As a UK resident, you are flooded with excellent investment incentives that people in other countries can only dream of! Not paying a single penny in tax dividends, interests or capital gains can be the difference between retiring in 20 or 25 years.
Unfortunately, DEGIRO does not have any ISA (Investment Savings Account), such as Cash, Stocks and Shares, Innovative Finance or Lifetime ISAs. Since you are most likely looking for a Stocks and Shares ISA, our analysis will lean more towards that particular type of ISA.
Since you cannot create an ISA in DEGIRO, we will explore alternatives worth considering. Let’s jump right into it!
What is an ISA, and what are its main benefits?
The acronym ISA stands for Individual Savings Account. It is an unlimited tax-free account in dividends and capital gains, with an annual allowance of £20,000 (the maximum you can invest in a single fiscal year).
This type of account allows you not to pay tax on any dividends and capital gains realised, no matter how big your ISA savings gets over time. As the old saying goes, nothing is certain except death and taxes. Well, with an ISA, you can’t cheat death, but it sure does save a lot of tax.
These are four types of ISAs you will find:
- Cash ISA: pay a rate of tax-free interest. Usually for people that want capital protection and may need the money in the near future;
- Stocks and shares ISA: ideally for investments in the capital markets and long term objectives;
- Lifetime ISA: suitable for someone saving for the first home. The government will also provide a 25% bonus to your contributions, but you can only deposit up to £4,000 each year.
- Innovative Finance ISA: ideal for someone looking for other alternative investments like peer-to-peer loans (also known as P2P Lending), which match up investors (those willing to lend) with borrowers (often businesses).
Does DEGIRO have ISA?
No. DEGIRO does not offer any ISA – Cash, Stocks and Shares, Innovative Finance, or Lifetime – to UK investors. The platform only provides a General Investment Account (GIA), meaning any dividends, interest, or capital gains generated within a DEGIRO account fall outside the UK’s tax-free ISA wrapper and are subject to standard UK taxation.
The reasons go beyond a simple “internal decision”:
- DEGIRO is not a UK-domiciled broker. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands and operates under flatexDEGIRO Bank AG (regulated primarily by BaFin in Germany). ISAs are an HMRC-defined tax wrapper exclusive to the UK and require providers to be registered with HMRC as an authorised ISA manager. DEGIRO is not registered as an ISA manager.
- Brexit complicated UK access. After the UK left the EU’s single market, DEGIRO lost its FCA passporting rights and paused new UK onboarding for several years. It reopened to UK clients in April 2024, though availability has been intermittent since then. Even with UK accounts open, the lack of an ISA wrapper is a fundamental product gap rather than a temporary one.
- DEGIRO’s core business model is execution-only, low-cost trading. Tax-wrapped accounts like ISAs and SIPPs typically require additional administrative infrastructure, regulatory reporting, and customer support, all of which add overhead that conflicts with DEGIRO’s discount-broker positioning.
While DEGIRO may add new products over time, there has been no public indication that an ISA is on its roadmap. UK investors who want to take advantage of the £20,000 annual ISA allowance therefore need to look elsewhere – which is exactly what the rest of this article covers.
DEGIRO ISA alternatives in the UK
All options presented below have Stocks and Shares ISA (some of the other ISA types are also available). Our selection criteria involved fees, platform interface, years in the market and customer support. Here are our top picks:
Interactive Brokers
Founded in 1978, IBKR is one of the world’s most trustworthy brokers worldwide. It offers a Stocks and Shares ISA with a minimum monthly activity fee is £3 (if you generate a £3 in commission per month, no fee is applicable) and no minimum deposit. More on Interactive Brokers ISA here.
💡 Interactive Brokers also launched IBKR GlobalTrader, a modern mobile trading app to trade Stocks, Options and ETFs, ideal for novice investors.
XTB
Founded in 2002, XTB is a major player in the brokerage industry with extensive worldwide experience, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It offers a flexible Stocks & Shares ISA with 0% commissions in stocks and ETFs plus interest on uninvested GBPs (calculated daily and paid out monthly).
Interactive Investor
An investment platform offering two types of ISAs: Stocks and Shares, and Junior. It charges a monthly fee starting from £4.99. More on Interactive Investor ISA here.
