How To Buy Cheap UK Shares

Written by Editorial Team
Last updated: 21st March 2023

Looking for a share trading app to trade that ticks all your boxes?

How To Buy Cheap UK Shares

      • Select a share platform – See below our top 3 platform picks
      • Open your share account – To do this you will need your bank details and national insurance number
      • Fund your account – You will need to fund your a/c with a debit or credit card or bank transfer
      • Search for the share using the stock code – Type in the stock code into the search box
      • Check out the latest info and price for the selected share – Some platforms offer free research and analysis
      • Buy the share – Nice and easy!

Our view:  The next generation of online trading platform apps means you can buy UK shares in as little as 10 minutes! See our top picks for buying shares below:

Join today & get £50 FREE trading credit (T&Cs apply).
More than 40,000 UK & international investment options

Invest from £1

Features:
Flat fee plan starts from £4.99 pm
No trading fees when you top up monthly with the ii regular investing service.

The best things in life are free trades! Get £50 worth of free trades when you open an ii Trading Account before 31 August.
Capital at risk. T&Cs apply. New customers only
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Trusted by over 400,000 people. Fully FSCS protected. ADVFN Winner 2022 "Best Low Cost Stockbroker". Capital at risk.
Trade UK & International shares for £6. No charge for fund trades

Features:

One simple customer fee of 0.25% p.a.
8,000+ investments to choose from.
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Barclays gives you the investment choice and research tools you need to grow your money. Over 300,000 people have used our award winning service, expert insights and resources to help work towards their financial goals. Voted Best Stockbroker at the Online Money Awards 2023. Capital at risk.
Choose from over 2,000 funds
From £25 per month

Features:
Low cost ISA. Multi-award winning ISA provider. Trade from:
£1.50 Funds
£5.00 Shares, ETFs, investment trusts and gilts and bonds
£3.50 Frequent shares dealing charge
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Trusted by over 1.5 million people. FSCS protected. Capital at risk. Other charges may apply. No subscription required
Choice of 700 low cost ETF Funds
Invest from £100

Features:
No buying or selling fees. Choose either commission free DIY investing, or an actively managed portfolio (0.25% charge annually). Powerful automation. Easy diversification. ETFs costs apply

SPECIAL OFFER: Get a Welcome Bonus of up to £50 when you invest at least £100 with InvestEngine (Capital at risk, Ts&Cs apply).
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The InvestEngine offers investors a low cost ETF investment platform. Build your own portfolio commission free or leave it to their experts for just 0.25%. Build your own low cost portfolio using managers such as Vanguard, iShares & Invesco. FSCS protected. Capital at risk.
Buy & trade over 17,000+ shares online. FX conversion fee of just 0.5%.
Invest from £1

Features:
Easy to use platform. Demo account. Speak to other traders. Award winning trading app.
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IG offer exclusive out of hours giving access to 70+ shares when the market is closed. 313,000+ clients worldwide. FCA Regulated. Capital at risk. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Invest in real stocks with 0% commission*. Over 5300 instruments


Features:
XTB is one of the largest stock exchange-listed FX brokers in the world with 720,000+ customers and over 20 years of activity in the financial markets. Capital at Risk

Earn 5.2% interest rate per annum on uninvested GBP


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World class trading platform: Easy to use, fully customisable, superior execution speeds, performance statistics. Applying for an account is quick and easy with a secure online form, and you could be trading within minutes. Wide range of instruments -forex, indices, commodities, shares and ETF’s. Multilingual customer support team is ready to help you - 24h hours a day from Monday to Friday. *For monthly turnover up to 100,000 EUR (then comm. 0.2%, min. 10 EUR). Capital at risk
Invest in over 6,100+ US, UK & EU stocks & ETFs commission-free




Features:
Start with £2 investment. Superb app design and transparent account charges. Great for beginners and experienced investors alike
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Mobile app - manage your portfolio on the move. FSCS protected. Capital at risk.
Access over 3,000 funds. UK & Overseas shares.
Invest from £100 or £25 pm

Features:
Live share prices.
Award winning services.
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Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK's No 1 platform for private investors trusted by over 1.6 million customers. Capital at risk.
Access to 70,000+ instruments, smart trading tools & market insights

Investment platform for different needs and experience levels

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Saxo serve clients in 170 countries, hold 70+ bn GBP in assets under management & process 1m transactions daily. FCA regulated. Capital at risk.
Buy & trade over 3500+ UK, EU and US stocks with low 0.35% currency conversion.


Features:
Say goodbye to high minimums and barriers to entry.
Introducing the high interest vaults offer:
- Interest rate: 5.21% APY on GBP, 3.83% APY on EUR, 5.39% APY on USD
- Pricing: 0.25% total fees for all deposit sizes
- Minimum amount: £1, €1, $1
- Maximum amount: No limit
Capital at Risk
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Multi-currency investing, your money goes even further without the constant foreign exchange fees. Deposit, hold and invest in international stock markets in EUR, GBP and USD — all under one roof. Shares have a low, transparent execution cost. Investing in your local ETFs is completely free of Lightyear fee (other fees may apply). Earn interest on uninvested cash. Access live news feeds about the stocks you own, as well as professional analyst ratings & price targets. Lightyear is now live on web and has launched earnings calls audios. Capital at Risk. We, Fair Investment Company, will be paid a referral fee if you open an account and deposit funds through some of the links on this page. This includes financial promotion.
IMPORTANT: No news, feature article or comment should be seen as a personal investment recommendation. Before deciding to invest, you should ensure that you are familiar with the risks associated with a particular plan. If you are unsure of the suitability of a particular product, both in respect of its objectives and risk profile, you should seek independent financial advice. The value of shares, ETFs and ETCs, bought through a share dealing account, stocks and shares ISA, or a SIPP can fall and rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 67%-81% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to risk losing your money. Professional clients can lose more than they deposit. All trading involves risk. Tax treatment of ISAs depends on your circumstances and is based on current law, which may be subject to change in the future. ISA transfer charges may apply; please check with your provider.