Pricewise the costs of Trading212 (free smaller shares, low cost isa and lower fx fees) are lower than Freetrade and it can also be accessed via a desktop/laptop. So the only reason for going to Freetrade is the fact that they are not taking on any new accounts. So when they do ā¦ what would make people choose Freetrade over T212? What does Freetrade do better that would tempt people to stay with or come to Freetrade? I am particularly interested in thoughts from anyone who has used both. Perhaps the buy and sell prices are better with Freetrade or the dividends arrive quicker? etc.
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Well, Freetrade accepts new customers.
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Just one view but what you are asking about 
Edit - Actually that link is either out of date or inaccurate it seems The fact FT has many more options now than mentioned in the article but still scores better than T212 is funny but seems a very pro Etoro review. On my desktop the features ticks are in the wrong columns though 
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I wouldnāt invest with a company whose founder is trolling or shilling on other companiesā forums using a pseudonym.
Also, more here:
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Communication and openness is very solid here. I feel I can trust what Viktor and co say and that they wonāt hit us with unexpected fees. Trading 212 is indeed very cheap, but my trust in them is lower. I do also prefer 
's UI and originally partly chose to have my ISA here because of the appās simpler interface.
In all honesty, I opened my 2021/22 S&S ISA with T212, after having my 2020/21 ISA here. T212 have been around longer and have some features I fully expect Freetrade to have within the next 12 months. I want to have my ISA here. A web app and more exchanges and instruments - and faster withdrawals to a lesser degree - all matter to me, though. I continue to pay for Plus here because I want to support and want them to do well. I fully expect to have my 2022/23 S&S ISA here. Iād love to be able to close my T212 account entirely, but multiple investment GIAs are necessary. No lower cost broker offers everything, after all. For example, T212 lacks a SIPP product, I believe.
If youāre looking for reasons to invest with or stay with , Iād do so for their open communication and that they seem - Iām no expert on this - to be less reliant on third parties than do Trading 212. Ultimately, you need to decide for yourself though. Everyoneās needs differ and no matter what any of us has to say, you have to live with investing via the broker you think best suits your needs.
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better interface and user experience in the app
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Freetrade doesnāt facilitate CFDs, an instrument used by many customers. Overall 80% of these customers lose money for the benefit of the companies providing them. 76% of retail investors accounts loose money when trading CFDs with T212.
The way I see it, by not offering CFDs trading Freetrade is automatically setting up itās customers to a head start, namely the unsophisticated retail investors.
I have accounts with both. And HL.
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Sure, there are a few considerations.
- Reliability of the underlaying platform seems to be better with Freetrade
- Stock pricing is more consistent. 212 seems to consistently have issues with prices being days out of date on some of their less popular stocks (Freetrade hasnāt been immune to this issue but this has been limited as far as I can see to stocks which have changed name and thereās been a short delay in updating the information).
- Level of transparency is better with Freetrade. Frankly the level of access is night and day, to the point were customers were recently asking questions directly to the Freetrade CEO live in front of customers and investors (clubhouse AMA). When exactly was the last time the 212 CEO or founders showed up never mind talked to anyone? (interestingly their CEO just resigned recentlyā¦)
- Freetrades Terms of Service protect the client to a higher degree. This is arguably the killer, 212ās terms and conditions have you sign away your right for your assets to be held with a nominee, and to top it off almost no one knows that this happens. A lot of 212 customers have just assumed theyāre protected to the same level as customers at other brokers
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Thatās a good point. My memory could be hazy as I forgot about it when I never actually managed to open an account with them, but IIRC their T&Cs say theyāre free to set the transfer fee of an ISA to anything they like at any time with no notice. That alone is quite worrying, and at least FT says there will never be a fee to transfer out (other than forcing you to sell the stocks and transfer as cash).
EDIT: Section 4.4: https://www.trading212.com/en/isa-additional-terms
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You also give them permission to hold assets under their own name and not with a nominee at any time they choose. As they donāt say when or how they actually hold assets no one knows whoās holding them.
The FCA handbook from my laymanās understanding means that by default your assets must be held under a nominee unless you give the broker permission to do otherwise, which you do by accepting their terms and conditions.
Their nominee if it even exists also is unknown.
Freetrades nominee is called Freetrade Nominees Limited. Itās on companies house. 212 donāt seem to have an equivalent nominee company, so Iāve no idea who holds the assets.
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Some interesting bits
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T212 definitely has itās advantages (lower fees, more (fractional, EU, etc) stocks, web app, etc) BUT having affordable SIPPs is such a game changer for me(T212 donāt have nor are they *currently building SIPPs), that I can more forgive FTās shortcomings; SIPPs trump ISAs in terms of tax efficiency. You can have all the features and stocks in the world, but without the tax wrapper to put them in, itās a bit worthless.
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Alarm bells are ringing for me for a company that said they needed to make some changes to infrastructure yet over 4months later they still arenāt allowing new sign ups and no indication of when this will be relaxed either.
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Totally agree with that, itās very worry.
For me, Freetrade does anything better than Trading212. Whilst it might be slightly more expensive, you get what you pay for.
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Iāve only ever used Freetrade, but did sign up to the wait list for T212 a while back. Interesting to see some of the points above, as well as the links to other threads as I was keen to give T212 a go.
Didnāt realise the T&C thing with T212 though - thanks @Eden for pointing that out 
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I donāt know T212 but the bad things on FT are customer services are pretty poor but very polite and friendly. The communications are very good on positive but āhead in sandā approach to the biggest concerns of the customers.
It does feel like it tries too hard to be a millennial targeted service when sometimes a bit of boomer response would be better. Thatās obviously VERY discriminatory and generalising of me but the idea is clear 
Other than that the service is great and I agree with most of the above but from what I hear compared to T212 it is similar but I do trust FT an awful lot more!!
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Thanks for all the replies, there is better info here than all the internet reviews that never seem to include real experiences. Trust when it comes to money is very important. We also need to add that Freetrade has a GREAT forum of people! I am old enough to remember getting my first share certificates in the post!! with the market drops this week, looks like time to open a new ISA with Freetrade.
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Yep trust is to me the most important thing by a long way!!! I have my issues with FT but they are just stupid own goals when they do so much good. Iāve said it before and will no doubt again say it but for a company that does so well in the top ranks commenting on a forum it is a shame they donāt address some of the biggest issues.
Even if they just said X will not be looked at for Y amount of time it would draw a line. People prefer to know the truth good or bad than not knowing what is happening. Same with announcing new stuff or posting a plan then it goes out of date with no update. This is basic customer relations but the important things like the actual platform etc are fantastic
At the end of the day it is hard to believe any reviews as many are paid for, sponsored or wrong and many accounts on forums are just alts promoting or bashing rivals/own companies This community does have many helpful people who have certainly helped/enlightened me though
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User experience, and the trust in the company that Iām holding the majority of my money with. I do not trust T212 at all they are not a very transparent company.
They do have better features and fees, but FT will catch up in features in time and likely execute them better. I also believe T212 will also start charging fees for things that were previously free their fees wonāt always be 0.
I donāt think FT is perfect and I have a fair few gripes with the app i.e- main page graph is not useful at all when you do regular deposits, stock graphs not updated after stock splits etc. Iām confident FT will continue to improve though and they already resolved one of my main issues by introducing instant Bank transfers.
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Slight digression, but having used the HL app recently (Had to for LISA sadly) it became abundantly apparent just how much more enjoyable it is to navigate the Freetrade app.
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