Hargreaves Lansdown
With over 1.3 million clients and +35 years of experience, it offers several ways to save and invest your money. It provides Stocks and Shares, Lifetime and Junior ISAs. Details on Hargreaves Lansdown ISAs here.
Vanguard
The second biggest asset manager in the world with +40 years in the business. The Stocks and Shares ISA charges a 0.15% annual fee for a starting amount of £500. Read the details of Vanguard’s ISA offering here.
✔️ All the platforms above are authorised and regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and their clients’ accounts are fully protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If something happens to the firm you are using and you cannot receive your investments, FSCS should step in to pay compensation up to £85,000 per investor per account.
#1 Interactive Brokers
IB at a glance
Founded in 1978 and publicly listed on NASDAQ (ticker: IBKR), Interactive Brokers is one of the largest and most established global online brokers. Over its 45+ year history, the company has weathered multiple financial crises and built a reputation for resilience, rigorous risk management, and one of the broadest product ranges in the industry.
The Interactive Brokers UK Stocks and Shares ISA (IBUK ISA) gives you access to global markets through a tax-efficient wrapper. Commissions start from just £3 per trade for UK and most European stocks, and $0.005 per share for US stocks (under the Fixed pricing tier; Tiered pricing starts at $0.0005 per share for high-volume traders). For larger trades over £6,000 / €6,000, the cost is 0.05% of trade value. You can also invest in fractional shares of US stocks, allowing you to buy partial shares of higher-priced names like Amazon, Apple, or NVIDIA – now explicitly confirmed as ISA-eligible under HMRC’s November 2024 rules.
The IBUK ISA has a minimum monthly activity fee of £3, which is deducted from your transaction fees rather than added to them – so if you place £3 or more in trades in a given month, you pay nothing extra. The account itself has no custody fees, no platform fees, and no account opening fees. Users get one free withdrawal per month; subsequent withdrawals are typically £7.
Other useful features:
- Currency conversion at just 0.03% – one of the lowest FX fees among UK brokers, particularly relevant since US stocks are priced in USD.
- Interest on uninvested cash – GBP balances earn competitive interest rates that track the Bank of England base rate (recent rates have been close to 4-5% on eligible balances).
- 50,000+ mutual funds, with thousands available with no transaction fees.
- Junior ISA also available with a lower £1 minimum monthly activity fee.
On the regulatory side, Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Client assets are protected under the FSCS up to £85,000. Some IBUK clients also have positions held through IBKR’s US affiliate Interactive Brokers LLC (regulated by the SEC and CFTC and a member of SIPC), where the protection can extend up to $500,000 (with a $250,000 cash sub-limit) – meaningfully higher than the standalone FSCS coverage.
Interactive Brokers also offers IBKR GlobalTrader, a modern mobile trading app designed for beginners, supporting stocks, ETFs, and options with automatic currency conversions, fractional shares, and a demo account. For more advanced investors, the main IBKR Mobile app and Trader Workstation (TWS) desktop platform provide professional-grade tools.
#2 XTB
XTB at a glance
69-80% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
XTB is a Polish global investment firm founded in 2002, publicly listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (XTB) since 2016, and serving over 2.5 million clients worldwide. XTB UK is regulated by the FCA and offers a comprehensive range of products including stocks, ETFs, forex, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies (via CFDs).
Launched in 2024, XTB’s Stocks & Shares ISA is a tax-efficient investment account available to UK residents. It gives access to over 8,800 stocks and ETFs across 14+ global stock exchanges, including the London Stock Exchange, NYSE, NASDAQ, Deutsche Börse, and others. UK investors can build a diversified portfolio and shelter all dividends, interest, and capital gains from UK tax inside the ISA wrapper.
XTB’s ISA pricing is genuinely competitive:
- Free account opening and maintenance – no platform fees and no inactivity fees on the ISA (note: inactivity fees can apply to standalone GIAs).
- 0% commission on stocks and ETFs for monthly trading volume up to €100,000 (approximately £85,000). Above this limit, a 0.2% commission applies with a £10 minimum.
- 0.5% currency conversion fee on trades in foreign currencies.
- Fractional shares from just £10 – useful for building positions in high-priced US stocks like NVIDIA, Apple, or Microsoft on a budget.
