The Best Trading Apps In The U.K - Investing.com UK (2024)

The Best Trading Apps In The U.K.

Step 1: Finding The Best Trading App For You

First, you will need to select the trading app that fits your needs.

Regardless of what you are specifically looking for, here are some general considerations when picking a mobile app:

• Market Access. There are a lot of different financial instruments to trade, including forex, shares, indices (FTSE 100, FTSE 350, and others), cryptocurrencies, commodities, and many more. If you have an idea of which instruments you want to trade, then you will want to make sure your chosen app allows you to navigate those markets. For example, if you are looking for a forex trading app, you will find that you have many different choices, as these types of apps are quite common. Overall, the best trading apps are those that allow for a wide range of market access.

• User-Friendly. No matter whether you are a new trader or a seasoned professional, you need your trading platform to be user-friendly. Dealing with a difficult-to-use trading app takes away time that could be spent buying, selling, and trading.

• Trading Costs. This will be discussed further below in the “Trading App Fees” section, but take note of a broker’s minimum deposit requirements, margin, rollover fees, monthly inactivity fees, and other trading costs. Compare these costs to the broker’s competitors. The best apps are, generally, those with the lowest costs of trading. Some brokers even provide free trading apps.

• Educational Resources. When you’re looking for the best app for beginners in the U.K., you must make sure that your preferred app has educational resources and analytical tools. Trading tools, webinars, guides, articles, blogs, economic calendars, and more can positively impact a trader’s experience with a broker.

• Regulation. This feature is vital to a broker’s security and reliability. Make sure the broker you choose is regulated by a governmental body, such as the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority, with high-tier, quality oversight.

It is vitally important that you do your own research before signing up with a broker.

Step 2: The Sign-Up And Verification Process

After finding your preferred trading app, you will go through the broker’s sign-up and verification process. The sign-up procedure will likely be similar to those required by other services, apps, and companies you have used in the past. You will first have to give basic contact information to link your account to the broker’s system.

The verification process generally requires some form of identification and proof of address. Each app’s verification process differs, but every broker must abide by the laws under which it is regulated. Many brokers, for example, follow the “Know Your Client” (KYC) protocol, which mandates that they verify all customers and assess their financial and risk profiles before allowing them to trade.

Step 3: Start Trading

After you are verified, you can begin trading. It is always a good idea to start trading with a demo account, at least for a short period of time. A demo account allows traders to use “fake” money to practice their strategies and techniques before they incur real risk. The best stock trading apps in the U.K., for example, almost all have demo accounts through which you can learn the basics of the stock market before committing real funds.

Next, we will discuss the brokers who we believe have the U.K.’s best trading apps.

What Are The Best Trading Apps In The U.K.?

In this section, each broker’s app has been evaluated by its market access, overall accolades, extra features, costs, and other qualities that make it a pragmatic, efficient trading platform.

Best Trading App No. 1: Capital.com

Highlights: AI Trade Bias Detection System, Access To 6,400 Markets, No Commissions

Capital.com is one of the best trading apps in the U.K., with more than 500,000 clients and over $530 billion in trading volume. This broker allows you to trade on 6,400 markets around the world, including indices, commodities, shares, cryptocurrencies, and currency pairs. Its mobile app is extremely high-tech, with tools such as an AI trade bias detection system to help traders better understand their patterns and strategies.

Capital.com prides itself on having a trader-centric, customer-focused app that is smart, simple, and intuitive. It offers educational resources, competitive spreads, low minimum trade sizes, and high-speed execution. Importantly, Capital.com charges no hidden fees and 0% commissions.

Best Trading App No. 2: Swissquote

Highlights: Real-Time Price Changes, High-Tech Charting, Constantly-Upgraded Functionality

Swissquote is a Swiss company that describes stock trading as the “cornerstone” of the majority of investment portfolios, and it is, currently, one of the best stock trading apps in the U.K. In addition to stocks, you can also trade ETFs, funds, options, futures, cryptocurrencies, and more with Swissquote.

The Swissquote trading app is available for both Android and iOS users. This fast, secure app has unique features like real-time price changes, dynamic graphics, high-tech charts, Trade Themes Trading portfolios, and more. According to this broker, it constantly updates the functionalities on its apps to make them as cutting-edge and lag-free as possible.

