Compare mortgages: find the best deal

Mortgages

Best way to compare mortgages

A mortgage broker will find you the best mortgage deal and handle all the paperwork too.

Get 50% off fees

Tembo logo
Trophy icon
Best overall

Award-winning mortgage broker

Tembo is an award-winning mortgage broker, with awesome service. They'll find your best deal, and help increase your affordability and borrow more.

Visit Tembo¹
Habito logo
Trophy icon
Free

Free online service

Habito is a online service, it's fee-free, and the service is great. They'll help find your best deal, all in your own time.

Visit Habito¹

Compare all mortgage brokers

Mortgage comparison: your options

Use a mortgage broker

Use a mortgage broker

You'll be guaranteed the best mortgage deal for you and they’ll take care of everything – it's stress free and you'll save time.

Find and apply yourself

Find and apply yourself

Find and apply for a mortgage yourself. You probably won't get the best deal and there's lots of paperwork.

Find the right mortgage for you

Buying a new home

Buying a new home

Whether you're a first time buyer, or moving home, get the best deal for you.

Remortgaging

Remortgaging

Comparing mortgage deals can save you £100s per month.

Buy-to-let

Buy-to-let

Make the most of your investment with the best mortgage deal.

Compare mortgage brokers

Let the experts compare mortgages to find the best mortgage deal for you – you could save £100s.

To help you decide, we’ve put together the average rating from Trustpilot and Nuts About Money.

Tembo logo
Avg. customer rating
4.9 out of 5 stars
Trophy icon
Best overall
Visit Tembo¹

Tembo

has award-winning service and can help you borrow more.
More info
Arrow down – Grey

Pros

• Guaranteed the best mortgage deal
• Increase your borrowing
• Boost your deposit
• Awesome service
• Online and over the phone
• Apply and handle all the paperwork for you

Cons

• It’s not free (but 50% off with Nuts About Money)

Tembo is an all-round amazing mortgage broker, in fact, they're award-winning, and not just online.

They can help with pretty much every mortgage out there, from buying a home to switching deals, and on top of that, have unique options to increase your borrowing and affordability.

They'll handle the whole mortgage for you too, and the service is great.

Fees: low (and 50% off with Nuts About Money)

Nuts About Money rating: 5 stars

Tembo review
Offer icon
Get 50% off fees
Habito logo
Avg. customer rating
4.9 out of 5 stars
Free
Visit Habito¹

Habito

is free and can help with the legal work too.
More info
Arrow down – Grey

Pros

• Completely free mortgage advice
• Searches the whole market
• Excellent customer service
• Can help with every step of buying a home

Cons

You have to start the process online (can't call straight away)

Habito makes mortgages and buying a home much easier – it's all online.

They’ll find the best mortgage for you, all for free, and all in your own time.

And, if you’re buying a home they can handle the whole process for you (for a fee). The customer service is great too.

Fees: free (fees if using the conveyancing service)

Nuts About Money rating: 5 stars

Habito review
Unbiased logo
Avg. customer rating
4.6 out of 5 stars
Local advisors
Visit Unbiased¹

Unbiased

matches you with an advisor in your area.
More info
Arrow down – Grey

Pros

• Free to use (but fees charged from advisors)
• Find a mortgage broker in your local area
• Best option if you want face-to-face advice
• Advisors are vetted and typically great

Cons

• Fees can vary depending on your chosen advisor
• Can’t get a mortgage online

Unbiased help you find the right advisor for you. They match you with a fully qualified expert to help you with your money, so that’s an accountant, a solicitor, a financial advisor or a mortgage advisor.

Fees: high

Nuts About Money rating: 5 stars

Unbiased review
L&C logo
Avg. customer rating
3.3 out of 5 stars
Traditional
Visit L&C Mortgages

L&C

are free and offer advice over the phone.
More info
Arrow down – Grey

Pros

• Free
• Searches every mortgage out there

Cons

• All phone based
• Very salesy
• Customer service is inconsistent (depends on your advisor)

L&C are becoming a bit outdated for modern times – it’s effectively a big call centre. 

They’ll find you the right mortgage, and for free, but it’s all phone based and time-consuming with scheduled meetings.

The customer service is very inconsistent too. There’s much better options out there.

Fees: free

Nuts About Money rating: 2 stars

Mojo mortgages logo
Avg. customer rating
3.3 out of 5 stars
Traditional
Visit Mojo Mortgages

Mojo Mortgages

are free but service is slow and poor.
More info
Arrow down – Grey

Pros

• Free
• Searches every mortgage out there

Cons

• Although starts online, it’s mostly phone based
• Don’t deal with complicated mortgages
• Customer service is poor

Mojo Mortgages will get you a mortgage for free. They can search every mortgage out there to find the right deal too.

However, the customer service isn’t great, and it’s not suited for complicated cases. There’s better alternatives.

Fees: free

Nuts About Money rating: 2 stars

Mojo review

Compare mortgages – everything you need to know

Ready to find your next property? Or maybe you’re buying your first home and not quite sure how to get started. You might even be a mortgage pro and just looking to find a new deal. We’ve got you covered. Here’s the best way to compare mortgages and find the best mortgage deal for you.

We’ll cover everything you need to know in 7 easy steps (don’t worry, they’re all super quick), and the best part is, you don’t need to do much – you can leave it to the experts to handle everything.

1. Find out how much you can borrow2. Work out your LTV (loan-to-value)3. Compare mortgage deals online4. Speak with a mortgage brokerBest mortgage brokers5. Check direct-only deals (optional)6. Mortgage agreement in principle7. Apply for your mortgageOne more step: conveyancingComparing remortgage dealsComparing buy-to-let mortgagesThat’s it for comparing mortgages

1. Find out how much you can borrow

Buying a home

This bit is super important, but also super easy. You’ll need to have some idea of how much you can borrow for a mortgage, firstly so you’ll know what your budget actually is if you’re shopping for a new home, but also, so you can find the best deal for you when comparing mortgages.