- Up to 4.00% AER interest on uninvested GBP cash within the ISA (as of May 2026, variable; calculated daily and paid monthly) – one of the highest cash interest rates available on any UK Stocks & Shares ISA.
- Flexible ISA structure – you can withdraw money and replace it within the same tax year without affecting your annual allowance, subject to ISA flexible rules.
The annual ISA allowance for the 2026/27 tax year is £20,000, which can be split across Cash ISAs, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Innovative Finance ISAs, and Lifetime ISAs (up to £4,000 in a Lifetime ISA). XTB also offers a separate Cash ISA, meaning UK clients can hold both wrappers on the same platform.
On the regulatory side, XTB UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Client assets are protected by the FSCS up to a £120,000 limit (XTB tops up the standard £85,000 FSCS coverage with an additional £35,000 of insurance) – a meaningfully higher level of protection than most UK competitors.
The main limitations to be aware of: XTB does not offer mutual funds, bonds, or a SIPP, so investors who want diversified exposure to fixed income or who are looking for a pension wrapper alongside their ISA will need to combine XTB with another provider.
#3 Interactive investor
II at a glance
Disclaimer: As investment values can go down as well as up, you may not get back all of the money you invest. If you’re unsure if an investment account is right for you, please speak to an authorised financial adviser.
Founded in 1995, Interactive Investor (often abbreviated as ii) is one of the UK’s longest-established investment platforms. With over 500,000 customers and approximately £90 billion in assets under administration, ii is the UK’s largest flat-fee investment platform – meaning you pay a fixed monthly subscription rather than a percentage of your portfolio, which becomes increasingly cost-effective as your wealth grows.
On 1 February 2026, ii overhauled its pricing structure, replacing the previous Investor Essentials, Investor, and Super Investor plans with three simplified tiers. Crucially, every plan now includes access to a Stocks & Shares ISA, SIPP, and General Investment Account on a single monthly subscription – removing the need to pay separately for different account types.
The three current ii plans:
- Core – £5.99 per month (for portfolios up to £100,000): UK and US share trades at £3.99, fund trades at £3.99, FX fee of 0.75%. Best for most beginner and intermediate UK investors.
- Plus – £14.99 per month (no investment limit): Includes one free monthly trade, fund trades reduced to £1.49, international trades £7.99, FX fee of 0.75% up to £50,000 then 0.25%, fee-free accounts for up to 5 family members, unlimited free Junior ISAs.
- Premium – £39.99 per month: Two free monthly trades, free fund trades, UK and US shares at £2.99, flat 0.25% FX fee, unlimited family fee-free accounts, plus access to ii360, ii’s new advanced trading platform launching in 2026.
Regardless of plan, all customers can use ii’s regular investing service from as little as £25 per month with no dealing fees – just set up a direct debit and your contributions are invested automatically, completely free of trading charges.
ii offers one of the widest investment ranges of any UK platform, with access to 40,000+ investment options including UK and international shares, funds, investment trusts, ETFs, and bonds. Other useful ISA features include:
- Junior ISA available (free on Plus and Premium plans, otherwise £5.99/month covered by the main subscription).
- Bed & ISA service – sell investments in your taxable account and rebuy them inside your ISA in one transaction (useful for moving CGT-exposed holdings into the wrapper).
- Curated research tools including ii’s Super 60 fund list, Quick-start Funds for beginners, and the ii Community discussion forum.
- Ethical investing options via ii’s ACE 40 list of ethical funds, for socially responsible investing.
Interactive Investor is regulated by the FCA, and client assets are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000. The flat-fee structure makes ii particularly cost-effective for investors with medium-to-large portfolios (£50,000+), where percentage-based platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown or AJ Bell become more expensive as your wealth grows.
#4 Hargreaves Lansdown
HL at a glance
Founded in 1981, Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) is the UK’s largest investment platform for individual investors. It serves over 2 million clients with approximately £172 billion in assets under administration, and is listed in the FTSE 100 (ticker: HL.). HL is widely regarded as one of the strongest brands in UK retail investing, with a deep reputation for customer service, research, and educational content.
