AJ Bell

The biggest update to AJ Bell's pricing since our last review is the removal of dealing charges for regular monthly investments. Previously £1.50 per deal, the regular investing service is now completely free.

This matters because it changes the maths for anyone who invests monthly — which should be most people. If you're putting £500/month into a global index tracker, you were paying £18/year in regular dealing charges. That's gone. Over 20 years of monthly investing, those 240 small charges would have compounded into roughly £720 in lost returns. Now they're zero.

Current dealing charges at a glance:

• Regular monthly investing: £0 (free)
• One-off online share deal: £5.00 (or £3.50 if you made 10+ deals the previous month)
• One-off fund deal: £5.00
• Foreign exchange: 0.75% (capped)

One nuance: the frequent dealer discount. If you place 10 or more online share deals in a calendar month, your dealing charge drops to £3.50 for the following month. This resets monthly, so it's worth planning bulk trades if you're active.

For comparison: Hargreaves Lansdown charges £1.95 for regular investing and £6.95 for one-off share deals. Interactive investor includes free regular investing on all plans but charges a flat monthly fee (£4.99–£11.99). Trading 212 charges nothing for any dealing — but has a much narrower product range and no SIPP.

AJ Bell's platform charge hasn't changed: 0.25% per year on your total holdings, capped at £3.50/month per account. That's £42/year maximum per account no matter how large your portfolio grows.

Platform charge breakdown:

• 0.25% per year on funds (capped at £3.50/month)
• 0.25% per year on shares, investment trusts, ETFs, bonds, and gilts (capped at £3.50/month)
• Maximum per account: £42/year

What this means in practice: on a £15,000 portfolio split between £10,000 in funds and £5,000 in shares, with two fund deals and two share deals per year, AJ Bell estimates your annual charge at around £50.50 — including the platform fee, dealing charges, and everything. That's genuinely cheap.

The cap mechanics matter more than the headline rate. AJ Bell charges 0.25% but always caps at £42/year. Vanguard charges 0.15% but caps at £375/year. So while Vanguard looks cheaper at 0.15%, the effective rate crosses over:

Yes, Vanguard is cheaper below £28,000. But that's a narrow window — the median Stocks & Shares ISA in the UK holds roughly £30,000–£40,000, and the average SIPP pot is larger. For anyone beyond the early accumulation phase, AJ Bell's cap wins.

For a more granular breakdown, see our detailed AJ Bell fee analysis.

The SIPP is where AJ Bell's fee cap delivers its most dramatic advantage. The pension annual allowance for 2026/27 is £60,000 including tax relief. AJ Bell's SIPP charges the same 0.25% platform fee, capped at £3.50/month — £42/year regardless of pot size.

Here's what SIPP platform fees look like across competitors at different pot sizes:

The pattern is unambiguous. At £250,000, Hargreaves Lansdown charges you £1,000/year — AJ Bell charges £42. That's a £958 annual difference that compounds over decades. Even Vanguard's cap at £375/year is nearly 9x AJ Bell's on a large pot.

Over 20 years on a £50,000 SIPP growing at 5% annually, AJ Bell's capped fee saves roughly £7,935 versus Hargreaves Lansdown. That's not a rounding error — it's a year of retirement income.

Key SIPP features:

• 20% basic-rate tax relief applied automatically at source
• Higher-rate (40%) and additional-rate (45%) taxpayers reclaim the rest through self-assessment
• 25% tax-free lump sum, subject to the £268,275 lump sum allowance
• Access from age 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028
• Free pension finder service to locate and consolidate old workplace pensions
• Minimum opening payment: £500 lump sum or £25/month regular

For a complete breakdown, see our AJ Bell SIPP fees analysis.

AJ Bell's Junior ISA (JISA) mirrors the adult platform's fee structure: 0.25% capped at £3.50/month, with free regular investing and access to the full investment range. The JISA allowance for 2026/27 is £9,000 — tax-free, locked until the child turns 18.

Why the JISA matters in a platform review: because 18 years of compounding turns small fee differences into substantial gaps. Assume £200/month at 5% annual growth:

Vanguard is cheapest for JISA — but limits you to Vanguard-only funds. AJ Bell costs £420 more over 18 years but gives the child access to individual shares, investment trusts, ETFs, and third-party funds. For a JISA that the child can actually engage with and learn from at 16, that flexibility has real value.

The practical difference: a Vanguard JISA holds a LifeStrategy fund and sits there. An AJ Bell JISA can hold Apple shares, a FTSE 100 ETF, a Baillie Gifford fund, and UK gilts — genuinely educational as the child approaches investing age.

See our Junior ISA guide for a full provider comparison.

AJ Bell covers every standard UK investment wrapper. The completeness of the account range is one of its structural advantages — you don't need multiple platforms to hold different tax wrappers.

Available accounts:

• Stocks & Shares ISA — £20,000 annual allowance for 2026/27, invest from £25/month, minimum opening £250
• Lifetime ISA — £4,000/year limit, 25% government bonus (up to £1,000/year)
• Junior ISA — £9,000/year allowance, locked until 18
• SIPP — up to £60,000/year including tax relief, access from 55 (57 from April 2028)
• Junior SIPP — up to £3,600/year including tax relief
• Ready-made Pension — managed option for hands-off investors
• Dealing Account (GIA) — no tax wrapper, no limits
• Cash Savings Hub — variable interest on uninvested cash

The SIPP is the standout — free pension finder, automatic 20% tax relief, and the fee cap that makes it cost-effective at any pot size. The Ready-made Pension is worth flagging for anyone who wants exposure without decisions: AJ Bell's investment team manages a portfolio of AJ Bell funds for a single all-in charge.