Remortgaging

If you’re switching deals, which is called remortgaging, and not looking to borrow more cash, you can skip this step – as you’ll simply be looking for a mortgage for the same amount (although a bit less than you originally got as you’ve probably been paying it off).

Remortgage

Work out how much you can borrow

Here’s the easy bit, to find a very rough estimate of how much you can borrow, multiply your income (e.g. your salary) by 4.5. So, if your salary is currently £30,000, you’ll be able to borrow £135,000 (4.5x).

How much can I borrow for a mortgage?

However, to get a real indication of how much you can borrow, you’ll need to factor in things such as your household bills and any debt you might have. That’s why it’s best to speak to a mortgage broker. They’ll be able to do this all for you.

Mortgage brokers and advisors

If you’re not sure where to find a great mortgage broker, we’ve done the research, here’s the best mortgage brokers (some are free too).

Nuts About Money tip: when you apply for a mortgage your credit score will also be checked. So make sure it’s in good shape. If you have a bad credit score, here’s a guide on bad credit mortgages.

Credit score - Getting a mortgage

Your mortgage deposit affects this too

How much you can borrow will also be affected by how much deposit you have. If you have a low deposit, you likely won’t be able to borrow as much as you could. That’s because often you’ll need at least 5% of the property value as a deposit, but sometimes 10% (as a minimum).

So, if you had a low deposit, let’s say £5,000, the most you’d be able to borrow is enough to buy a £100,000 property, as that’s 5% (so you could borrow £95,000). Even though you could actually borrow £135,000 if you had a £30,000 salary. Make sense?

Sometimes, it’s better to save a bit more so you can buy the property you’re after (although easier said that done – it’s pretty difficult to get on the property ladder these days).

If you can't save anymore, you could look at guarantor mortgages or a joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage (where your family can help out). Check out Tembo¹ – they have some great options to boost your deposit and borrow more.

Guarantor mortgage

There’s also a government scheme called the mortgage guarantee scheme which encourages mortgage lenders (the people who give out mortgages) to lend to people with just a 5% deposit.

Use a mortgage calculator

To make things even easier, you could simply use a mortgage calculator – this is slightly more accurate, although it won’t take into account your own personal circumstances, such as your day-to-day bills. So, it’s great for a quick indication, but you won’t get a totally accurate number until you speak with a mortgage broker.

The quickest mortgage calculators are Habito’s mortgage calculator¹ and Tembo’s mortgage calculator¹.

Habito mortgage calculator

2. Work out your LTV (loan-to-value)

Buying a home

Once you’ve got a good idea how much you can borrow, you’ll be able to work out your loan-to-value, or LTV. This is key to determining what sort of mortgage interest rate you’ll be able to get.

LTV sounds complicated, but really it’s quite simple – it’s how much of the property is covered by the mortgage. For instance, if you buy a property with a 5% deposit, you’ll be getting a mortgage for the remaining 95%, and therefore your LTV is 95%. Simple right?

Loan-to-value (LTV) explained

If you’re looking to upgrade your home to a bigger, more expensive pad, you might be able to use your equity (the difference between the property price and the mortgage) as a deposit for the next home – and if your home has increased in value, you’ll have more equity to play with.

Nuts About Money tip: we've got all the best deals for each LTV bracket, for instance, 90% LTV mortgages and 95% LTV mortgages.

Remortgaging

If you’re remortgaging, you’ll need to work out how much your house is worth now. Hopefully it’s gone up in value, and therefore your LTV has reduced. 

This happens because the mortgage amount stays the same (well, slightly reduces as you pay it off), but the property price increases, so you have more ‘equity’ (that’s the bit of the property you own, rather than covered by a mortgage). So, you might be able to get cheaper rates! 

Property equity

When you switch deals, your new mortgage lender will value the property for you too, so a rough idea for now is fine.

Note: mortgage lenders only work in 5% intervals, so even if you have an LTV of say 66%, you’ll still have to get a mortgage with 70% LTV.

3. Compare mortgage deals online

To get a very rough idea of what sort of mortgage interest rate you could get, you can use a mortgage comparison table¹. They’re super simple to use, and will show real mortgages that are based on how much you can borrow and your LTV (although the deals are often slightly out of date by the time you apply).

Compare mortgages

Alongside the interest rate of the mortgage, it’s also good to look at:

  • The monthly mortgage repayments
  • How long the mortgage is for (called the mortgage term)
  • How long the initial deal is for (an incentive period)
  • What the fees are from the lender
  • The overall cost of the initial period (more on that below)

Why look at all the extra stuff rather than the interest rate? Well, it all comes down to the overall cost of the initial period. Here’s where it might get a bit confusing, that's the cost of the mortgage during the period of time at the beginning where you get the lower mortgage rate (called initial rate period or a fixed-rate period). Let’s run through that quickly first.

Fixed rate period

With most mortgages, at the start of the mortgage, there’s normally a period of time where the interest is fixed (stays the same) at a lower rate, and this is normally 2 or 5 years, but can be as long as 10, and sometimes even longer. 

Fixed-rate mortgage

Mortgage lenders (the people who give out mortgages) normally do this to compete for your  business, so the mortgage rate looks lower, and the shorter the fixed rate period, the lower the interest rate can be. But they can be sneaky and offset this discount with fees (we’ll cover that below).

Mortgage lender

After this fixed rate period, the interest rate will normally increase to what’s called the lender’s standard variable rate (SVR), this is their ‘default’ mortgage rate, and it’s normally a lot more expensive. At this point, for most people, it’s the best time to switch mortgages (remortgage) to a newer, better one with a lower interest rate (another fixed rate deal).

