- Experts commend interactive investor for its fixed account fee structure, which is particularly beneficial for medium to large investors, potentially saving them significant costs over time. The platform is noted for its excellent usability and comprehensive research offerings, although it is considered expensive for smaller accounts and lacks certain investment options like derivatives.
- Across 1125 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.3/5, customers frequently highlight the platform’s ease of use, reliable customer service, and the attractive flat fee structure, especially for high-volume trading. However, some users express dissatisfaction with rising fees, clunky platform navigation, and issues with missing funds, indicating a mix of positive experiences alongside notable frustrations.
interactive investor Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated interactive investor across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing4.5
- Market Access5.0
- Online Platform5.0
- Customer Service5.0
- Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
- Fixed account fees
- Easy to use
- Good research
Cons
- No Lifetime ISA
- Expensive for very small accounts
- No derivatives for hedging
See full expert review
Our verdict
interactive investor (ii) offers fixed fee investing on a wide range of investments with a fixed fee account structure make them one of the most cost effective ways for people with large portfolios to manage their investments, ISAs and pensions. ii are expecially good for high value portfolios and those wanting access to small cap stocks.
What does interactive investor do?
Interactive Investor or II as its known is one of the UK’s largest self-determined investor platforms. II can trace its roots back to 1995 and the startup floated on the London stock exchange back in the year 2000 before being bought by the Australian business Ample in 2002. Today, Interactive Investor is a owned by abrdn with assets under administration of more than £50 billion and 400,000 customers to whom II offers share trading and investment services including, ISAs SIPPs and share dealing, alongside research and analysis. Including model portfolios, selected funds and thematic investments.
Interactive Investor differs from other investment platforms as it charges a fixed account fee, rather than a percentage of the funds you have on account. Which, over time, could save you thousands in costs.
As a low-cost provider ii competes directly with the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell offering general investment accounts, ISAs and pensions.
Pricing: Brilliant for medium and large investors, expensive for small accounts.
Market Access: You’ll be hard-pressed to find something you can’t invest in.
Platform & Apps: Very good, excellent data and usability.
Customer Service: They are massive and mostly online, but you can call them directly, generally good.
Research & Analysis: Loads, daily and weekly updates across all the asset classes they cover, with lots of analysts and opinions. No advice service though.
Does interactive investor pay interest on cash?
Yes, but only 2% for under £10k and you need at least £100k in your account to get their best rate of 3.25%. There are other brokers that offer better rates on uninvested cash, though.
interactive investor versus Interactive Brokers
interactive broker and interactive investor may sound similar but cater to different investor profiles and operate under different jurisdictions and cater for different types of investors.
interactive brokers is a US‑based global brokerage offering a wide spectrum of asset classes and advanced trading tools, often targeting active traders and professionals. interactive investor, by contrast, is a UK‑focused subscription‑based platform offering a fixed‑fee structure suited to medium‑to‑long‑term investors primarily in equities, funds, bonds, Gilts, ISAs, and SIPPs.
interactive investor employs simpler platforms with relatively basic charting tools, while interactive brokers features a more complex interface and lower per-trade costs but with more variable fees. interactive investor is better for large longer term investment accounts because of its simplicity, flat monthly fee and broad UK offerings, whereas Interactive Brokers suits users seeking global market access and sophisticated execution tools.
Can you buy Gilts on interactive investor?
Yes, ii supports investment in government bonds, including UK Gilts, via its platform. This is confirmed on the site, which lists bonds and Gilts as available investments .
interactive investor Customer reviews
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 1,125 reviews
- Excellent51%
- Very good33%
- Basic10%
- Poor4%
- Bad2%
Read customer reviews
Missing Funds
My Sipp pension funds have been missing for two weeks, the company do not seem to care and can not be bothered to even return my calls.
