Is Interactive Investor free?
Interactive Investor does charge a commission for real stock trading on US markets, so in this sense it is not a free-to-trade broker. However, it might still be a reasonable choice for some of you, as there are many other aspects other than commissions that are important when you choose a broker. If you wish to stick with Interactive Investor though, then you will find the fees they charge below. Alternatively, you could check our article detailing the best zero commission brokers and how their apps scored in our test.
We should note that the payment-for-order-flow model, which is used by some zero-commission brokers to generate income (rather than relying on commissions), could potentially create a conflict of interest between you and your broker. This could result in trade execution (like routing your orders to specific market makers) that might be unfavorable for you under certain market conditions, especially when using market orders (as opposed to limit orders, which seem to be less affected).
Interactive Investor fees
Overview of Interactive Investor fees and charges
It's safe to say that Interactive Investor's fees are low in general. They either don't charge a brokerage fee for things that other brokers do, or they only charge a small amount.
Here's a high-level overview of Interactive Investor's fees
| Assets | Fee level | Fee terms |
|---|---|---|
| US stock fee | Low | "Investor" and "Pension Builder" fees: £5.99 per trade; "Super Investor" fee: £3.99 per trade |
| EURUSD fee | - | Not available |
| US mutual fund fees | Low | "Investor" and "Pension Builder" fee: £5.99 per trade; "Super Investor" fees: £3.99 per trade |
| Inactivity fee | Low | No inactivity fee |
Interactive Investor fees
Interactive Investor fees explained
Online brokerages in general charge much lower brokerage fees than traditional brokerages do - this is largely because online brokerages' businesses can be much better scaled: from a purely technical standpoint, it doesn't make that much of a difference for them if they have 100 or 5,000 clients.
This is not to say, however, that they don't charge any fees at all. They make money by charging you various rates for various actions or events. Usually you need to keep an eye on the following three types of fees:
- Trading fees - these are brokerage fees that you pay when you actually carry out a trade, like buying an Apple share or an ETF. What you pay is either a commission, a spread or a financing rate. Some brokers apply all of these.
- A commission is either fixed or based on the traded volume.
- A spread is the difference between the buy price and the sell price.
- A financing rate or overnight rate is charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than one day.
- Non-trading fees. These are usually related to some operations you carry out in your account, such as depositing money, withdrawing money, or not trading for an extended period.
We compare Interactive Investor fees with its closest competitors, AJ Bell Youinvest and Hargreaves Lansdown.
Interactive Investor fees
Interactive Investor trading fees
Interactive Investor's trading fees are mixed, which means that some asset classes come with high trading fees - be sure to check these carefully.
Let's break down trading fees according to the different asset classes available at Interactive Investor.
Trading fees
Interactive Investor's trading fees are low.
Stock fees and ETF fees
Interactive Investor has average stock trading fees.
| Interactive Investor | AJ Bell Youinvest | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US stock | $6.8 | $11.2 | $13.5 |
| UK stock | $6.8 | $11.2 | $13.5 |
| German stock | $22.6 | $11.2 | $13.5 |
Fund fees
Interactive Investor fund fees are low.
| Interactive Investor | AJ Bell Youinvest | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mutual fund | $6.8 | $1.7 | $0.0 |
| EU mutual fund | $9.6 | $1.8 | $0.0 |
Bond fees
Interactive Investor has low bond fees.
| Interactive Investor | AJ Bell Youinvest | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Treasury bond | - | - | - |
| EU government bond | $6.8 | $11.2 | $13.5 |
Currency conversion fee
Interactive Investor will charge a Currency Conversion Fee for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different to the currency of your account. The fee is charged as the following: 1.5% mark-up for positions under £25k.
Interactive Investor fees
Interactive Investor non-trading fees
When it comes to non-trading fees, Interactive Investor is a rather cheap broker.
Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at Interactive Investor that are not related to buying or selling assets. This can be a withdrawal fee, deposit fee, inactivity fee or account fee.
| Interactive Investor | AJ Bell Youinvest | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Inactivity fee | No | No | No |
| Account fee | Yes | No | No |
Interactive Investor fees
Interactive Investor deposit fee
Usually, brokers don't charge anything for deposits, and Interactive Investor is no different.
| Interactive Investor | AJ Bell Youinvest | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Interactive Investor fees
Interactive Investor withdrawal fee
Interactive Investor generally doesn't charge a withdrawal fee.
| Interactive Investor | AJ Bell Youinvest | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee for bank transfer | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Interactive Investor fees
Interactive Investor inactivity fee
Interactive Investor does not apply an inactivity fee, which is great because your account won't be charged even if you do not trade for an extended period (like several months or years).
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