Standard variable-rate mortgage (SVR)

Overall cost

Back to overall cost, this is the total cost of the mortgage over the fixed rate period, so the 2 or 5 years we mentioned (or more). And includes all the fees the mortgage lender might add in, plus all the monthly mortgage payments added together.

Using this number is a great way of comparing mortgages rather than just using the interest rate – as often with lower interest rate mortgages there’s more fees – mortgage lenders are trying to game the system and think you’ll just be looking for the cheapest mortgage rate (and a lot of people do!).

Length of a fixed-rate mortgage

Note: there’s also something called APRC (Annual Percentage Rate of Charge). This calculates the interest rate on the whole length of the mortgage (the mortgage term), e.g. 25 years. This isn’t really useful these days, and you’ll most likely be remortgaging at the end of your fixed rate period to a much cheaper new deal.

Working out the overall cost yourself can get quite complicated, a mortgage comparison table¹ should give you a good indication and will do it for you, but you could also skip this step and speak with a mortgage broker who will work this all out for you.

If you’re not sure where to find a good mortgage broker for you, check out the best mortgage brokers. We also recommend Habito¹ – they’re fee free, have great service and you’re guaranteed to get the best mortgage deal because they search every mortgage in the UK.

Habito compare mortgages

Types of mortgages

There’s a few different types of mortgages – they’re not all the same! All suited to different people and their individual circumstances. This is another reason why getting expert advice from a mortgage broker is super important. Here’s a few of the most common types:

  • Repayment mortgage: this is where you’ll pay both the mortgage loan, and the interest off each month. This is the most common type by far, and most people have these.
  • Interest-only mortgage: this is where you just pay off the interest each month. These are more common with buy-to-let mortgages (this type means lower monthly payments).
Interest-only mortgage
  • Part and part mortgage: this is a mix of both a repayment mortgage and an interest only mortgage – where you’ll still pay off some of the mortgage loan each month, but you’ll have some left to pay at the end of the mortgage term (this type means lower monthly payments).
  • Offset mortgage: this is where your savings can help you increase your deposit (equity) but kept within a separate savings account. This can reduce your mortgage rate.

And within those types of mortgages, there’s different types of interest rates you can get:

  • Fixed rate mortgage: this is the most common type and where the interest rate is fixed for a set number of years at the start of the mortgage (normally 2 or 5 years).
  • Standard variable rate mortgage (SVR): this is a lender's default rate that you’ll be on if your fixed rate deal ends and you don't get a new deal. It's normally a lot more expensive and it can fluctuate up and down, normally depending on the Bank of England base rate.
Fixed-rate compared to a standard variable rate (SVR)
  • Discount variable rate mortgage: this is a discount on a lender’s standard variable rate, so a lower amount, it’s often a percentage discount, for example 1% below the standard rate.
Discount variable mortgage
  • Tracker rate mortgage: this tracks another interest rate with a bit extra on top, for instance the Bank of England base rate plus 1%.
Tracker mortgage

Pretty confusing isn’t it? Don’t worry, you’ll often just get a regular repayment mortgage, but it’s worth going through all of your options with a mortgage broker as you might benefit from a different type in certain situations.

Should I speak to my bank or building society?

We recommend that you don’t speak to your bank or building society about getting a mortgage. They can only offer the mortgages that they have, so very few. You need to compare all the mortgages available out there to find the right one for you, and that's over 20,000! It’s unlikely your current bank will have the best mortgage for you, and the difference can be £1,000s in savings every year.

We recommend using a mortgage broker to do this, and better yet, your bank or building society’s mortgages will show up when your broker searches, so there really is no need to speak to them.

4. Speak with a mortgage broker

If you haven’t already, now’s the time to speak to a mortgage broker (also called a mortgage advisor). We call these the superheroes of mortgages – and using a good one can save you a lot of time, stress and money. 

They’ll simply handle the whole mortgage for you, compare mortgage rates, even all the application paperwork, and you’ll be guaranteed to find the best deal out there for you.

Mortgage broker

They’re not just perfect for first time buyers, but everyone looking for a new mortgage. That’s remortgagers and next home buyers too!

There’s only one golden rule – as that is you must use a mortgage broker that’s ‘whole-of-market’. That means they have the ability to search every mortgage deal out there to find the best deal for you (sometimes called searching the whole mortgage market).

Whole-of-market mortgage broker

If they don’t search the whole mortgage market, you can’t be sure you’re getting the best deal and could end up paying £100s more per month on your mortgage when you don’t need to.

They’ll also give you general mortgage advice, and make sure your finances are in the best shape to successfully get the mortgage. 

On top of that, they know the in-and-outs of all of the different mortgage lenders, and will know which lenders are right for you – ones with the highest chance of approving you for your mortgage.

Using a mortgage broker is really a no-brainer, and there’s a lot out there – but they’re not all great. Lucky for you, we’ve done the research to find the best ones, and here they are:

Best mortgage brokers

Trophy icon
Best overall

eToro

eToro is one of the most popular places to buy assets like crypto (including ethereum), stocks and shares, and more.

Their website and app is easy to use.

Plus it’s easy to view your performance, buy or trade other cryptocurrencies and sell if you decide to.

Rating

eToro rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best overall

eToro

eToro is great. It's an easy to use, low cost, trading platform, with a huge range of investment options. It's crazy popular, with a huge community you can get involved in, learn from and copy their trades!

It’s also got the largest range of assets to trade, including stocks, ETFs, crypto, CFDs, currencies and commodities (such as gold).

Highly recommended for beginners to get started, and there's great features for more experienced traders too (such as margin trading).

Rating

eToro rated 5 stars

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Trophy icon
Best overall

eToro

eToro is great. It's an easy to use, low cost, trading platform, with a huge range of investment options. It's crazy popular, with a huge community you can get involved in, learn from and copy their trades!