Useless and expensive
Useless and expensive. High fees, which will continue to increase, for rubbish service. They will tell you ” you can’t do that online, you need to phone”. Then when you find an opportunity to phone within their limited opening times, they will tell you “you can’t do that on the phone, you need to do it online”, then when you do it online you will wait for four days and still won’t receive a response. Then you’ll process a transaction and it will say it will complete by 14:00 tomorrow, but when you submit the request, it will say that it will complete three days later. There are many other cheaper or free trading platforms, use them not Interactive Investor.
Must pay fees from ISA, not SIPP
Sipp for several years. now added ‘free’ISA only to find they insist on all chagres being taken from ISA, not Sipp as before
Sipp is taxable, ISA is tax free. why do we have to pay charges out of ISA?
Increased account fees.
I’ve been with ii for some years now, and have seen their account fees rise from £9.99 to £14.99 as of February 2026. However, what is disturbing, is that since Brexit they’ve introduced an additional non UK resident charge of £5.99. These year on year increases are becoming a worrying trend.
Aside from this, I have found them to be a good broker, with an easy to use web site and pleasantly helpful staff. Would recommend with a caution regarding fees.
Not so Clunky
I also amended a drawdown amount this month. an entirely automated process but admittedly hard to find. (ref Albert’s comment). The new fee structure from February is excellent and improves the previous costly FX charges.
Clunky platform
I recently tried to amend the monthly drawdown amount from my II SIPP. I expected to find a simple option on their secure platform. Instead I was taken through multiple web pages and eventually asked to complete a pdf form that their site linked to and submit using their secure messaging option. I did this only to be told that the form was out of date and I would need to complete a different form. This new form requires the user to complete several text boxes some of which do not retain the election once the document is saved. It also requires a signature meaning the user must either have electronic signing facilities or a printer and scanner. It’s submitted via their secure messaging platform so why require a signature? This whole process should be automated.
Investments in other currencies
While the platform for basic usage is a little more expensive than the competition, it offers a unique service of investment (including funds) in currency other than sterling.
efficient transfer. helpful customer service
efficient transfer. helpful customer service
Good range
Great range of different accounts and a decent fee structure, especially if you make a lot of trades, and will definitely save money against some of the traditional investment providers/brokers.
Excellent.
Straight forward and easy to work with. Helpful people.
Reliable service and easy to use platform
Have been with Interactive Investor for many years and have found the service to be very reliable. The online platform is straigtforward to use and the customer support team has always been helpful.
average
Commission for UK stocks when added to the monthly fee is not as cheap as first appears. For overseas transactions the fx fees are large and frankly a rip off.
Customer service is painful as they often ask for NI number which not many would know. Some customer representatives seem to think they are quiz masters rather than customer service reps, so I try to avoid the phone.
Great platform
Interactive Investor stands out as a reliable platform for serious investors who value a flat-fee structure and a wealth of investment options. While it may not be the best fit for beginners or those with smaller portfolios, its robust tools and transparency make it a compelling choice for experienced investors.
STABLE PLATFORM WITH A GOOD INTERFACE AND GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE
I have been with Interactive Investor for over a decade and highly recommend the service. The fixed fee pricing for high volume trading is excellent value.
Opening an account
Opening an account is very easy and the interface is easy to navigate
Excellent functionality, good value
I’ve been a very satisfied ii customer for many years now. They have a great range of accounts (trading, ISA, SIPP and JISA’s) all for a single monthly fee. Communication with the company is excellent when needed.
Lots of simple features, easy to use
Lots of simple features, easy to get the handle on and use ongoing. Access instant quotes and get a simple to understand historical record of transtions. Very good phone support.
Platform is good but charts are poor
I use II for most of my ISA and some of my SIPP investments. Overall the platform is excellent, fees are pretty good, however I find charts quite poor, can be glitchy when switching through different timelines, for that reason alone I keep other platform accounts where better charts are available.
Reasonable fees
There is good information on shares but they used to have brokers’ views and I wish they would bring that back.
Very efficient user friendly investment platform
The fees are among the lowest around and it has a very informative platform with many very good analysis from several analysts
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Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
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