Freetrade

Freetrade is a UK self-directed investment platform serving retail investors who want to work toward short- and long-term financial goals. Its stated mission is to make investing accessible and to help people invest for goals such as a home, education or retirement. The company launched its platform in 2018 and says it pioneered commission-free investing in the UK. Freetrade is part of IG Group, a FTSE 100 financial technology company.

The platform provides access to investments across UK, US and European markets, including stocks, funds, gilts and Treasury bills. It also offers tax-wrapped accounts, including ISAs and pensions; its product range includes a Junior ISA. Freetrade describes its offering as self-directed: customers make their own investment decisions, and the company does not provide investment advice. Investing involves risk, and customers may receive less than they invest.

Freetrade presents clear pricing and says its platform has no account fees and no commission. The company says its product is designed to make investing simpler, more accessible and better value. The platform serves more than 1.6 million users, according to its current website, and its careers page describes a range of more than 9,000 investment choices. Account features and charges can depend on the account and plan.

The company says it built its cloud-native brokerage platform from scratch. It describes the technology as designed to scale, support rapid feature development and connect directly with capital-markets infrastructure. Freetrade also says the platform has demonstrated resilience during periods of high market volatility. Its regulated investment services are provided by Freetrade Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is a member firm of the London Stock Exchange.

Freetrade was founded in London, where its headquarters remain in the Old Street area. It also has an office in Budapest, opened in 2022. The company says London is home to teams across product, engineering, compliance, finance and commercial functions, while Budapest supports areas including operations, customer service and engineering. Freetrade’s public materials identify London as the company’s founding city and describe its current geographic footprint as London and Budapest.

Freetrade describes its working culture as open, transparent and collaborative, with a shared focus on making investing more accessible. Its published values include honesty, focus and grit. The careers page emphasizes ownership, learning, high standards and meaningful contribution, and describes a hybrid model in which most teams typically spend three days per week in the office and two days working from home. Hiring is conducted across functions including product, technology, operations, risk and compliance, finance, marketing and people.