So i love the idea of a free trading account (hence why i am here of course) but my concern is over time it may be difficult to keep it free, e.g. maybe not enough Alpha accounts are created etc?
What are your thoughts about maybe allowing advertising on the platform or some other such revenue generating process?
(this is where you say āhey Stephen check out this other thread where we already answered that ā¦ā 
)
Do not think it was anywhere yet.
Speaking in regards to the topic - if only margin trading was to be available - Freetrade could make money on lending cash that sits in other peopleās accounts. I guess the market rate is 15-20% interest PA for the margin trading.
And, of course, reserve the right to sell if shares fall close to the breakeven, i.e. with 80% margin, 20% loss could trigger an immediate sell - as a minor prize, even non-Alpha customers could get that transaction free of charge hence Ā£1 saving at least 
Edit: or some sort of relevant advertisement for Basic users
If you havenāt already, itās worth reading their blog post from last summer - How a zero fee stockbroker makes money 
Of course, optimising costs is only a part of how we can provide free trades. We have a freemium model, i.e. users will have the option to subscribe to premium services. Similar to how Amazon Prime offers unlimited fast delivery or how Spotify gives extra features like download, weāll provide value-add premium services. Itās the global standard in tech.
When we polled the community a few months ago, about half of the respondents said they would pay for Alpha. 
So, we are off to a good start! But we are not being presumptuous about it, and weāll maintain a focus on building out this account.
Our goal is to make Alpha so overwhelmingly good that it feels like a much better deal than our basic service.
We donāt see room for revenue coming from things that donāt add value to you, as a customer. So, no advertising. 
Great question though, and would love to hear thoughts - especially about what youād like to see in Alpha! Disagreements welcome, too.
When SIPPs are to be released, would you not agree that Ā£10 is too low for all of its features + SIPPs? Are there any thoughts on inflating the price or coming up with the 3rd tier premium that would incorporate more than Alpha?
We wonāt be offering margin trading or other forms of leverage - these are toxic products in our view (and the FCAās) that only serve to magnify losses for most customers. Consider that if you paid the interest rate you quote, 15-20% pa, you would need to massively outperform the average market return just to break even, let alone achieve the same expected return from a passive strategy.
I know other brokers make a lot of money off these types of things, including Robinhood in the US, but we never will as we care about our customers and their investment outcomes.
Thanks for the response. Certainly leverage may not suit the majority of the customers but that was only an income-related suggestion.
If Alpha subscription would cover all of the overheads that would simply be great, but will it? 
āAfter many hours of thought, debate and number-crunching, Iām proud to unveil Freetradeās pricing model.ā - literally the first paragraph of āIntroducing our pricing modelā article.
The whole article answers your question as it implies that this pricing model is one they believe/forecast will be sustainable as well as ethical.
P.S. Please stop suggesting price increases 
I am sorry, probably because I still cannot believe that you can have all of that for just Ā£10!
Itās good to evaluate Freetrade to gain comfort! I think itās important not to under estimate the massive cost benefits a digital broker has vs a legacy broker using old expensive systems requiring large teams and paper-based operations.
Starting fresh leads to huge efficiencies as well as the ability to innovate and adapt to what customers actually want and will pay for! If people like it theyāll share it with friends, so no marketing spending needed.
P.s. it looks like itās only Ā£8.33 per month if you pay Ā£100 in one go! 
How do Adam.
This is a shame, as I was hoping you would offer trading stocks on margin as a product. The FCA is right on so many levels, but there are nuances.
Trading with margin has been a game-changer for so many of usā¦ and many of the worldās most successful traders that started with balances in the thousands. I wonāt be opening an account with FreeTrade given the above and hope youāll consider your position in time.
Margin is a mainstay of my trading, though I am one of many that would love to see improved fees / rates / transparency of product vs the incumbents.
I agree complex spread betting products have no place in a service like Freetrade, why not consider offering margin on basic stock trades to experienced investors?
Regarding experience, how about a qualification process for more experienced traders?
If you see exploitative interest rates and fees applied, why not offer a better product than your competitors?
Thereās a clear opportunity for you guys here imhoā¦ and an opportunity for a better, fairer, simpler product that is a win-win for all involved.
Thanks for reading.
How much does the leverage cost you @BobDubya? Iāve always felt that margin trading is way too risky.
I think Freetrade is for people like myself, people who want to get into investing but without having expert knowledge and without being stung by fees from complex products/services we donāt understand - which is what is probably keeping these types of people away from investing in the first place. Their mission is to make investing accessible to people like myself and I think itās right they retain that focus and make a difference in this āmainstreamā space first before considering anything else
If a fish canāt swim itās dead. If someone canāt margin trade on Freetrade they can just use another service.
Offering a service that you believe is toxic doesnāt change its nature just because you charge less for it or have some make believe system for defining someone as a professional and competent.
Thatās the other thing, thereās plenty of companies that offer margin trading already in the UK so itād be difficult to offer anything truly unique here.
We think we have a bigger opportunity to do that by providing a service for long term investors, which is much more ethical because itās aligned with our userās interests. Whereas most day traders lose money.
My investment style - Small, steady, consistent, long term ! #FREETRADE.
Will the numbers of people subscribing ISAās and Alpha be in the public domain and updated regularly?
Like most others on here itās in my interest that Freetrade makes money and succeeds long term !