Best Trading App No. 3: Admirals

Highlights: High Level Of Security, Wide Range Of Market Access, In-House Design

Admirals’ app allows traders to access an extensive range of products, including CFDs on Forex currency pairs, commodities, indices, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs. The app has been designed totally in-house, and Admirals’ engineers have created one of the industry’s most user-friendly interfaces.

Admirals also has a lot of educational resources, offering webinars, tutorials, guides, and academies to its traders. Additionally, this broker and its platforms, including its mobile app, possess a high level of security. Two-factor authentication, negative balance protection, an Investor Compensation Fund, and other features ensure Admirals’ dedication to customer protection.

These three apps are, overall, some of the best trading apps in the U.K. In the next section, we will discuss an app that is geared towards new traders.

What Is The Best Trading App In The U.K. For Beginners?

New traders often require extra help with education, as well as a heightened level of customer support. One broker that has been noted for its user-friendly app is XM. XM has one of the best stock trading apps in the U.K., though it offers many other instruments with which to trade, too.

XM has won more than thirty industry awards, and it isn’t just a great app for trading tax-efficient stocks and shares ISAs; it is also an excellent forex trading app. With XM, you have access to 1,000 trading instruments, spreads as low as 0.0, and thirteen trading platforms. XM offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 apps for Android phones, and, as both platforms are industry standards, they work well for traders of all experience levels.

XM also offers a host of educational resources, including webinars, guides, trade ideas and strategies, and more. Its Learning Centre is of vital importance to anyone in need of trading information. XM’s educational resources and industry-standard platforms are why we recommend it as one of the best trading apps in the U.K for beginners.

There are many traders out there who download apps specifically to trade forex, as this asset, alone, comprises a £1.72 quadrillion industry. We’ve discussed the best stock trading apps in the U.K., and, in the next section, we will focus on forex trading apps.

What Is The Best App For Trading Forex In The U.K.?

Headquartered in Sydney, FP Markets, via its mobile trading apps and other platforms, has spreads as low as 0.0 pips. Leverage options max out at 30:1, and you can trade over sixty currency pairs, entering and exiting trades 24/5. FP’s Equinix servers ensure fast, high-speed trading execution. In addition to its forex provisions, FP Markets is also one of the best stock trading apps in the U.K., as it offers traders more than 10,000 share and stock CFDs across four continents.

FP Markets’ low-cost, low-margin trading makes it attractive to those who want a Forex trading app that is practical, functional, and easy to use. With FP, you can access both a MetaTrader 5 app and a proprietary mobile app. The latter is available for iOS and Android smartphones, and it is feature-packed, with customization and access to forex, shares, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and other instruments.

Trading App Fees

All traders, no matter their experience level, want an app that will keep trading costs as low as possible. Some examples of common trading fees include:

• Commissions. Charged by many brokers, commissions are a fixed, flat fee or a percentage of the total profit that you make while trading.

• Inactivity Fees. A trader will incur these fees whenever his or her account remains inactive (no trades made) for a predetermined period of time.

• Withdrawal Fees. Withdrawal fees occur when a broker retains a percentage or flat amount of the total sum being withdrawn.

• Starting Spreads. Generally, the term “spread” defines the difference in two yields, prices, or rates. “Starting spreads” refers to the lowest difference amount that a broker provides.

• Minimum Deposit. This is the minimum amount of money that you must deposit to begin trading with a broker.

Below is a table comparing the fees of the “Best Trading Apps In The U.K.” listed above.

Is It Safe To Use Stock Trading Apps?

The best stock trading apps in the U.K. will always have some measure of security, whether this measure includes encryption, two-factor authentication, and other protective features. Remember to always look for a stock trading app that is provided by a regulated, licensed broker. Governmental bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority impose rules on a broker to which the latter must adhere. A reputable, trustworthy broker will abide by the law and protect your money much in the same way a major bank does.

Traders need a reputable app with extensive features and an easy-to-use interface, among other qualities. We can help you analyse and compare different brokers and the platforms, including mobile apps, that they offer.