Best DIY Stocks & Shares ISAs

Here are some Stocks and Shares ISA for when you want to choose your own investments

Do-it-yourself Stocks and Shares ISAs are ones where you choose the investments for your portfolio yourself. This could be a range of company shares, different types of funds and possibly even some commodities or precious metals. You’d be in control of managing your portfolio and ensuring it reflects the risk you plan to take.

Our picks below assume that you’re mostly interested in passive investing, which is mostly suited to beginners. This would mean you’d want to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or index funds. With many of these providers, you can also invest in shares, but this takes a lot more knowledge and skill.

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Best DIY Stocks and Shares ISAs

Here at Be Clever With Your Cash, we’re not regulated to give you financial advice. We aim to give you the facts about a provider or investment but it’s up to you to decide if it’s suitable for you. If you’re looking for more personalised guidance, find a financial adviser who can give you specific advice. Remember that your capital is at risk when investing — don’t invest more than you are prepared to lose. 

Top picks

Sponsored Our top pick

Trading 212 Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £1
• Offer

  Free fractional share up to £100*

*New customers get a free fractional share worth up to £100 when you sign up via our link or use the code BCWYC.

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fractional shares Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 4.05%
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Foreign exchange fee 0.15%
• Fund fees If you invest in ETFs, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Offer details To get the offer, you need to open a Trading 212 Stocks and Shares ISA or Invest account and deposit at least £1 within 10 calendar days
• Important details Remember, the value of any money invested, which includes your free share, could go up or down
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 609146
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

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Our top pick

Lightyear Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £0
• Offer

  Up to £100 welcome offer*

*Sign up with the code BECLEVER25 or click the button to get up to £100 in a US fractional share to your GIA. Capital at risk. Terms apply

• FSCS Protected? If Lightyear goes out of business and there is a shortfall in the funds they are holding for customers, they may be able to claim for losses up to the value of £85,000 through FSCS
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• ETF trading fee £0
• UK shares trading fee £0
• US shares trading fee £0
• Fractional shares Available in General Investment Account only
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 1% on GBP for UK customers
• Offer details Sign up with the code BECLEVER25 or click the button to get up to £100 in a US fractional share to your GIA. Capital at risk. Terms apply: https://lightyear.com/en-gb/signup-promotion-terms. You must be a new user and deposit at least £100. The reward can be withdrawn 6 months after it’s credited.
• Foreign exchange fee 0.35%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.78% depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 987226
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up
• EU shares trading fee £0

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Our top pick

InvestEngine Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.8/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £100

• Important details You can't invest in individual shares with InvestEngine, just exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Fund fees When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.89%, depending on which ones you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 801128
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

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Freetrade Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £1

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 1% on up to £1,000
• Fractional shares Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Foreign exchange fee 0.99%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 783189
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

Other options

Sponsored

IG Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.8/5

• Annual fee

  £8 per month custody fee**
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £0
• Offer

  Up to £200 of free shares*

*New customers can get up to £200 of free shares when they sign up and invest at least £50 by 30 November 2025. **You can reduce the custody fee to £0 per month when you place more than 3 trades in the previous quarter.

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 4.5% on up to £100,000
• Fractional shares No
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Foreign exchange fee 0.70%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Offer details You can get up to £200 of free shares when you sign up for a General Investment Account, ISA or Self Invested Personal Pension and make your first investment of at least £50 between 1 November and 30 November 2025. You have to remain invested until 31 December 2025.
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 944492
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up.

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XTB Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £0

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fractional shares Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 4.50%
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Foreign exchange fee 0.50%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 522157
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

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Emma Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £1

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Flexible ISA No
• Fractional shares No
• Foreign exchange fee 0.99%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 669450
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

AJ Bell Dodl Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.8/5

• Annual fee

  0.15% (minimum £1 per month)
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £100 or £25 per month

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Other investment options You could also choose to invest in managed portfolios with Dodl
• Fractional shares No
• Interest on uninvested cash 4.06%
• Flexible ISA No
• Foreign exchange fee 0.75% (up to £10,000)
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.45% depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 211468
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

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Vanguard Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.5/5

• Annual fee

  0.15% (minimum £4 per month)
• Trading fee

  up to 0.46%
• Minimum deposit

  £100 per month or £500

Sells its own funds only

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 2.35%
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 527839
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

AJ Bell Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.7/5

• Annual fee

  0.25%
• Trading fee

  £5.00
• Minimum deposit

  £25 per month or £500

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 2.07% up to £10,000
• Flexible ISA No
• Foreign exchange fee 0.75%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.04% and 1.16%
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 211468
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

Charles Stanley Direct Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4/5

• Annual fee

  0.3% (min £5 per month)
• Trading fee

  £50 worth of free trades every 6 months
• Minimum deposit

  £0
• Offer

  Up to £1,500 cashback*

*You can get £300-£1,500 cashback when you transfer an ISA between £20,000 and £200,000

• Fees You get £50 worth of free trades every 6 months. Funds cost £4 per trade and shares cost £10 per trade
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose. There are no platform or trading fees when you invest in Charles Stanley Multi Asset Funds
• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fractional shares No
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Flexible ISA No
• Foreign exchange fee 1%
• Offer details The amount you'll get in cashback depends on how much you transfer. A transfer of £20,000 gets you £300 cashback
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 124412
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

Hargreaves Lansdown Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.5/5

• Annual fee

  0.45%
• Trading fee

  £11.95
• Minimum deposit

  £1

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 2.53%
• Flexible ISA No
• Foreign exchange fee 1.00%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 115248
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

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Plum Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

• Annual fee

  £2.99 per month + 0.45% annual fee
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £1

You need a Plum Pro account which costs £2.99 per month to start investing in funds.

• FSCS Protected? Yes - up to £85,000
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Fractional shares Yes
• Flexible ISA No
• Foreign exchange fee 0.45%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Investments available You're limited to 16 funds to invest in, and can invest in the full range of 26 funds with the Premium plan which costs £9.99 per month
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 900573
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of investments can go down as well as up

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Scottish Friendly My Choice ISA

Customer rating 3.3/5

• Annual fee

  1.50%
• Trading fee

  £0
• Minimum deposit

  £20 per month or £100 lump sum

Invest in funds only

• Investments available You can't invest in individual shares with this ISA, instead it offers ten funds.
• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Flexible ISA No
• Fees Fees are tiered, so you’ll pay 1.5% on the first £5,000, 1% on amounts between £5,001 and £20,000, and 0.5% on any amount over £20,000. This is calculated daily and deducted on a monthly basis.
• Offer details Investments in the Unitised With-Profits Fund are subject to an annual fee of 1.50% which is reflected in the bonus rates declared. Over 2025, Scottish Friendly will apply a special offer, reducing your overall charge applied to Unitised With-Profits Funds in your ISA or Junior ISA by 0.25%. This means bonuses applied over 2025 will reflect a reduced annual fee of 1.25%
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 110002
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down.

interactive investor Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.4/5

• Annual fee

  £4.99 per month
• Trading fee

  £3.99
• Minimum deposit

  £25 per month
• Offer

  £50 towards trading fees

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 1.51%
• Fractional shares No
• Flexible ISA No
• Foreign exchange fee 1.50%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 1.5%
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 141282
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

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CMC Invest Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.5/5

• Annual fee

  £10 per month
• Trading fee

  £1
• Minimum deposit

  £1

• Fees To get an ISA with CMC Invest you need to be signed up to the Plus Plan, which costs £10 per month
• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Flexible ISA Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 2%
• Fractional shares No
• Foreign exchange fee 0.99%
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 948126
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down

View Deal