It’s also got the largest range of assets to trade, including stocks, ETFs, crypto, CFDs, currencies and commodities (such as gold).

Highly recommended for beginners to get started, and there's great features for more experienced traders too (such as margin trading).

Rating

eToro rated 5 stars

76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Trophy icon
Best overall

eToro

eToro is one of the most popular places to buy assets like crypto (including bitcoin), stocks and shares, and more.

Their website and app is easy to use.

Plus, it’s easy to view your performance, buy/sell and trade other cryptocurrencies.

Rating

eToro rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Beginners

eToro

eToro is one of the best investment platforms out there - and is by far the most popular, with over 30 million customers.

Why? eToro is very low cost (commission-free stocks), easy to use, and has lots of awesome trading features. There's also a community of other traders to learn from and even copy.

It’s also got the largest range of assets to trade and invest in – including stocks, ETFs, crypto, CFDs, currencies and commodities (such as gold).

Rating

eToro rated 5 stars

eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Trophy icon
Low cost

XTB

XTB offers commission-free investing (up to $100,000 per month, and 0.2% after that). The platform is great, and easy to use, there's a wide range of investment options (over 3,000 stocks and 300 ETFs), and the customer service is excellent.

There's a low minimum investment of just £10 too.

It's also one of the best options for trading CFDs – with high leverage margin trading (borrowed money) and the ability to trade both price directions (so shorting too).

You'll also get up to 4.9% interest on cash in your account (GBP).

Rating

XTB rated 5 stars

Capital at risk.

Trophy icon
Trading experience

XTB

XTB is an awesome trading platform. The trading software (xStation 5) is one of the best out there – it's super easy to use, and has all the trading features you need – with a great charting system. And trading speeds are fast. Mobile trading is great too.

It's one of the largest in the world, and the go-to place for foreign exchange and CFD trading. With high leverage margin trading (borrowed money) and the ability to trade both price directions (so shorting too).

You'll also get up to 4.9% interest on cash in your account (GBP).

Rating

XTB rated 5 stars

XTB is authorised & regulated by the FCA (#522157). 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with XTB Limited. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Trophy icon
Prepaid

Wise

Wise is one of the best travel cards out there. It's super popular, with over 16 million customers around the world.

It's got some of the lowest fees you'll find, and it's available in over 40 currencies and 150+ countries.

The card is contactless, and there's a great phone app (and website) to manage everything too.

Rating

Wise rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Easy to use

Wise

Wise offers a great interest rate, currently 4.82%.

Wise is a very popular money transfer and currency exchange platform, but you can just use it to save your cash.

Instead of a bank giving you interest, Wise has partnered with a large investment firm (BlackRock) so you can earn money on your cash – they use safe government loans that pay interest.

It’s free to open an account, although you’ll pay 0.29% in fees on your saved cash.

The app (and website) is super easy to use too.

Rating

Wise rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Multiple currencies

Wise

Wise business is the best option for multiple currencies. Send and receive money in over 40 different currencies, including Euros and US Dollars, all for a low cost (it’s the cheapest option).

You can even store multiple currencies in one account, meaning you don't have to keep swapping currencies and paying exchange fees.

Another great feature, is being able to save and invest your business money, so instead of your money sitting in your account doing nothing, you can invest it to grow more over time (with the help of experts) – adding a whole new revenue stream to your business – and still allowing you to spend it whenever you need to.

Rating

Wise rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best for beginners

Wealthyhood

Wealthyhood helps you to build an investment strategy and portfolio to grow your money over the long term. It guides you through building and managing investments similar to how the professionals do. It’s perfect for pretty much anyone who isn’t yet an expert.

It’s commission-free and you can get started from just £10.

Rating

Wealthyhood rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Start with £1

Wealthify

Wealthify makes investing simple. You pick from a few simple options and the experts take care of the rest.

It's perfect for beginners and you can get started from just £1.

The fees are reasonable, however the socially responsible option is on the higher side.

Rating

Wealthify rated 4 stars

Capital at risk. Tax rules on savings could change in future.

Trophy icon
Contents insurance

Urban Jungle

Designed for renters – monthly rolling contracts, covers the whole house (including landlords furniture), up to £40,000 worth of stuff, and best of all protects 6 unrelated people, inside and outside the home. Starts at £5 per month too.

We've bagged you a great deal too – get £20 off when you sign up with Nuts About Money.

Rating

Trophy icon
Recommended

Urban Jungle

The perfect contents insurance – monthly rolling contracts, covers the whole house (including landlords furniture), up to £40,000 worth of stuff, and best of all protects 6 unrelated people, inside and outside the home. Starts at £5 per month too.

We've bagged you a great deal too – get £20 off when you sign up with Nuts About Money.

Rating

Trophy icon
Easy

Uphold

Uphold is super easy to buy and store crypto. It's one of the easiest places out there, and the mobile app is great.

It's very popular in the UK, Europe, USA and across the world, with over 10 million customers. And, it’s also one of the safest platforms out there.

The range of coins is good (over 250), and you can store local currencies too (e.g. Pounds, Euros, Dollars).

You can also open a business account (if you have a company).

Rating

Uphold rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Local advice

Unbiased

Unbiased is a great online service to help you find expert financial advisors who can help with your pension.

It’s very popular, with over 10 million customers, and pretty much the go-to-place to find pension advisors local to you.

All advisors are fully vetted, qualified and have years of experience.

You’ll be able to chat on the phone, video call, or visit in person (depending on the advisor).

It’s free to use the service, you’ll pay the advisor directly if you choose to use them (fees vary per advisor and service you’d like).

Rating

Unbiased rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Expert help

Unbiased

Unbiased help you find the right mortgage broker for you from your local area. Their advisors are all rated 5*, fully qualified and search the whole-market (every mortgage deal).