On 1 March 2026, HL implemented a major restructuring of its fees. The headline change was a reduction in platform charges, though several smaller charges were introduced or increased at the same time. The current Stocks and Shares ISA fee structure is:
Account charges (annual platform fee, billed monthly):
- Funds (OEICs, unit trusts): 0.35% on the first £250,000 (down from 0.45%), tapering to 0.25% (£250k-£1m), 0.10% (£1m-£2m), and 0% above £2m.
- Shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds, gilts, and VCTs: 0.35% on the first £250,000 (down from 0.45%), capped at £150 per year (up from the previous £45 cap).
Dealing charges:
- UK and US shares, ETFs, investment trusts: £6.95 per trade online (down from £11.95).
- Funds: £1.95 per trade (new charge – funds were previously free to trade).
- Regular investing service: still free for selected shares, investment trusts, and ETFs purchased via monthly Direct Debit from £25/month.
The fee changes are mixed in their impact:
- Fund-focused investors benefit from the platform fee reduction (saving £10 per year per £10,000 invested) – though they now pay £1.95 per fund trade where it was previously free.
- Share, ETF, and investment trust investors can pay more in some cases because the annual cap tripled from £45 to £150. For example, a £20,000 ETF portfolio inside an ISA could see fees rise from around £45/year to up to £70/year under the new structure (until hitting the £150 cap).
- Active traders benefit from the reduced share dealing charge of £6.95 versus the old £11.95.
You can open a Stocks and Shares ISA with HL in two ways:
- Do-it-yourself: Manage your own account with access to over 10,000 investment options including UK and overseas shares, ETFs, investment trusts, funds, bonds, and gilts. Minimum deposit of £100 lump sum or £25/month via Direct Debit.
- Ready-made investments: Choose from HL’s curated portfolios designed by their investment team, sorted by risk level and time horizon. Minimum deposit of £100.
HL also offers a Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA (no account charges), Cash ISA (no platform fees), and SIPP. The flexible ISA structure means you can withdraw and replace cash within the same tax year without affecting your annual allowance.
HL is authorised and regulated by the FCA, with client assets protected by the FSCS up to £85,000. The platform remains more expensive than discount competitors like AJ Bell (0.25% platform fee), Interactive Investor (flat-fee structure), and zero-commission apps like Trading 212 – so HL’s premium pricing is justified primarily by its breadth of investments, research quality, customer service, and brand strength rather than headline cost.
#5 Vanguard
Vanguard at a glance
Founded by Jack Bogle in 1975, Vanguard is one of the world’s most respected asset management firms, with over $10 trillion in global assets under management as of 2026. Vanguard pioneered the low-cost index fund model and remains uniquely structured as an investor-owned firm – it has no outside shareholders, meaning Vanguard’s interests are structurally aligned with its clients rather than with maximising profit. Vanguard’s UK platform (Vanguard Investor UK) launched in 2017 and provides direct access to its own range of funds and ETFs through a Stocks and Shares ISA, SIPP, and General Investment Account.
Important fee changes: Vanguard restructured its UK pricing in early 2025, introducing a £4 minimum monthly account fee (£48/year) for self-managed ISAs, SIPPs, and GIAs with balances under £32,000. This replaces the previous 0.15% charge for smaller investors. For accounts above £32,000, the standard 0.15% annual account fee still applies, capped at £375 (i.e. the cap kicks in at £250,000).
The fee structure in practice:
- Self-managed ISA balance under £32,000: £4/month flat fee (£48/year).
- Self-managed ISA balance £32,000-£250,000: 0.15% annual account fee.
- Self-managed ISA balance over £250,000: 0.15% capped at £375/year.
- Junior ISAs and Managed ISAs: the £4 minimum monthly fee does not apply.
Dealing charges: there are no dealing fees for buying or selling Vanguard funds. A £7.50 fee applies only if you use the optional “Quote and Deal” service for real-time ETF trades; standard ETF orders placed at the daily aggregated price are free.
