Freetrade has announced that Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)s, mutual funds, and UK gilts are no longer restricted to paid subscribers. Instead, these products are now accessible across every plan, including the free Basic option, meaning investors no longer need a monthly subscription to open a pension or diversify into funds and government bonds.
The move marks a major step in Freetrade’s mission to make investing simpler and more affordable, removing what many customers saw as a paywall around long-term investing essentials.
SIPPs Now Available Without a Subscription
Previously limited to Freetrade Plus members, the platform’s SIPP is now open to all users with no account fee and no commission on trades. Customers can invest within their pension in stocks, ETFs, funds and gilts, transfer existing pensions across, and manage everything through the app or web platform.
Freetrade says this makes it the UK’s only free self-investing personal pension offering access to thousands of investments without an annual platform charge.
Funds and Gilts Open to Everyone
Alongside pensions, Freetrade has also widened access to hundreds of mutual funds and gilts, tools often used by long-term investors to spread risk and balance portfolios. While Freetrade does not charge a subscription or dealing commission, fund providers may still apply their own ongoing charges (OCF) or transaction costs.
Subscription Plans Shift Toward “Extras”
With core investing products now free, Freetrade’s paid plans will instead focus on optional benefits such as lower foreign exchange (FX) fees, higher interest on uninvested cash, and additional account features.
The company continues to generate revenue through FX fees on non-GBP trades, a share of interest earned on cash balances, and optional upgrades rather than platform-wide account charges.
Important Cashback Deadline for Plus Subscribers
Freetrade also reminded customers who took part in its 3% SIPP transfer cashback offer (running from 5 June 2025 to 31 August 2025) that eligibility depends on still meeting all terms by 27 February 2026.
This includes maintaining an annual Freetrade Plus subscription until that date. Customers can downgrade only after the cashback has been paid.
Other Investment Platform Fee Changes in 2026
The shift reflects growing competition in the UK investment platform market, as providers increasingly move away from locking pensions and funds behind paid tiers. For consumers, it could mean lower costs and easier access to long-term investing tools without being forced into subscription fees.
The changes at Freetrade also come at a time when the wider UK platform market is being forced to compete harder on price.
Hargreaves Lansdown has recently announced platform fee cuts from 0.45% to 0.35% in response to pressure from lower-cost rivals, while interactive investor is also simplifying its pricing from February 2026 with new Core, Plus and Premium tiers alongside reduced FX fees. Together, these shifts suggest a broader industry move away from expensive, complex charging structures, and toward making core long-term investing products like pensions and funds cheaper and easier to access.
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.
To contact Richard, please see his Invesdaq profile.
