Vanguard’s 0.15% fee is one of the lowest percentage charges in the UK. But since the £4 a month minimum was introduced, it isn’t the cheapest option for smaller portfolios. Here’s what you’ll actually pay.
The headline fees
- Account fee: 0.15% a year, capped at £375
- Minimum fee: £4 a month (£48 a year) if your balance is under £32,000
- Dealing fees: £0 for funds and ETFs bought online
- Transfer out, withdrawals, closing: £0
On top of this you pay each fund’s ongoing charge (OCF). Across Vanguard’s range that runs from 0.06% for the cheapest index trackers to 0.79%. A global tracker like FTSE Global All Cap is at the low end.
What Vanguard costs at each portfolio size
| Portfolio | Annual account fee | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| £5,000 | £48 | 0.96% |
| £10,000 | £48 | 0.48% |
| £20,000 | £48 | 0.24% |
| £32,000 | £48 | 0.15% |
| £50,000 | £75 | 0.15% |
| £100,000 | £150 | 0.15% |
| £250,000 | £375 | 0.15% |
| £500,000 | £375 | 0.075% |
Below £32,000 the flat £48 makes Vanguard relatively expensive. A £5,000 ISA pays nearly 1% a year, which is more than Hargreaves Lansdown charges. From £32,000 to £250,000 you pay a straight 0.15%. Above £250,000 the £375 cap kicks in and the effective rate keeps falling.
The minimum fee is the catch for small portfolios
If you’re starting out with a few thousand pounds, the £48 minimum matters. On £10,000:
- Vanguard: £48
- InvestEngine: £0 (ETFs only)
- Trading 212: £0 (ETFs and shares, no funds)
- AJ Bell: £25 on funds plus £1.50 per fund trade
If you want Vanguard funds specifically, you can often hold the ETF version of the same fund on a zero-fee platform. Vanguard’s FTSE Global All Cap is a fund only, but its FTSE All-World ETF (VWRL/VWRP) is available on InvestEngine and Trading 212 with no platform fee.
The fee covers all your Vanguard accounts
Vanguard works out the 0.15% and the £375 cap on the total you hold across your Vanguard accounts: ISA, SIPP and general account together. If you have £150,000 in a SIPP and £100,000 in an ISA, you pay £375 in total, not £225 plus £150. That makes Vanguard more competitive for people with large balances across several wrappers than the ISA figures alone suggest.
Is the Vanguard ISA flexible?
Yes. You can take money out of your Vanguard ISA and put it back in the same tax year without it using more of your £20,000 allowance. The replacement has to go back into the same Vanguard ISA before 5 April. See the Vanguard review for how it works.
Junior ISA: no minimum fee
The Vanguard Junior ISA charges the same 0.15%, but the £4 a month minimum doesn’t apply. A £3,000 Junior ISA costs £4.50 a year, so Vanguard is one of the cheapest places to hold a child’s ISA if you’re happy with Vanguard funds. HL and Fidelity charge no account fee at all, though; see our Junior ISA fees comparison.
Vanguard vs the alternatives
| At £100,000 in funds | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Barclays Smart Investor | £0 (no platform fee, free fund dealing) |
| Interactive Investor | £71.88 flat + £3.99 per trade |
| Vanguard | £150 |
| AJ Bell | £250 + £1.50 per fund trade |
| Fidelity | £350 (no fund dealing fee) |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £350 + £1.95 per fund trade |
For fund investors, Barclays is now cheaper than Vanguard at every size after it removed its platform fee in June 2026. Barclays can also hold Vanguard’s funds. Interactive Investor’s flat fee also beats Vanguard once your portfolio is above about £48,000, as long as you don’t trade often. Vanguard still has the simplest setup and no dealing fees at all.
Compare them directly: Barclays vs Vanguard, Hargreaves Lansdown vs Vanguard, AJ Bell vs Vanguard, Fidelity vs Vanguard.
Who Vanguard suits
- £32,000 to £250,000 in Vanguard funds, where 0.15% with no dealing fees is hard to beat on simplicity
- Large balances across an ISA and a SIPP, because the £375 cap covers both
- Junior ISAs, with no minimum fee
It suits you less if you have under £32,000, or want shares, investment trusts or other providers’ funds.
Use the fee calculator to compare Vanguard against every platform at your exact portfolio size, or read the full Vanguard review.