Interactive Investor
vs InvestEngine (2026)
Two very different answers to the same question. Interactive Investor is a flat-fee platform with 40,000+ investments — stocks, funds, investment trusts, and ETFs. InvestEngine is a free ETF-only platform built for passive investors who want to keep it simple and keep costs at zero. The right pick is almost entirely determined by what you need access to.
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TL;DR
- You invest only in ETFs — passive and index-tracking
- You want £0 platform fee and £0 per trade
- You want fractional ETF investing from £1
- You want automated recurring investments and rebalancing
- You’re building a simple, low-maintenance portfolio
- You want stocks, investment trusts, or active funds alongside ETFs
- You need a Junior ISA or joint account
- You have a large portfolio where flat fees beat percentage fees
- You want deep research tools and analyst commentary
- You want a single platform you won’t outgrow
These are different platforms solving different problems
Most of the time, the answer is determined before you look at fees. It starts with one question: do you need anything beyond ETFs?
ii gives you access to 40,000+ investments — UK and international stocks, ETFs, investment trusts, active funds, and bonds. It charges a fixed monthly fee regardless of portfolio size: £5.99/month (Core), £14.99/month (Plus), or £39.99/month (Premium). Trading costs £3.99 per order on top (£2.99 on Premium). The flat-fee structure means as your portfolio grows, your effective cost percentage falls — which is why ii is often compared to HL and AJ Bell rather than to InvestEngine.
InvestEngine gives you 870+ ETFs and nothing else — no individual stocks, no active funds, no investment trusts. The tradeoff: the DIY platform is completely free. £0 platform fee, £0 trading commission, 0% FX markup — because all ETFs on the platform trade in GBP, no currency conversion ever takes place. It also supports fractional ETF investing from £1 and built-in automation tools that most brokers charge for or don’t offer at all.
At £5.99/month (£71.88/year), ii’s Core plan becomes attractive compared to a percentage-fee fund platform like Hargreaves Lansdown, which charges 0.35% a year on funds with no cap — ii is cheaper above roughly £20,500 in portfolio value. For ETFs the window is narrower: HL caps its shares and ETF charge at £12.50 a month, so once ii’s £100,000 Core ceiling forces the move to Plus at £179.88 a year, HL’s £150 cap wins again. And compared to InvestEngine at £0, ii is always more expensive. The value proposition is access, not cost savings.
InvestEngine names four revenue lines of its own: interest earned on uninvested client cash, which it keeps in full and does not pass on; the 0.25% fee on its ready-made portfolios; educational partnerships with ETF providers that include joint marketing arrangements; and operational efficiency. Every ETF on the platform trades in GBP, so there is no currency conversion to mark up — the 0% FX figure is structural, not promotional. The trade-off is one InvestEngine states plainly: cash sitting uninvested in your account earns you nothing.
Full fee comparison
Interactive Investor restructured its pricing on 1 February 2026, replacing its previous plan range with Core, Plus and Premium. New customers join on Core, which is the entry point for most retail investors.
| Fee | ii Core | ii Plus | ii Premium | InvestEngine DIY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee/month | £5.99 | £14.99 | £39.99 | £0 |
| Annual platform cost | £71.88 | £179.88 | £479.88 | £0 |
| ETF / UK share trade | £3.99 | £3.99 | £2.99 | £0 |
| Fund (OEIC / unit trust) trade | £3.99 | £1.49 | Free | N/A — ETF-only |
| International trade | £9.99 | £7.99 | £5.99 | N/A — ETF-only |
| Regular investing | £0 (buys only)† | £0 (buys only)† | £0 (buys only)† | £0 (auto-invest) |
| Free trades/month | 0 | 1 | 2 | Unlimited |
| FX markup | 0.75%* | 0.75% / 0.25%* | 0.25% | 0% |
| Annual custody fee | None listed | None listed | None listed | 0% |
| Interest on uninvested cash | Paid, tiered | Paid, tiered | Paid, tiered | None — InvestEngine keeps it |
| Fractional investing | No | No | No | Yes — from £1 |
| Minimum deposit | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | £100 to open a portfolio |
Investment range
The biggest practical difference between these two platforms. InvestEngine is ETF-only; ii is a full investment supermarket.
- UK shares (all LSE-listed)
- US and international shares
- ETFs — UK, US, and international
- Investment trusts
- Active and passive funds (OEICs)
- Vanguard LifeStrategy funds
- Bonds and gilts
- Highly Rated Funds — Morningstar-powered screen
- ETFs from all major providers — Vanguard, iShares, HSBC, Xtrackers, Amundi
- VWRP, VUAG, VUSA and other Vanguard ETFs available
- Bond ETFs, thematic ETFs, ESG ETFs
- LifePlans — risk-rated ready-made ETF portfolios (0.25% p.a.)