Rating

Unbiased rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Expert help

Unbiased

Unbiased is a great online service to help you find expert financial advisors, mortgage brokers, insurance brokers and accountants in your local area.

It’s very popular, and pretty much the go-to-place to find financial advisors local to you.

All advisors are fully vetted, qualified and have years of experience.

You’ll be able to chat on the phone, video call, or visit in person (depending on the advisor).

It’s free to use the service, you’ll pay the advisor directly if you choose to use them (fees vary per advisor and service you’d like).

Rating

Unbiased rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best ISA

Trading 212

Trading 212 is a platform built for everyone in mind – there's over 2,000,000 customers! It’s great for beginners to get started, and perfect for experienced traders looking for more advanced trading options, such as CFDs, meaning you can trade with leverage (borrowed money), and trade the price going down (go short). There's all the trading tools you’ll need too, such as stop-loss and limit orders.

It’s one of the cheapest platforms out there, completely commission free, and the lowest fees when buying foreign stocks (currency conversion fee).

Rating

Trading 212 rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best ISA

Trading 212

Trading 212 is a platform built for everyone in mind – there's over 2,000,000 customers! It’s great for beginners to get started, and perfect for experienced investors too with a huge range of investment options.

It’s also the cheapest platform out there, completely commission free, and the lowest fees when buying foreign stocks.

Rating

Trading 212 rated 5 stars

Not investment advice. Investments can rise and fall, and your capital is at risk.

Trophy icon
Pay as you go

Tide Bank

Tide is a popular bank account in the UK, with over 500,000 customers. 

It’s a bit more basic than the other business bank accounts, but you can start with a free account and pay fees as you use it (e.g. payment per transaction).

The app itself is easy to use and has useful tools to create invoices and manage expenses.

Rating

Tide Bank rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best Cash Junior ISA

Tesco Bank

Tesco Bank has one of the best Cash Junior ISAs around, currently offering 2.25% per year. Although the rate can sometimes change both up and down – it’s a variable rate. It’s a simple account, which you can manage online or over the phone. What’s not to love!

Rating

Trophy icon
Increase borrowing

Tembo

Tembo are perfect for those trying to increase how much they can borrow. They find the best mortgage for you, and have unique options to increase your borrowing such as an income boost¹ and deposit boost¹.

They'll handle the whole mortgage for you too, and the service is great.

Rating

Tembo rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Award-winning

Tembo

Tembo is an all-round amazing mortgage broker, in fact, they're award-winning, and not just online.

They can help with pretty much every mortgage out there, from buying a home to switching deals, and on top of that, have unique options to increase your borrowing such as an Income Boost¹ and Deposit Boost¹.

They'll handle the whole mortgage for you too, and the service is great.

Rating

Tembo rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Top funds

TILLIT

TILLIT is more than just an investment platform – they carry out in-depth research on funds (including interviews with fund managers), to ensure that every investment they offer is one of the best options of its type (e.g. ethical funds) – they only list funds that meet their strict criteria.

Rating

TILLIT rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Free to open

Starling Bank

Starling is a popular option for lots of businesses. It’s a modern version of a traditional bank account – e.g. there’s a great app to use, and it links with accounting software.

It’s free to open an account and free to make payments, however for almost every other feature, such as creating invoices, you’ll need to open a paid plan (starting from £7 per month).

Rating

Starling Bank rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Best spending insights

Snoop

Snoop isn't a savings or investment app. It tracks your spending and helps to reduce your bills. You can use this in addition to the others.

You connect all your bank accounts and it will work out how to reduce your bills, along with exclusive deals on things like broadband and insurance.

It's free too. Worth checking out.

Rating

Snoop rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Easy to use

Shares

Shares is a great app for investing – it's a super slick app, easy to use with transparent fees and has a pretty good range of investments (stocks). 

You can follow other investors, see their portfolio (investments), and their activity (when they buy and sell). 

Users can even create posts you can interact with - it's like social media for investing. All pretty cool. 

There's no account fees, and a simple £1 fee per investment. 

However, there's currently no Stocks and Shares ISA, or personal pension.

Rating

Shares rated 4 stars

T&Cs and other fees apply. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Trophy icon
Commission-free funds

Saxo

Saxo is super popular, with over 1,00,000 customers around the world. It’s an investment platform built for regular trading (although you can simply buy and hold investments).

And in the UK, you can invest within an ISA and a pension (SIPP).

There's a huge range of investment options overall, including investment funds, stocks and shares, and ETFs.

The fees are low overall, and investment funds are commission-free!

Rating

Saxo Bank rated 4 stars

Capital at risk.

Trophy icon
Best overall

Revolut

Revolut is a modern business account designed to suit modern day businesses – unlike traditional banks that run on slow and outdated systems and processes.

Revolut have thought of everything, and the app is packed out with many helpful tools and features to help grow your business. And easy to use.

It’s pretty much perfect for every size of business, from a freelancer to large enterprises.

Rating

Revolut rated 5 stars

Trophy icon

Revolut

Revolut is everything money related in a pack-out app.

It's great for travel. With a Revolut account (and card), you spend abroad and benefit from low fees – and hold and spend multiple currencies at once.

With a paid plan, you'll also get access to airport lounges (at a discount), and there's cashback on future hotel bookings.

Overall, the app itself is great. You can save, invest, transfer money (worldwide), and more. There's even a business account.

Rating

Revolut rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best overall

Plus500

Plus500 is one of the top trading platforms in the world. It’s well established, secure, and super popular – there's over 24 million users across the world.

The platform is user friendly, packed with trading tools, and some great, unique features such as +Insights – where you get information (insights) based on other traders on the platform, such as what investments are trending, and which are most bought and sold etc – it's all very cool, and super useful.

It’s low cost too (commission-free), and the customer service is excellent. It's the go-to trading platform for most traders.

