AJ Bell

Two numbers matter here, and mixing them up is how most 'AJ Bell is cheap' claims go wrong.

The first is 0.25% a year, the platform charge AJ Bell quotes for holding your investments. It applies to shares, ETFs, investment trusts, gilts, bonds and funds.

The second is the cap — and this is where the structure differs by account and asset.

• Shares, ETFs, investment trusts, gilts and bonds in an ISA, Dealing account or Junior ISA: 0.25%, capped at £3.50 a month. That is £42 a year. You reach the cap at £16,800 and every pound above it is held for free.
• Shares, ETFs, investment trusts, gilts and bonds in a SIPP: 0.25%, capped at £10 a month — £120 a year.
• Funds in any account: 0.25% on the first £250,000, 0.10% on the next £250,000, and nothing above £500,000. There is no monthly cap on funds.

That last line is the one headline writers miss. A £300,000 fund portfolio in an ISA costs £625 a year in platform fees — 0.25% of £250,000 plus 0.10% of the remaining £50,000. The £42 cap never applies.

Here is what that looks like against the competition for a shares-and-ETFs ISA:

AJ Bell wins at every level above roughly £10,000 — narrowly over Hargreaves Lansdown, and by a widening margin over Vanguard once the 0.15% fee on a large pot overtakes the £42 cap. Vanguard's headline rate is lower, but its cap is £375 a year, so the crossover sits around £28,000.

For a deeper walk through how the cap plays out, see our AJ Bell fee cap analysis.

Dealing charges are the per-trade cost of buying and selling, and this is where AJ Bell has quietly become one of the cheapest full-service platforms.

• Regular monthly investing: £0. Set up a monthly payment from £25 and you pay no dealing charge at all.
• One-off fund deals: £1.50. Funds — unit trusts and OEICs — cost £1.50 a trade, down from £5.
• One-off share deals: £5.00. If you made 10 or more online share deals in the previous calendar month, the rate drops to £3.50 for the following month.
• Foreign exchange: 0.75%, capped — for international dealing and foreign-currency funds.

For context, Hargreaves Lansdown charges £1.95 for one-off fund trades and up to £6.95 for share deals. Vanguard charges nothing to buy its own funds but £7.50 for an ETF trade. interactive investor charges £3.99 a trade on its Core plan. AJ Bell's £1.50 fund dealing is the standout line here.

The £3.50 frequent-dealer rate is worth understanding. It is calculated from the previous calendar month and resets each month, so if you plan to trade actively, cluster your deals and the following month gets cheaper.

The SIPP is where AJ Bell's reputation for cheapness is most over-simplified.

For shares, ETFs and investment trusts, the SIPP charges 0.25% capped at £10 a month — £120 a year. Hold £250,000 in shares in an AJ Bell SIPP and you pay £120 a year, against £150 with Hargreaves Lansdown (0.35%, capped at £12.50 a month).

For funds, there is no cap. The tiered fund charge — 0.25% on the first £250,000, 0.10% to £500,000, free above — applies inside the SIPP too. A £250,000 fund-based SIPP costs £625 a year at AJ Bell.

Annual SIPP platform fee on a funds portfolio:

Two conclusions fall out of that table. Vanguard — funds-only, 0.15% capped at £375 a year — is the cheapest home for a big fund pot, full stop. interactive investor's flat fee (£14.99 a month on its Plus plan) wins for very large portfolios and multi-account households. AJ Bell's SIPP is genuinely cheap for share-heavy pots and only average for fund-heavy ones.

The £8,000-saving claim that circulates for 'the AJ Bell SIPP' is not right for a typical fund investor. It only holds if you hold shares and ETFs, not funds. Get that distinction straight before you transfer a pension.

The rest of the SIPP is strong: the pension annual allowance is £60,000 for 2026/27, 20% tax relief is added at source, you can take 25% tax-free (subject to the £268,275 lump sum allowance), access starts at 55 rising to 57 from April 2028, and AJ Bell's pension finder will locate and consolidate old workplace pensions for free. Transfers in are free, and AJ Bell will cover exit fees up to £500 if the account is worth £20,000 or more.

See our AJ Bell SIPP fees breakdown for the full picture.

AJ Bell wraps every mainstream UK tax wrapper into one login, which matters because it removes the friction of running an ISA here, a SIPP there and a dealing account somewhere else — each with its own fee schedule and password.

Available accounts:

• Stocks & Shares ISA — £20,000 allowance for 2026/27, from £25 a month
• Lifetime ISA — £4,000 a year, 25% government bonus (up to £1,000 a year)
• Junior ISA — £9,000 a year, locked until 18
• SIPP — up to £60,000 a year including tax relief
• Junior SIPP — up to £3,600 a year including tax relief
• Ready-made Pension — a managed option for hands-off investors
• Dealing account (GIA) — no wrapper, no limits
• Cash Savings Hub — variable interest on uninvested cash

There is no Cash ISA. If you want to hold cash tax-free, AJ Bell is not your platform.

Investment range:

• 4,000+ funds and ETFs
• 450+ investment trusts
• UK, US, Japanese, Canadian and major European shares
• Corporate bonds and UK gilts
• AJ Bell's own-brand funds and a 'Favourite funds' shortlist

One gap: no fractional shares. If you want to buy exactly £100 of a US share rather than whole shares, you need Trading 212 or Freetrade. For fund and ETF investors — most of AJ Bell's customer base — it barely matters.

For a side-by-side of how AJ Bell stacks up across the whole market, see our ISA platform comparison and our SIPP guide.

AJ Bell fits you if:

• You hold mostly shares, ETFs and investment trusts in an ISA — the £42 cap is a genuine edge
• You invest monthly — free regular investing removes the dealing charge on every contribution
• You want ISA, SIPP, JISA and a dealing account under one login with one fee schedule
• You are consolidating old workplace pensions and value the free pension finder
• You want a full-service platform that won't force a costly switch as your portfolio grows

AJ Bell is the wrong platform if:

• You hold mostly funds above £100,000 — Vanguard's 0.15% (capped at £375) or ii's flat fee undercut the tiered fund charge
• You are a beginner who wants hand-holding — start with Dodl by AJ Bell (0.15%, minimum £1 a month) or Moneybox
• You trade shares actively — £5 a deal adds up against Trading 212's zero commission
• You want fractional shares
• You want a Cash ISA

The sweet spot: a mid-career investor with a shares-and-ETFs ISA, a monthly contribution habit and a SIPP they are consolidating from old workplace schemes. For that person, the £42 cap on shares and free regular investing are hard to beat. For a fund-heavy pension pot, price Vanguard first.

Against Hargreaves Lansdown you get most of the capability at a lower all-in cost. Against interactive investor, the flat fee wins for multi-account households but AJ Bell is cheaper for a single ISA. Against Vanguard, the crossover is £28,000 for shares — beyond that the cap decisively favours AJ Bell.

AJ Bell is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, is listed on the FTSE 250, and has served UK investors for more than 30 years. Client assets are held in a nominee company, segregated from AJ Bell's own balance sheet, so they do not sit with AJ Bell's corporate assets.

FSCS investment protection covers up to £85,000 per person for shortfalls if AJ Bell failed and client assets could not be fully returned — the standard investment-platform limit, distinct from the £120,000 FSCS cover that applies to cash deposits at authorised banks.

With over 762,000 customers and a Which? Recommended award eight years running (2019–2026), AJ Bell sits in the top tier of UK platforms for institutional stability. That matters more in a market wobble than it does in a bull run.