- Fractional ETF positions from £1
- No individual stocks
- No investment trusts or OEICs
- No Vanguard LifeStrategy funds
Account types
ii supports a wider range of account types. If you need a Junior ISA or joint account, InvestEngine is immediately ruled out.
| Account type | Interactive Investor | InvestEngine |
|---|---|---|
| Stocks and Shares ISA | Yes | Yes |
| SIPP (pension) | Yes | Yes |
| General Investment Account | Yes | Yes |
| Managed portfolio option | Managed ISA and Managed Portfolios (pension) — 0.13% to 0.21% fund cost on top of the plan fee | LifePlans at 0.25% p.a. — Managed Portfolios closed to new clients |
| Junior ISA | Yes (Plus/Premium only) | No |
| Joint account | Yes — £14.99/month, billed separately | No |
| Company / business account | Yes — plan fee plus £30/month surcharge | Yes |
| ISA transfers in | Cash and in-specie, free | Cash and in-specie, free (transfers out are cash only) |
Platform experience and automation
Different philosophies, different interfaces. One built for depth and research; one built for simplicity and automation.
- Web and mobile app with broad account management functionality
- Highly Rated Funds: a Morningstar-powered screen across funds, trusts and ETFs, which replaced ii’s in-house Super 60 and ACE 40 lists
- News, analyst commentary, and portfolio analysis tools
- Regular investing: automated monthly buys at £0 per order, on purchases only and from a restricted list
- Multi-currency in the SIPP and Trading Account only — up to nine currencies held; the ISA and Junior ISA are sterling-only
- More traditional onboarding; steeper initial learning curve
- Clean web and mobile interface — built for passive, set-and-forget investing
- Savings Plans: recurring weekly, fortnightly or monthly contributions into any ETF
- One-click portfolio rebalancing back to target allocations
- Fractional ETF positions — invest any amount regardless of ETF price
- LifePlans: risk-rated ready-made ETF portfolios at 0.25% p.a. (Managed Portfolios are closed to new clients)
- Orders execute once per business day, not in real time — no limit or stop orders, and changes lock at 2pm on the execution day
- Limited research depth — built for execution, not analysis
Who each platform suits
Match the platform to the investor type, not the other way around.
- ETF-only passive investors — every pound saved on costs compounds into returns over decades
- FIRE / long-run investors — low-cost, automated, built for the long hold
- Beginners building a first portfolio — £1 fractional buy, clean interface, auto-invest removes the decision friction
- Small and growing portfolios — £0 fee means no drag while you accumulate
- Hands-off investors — set up auto-invest, rebalance quarterly, don’t log in between
- Investors who want stocks and ETFs in one account — ii covers both without switching platforms
- Investment trust investors — a major UK vehicle unavailable on InvestEngine
- Fund investors with larger portfolios — ii’s flat fee beats Hargreaves Lansdown’s uncapped 0.35% annual fund charge above roughly £20,500
- SIPP investors with complex needs — broader asset access within the pension wrapper
- Families using a Junior ISA — InvestEngine does not offer a JISA
Pros and cons
- Broadest investment range of any flat-fee UK platform
- Free regular investing (£0 per scheduled order)
- Flat fee beats HL’s 0.35% annual fund charge above roughly £20,500
- Deep research — Highly Rated Funds, analyst commentary, news
- Established platform, operating since 1995
- SIPP and Junior ISA inside the plan; joint and company accounts billed separately
- Up to nine currencies held in the SIPP and Trading Account
- Tiered interest paid on uninvested cash across all three wrappers
- £5.99+/month minimum — expensive for small portfolios
- £3.99 per trade adds up for frequent or small buys
- No fractional shares — whole ETF units only
- FX charge of 0.75% on Core, applied on top of a rate that already carries an undisclosed spread
- ISA and Junior ISA are sterling-only — every international ISA trade converts in and back out
- More traditional interface — steeper learning curve
- Completely free for DIY ETF investors — £0 on everything
- 0% FX markup — all ETFs trade in GBP on the platform
- Fractional ETF investing from £1
- Best-in-class automation: auto-invest, rebalancing, recurring contributions
- Clean, intuitive interface — built for passive investors
- LifePlans at 0.25% p.a. for fully hands-off investors (Managed Portfolios are currently closed to new clients)
- ETF-only — no stocks, investment trusts, or OEICs
- No Vanguard LifeStrategy funds (mutual funds, not ETFs)
- No Junior ISA or joint account
- Limited research tools — built for execution, not analysis
- £100 minimum to open a portfolio
- No interest on uninvested cash — InvestEngine retains all of it
- Orders fill once a business day, with no limit or stop orders
- UK residents only — no accounts for non-UK residents or US persons
- Newer platform — less operational track record than ii
Final verdict
If you are building a straightforward portfolio of index-tracking UCITS ETFs — MSCI World, FTSE All-World, S&P 500, global bonds — InvestEngine gives you everything you need at no cost. The automation tools are genuinely stronger than most platforms at any price point. Fractional investing from £1 makes small monthly contributions practical in a way ii’s whole-unit model does not — ii’s regular investing is free, but only on purchases, only from a restricted list, and only in whole units. There is no compelling reason to pay £71.88/year to do the same thing.