Rating

Plus500 rated 5 stars

Plus500UK Ltd authorised & regulated by the FCA (#509909). Note: 81% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Trophy icon
Trade stocks

Plum

Plum works out how much spare cash you can afford to save and then saves and invests it little-and-often.

It's a bit more than a budgeting app – you can buy individual company shares rather than just investment funds (only recommended if you know what you're doing).

You can also invest into a pension.

Rating

Plum rated 4 stars

Capital at risk when you invest.

Trophy icon
Best overall

PensionBee

PensionBee are our top recommended pension provider. It's super easy to set up and use, and all works on an app on your phone (or their website). There's simple, easy to understand pension plan options – all with a great track record of growing money over time.

The customer support is excellent, and you'll get a dedicated advisor to offer a helping hand whenever you need.

It's very low cost too, with one simple fee that decreases as you save more.

You can start a brand new pension, and transfer your old pensions across if you want to.

You can also start a pension if you're self-employed or a company director.

They even offer simple pension drawdown options (withdrawing your pension).

There's not much else you'd want from a pension! It's pretty incredible, and highly recommended.

Rating

PensionBee rated 5 stars

Capital at risk.

Trophy icon
Simple and easy

Penfold

Originally built for the self-employed – for you! Penfold is a great app to get you going, with simple pension fund options to choose from and awesome features on the app to view your money at any time. Plus simple tables and charts to work out how much you should be investing to hit your retirement goals.

You don’t need an existing pension to use it, but if you do have one, or a few, you can move those overs too.

Fees: low (0.75% or 0.88%)

Rating

Penfold rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Simple and easy

Penfold

Penfold is a great app to get you going, with simple pension fund options to choose from and awesome features on the app to view your money at any time. Plus simple tables and charts to work out how much you should be investing to hit your retirement goals.

You don’t need an existing pension to use it, but if you do have one, or a few, you can move those overs too.

Fees: low (0.75% or 0.88%)

Rating

Penfold rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Cheapest

OKX

One of the cheapest crypto exchanges out there and an awesome exchange overall. One of our favourites.

It's super easy to get started and buy bitcoin and a huge range of cryptocurrencies.

Popularity: extremely popular
Mobile app: Yes (Apple and Android)
Bitcoin wallet: yes
Cost: low
Minimum deposit: £10

Rating

OKX rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Cheapest

OKX

One of the cheapest crypto exchanges out there and an awesome exchange overall. One of our favourites.

It's super easy to get started and buy bitcoin and a huge range of cryptocurrencies.

Popularity: extremely popular
Mobile app: Yes (Apple and Android)
Crypto wallet: yes
Cost: low
Minimum deposit: £10

Rating

OKX rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Low fees

OKX

One of the cheapest crypto exchanges out there, great trading volume, and advanced trading features and tools. Plus, a great NFT marketplace and wallet! What more could you want?! It’s an awesome exchange. 5 stars from us.

Rating

OKX rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best Stocks & Shares Junior ISA

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is a good digital wealth manager – their experts will handle everything for you. However, the investment track record isn’t the best, and they’re one of the most expensive. Plus, they’re the furthest you’ll get from socially responsible investing. There’s better options out there.

Rating

Nutmeg rated 3 stars

Trophy icon

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is a good digital wealth manager – their experts will handle everything for you. However, the investment track record isn’t the best, and they’re one of the most expensive. Plus, they’re the furthest you’ll get from socially responsible investing. There’s better options out there.

Rating

Nutmeg rated 3 stars

Trophy icon
Lifetime ISA

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is a good digital wealth manager – their experts will handle everything for you. However, the investment track record isn’t the best, and they’re one of the most expensive. Plus, they’re the furthest you’ll get from socially responsible investing. There’s better options out there.

Rating

Nutmeg rated 3 stars

There's currently a deal for our readers: get your first 6 months with Nutmeg fee-free!

Trophy icon
Expert advice

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is a good digital wealth manager – their experts will handle everything for you. However, the investment track record isn’t the best, and they’re one of the most expensive. Plus, they’re the furthest you’ll get from socially responsible investing. There’s better options out there.

Rating

Nutmeg rated 3 stars

Trophy icon
Best Lifetime ISA

Nude

Nude makes saving for your first home easy, with a great Lifetime ISA.

You'll get the 25% bonus from the government on everything you add in, but you can also earn interest on your cash too – and the interest rate is one of the best out there.

On top of that, every month one lucky customer wins £1,000!

The app itself has got great features to help you save more and work out much you'll need, and there's lots of help and support to learn about buying your first home.

You can also link an account with your partner's, so you can track your savings together. Pretty cool.

If you're looking for a Lifetime ISA, you can't go wrong.

Rating

Nude rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Free to open

Monzo

Monzo is becoming a popular bank in the UK, it’s a modern business bank account with an app that's easy to use.

You can open a free account where you can send and receive money for free, but for almost all of the other features, such as invoicing, and integrating (linking) with accounting software, you’ll need a paid plan (£5 per month).

Rating

Monzo rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Expert advice

Moneyfarm

Moneyfarm is one of the best options out there for saving and investing. It's super easy to use – the experts simply take care of everything. And, they're on hand to help you with guidance and any questions too.

They have one of the top performing investment records, and great socially responsible investing options.

The fees are low, and reduce as you save more.

Plus, the customer service is outstanding.

Overall, a fantastic option to save and invest.

Rating

Moneyfarm rated 5 stars

T&Cs apply.

Trophy icon
Best ethical ISA

Moneyfarm

Moneyfarm are leading the way with ethical investing. Their ‘socially responsible’ plan focuses on not just investments with high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, but some of the most forward-thinking and impactful companies in the world.

All the investments are 100% compliant with the United Nations Global Compact, and 100% compliant with labour laws.

