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Broker Comparison

AJ Bell vs Markets.com

Compare AJ Bell and Markets.com side by side: fees, regulation, platforms.

AJ Bell

AJ Bell

UK long-term investors and pension savers

AJ Bell is a UK investment platform founded in 1995, offering stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds, ISAs and SIPPs acro…

VS
Markets.com

Markets.com

CFD and forex traders

Markets.com is a multi-regulated CFD and forex broker offering over 2,200 instruments across forex, shares, i…

Head-to-head comparison

AJ Bell vs Markets.com
Feature AJ Bell Markets.com
Minimum deposit - -
Stock trading fee £5 per trade; £3.50 per trade for frequent dealers (10+ deals in previous month); £25 by telephone -
Regulators FCA CySEC, FSCA, ASIC, FSA
Best for UK long-term investors and pension savers CFD and forex traders
Markets & account
Stocks
ETFs
Forex
-
CFDs
-
Crypto
-
Bonds
Funds
-
Ready Made Portfolios
-
Investment Plans
-
Isa
-
Sipp
-
Savings Vaults
-
Margin
-
Demo Account
-
Multi Currency
-

Pros & cons

AJ Bell

AJ Bell

Pros

  • FCA-regulated with FSCS protection up to £85,000
  • Share and ETF custody capped at £3.50/month in ISA and dealing accounts
  • SIPP platform fee capped at £10/month
  • Wide investment range: 4,000+ funds, 3,500+ ETFs, 16,000+ shares across 24 markets
  • No withdrawal or inactivity fees
  • Regular investing with no dealing charge from £25/month
  • Which? Recommended Provider for eight consecutive years (2019-2026)
  • ISA, SIPP, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA and dealing accounts all on one platform

Cons

  • No demo or practice account
  • No fractional shares
  • No cryptocurrency trading
  • Fund platform fee is not capped, making it expensive for large fund portfolios
  • FX conversion fee up to 0.75% on international trades
  • Basic charting tools compared to dedicated trading platforms
  • No multi-currency account - all holdings converted to GBP
Markets.com

Markets.com

Pros

  • Regulated by CySEC, FSCA and ASIC
  • No commissions on trades - spread-only pricing
  • No deposit or broker withdrawal fees
  • Proprietary platform plus MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5
  • Over 2,200 tradable instruments across multiple asset classes
  • Free demo account for practice trading
  • Negative balance protection for retail clients

Cons

  • FCA authorisation surrendered in 2025 - UK retail services including spread betting discontinued
  • Inactivity fee of 10 per month triggered after just 90 days
  • Spreads wider than ECN or STP competitors
  • No copy trading or social trading functionality
  • Demo account expires after 90 days of inactivity
  • No cTrader platform
  • No VPS service
AJ Bell

AJ Bell

AJ Bell is a UK investment platform founded in 1995, offering stocks, ETFs, funds, bonds, ISAs and SIPPs across 24 international markets.

Visit AJ Bell Read review

Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.

Markets.com

Markets.com

Markets.com is a multi-regulated CFD and forex broker offering over 2,200 instruments across forex, shares, indices, commodities, ETFs, crypto and bonds via its proprietary platform, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

Visit Markets.com Read review

Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.

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