Robinhood vs Trading 212 (UK)

What I’d Tell You If You Asked Me Over Pint

Robinhood landed in the UK with its glossy US story and “no FX fees” marketing.

Trading 212 has been quietly building a base of UK investors for years.

I’ve used both:

Roughly £100k has gone through Trading 212 over time
About £1k of “test money” is sitting on Robinhood UK

On top of that, I’ve spent nearly a decade working with and around online brokers and trading platforms. I know how the sausage is made – the good, the bad and the “please don’t freeze my withdrawal again” moments.

I do sometimes use affiliate links on this site. I also know, first-hand, how most “best broker” posts are written: copy, paste, compare fees, slap in links, job done.

This isn’t that.

I’m not here to crown a universal “best” broker. I’m here to show you how these two actually feel to use – and, if you want real help, you can message me and I’ll point you toward a platform that fits you.

My angle: how I judge a platform

I’m not a YouTuber doing this for content. I trade and invest full-time, and have done for years, across multiple platforms.

When I look at a broker or platform, I care about:

What you can trade – markets, instruments, real access vs toy products
How it’s priced – fees, FX, hidden costs, “free” that isn’t really free
How it behaves when things go wrong – withdrawals, account reviews, support
How it fits UK reality – ISA, tax, FSCS protection, currency
How it feels day to day – UX, friction, stability, all the dull stuff that matters when you’re moving proper money

I also know there’s no one-size-fits-all.

The right platform depends on:

What you trade
Why you’re trading (wealth, speculation, side hustle)
How often you trade
How much you put in
Whether you need tax wrappers or specific access

That’s why you’ll never see me say “everyone should use X”. It’s lazy and usually wrong.

Robinhood UK – fun app, serious question marks

Let’s start with what Robinhood does well.

What Robinhood gets right

1. The app is genuinely slick

The interface is clean, fast and minimal. If you’re new, you can open the app, see your balance, buy a US stock and feel in control within minutes.

2. Commission-free US stocks and ETFs

The core is simple:

US stocks
US ETFs
No dealing commission on trades

If your goal is “I want to punt on a few US names”, it absolutely does that job.

3. Interest on cash

Uninvested USD cash can earn a fairly attractive rate via their cash sweep setup. On the surface, that’s a nicer place for dollars to sit than zero-yield cash.

For a small US-only side pot, these are all reasonable positives.

Where it starts to fall apart for UK investors

1. No ISA, no UK tax wrapper

Robinhood UK currently offers no Stocks & Shares ISA, no Cash ISA, no SIPP.

That means:

No tax shelter on gains or income
Everything is in a plain taxable account

That might be fine for a few hundred quid, but for long-term money in the UK it’s a big miss.

2. No FSCS protection on the account

Your protection sits under US arrangements via their US entities, not under the UK’s FSCS framework.

If you’re used to “up to £85k/£120k per institution” on UK platforms, you don’t get that same safety net here.

For small speculative money, maybe that’s acceptable. For significant capital, I don’t like those odds.

3. US-only menu, in USD

You basically get:

US stocks and ETFs
All balances in USD

No UK shares, no UK ETFs, no wider world in GBP. If your plan is a balanced, UK-friendly portfolio, you outgrow that menu very quickly.

4. The pattern in user stories

Forget brand names and logos for a second: just read what people say online.

Over and over again, you see stuff like:

“Customer service is a nightmare… they froze my account and I couldn’t get to my own money.”

“My funds remain frozen and unavailable for withdrawal… it’s caused serious financial problems.”

“They locked my account after a crypto withdrawal request and I’ve been waiting weeks.”

Are there positive reviews too? Yes. There are people who’ve had no problems and love the app.

But when you zoom out, there are too many horror stories about access to funds and support for me to ignore. If you’re treating it as a bit of fun with beer money, fine. If you’re thinking “this is my main investing home”, I’d be very cautious.