For ISA investors, you can hold multiple Stocks & Shares ISAs (since the rules changed in April 2024) and transfer existing ISAs in without affecting your allowance. The MoneyHelper ISA comparison provides independent guidance on choosing between ISA types.

See how AJ Bell compares across ISA providers in our ISA platform comparison.

AJ Bell's investment range is broader than almost any competitor at its price point:

• 4,000+ funds and ETFs across dozens of markets, sectors, and asset classes
• UK and international shares across 24 stock exchanges including the US, Japan, Canada, and major European markets
• Bonds and gilts — corporate bonds and UK government gilts
• Investment trusts — listed closed-ended funds
• AJ Bell funds — low-cost, managed in-house
• Favourite funds — a curated list rated by their analyst team

The international dealing capability across 24 markets separates AJ Bell from app-based competitors. Freetrade and Trading 212 mainly offer UK and US shares. AJ Bell gives you Japan, Canada, Australia, and most European exchanges.

The "Favourite funds" list is a useful middle ground — not as hand-holdy as Dodl (AJ Bell's simplified app), but enough curation to narrow 4,000+ options without being prescriptive. For building a diversified portfolio, the combination of own-brand funds, third-party funds, individual shares, and gilts means almost any strategy is executable on this one platform.

One gap: AJ Bell doesn't offer fractional shares. If you want to buy exactly £100 of Apple rather than whole shares, you'll need Trading 212 or Freetrade. For fund and ETF investors, this doesn't matter.

AJ Bell is the right platform if:

• You have a portfolio of £15,000–£150,000 and want a platform you won't outgrow
• You invest monthly and value the new free regular investing service
• You hold or plan to open a SIPP — the fee cap saves thousands over decades versus uncapped competitors
• You want everything (ISA, SIPP, JISA, GIA) under one login with one fee structure
• You're consolidating old workplace pensions and want the free pension finder
• You're opening a JISA and want the child to have genuine investment choice at 16
• You invest in funds primarily but want the option to buy individual shares occasionally

AJ Bell is not the right platform if:

• You're a complete beginner who wants guidance — Dodl by AJ Bell or Moneybox are simpler
• You only buy Vanguard index funds — Vanguard's own platform at 0.15% is cheaper for sub-£28,000 pots
• You trade shares frequently — the £5/deal charge adds up; Trading 212 charges nothing
• You want fractional shares — AJ Bell doesn't offer them
• You're looking for a Cash ISA — AJ Bell doesn't offer one (the Cash Savings Hub is for uninvested cash within investment accounts)

The sweet spot: a mid-career professional salary-sacrificing into a workplace pension, building an ISA on the side, maybe with a JISA for the kids. Someone who invests monthly, holds mostly funds, and wants a platform that won't force a costly switch in five years when the pot grows past a fee threshold.

For context on how AJ Bell stacks up against the incumbents: against Hargreaves Lansdown, you save roughly 50% on fees for 90% of the capability. See our HL fee breakdown. Against interactive investor, ii wins above ~£60,000 on flat fees but AJ Bell is cheaper below that. See ii's pricing plans compared.

AJ Bell is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and listed on the FTSE 250. Your investments are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per person if AJ Bell were to fail — this is the standard investment protection limit, covering shortfalls due to firm failure.

Note: this is distinct from the £120,000 FSCS limit that applies to cash deposits at authorised banks. Investment platform protection remains at £85,000.

AJ Bell holds client assets in a nominee company, segregated from its own corporate assets. If AJ Bell became insolvent, your shares and funds are ring-fenced and would be returned to you or transferred to another provider — the FSCS cover is a backstop for any shortfall in that process.

With 723,000 customers, over 30 years of operating history, and a market cap exceeding £1.5 billion, AJ Bell is one of the more institutionally solid platforms in the UK market. The Which? Recommended streak — eight years running from 2019 to 2026 — is unmatched by any other investment platform.

For readers who want the summary comparison without the full breakdown:

vs Hargreaves Lansdown: AJ Bell is cheaper on every fee metric. HL is a premium service with deeper research — but unless you actively consume that research, you're overpaying. AJ Bell gives 90% of the capability at roughly 50% of the cost.

vs Vanguard: Vanguard's own platform is cheaper for portfolios under ~£28,000 and for pure Vanguard fund investors. Above that, AJ Bell's cap wins. Vanguard's range is limited to Vanguard products; AJ Bell offers thousands of third-party options.

vs interactive investor: ii's flat monthly fee (£4.99–£11.99) beats AJ Bell for portfolios above ~£60,000. Below that, AJ Bell's percentage-based model with caps is cheaper. ii includes free regular investing on all plans.

vs Trading 212 / Freetrade: Commission-free dealing is the draw, but these platforms lack SIPPs, have narrow fund ranges, and monetise through less transparent channels (payment for order flow, FX markups). Good for active share trading, not for long-term wealth building.

vs Dodl (AJ Bell's own app): Dodl is AJ Bell's simplified offering — a curated fund list, 0.15% platform fee, no individual shares. It's designed for beginners and has no SIPP. The full AJ Bell platform is for people who've graduated past that stage.

For a complete side-by-side across all major providers, see our ISA platform comparison.

The FCA's guidance on choosing an investment platform provides independent regulatory context.