The best junior stocks & shares ISAs in 2026
Financial Interest was founded by Damien Talks Money (384,000 YouTube subscribers) to teach the personal finance lessons he wished he'd been taught at school.
Last updated 10th April 2026
6 min read
If you're looking for a smart way to invest for kids, you can't go far wrong with a junior ISA.
This is a type of tax-free investment account opened by a parent or guardian for a child under 18. Anyone can contribute, investments grow free from income and capital gains tax, and the money belongs to the child – becoming fully theirs when they turn 18.
The tricky bit is choosing the right one. Junior ISA fees and features vary more than you might expect, and paying over the odds can make a real dent in long-term returns.
So, we've done the number-crunching and rounded up our top junior stocks & shares ISA picks – and explained exactly why they made the cut.
Financial Interest provides guidance, not advice. If you’re unsure about anything, speak with a qualified adviser. When investing, your capital is always at risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Our top picks
| Platform | Annual Fee | Trading Fee | Minimum Investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £0 | £0 | £100 lump sum or £25 per month |
| Freetrade | £0 | £0 (on Basic plan) | £1 |
| Fidelity | £0 | £0 for mutual funds, £1.50 for ETFs as part of a regular savings plan | £1,000 lump sum or £25 per month |
| Vanguard | 0.15% (capped at £375) | £0 | £500 lump sum or £100 per month |
| Interactive Investor | Free with Plus plan (£14.99 per month) | No fees with regular investing service; otherwise £3.99 for ETFs and £1.49 for funds | £100 lump sum or £25 per month |
| Charles Stanley | 0.30% (£5 monthly minimum) | No fees with automated monthly investments. Receive £50 trading credits every six months | No minimum lump sum; minimum monthly £50 |
Top picks fee breakdown
| Platform | Fi Fee* (£10k pot) | Fi Fee* (£100k pot) |
|---|---|---|
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £0 | £0 |
| Freetrade | £0 | £0 |
| Fidelity | £18 | £18 |
| Vanguard | £15 | £150 |
| Interactive Investor | £179.88 | £179.88 |
| Charles Stanley | £80 | £320 |
Our top pick for a junior stocks and shares ISA is Hargreaves Lansdown, also known as HL.
They're an obvious standout pick because they are an established, reputable company and they currently allow you to invest for your child without any additional fees whatsoever.
That said, the fees on their other accounts are relatively high – especially since they changed their fee structure.
While HL's low fees are amazing, their platform is slightly fiddly to use at times.
To help, we've published a tutorial on how to set up your junior stocks & shares ISA with HL. This will help you avoid the common issues we faced.
Despite finding their system slightly tricky to get to grips with, their customer service team were fast and responsive in helping us work through our problems.
Another top pick is Freetrade, who recently added the option to open a junior ISA in their Basic (free) plan. Just like Hargreaves Lansdown, that means you can invest in a wide range of shares, ETFs and mutual funds and pay nothing except the underlying fund fee.
We're pretty big fans of Freetrade in general – their app and desktop platform is slick and easy to use, so it's really easy to keep track of your investments and how your portfolio is performing.
If you're trading in non-GBP listed stocks and funds, though, you'll need to watch out for FX fees – they're on the higher side at 0.99%.
Another solid option is Fidelity. They offer similar fee-free options as long as you exclusively stick to investments in traditional index funds (mutual funds) – ETFs and share purchases will incur fees trading fees.
Compare fees and features across all major junior ISA providers with our broker comparison tool
Vanguard's fees are also on the lower side compared to much of the other competition in the industry. They also produce and manage their own funds, which is perhaps one of the many reasons UK investors love them so much.
That said, Vanguard can be on the pricier side for larger pots, as their fee cap is £375. That said, it does mean you'll effectively pay no additional fees once your pot reaches £250,000.
Our other top choices are Interactive Investor and Charles Stanley.
You'll get Interactive Investor's JISA free when you subscribe to their Plus plan, which has flat fees of £179.88 per year – so it could be a good choice if you're already a paying customer.
Their fee structure can make them cheaper than other brokers for larger balances, but relatively pricey for smaller ones.
Meanwhile, Charles Stanley's 0.30% fees mean they beat Interactive Investor for smaller balances, but quickly become much more expensive for larger ones.
More expensive options
Below are a selection of brokers or investment platforms that are more expensive if you're opening a new junior ISA today.
We believe in covering why we don't use certain brokers; it's just as important as explaining why we do use others. It also helps you to see the full list of brokers we considered during our research.
For most brokers, there is only one main reason that we wouldn't use them. This usually comes down to cost, but fees are not the only consideration you should have when choosing a broker. The most important question you should ask yourself: "do I trust this broker with my money?"
Please remember that you're in control of your own investment decisions, and these are just the opinions of the Financial Interest team.
| Broker | What we don't like |
|---|---|
| AJ Bell | 0.25% annual fee on funds is higher than most of our top picks, plus additional fund dealing fees (£1.50) and share dealing fees (£3.50 to £5). |
| Bestinvest | 0.4% annual fee on DIY portfolios are higher than many leading brokers. However, their ready-made portfolios are cheaper at 0.2%. |
| Moneybox | 0.45% annual fee (charged monthly) plus £1 monthly fee is quite high. |
| Moneyfarm | 0.45% management fees and 0.25% platform fees is pricier than many other options. |
| JP Morgan Personal Investing (Formerly Nutmeg) | 0.45% annual fee on passive investments and 0.75% on managed portfolios are very high. |
| Wealthify | 0.6% annual fee is very high compared to managed services from many leading brokers. |
Financial Interest provides guidance, not advice. If you’re unsure about anything, speak with a qualified adviser. When investing, your capital is always at risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
