Has Hargreaves Lansdown Cut Its Fees?
What the Price Drop Really Means for Your Money
26 Jan, 2026
Hargreaves Lansdown has finally cut its prices after holding out for over a decade. From 1 March 2026, the headline platform fee drops from 0.45% to 0.35%, and share dealing costs fall from £11.95 to £6.95 per trade. They have also introduced a new fund dealing charge. Buying or selling funds will now cost £1.95 unless you use a monthly automated investment plan, which stays free.
This is the first meaningful price change for Hargreaves Lansdown since 2014 when the regulator banned commissions and the industry had to rethink how it charged customers. For the UK's largest DIY investing platform with over 2 million customers, it's a pretty big deal.
Will I actually pay less with the new Hargreaves Lansdown fees?
It depends what you hold and how much you've got.
About 8 in 10 Hargreaves Lansdown customers will pay the same or less under the new structure. But there are winners and losers.
Why? The cap on what you pay for holding shares in an ISA has increased from £45 a year to £150. If you've got a chunky ISA with shares in it, that'll sting.
How does Hargreaves Lansdown compare to other platforms now?
The fee cuts bring Hargreaves Lansdown back into the game, but let's be clear: it's not suddenly the cheapest platform out there.
For straightforward fund investors:
Hargreaves Lansdown is now broadly competitive, though other providers, including AJ Bell and Barclays,s will normally cost you less if you're just buying and holding funds. They've gone from being too expensive to just about okay on price.
Provider | Range of mutual funds | Fund dealing fee |
Aviva | 5,000+ | £0.00 |
Barclays Smart Investor | 2,500+ | £0.00 |
Bestinvest | £0.00 | |
CMC Invest | 1,800+ | £0.00 |
Fidelity | 2,900+ | £0.00 |
Freetrade | 300+ | £0.00 |
Hargreaves Lansdown - OLD | 4,000+ | £0.00 |
Saxo | 6,000+ | £0.00 |
Vanguard | 40+ | £0.00 |
Interactive Investor – Plus * | 3,400+ | £1.49 |
AJ Bell | 4,300+ | £1.50 |
Hargreaves Lansdown - NEW | 4,000+ | £1.95 |
Interactive Investor – Core | 3,400+ | £3.99 |
Charles Stanley Direct ** | 5,400+ | £4.00 |
Scottish Widows Share Dealing | 3,100+ | £5.00 |
Halifax Share Dealing | 3,100+ | £9.50 |
* Interactive Investor provide £3.99 worth of free trading credit per month on the Plus plan
**Charles Stanley Direct provide clients £50 worth of free trading credit every 6 months
For ready-made pensions:
This is where it gets interesting. Hargreaves Lansdown has become one of the cheaper options if you want someone else to sort your pension out for you. They now undercut:
Vanguard's ready-made options
Most robo-advisers
AJ Bell's managed solutions
Interactive investor still edges ahead on cost once you're above £100,000, but not by much.
For share traders:
At £6.95 per trade instead of £11.95, Hargreaves Lansdown is more competitive. But if you trade regularly, interactive investor's subscription model (which includes one free trade a month) might still work out cheaper.
What does this mean for Ready-Made Solutions?
Ready-Made Solutions are made and managed for you automatically bytthe platform or provider. They typically charge between 0.25% and 0.75% on top of fund costs for doing this.
This move will really set the cost cat amongst the pigeons with particular implications for many robo-advisers who now look comparatively expensive.
Translation? If Hargreaves Lansdown's ready-made portfolios now cost less than most robos, you've got to ask yourself whether the robo's bells and whistles are worth paying extra for.
When do the new fees kick in?
1 March 2026. You don't need to do anything—Hargreaves Lansdown will automatically switch everyone over.
If you're thinking about moving platforms, you might want to wait until after this date so you're comparing like with like on actual costs.
Should I switch to Hargreaves Lansdown?
As with most questions around investing, it depends.
Hargreaves Lansdown might suit you if:
You want a ready-made pension at a reasonable price
You like their research and hand-holding (they're good at this)
You're comfortable paying mid-market prices for a solid all-rounder
Look elsewhere if:
You've got over £100,000 in shares sitting in an ISA
You want rock-bottom costs for simple fund portfolios
You trade shares a lot (compare interactive investor's flat fee model)
Provider | Range of Shares | Range of Investment Trusts | Range of ETFs | Initial trading fee |
CMC Invest | 3,500+ | 150+ | 400+ | £0.00 |
Freetrade | 5,000+ | 150+ | 500+ | £0.00 |
Lightyear | 5,000+ | N/A | 300+ | £0.00 |
Trading 212 | 10,000+ | 50+ | 1,800+ | £0.00 |
IG Share Dealing | 12,000+ | 250+ | 5,400+ | £0.00 |
xtb | 6,600+ | <50 | 1,800+ | £0.00 |
Saxo | 23,000+ | 150+ | 7,400+ | £0.01 |
Interactive Investor * | 11,600+ | 250+ | 2,400+ | £3.99 |
Bestinvest | 1,200+ | 200+ | 500+ | £4.95 |
Aviva | 700+ | 100+ | 750+ | £4.99 |
AJ Bell | 16,000+ | 350+ | 4,200+ | £5.00 |
Scottish Widows Share Dealing | 4,500+ | 250+ | 750+ | £5.00 |
Barclays Smart Investor | 4,000+ | 200+ | 1,300+ | £6.00 |
Hargreaves Lansdown - NEW | 8,000+ | 300+ | 1,900+ | £6.95 |
Fidelity | 2,400+ | 150+ | 450+ | £7.50 |
Halifax Share Dealing | 4,500+ | 250+ | 750+ | £9.50 |
Charles Stanley Direct ** | 4,000+ | 350+ | 2,400+ | £10.00 |
Hargreaves Lansdown - OLD | 8,000+ | 300+ | 1,900+ | £11.95 |
* Interactive Investor offer 1 free trade per month as part of their ‘Plus’ plan subscription
** Charles Stanley Direct provide clients £50 worth of free trading credit every 6 months
The bottom line? Hargreaves Lansdown has gone from being expensive to having a better alignment with market prices. For many people, especially those using ready-made pensions, this is genuinely good news. But "cheaper than before" doesn't automatically mean "cheapest full stop."
Who is Hargreaves Lansdown anyway?
Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK's biggest DIY investment platform with over 2 million customers. They've been around since 1981 and offer ISAs, pensions (SIPPs), and regular investment accounts, plus lots of research and ready-made portfolios.
They're known for being user-friendly and offering decent customer service, but they've historically charged more than nimbler competitors.
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