The investments are managed by experts, with one of the best track records for making money over time. In fact, returning 5% more than a non-ethical investment option in recent years.

It's low cost and with awesome customer service. Best of all, you'll get a financial advisor to chat to whenever you like, all included.

Accounts offered:

  • Stocks & Shares ISA
  • Junior ISA
  • Pension
  • General investment

Rating

Moneyfarm rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best overall

Moneyfarm

Moneyfarm is one of the best options out there for saving and investing. It's super easy to use – the experts simply take care of everything. And, they're on hand to help you with guidance and any questions too.

They have one of the top performing investment records, and great socially responsible investing options.

The fees are low, and reduce as you save more.

Plus, the customer service is outstanding.

Overall, a fantastic option to save and invest.

Rating

Moneyfarm rated 5 stars

T&Cs apply.

Trophy icon

Moneybox

Moneybox is super popular, with over 1,000,000 customers! It offers the full range of savings and investing accounts, including a Stocks & Shares Junior ISA.

The mobile app is great and easy to use, with a range of investment options to choose from, which includes investment funds and individual shares (e.g. Apple and Amazon).

It’s low cost overall (free to save cash), and the customer service is excellent.

Rating

Moneybox rated 5 stars

Trophy icon

Moneybox

Saving for your first home? Moneybox could be for you.

Moneybox is the go-to place for Lifetime ISAs – it’s easy to use, and you’ll be able to manage everything on a great mobile app.

You can either pick from saving cash (Cash Lifetime ISA), and benefit from a great savings rate. And there’s no fee for saving cash.

Rating

Moneybox rated 5 stars

Trophy icon

Moneybox

Moneybox has one of the best Cash ISAs out there.

Their savings rate is a whopping 5.09% per year (for the first 12 months), and with no fees. You’ll need to add £500 to get  this rate. (AER variable.)

There’s no fees either!

Rating

Moneybox rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Top rate

Moneybox

Heads up: currently Moneybox has one of the best savings rates you'll find - over 5%!

Moneybox is super popular, with over 1,000,000 customers. It offers the full range of savings and investing accounts, from saving cash (at a great savings rate), to saving for retirement with a pension.

The mobile app is great and easy to use, with a range of investment options to choose from, which includes investment funds and individual shares (e.g. Apple and Amazon). 

It’s low cost overall (free to save cash), and the customer service is excellent.

Rating

Moneybox rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Quick quote

MoneySuperMarket

MoneySuperMarket compares 35 travel insurance companies to find a great deal for you.

They'll cover all the main types of insurance (e.g. pre-existing medical conditions, winter sports etc.)

Rating

Trophy icon
Quick quote

MoneySuperMarket

Searches 25 of the biggest providers and takes less than 5mins. Includes multi-pet cover up to 7 pets.

Rating

Trophy icon
Accurate quotes

MoneySuperMarket

Searches over 13 of the leading providers. Quotes show guaranteed prices.

Rating

Trophy icon
Worth checking

MoneySuperMarket

They search less ISA providers, but can sometimes have different deals. So it’s worth checking them too.

Rating

Trophy icon
Quick quote

MoneySuperMarket

Searches 55 of the biggest providers and takes less than 5 minutes.

Rating

Trophy icon
Quick quote

MoneySuperMarket

Searches 55 of the biggest providers and takes less than 5mins.

Rating

Trophy icon
Quick quote

MoneySuperMarket

Has access to a lot of insurance deals, so check this too.

Rating

Trophy icon
Fastest to get quote

MoneySuperMarket

Searches 55 of the biggest providers and takes less than 5mins.

Rating

Trophy icon

Mojo Mortgages

Mojo Mortgages previously used to be online, but it's mostly based over the phone now. However, they will get you a mortgage for free.

The customer service is very poor, and very slow. It's not suited for complicated customers (e.g. first time buyers). There’s better alternatives.

Rating

Mojo Mortgages rated 2 stars

Trophy icon
Best app experience

Lightyear

Lightyear is a great, low cost investing and stock trading platform. There’s a good range of investment options (over 3,000 stocks and ETFs), you can store multiple currencies, and the app itself is modern and super slick.

ETFs are completely free, and stocks are £1/$1/€1 per order.

There's also very low currency conversion fees of 0.35%, or you can hold the currency itself, and avoid this fee.

Rating

Lightyear rated 4 stars

T&Cs Apply. Capital at risk.

Trophy icon
Great bank

Kroo

Kroo offers one of the top rates of interest - currently a great 4.35%.

It’s a bit different, it’s technically a current account (a regular bank account), rather than just a savings account, and you simply earn interest on all your cash within your account.

So, your cash is instantly accessible, and you can spend it whenever you like too. You’ll get a debit card to spend, and the app is a great option to manage your money overall, including lots of budgeting features.

Kroo will also plant 2 trees if you sign up too.

Rating

Kroo rated 4 stars

Savings rate: 4.35% AER (variable)

Trophy icon
Low cost

Kraken

Kraken is one of the best crypto exchanges because they combine low cost with a strong focus on safety and security, making it super trustworthy and reliable, and cheap.

It’s easy to use too, thanks to its simple design – you’ll be buying ethereum in no time.

Popularity: popular
Mobile app:
Yes (Apple and Android)
Crypto wallet: no
Cost: cheap
Minimum deposit: £0

Rating

Kraken rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Great

Kraken

Kraken is another one of our favourite exchanges. They combine low cost with a strong focus on safety and security, making it super trustworthy and reliable, and cheap.

It’s super easy to use too, thanks to its simple design – you’ll be buying bitcoin in no time.

Popularity: popular
Mobile app:
Yes (Apple and Android)
Bitcoin wallet:
no
Cost:
cheap
Minimum deposit: £0

Rating

Kraken rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Low cost

InvestEngine

InvestEngine is great for investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). That’s all they do – and they're very good at it.