If you want individual stocks, investment trusts, Vanguard LifeStrategy funds, or a Junior ISA, InvestEngine simply cannot do it. ii gives you access to 40,000+ instruments across every major account type. Its flat-fee structure also makes it one of the most cost-efficient UK platforms for larger fund portfolios, where a percentage-fee alternative like Hargreaves Lansdown charges 0.35% a year on funds with no cap at all.
This is not always an either/or decision. Some investors hold a passive ETF ISA on InvestEngine (free) and a broader SIPP or share dealing account on ii (flat fee). Both platforms support ISA and SIPP transfers if you decide to consolidate later. Start with whichever account type you need most urgently, and build from there.
Ready to open an account?
ETF-only passive investor? InvestEngine is free and purpose-built for you. Need stocks, investment trusts, and a Junior ISA too? Interactive Investor is the broader platform.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
Is InvestEngine safe?
Yes. InvestEngine (UK) Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 801128. Eligible clients are protected up to £85,000 by the FSCS if InvestEngine were to fail — that cover never extends to market losses, which no compensation scheme protects against. Client funds are held in segregated accounts at UK banks and custodians, separate from InvestEngine’s own money. As a newer platform it has less operational history than ii, but its regulatory standing is equivalent.
Is Interactive Investor good for beginners?
ii can work for beginners who want access to a broad range of assets, but the £5.99/month Core plan makes it expensive relative to portfolio size when you’re starting out. Free regular investing makes monthly contributions viable — though it covers purchases only, draws on a restricted list of FTSE 350 shares, selected investment trusts and ETFs, and sterling-listed funds, and selling is charged at the normal rate. That said, beginners with small portfolios and ETF-only needs are generally better served by InvestEngine’s zero-cost platform while building up — at that point ii’s flat fee becomes proportionally small and the switch is easy.
Can you buy Vanguard ETFs on InvestEngine?
Yes — Vanguard’s London Stock Exchange-listed ETFs (such as VWRP, VUSA, and VUAG) are fully available on InvestEngine. However, Vanguard LifeStrategy funds are not available — they are structured as mutual funds (OEICs) rather than ETFs, and InvestEngine only supports ETFs. For investors building around VWRP or other Vanguard UCITS ETFs, InvestEngine is a perfectly valid platform.
Does Interactive Investor offer fractional shares?
No. Interactive Investor does not support fractional shares or fractional ETF units — you buy in whole units only. This is a meaningful constraint for investors making small regular contributions into higher-priced ETFs. InvestEngine supports fractional ETF investing from £1, which makes it easy to fully deploy any contribution size regardless of the ETF’s unit price.
Which is better for ISAs — Interactive Investor or InvestEngine?
For ETF-only ISAs, InvestEngine wins on cost — £0 platform fee, £0 per trade, and no FX charge at all, because every ETF on the platform trades in GBP. For ISAs that include individual stocks, investment trusts, or active funds, ii is the only viable option of the two. ii’s flat fee also beats a percentage-fee fund platform like Hargreaves Lansdown, which charges 0.35% a year on funds, above roughly £20,500 — though for an ETF-only ISA that argument runs out at ii’s £100,000 Core ceiling, where the move to Plus at £179.88 a year costs more than HL’s £150 annual cap on shares and ETFs. One further point before choosing ii for an ISA: the ii ISA is sterling-only, so every international holding converts in and back out.
QuantRoutine provides educational content only. Nothing on this page is an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security or to open an account with any specific broker. Investments can lose value, and past performance does not guarantee future results. You are responsible for your own investment, tax, and legal decisions. Always review each broker’s current terms, fees, and eligibility on their official website before opening or funding an account. Fee data sourced from official broker documentation and updated August 2026 — verify current rates directly with each platform before acting.