Vanguard Investor and Hargreaves Lansdown* are two of the most popular investment platforms in the UK. In this article, we compare what they offer to investors.
If you are trying to decide which is better to invest your money with, we examine the key features, including the products and services that Vanguard and Hargreaves Lansdown offer.
Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown - which is better?
| Vanguard | Hargreaves Lansdown | |
| Services | LifeStrategy funds
Target Retirement funds Personal financial advice for retirement planning |
Invest in funds and shares
Wealth Shortlist Ready-made portfolios Foreign currency exchange |
| Products | ISA, General Investment Account, Junior ISA, SIPP
Managed Stocks & Shares ISA Managed SIPP |
Active Savings
Cash ISA Fund and share account ISA, General Investment Account, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP, Junior SIPP |
| Minimum investment | £500 or £100 monthly investment | £100 for an ISA or SIPP (or a regular £25 per month)
£1 for a fund and share account |
| Platform fees | 0.15% capped at £375 for accounts over £250,000
0.25% annual account management fee for the managed ISA Additional underlying fund charges Minimum fee of £4 per month for self-invested products |
Up to £250,000 - 0.35% per annum charge
Between £250,000-£1m - 0.25% per annum charge Between £1m-£2m - 0.10% per annum charge Over £2m - 0% per annum charge Additional underlying fund charges Reduced fees of 0.25% for Lifetime ISA (capped at £45 per year) No charge for Junior ISAs Account charge for holding shares, ETFs, investment trusts and bonds in a fund and share account, ISA or SIPP - 0.35% capped at £150 per year Dealing charges for shares, ETFs, investment trusts and bonds (based on deals completed in previous month): 0-20 deals - £6.95 20+ deals - £3.95 A dealing charge of £1.95 for funds was introduced on 1st March 2026 |
| Customer reviews (Trustpilot) | 4.7/5.0 | 4.4/5.0 |
Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown - services
Vanguard Investor is principally a way for investors to access Vanguard funds. As such, it has a choice of "build-your-own" portfolios or its popular LifeStrategy range. While it also has options for retirement planning, including its Target Retirement funds, as well as some guides and market commentary, it has a more pared-back offering than many of the other platforms.
Hargreaves Lansdown, in contrast, is the largest investment platform in the UK and is characterised by the amount of choice it offers to customers, with a wide range of products and services for beginners through to seasoned investors. It facilitates direct investments in funds and shares, has model ready-made options and also has foreign currency exchange. This is against the backdrop of it being a financial advisory firm, with a wealth of research tools and resources.
Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown - products
Hargreaves Lansdown has a wider array of products available than Vanguard. While both platforms offer stocks and shares ISAs, GIAs, JISAs and SIPPs, Hargreaves Lansdown also has savings accounts, a cash ISA, a fund and share account, a Junior SIPP and a LISA.
It is worth remembering too that the products in the Vanguard range can only hold Vanguard funds within them, unlike Hargreaves Lansdown's, which can be populated by funds from many different providers.
Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown - minimum investment
For those looking to try one of the platforms without tying up a large sum of money at the outset, Hargreaves Lansdown has a minimum investment of just £1 for its fund and shares account, or £100 for its ISA or SIPP, although this goes down to £25 if it is a monthly investment. Vanguard, meanwhile, requires a minimum investment of £500 as a lump sum, or £100 for a monthly investment.
Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown - fees
Vanguard's platform fee is 0.15% (a minimum of £4 per month for self-invested products) which is capped at £375 for investors with accounts worth more than £250,000. Due to the minimum £4 per month fee, Hargreaves Lansdown would be cheaper for those with less than £13,715 to invest. Although Hargreaves Lansdown is more expensive once you pass that threshold, it does offer a wider range of investments, as well as a wealth of tools and services. Another reason to consider Hargreaves Lansdown is that it recently scrapped all fees for its Junior ISA.
For those looking to solely invest in Vanguard funds, using Vanguard Investor makes sense if you are investing up to £48,000. If you are investing more than that amount, it can actually work out cheaper to invest with Interactive Investor*, which we explain in more detail in our article "Vanguard Investor UK review - is it the best in the market?"
Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown - customer reviews
Both Vanguard and Hargreaves Lansdown perform well on the independent customer review site Trustpilot, with Hargreaves Lansdown scoring 4.4 out of 5.0 and Vanguard scoring 4.7 out of 5.0. 70% of respondents classified Vanguard as "Excellent", with 64% of reviewers putting Hargreaves Lansdown into that category. Hargreaves Lansdown received praise for its efficiency and good customer service, while Vanguard got plaudits for its low fees.
Summary - Vanguard vs Hargreaves Lansdown
If you are specifically interested in investing in passive funds, Vanguard's ever-popular LifeStrategy range may well be appealing. If this is the case, if you're investing more than £13,715 and less than £48,000, investing through Vanguard Investor will likely work out to be the cheapest option. If, however, you are looking to invest more widely and value choice, Hargreaves Lansdown is an attractive option, with a great variety of products and services.
For more in depth analysis of each platform, read our Vanguard review and Hargreaves Lansdown review.
When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.
If a link has an * beside it this means that it is an affiliated link. If you go via the link Money to the Masses may receive a small fee which helps keep Money to the Masses free to use. But as you can clearly see this has in no way influenced this independent and balanced review of the product. The following link can be used if you do not wish to help Money to the Masses - Hargreaves Lansdown, Interactive Investor
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