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Best Day Trading Platforms and Brokers in the UK 2025

Written By

James Barra

Written By

James Barra

James is an investment writer with a background in financial services. As a former management consultant, he has worked on major operational transformation programmes at prominent European banks. James authors, edits and fact-checks content for a series of investing websites.

» James Barra Profile Page

Fact Checked By

Jemma Grist

Fact Checked By

Jemma Grist

Jemma is a writer, editor and fact-checker focused on retail trading and investing. Jemma brings a unique perspective to the forex, stock, and cryptocurrency markets and works across several investment websites as a researcher and broker analyst.

» Jemma Grist Profile Page

Updated

Feb 4, 2025

The best day trading brokers in the UK provide platforms that are easy to use with great charting tools, low costs, fast execution, and leverage trading.

They are also regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and tailored for British day traders, offering access to major markets such as the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and currency pairs like the GBP/USD. Many of the top day trading platforms also support accounts in the British Pound, simplifying deposits, withdrawals, and trade management.

Discover our pick of the best brokers for day trading in the UK. Each brokerage we recommend accepts traders from the UK, is authorised by the FCA, and was evaluated by British traders using real money or a test account.

Choosing A Day Trading Broker In The UK

Our 40+ years of combined experience using UK brokers has shown us that several critical elements should be considered when deciding who to open an account with:

Choose A Trusted Broker

Picking a trusted broker will help safeguard you from unscrupulous trading practices, such as misleading promotions and price manipulation.

It will also help protect you from trading scams, many of which we’ve seen target retail investors in the UK. One notable example is EverFX, a brand that pressured victims to move sometimes tens of thousands of pounds to offshore firms where they lost money and had limited recourse options under UK law.

The hallmarks of a trustworthy day trading broker are authorization from a respected body, such as the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a long track record, excellent user reviews, and a good reputation in the industry. We prioritize day trading platforms that tick these boxes.

I recommend that British day traders sign up with an FCA-regulated broker. The FCA is hugely respected around the world for its robust investor protections, including providing up to £85,000 through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the event of broker insolvency.

James Barra

Author

Choose A Broker With Low Fees For Day Trading

Selecting a platform with excellent pricing is critical for day traders because high transaction costs can rack up if you’re making a large volume of trades, impacting your profitability.

That’s why we evaluate the fees you can expect to incur day trading as part of our exhaustive broker reviews. This includes recording and comparing spreads and commissions on popular markets like the FTSE, EUR/GBP, and GBP/USD.

Importantly, we also balance costs with the broker’s overall offering, as we know it’s sometimes worth paying more for superior market data, sophisticated trading tools and faster order executions, especially for advanced day traders.

Choose A Broker With An Excellent Charting Platform

Finding a platform with strong charting tools is important because day traders often use technical analysis to discover opportunities, while long-term investors tend to rely more on fundamental analysis.

Our experts always evaluate the platforms, mobile apps, and charting tools for day trading as part of our hands-on tests. We use the software to ensure it delivers an excellent user experience with an intuitive design and straightforward navigation.

We also check it comes complete with the charting tools essential for day traders at any skill level, including technical indicators, drawing features, and timeframes that cater to short-term trading strategies, from 1-minute to 60-minute charts.

Choose A Broker With Access To The Markets You Want To Day Trade

Making sure the brokerage facilitates day trading on the assets you’re interested in is critical.

For traders in the UK, it’s often important to be able to speculate on shares listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the value of the FTSE 100, and currency pairs that include the British Pound, such as the EUR/GBP and GBP/USD.

We always evaluate the range and depth of the investment offering while using day trading platforms, with a particular eye on access to UK markets for British traders.

The other element we look for is instruments built specifically for short-term trading strategies, notably contracts for difference (CFDs). These derivatives enable you to speculate on rising and falling prices from the same product without taking ownership of the underlying security, such as Barclays shares listed on the LSE.

Choose A Broker With Fast Execution Speeds

Opening an account with a broker that offers fast execution is crucial for day trading strategies, especially in volatile markets. Delays in executing orders can lead to price slippage and even failure.

That said, execution quality is also an important consideration and concerns factors like speed, pricing, and the probability of order fulfilment.

That’s why we routinely evaluate brokers’ execution policies and execution speed data (where available), favouring platforms that meet our benchmarks of <100 milliseconds.

Choose A Broker That Supports Leverage Trading With Clear Margin Requirements

Signing up with a firm that supports leverage trading is essential for many day traders, who often use leverage to control larger positions with a small outlay.

Essentially, leverage amplifies your purchasing power, and thus your returns and losses. Let’s say my day trading broker offers leverage of 1:30 on the GBP/EUR. This means a £100 outlay would give me £3,000 to trade with (30 x £100).

However, it’s crucial to understand that leverage trading also greatly increases risk. As a result, a risk management strategy is needed, alongside a solid grasp of your broker’s margin requirements, which outline the amount of capital required.

The FCA limits leverage for retail investors in the UK to between 1:2 and 1:30 depending on the market being traded.

You can day trade with higher leverage if you sign up with a brokerage registered in other jurisdictions, but this elevates the risk of large losses and I do not recommend it for beginners.

James Barra

Author

As part of our exhaustive reviews, we confirm whether margin trading is supported and the maximum leverage available.

We also make sure the broker is upfront about margin requirements and its margin call and stop-out levels, which determine how much capital you need to deposit to prevent positions from being automatically closed.

Choose A Broker With An Accessible Minimum Deposit

Selecting a day trading platform that offers a deposit requirement within your budget is important to make sure you don’t risk more than you can afford to lose. This is especially important for beginners who might have a modest amount of capital for trading.

We’ve personally tested 219 brokers that support day trading using either real money or test accounts, and the vast majority require an initial investment of <£500. That said, some platforms cater specifically to beginner traders with low or even no minimum deposit.

Methodology

To find the best day trading brokers in the UK, we considered both quantitative data and qualitative insights from our comprehensive broker reviews, focusing on several aspects:

FAQ

Who Regulates Day Trading Brokers In The UK?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the body responsible for overseeing and licensing brokers that offer day trading products to retail investors in the UK.

You can check whether a brokerage is authorised by the FCA by searching for their name or license number (usually found at the bottom of a broker’s website) on the regulator’s register.

How Much Money Do I Need To Start Day Trading In The UK?

Most top day trading brokers accept traders in the UK with a minimum deposit of between £0 and £500.

Beginners may want to open an account with a low minimum deposit broker, while advanced day traders may wish to invest more in return for the best trading tools and market data.

Which Brokers Do Day Traders In The UK Use?

We’ve compiled a list of the best day trading platforms and brokers in the UK. Many of our recommendations have millions of active traders, with a large user base in the UK.

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