Which UK brokers have transparent pricing with no hidden costs?
Verdict
- Pepperstone is our pick for transparent UK pricing: it publishes minimum spreads per market and account, a fixed Razor commission, share commissions and overnight-fee timing, and charges no inactivity fee.
- It is not perfect: its withdrawals table calls bank transfers free while its costs FAQ mentions £15 for an international wire.
- Elsewhere the extra costs sit in different places: Plus500's fees page lists an inactivity fee of up to $10 a month, Trading 212's CFD account has a 0.5% FX fee, and guaranteed stops cost a premium at IG, CMC and StoneX if triggered.
- 'No hidden costs' really means every charge is published; the checklist below shows where to look.
Few brokers hide fees in the legal sense; the costs are published, just not always where you'd look. Pepperstone puts most of its charges on one UK costs page, which is why it's our pick here.
What Pepperstone publishes on its UK costs page
Pepperstone's costs page sets out minimum spreads by account, the Razor commission (from £2.25 per lot per side on a GBP account), share CFD commission (0.10% per side on UK shares with a £0.01 minimum, $0.02 a share on US shares) and when overnight fees apply on spread bets (positions held past 10 pm UK time). Deposits are free, there is no inactivity or account-keeping fee, and the Standard account's cost is stated plainly as a one-point mark-up inside the FX spread.
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Costs beyond the spread, broker by broker
These are charges each broker publishes itself. A blank in our data is not proof that a fee doesn't exist; check the broker's own costs page.
| Broker | Charge to know about | Source of the figure |
|---|---|---|
| Pepperstone | Possible £15 international wire withdrawal (pages conflict) | UK costs FAQ vs withdrawals table |
| Plus500 | Inactivity fee up to $10 a month after 3 months without login | Plus500 fees page (UAE site version) |
| Trading 212 | 0.5% FX fee on the CFD account | Help centre |
| IG | Guaranteed stop premium, charged only if triggered | Risk management page |
| CMC Markets | Guaranteed stop fee, refunded in full if not triggered | Charges FAQ |
| StoneX Trading (ex-City Index) | Guaranteed stop charge if triggered; £100 per card deposit minimum | Trading academy; funding FAQ |
Where Pepperstone's own pages disagree
Transparency also means admitting inconsistencies. Pepperstone's UK withdrawals table lists every method as free, while the FAQ on its costs page says an international bank wire withdrawal costs £15. Its instrument counts differ too (1,444 CFDs in the account table, 'more than 2700 spread bets and CFDs' on the markets page, which counts both). Neither changes the cost of a normal trade, but ask support to confirm the wire fee before you rely on it.
A hidden-cost checklist for any UK broker
- Find the average spread, not only the 'from' spread, for your main markets.
- Add any commission, per side and per round turn.
- Check the overnight financing time and how it is charged.
- Look for inactivity, account-keeping and withdrawal fees, especially on wires.
- Price optional extras such as guaranteed stops and currency conversion.
Sources
Fees as published on each broker's site.
Does Pepperstone charge an inactivity fee?
No. Pepperstone UK charges no inactivity or account-keeping fee; accounts under 10 currency units and unused for three months or more may be archived.
What does the Pepperstone Standard account really cost?
There is no commission; Pepperstone builds a one-point mark-up into the FX spread. EUR/USD averages 1.1 pips on Standard against 0.1 pips plus commission on Razor.
Is the spread the only cost of a spread bet?
No. Positions held past 10 pm UK time pay an overnight fee. Pepperstone charges no commission on spread bets.
CFDs and spread bets are leveraged, complex products, and you can lose money quickly. Pepperstone Limited reports that 73.6% of its retail investor accounts lose money trading them; other providers publish their own figures. Nothing on this page is investment or tax advice.