Investment range: Vanguard UK gives you access to its full range of Vanguard funds and ETFs, including the popular LifeStrategy funds (all-in-one portfolios with 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, or 100% equity allocations), Target Retirement funds (dated 2025-2070, automatically de-risking over time), LifeStrategy ESG, and individual index trackers including the FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund and FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index Fund. Ongoing fund charges (OCFs) on Vanguard products typically range from 0.06% to 0.79%, with the average for a diversified portfolio now sitting around 0.17%-0.20% following fee reductions in early 2025 and 2026. Vanguard cut fees on 53 funds for 2026 alone, with cumulative client savings of approximately $600M over the last two years (the largest combined cost reduction in the firm’s history).
Minimum investment: get started with just £100 lump sum or £25 per month via Direct Debit – significantly lower than the previous £500/£100 minimums.
The main limitation: Vanguard UK is a closed platform. You can only invest in Vanguard’s own funds and ETFs – no individual stocks, no investment trusts, no third-party funds, no bonds outside of Vanguard’s own bond funds, and no commodities or crypto exposure. This makes Vanguard ideal for long-term passive investors who want a simple, low-cost portfolio built around index funds – but unsuitable for anyone who wants individual stock picking, broader fund selection, or alternative assets.
Vanguard Asset Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA, with client assets protected by the FSCS up to £85,000. The new CEO, Salim Ramji (who joined in 2024), has continued the firm’s tradition of aggressive fee reductions across its product line. For UK investors with portfolios of £32,000 or more, Vanguard remains one of the lowest-cost ISA providers on the market. For smaller balances, the £4 monthly minimum makes platforms like InvestEngine (0% platform fee), AJ Bell Dodl (0.15% with £1/month minimum), or Trading 212 worth considering as cheaper alternatives.
Which broker should I choose for my ISA?
This is the kind of question we cannot answer to a general audience. The best broker for you will depend on your personal preferences. Are the fees the most relevant point for you? Do you value the platform interface? Or is customer support your number one priority?
The wide range of options brings a competitive landscape to the savings/investment area, which you, as an investor, can benefit from. Explore the brokers mentioned before and decide for yourself!
Want to learn more about other brokers? Check out our in-depth broker reviews, comparison table, and BrokerMatch tool to find the best option for you!
If you need further guidance or have questions, feel free to reach out to us. We wish you the best in your investment journey!
FAQs
Who can open an ISA?
Any resident in the UK with 18+ years old can open a Stocks and Shares or Innovative Finance ISA. For Cash ISA, you only need to be 16 or older, and for Lifetime ISA, you must be at least, 18 or over but under 40 years old.
Can I withdraw money from a Stocks and Shares ISA?
Yes, you can withdraw money from it. Still, you need to know if your ISA is flexible or non-flexible. Any money withdrawal will not affect your annual allowance in a flexible ISA. For example, if you invest the full £20,000 of annual allowance in a single year and decide to withdraw £5,000 for whatever reason, you can put the £5,000 back into your ISA within the same fiscal year. However, within a non-flexible ISA, you would lose those £5,000 of the annual allowance, so you could not put back the £5,000 (you would need to wait for the following fiscal year).
Does eToro have an ISA?
No, eToro doesn’t have an ISA.
Does Capital.com have an ISA?
No, Capital.com also doesn’t have an ISA.
What fees can I find in an ISA?
The fees directly associated with each provider can be management fees (some providers like Interactive Brokers do not charge this fee), dealing costs (when trading inside the ISA), and ISA transfer fees.
What's the financial/tax year for ISAs?
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April of the following year.
Is the £20,000 ISA annual allowance carried forward?
No, it is not. If you do not make the most out of your ISA allowance before the end of the tax year, it will be gone. You cannot carry forward part of your ISA allowance from one year to the next. So it may make sense to maximise the amount of money you deposit in your ISA each year.
Can I have more than one Stocks and Shares ISA?
Yes, you can. However, you can only fund one Stocks and Shares ISA each tax year.
Can I hold cash in my Shares and Stocks ISA?
Yes, you may hold cash in your Shares and Stocks ISA for whatever reason (while you wait for better investment opportunities, for example, or to pay charges).
Can I transfer existing ISAs?
Yes, you can transfer your ISA from one provider to another at any time.
Do the ISA constraints differ from provider to provider?
No! An ISA has a set of rules that no provider can change: the annual allowance, tax benefits and control over your account. The differentiation between providers comes only in fees, customer support, easiness of use and other features specifically related to each company.
