from EUR 1 with fractional amounts, across more than 2,700 ETFs, 4,500 shares and 3,800 funds - the deepest catalogue in Europe.
• PRIME+ at EUR 4.99 a month makes trading a fixed cost rather than a variable one; commission-free orders from EUR 250 on EIX break even at roughly five trades a month. Purchases of PRIME ETFs (Amundi, iShares, Vanguard, Xtrackers) from EUR 250 on EIX are free on the FREE Broker as well, so they do not count towards that.
• Holds its own full ECB banking licence since September 2025 and custodies client securities itself, with cash covered to EUR 100,000 and PRIME+ balances spread across partner banks for wider statutory coverage.
• 2.60% p.a. on the Scalable Overnight cash account, paid monthly - on unlimited cash, with or without PRIME+.
• More than 3,800 mutual funds tradable without the front-end load, which is unusual at a flat-fee broker and useful for anyone holding legacy fund positions.
• German residents get Abgeltungsteuer, solidarity surcharge and church tax withheld and remitted automatically, with annual tax certificates issued.
• Broker, cash account, robo-advisor (Scalable Wealth) and a securities-backed credit line all sit behind one login, which is a genuine consolidation argument.

Cons

• Since 1 September 2026 gettex orders cost up to EUR 1.99 on every plan, up from EUR 0.99, which wiped out the PRIME+ commission-free advantage that made the subscription compelling on that venue.
• Only three trading venues - EIX, gettex and Xetra - with no direct access to US or other foreign exchanges, so you buy foreign shares through a German quote rather than on their home market.
• On EIX, Scalable is the single market maker on the venue it routes you to by default, which is the same broker-as-counterparty conflict the post-PFOF industry inherited.
• Euro-only accounts with no multi-currency balances and no itemised FX charge, so the true cost of a foreign share purchase is not visible on the contract note.
• No telephone support: chat and email only, with slow replies and delayed tax documents the most common complaint in user reviews.
• Fractional trading works in savings plans but not in ordinary lump-sum orders, and there is no demo account.