Trading 212 – less hype, more “get on with it”

Now the other side.

I’ve run around £100k through Trading 212 over time, across Invest and ISA.

What Trading 212 gets right

1. Built for UK investors

Trading 212 gives you:

A Stocks & Shares ISA
A Cash ISA
A standard Invest account
A CFD account if you want leverage (and understand the risk)

Client money and assets sit with regulated custodians and fall under the usual UK protection rules. Boring, yes. Important, also yes.

2. Asset range that actually makes sense

On the Invest/ISA side you get:

UK and US shares
A long list of ETFs
Some European names
Enough choice to build a sensible, diversified portfolio

On the CFD side (if you go there), you get FX, indices, commodities and so on. Not for beginners, but it’s there.

3. Simple pricing

On the investing side:

No dealing commission
A clear FX fee when you buy/sell non-GBP assets
No ISA platform fee, no custody fee

That doesn’t mean it’s “free” – nothing is – but it means the cost structure is understandable and not buried under marketing.

4. User experience that’s “boringly fine”

Common themes from people who’ve used it a while:

“Have been with them for years, never had any issues withdrawing to my bank.”

“Easy to use app, ISA and Cash ISA are straightforward, interest on cash is decent.”

“Very easy to move money between ISA and cash, no drama.”

My experience matches that: deposits work, withdrawals work, app behaves itself. It’s not perfect – nothing is – but the platform feels like somewhere you can quietly build a portfolio without having to fight the infrastructure.

My own experience: money, not theory

Here’s how it’s played out for me.

Trading 212 – serious money, long-term use

Size: roughly £100k passed through over time
Use: ISA + Invest, portfolio building, some tactical trades
Issues: the usual minor annoyances, nothing catastrophic
Outcome: I’m comfortable using it as a core UK platform, within usual risk and protection limits

Robinhood UK – small pot, curiosity only

Size: about £1k as a test
Use: US stocks only, just to see how it behaves
Issues: nothing personally catastrophic so far, but…
Context: I’ve read enough angry user stories about frozen accounts and support nightmares that I’ve got no interest in scaling up there right now

Could that change in future? Sure. If they add ISA, change structure, and the user experience picture improves, I’ll re-evaluate.

Right now? It’s a toy box, not a home.

Why I’m not telling you “just use X”

Here’s where I’m different to most “comparison” sites:

I do sometimes use affiliate links – I’m not going to pretend I don’t.
I’ve also worked with or alongside several of these platforms over the years, so I’ve seen the inside, not just the marketing.

I’m not against getting paid. I am against telling everyone “this is the best broker” regardless of who they are.

I genuinely can’t give you a proper opinion on what you should use until I know things like:

What are you actually trading? (What)
Why are you doing this – wealth building, day trading, punting, hedging? (Why)
How often are you going to trade? (When)
How much are you putting in – £500, £5k, £50k, £500k? (How much)
Do you need ISA, multi-currency, specific markets, or pro-level tools?

All of that matters more than whether an app looks nice in screenshots.

So what’s the point of this post?

If you’ve read this far, it’s not to convince you “Trading 212 good, Robinhood bad”.

It’s to:

Show you how each platform actually feels when you use it with real money
Flag the structural stuff (ISA, FSCS, markets) that most marketing glosses over
Make it clear that any “best” platform depends on you, not me

If you want generic affiliate-link advice, the internet is full of it.

If you want help picking a platform that fits your situation, here’s what I suggest:

Subscribe to my updates if you want more breakdowns like this in plain English.
Or better: send me a message with a few details:
- What you want to trade
- Your rough account size
- How active you think you’ll be
- What you’re using right now and what annoys you about it

I’ll tell you what I actually think, based on nearly a decade of doing this full-time across multiple platforms – including some I’ve worked for and plenty I’d never touch again.

No one-line “use X” answer.
No magic broker.
Just a grown-up conversation about what actually fits you.