It's so low cost, it's commission-free, and just 0.15% for the pension account, capped at £200 per year – making it one of the cheapest SIPPs out there (especially if you're just getting started building your pension).

And, for the experts to manage your investments, it's only 0.25% per year.

There's a great range of ETFs (over 550), and the app is pretty great too.

Rating

InvestEngine rated 5 stars

Capital at risk. T&Cs apply.

Trophy icon
Cheapest

InvestEngine

InvestEngine offers a very low cost way to manage your savings - and their experts handle everything. It's just 0.25% per year (account fee).

The track record is great, and you can manage everything on your mobile (if you want to).

There's a low minimum investment of £100, and you'll be able to save and invest within a tax-free Stocks & Shares ISA too, so your money can grow faster.

You can also make your own investments alongside, and all for free (ETFs only).

Rating

InvestEngine rated 5 stars

Capital at risk. (T&Cs apply.)

Trophy icon
Cheapest (ETFs only)

InvestEngine

InvestEngine is great for investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). That’s all they do – and they're very good at it.

It's so low cost, there's in fact no InvestEngine fees at all (to make your own investments).

And for the experts to manage your investments, it's only 0.25% per year.

There's a great range of ETFs (over 550), and the app is pretty great too.

Rating

InvestEngine rated 5 stars

Capital at risk. (T&Cs apply.)

Trophy icon
Cheapest

Interactive Investor

Interactive Investor is a well established company, and very popular.

Instead of paying a percentage of the investments in your account (like other investment companies), you’ll instead pay a fixed fee per month – and it’s pretty low, starting at just £5.99 per month for a pension (SIPP).

This makes it one of the cheapest SIPP providers out there, especially if you have a fairly sizeable amount within your pension (e.g. over £30,000).

On top of that, there’s huge range of investment options (e.g. shares and funds) – one of the largest.

It's easy to use, and the website and app are great. The customer service is excellent too.

A great choice overall.

Rating

Interactive Investor rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Large investments

Interactive Investor

Interactive Investor is a great trading platform. The range of investments is huge and the platform is super easy to use.

It's a bit different to others out there too, you'll pay a flat fee per month (£4.99) for your account, rather than a percentage of your investments – which makes it one of the cheapest out there if you have a larger portfolio (£30,000+).

A great option for the more experienced investors who will be able to save a fair bit of cash in fees.

Rating

Interactive Investor rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Large investments

Interactive Investor

Interactive Investor is a popular investment platform with a flat fee, making it a cheap option if you have over £30,000 of investments. There’s a huge range to choose from, their website and apps are great and their customer service is excellent.

Rating

Interactive Investor rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Spread betting

IG

IG is a serious trading platform, and very well established. They literally invented spread betting.

If you’re looking for one of the best platforms in the UK to trade you’ve found it. The investment options are huge and the costs are reasonable. Customer service is great too.

You can get started with a demo account, and there's lots of advanced features for experienced traders – including margin trading.

Rating

IG rated 5 stars

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Trophy icon
Well established

IG

IG is a serious trading platform, and very well established. They literally invented spread betting. If you’re looking for one of the best platforms in the UK to trade you’ve found it. The investment options are huge and the costs are reasonable.

Rating

IG rated 5 stars

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Trophy icon
Solid reputation

Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown is a more traditional trading platform, with a long established history.

The range of investment options is good, and you can still trade on their website and phone app, or make trades with a phone call, the choice is yours.

However, it’s very expensive compared to the newer commission free platforms, and so not a good choice for smaller trading accounts or frequent trading.

Rating

Hargreaves Lansdown rated 2 stars

Trophy icon
Solid reputation

Hargreaves Lansdown

If you want a more traditional approach, with a long established history then Hargreaves Lansdown could be for you. It’s a great broker with a huge range of investment options, including expert-managed choices. However, it’s more expensive than other options.

Rating

Hargreaves Lansdown rated 2 stars

Trophy icon
Free

Habito

Habito will find the best mortgage for you, all for free, and with great service. But better than that, if you’re buying a home, they’ll handle the whole process for you – that’s the legal work and survey, and everything else. It’s a huge stress and time saver, and comes at a great price.

Rating

Habito rated 5 stars

Trophy icon

GoCompare

Searches 20 providers and includes multi-pet cover up to 6 pets.

Rating

Trophy icon

GoCompare

Searches the top insurers – and get free Bupa Healthy Minds and Wellbeing cover.

Rating

Trophy icon

GoCompare

Searches 37 different companies – worth a quick check to find providers other sites may not work with.

Rating

Trophy icon

GoCompare

If you have time, search GoCompare as you might get lucky with a good deal.

Rating

Trophy icon

GoCompare

Searches 37 different companies – worth a quick check to find providers other sites may not work with.

Rating

Trophy icon
Recommended

Getsafe

It’s contents insurance, buildings insurance, or both, called home insurance, made to suit you. It’s super low cost – you start with basic cover and just add what you need. As simple as that. It’s easy to set up, all from your phone or their website. You can’t go wrong. Get a quick quote on their website too.

Rating

Getsafe rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best for security

Gemini

Gemini is a long established crypto exchange that prides itself on safety and security for its customers. They make it a top priority to comply with local laws and regulations across the world.

It’s easy to use, perfect for beginners, and a great place to buy your first ethereum.

Popularity: average
Mobile app:
Yes (Apple and Android)
Crypto wallet: yes
Cost: expensive

Rating

Gemini rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Best for security

Gemini

Gemini is a long established crypto exchange that prides itself on safety and security for its customers. They make it a top priority to comply with local laws and regulations across the world.

It’s easy to use, perfect for beginners, and a great place to buy your first bit of bitcoin.

Popularity: average
Mobile app:
Yes (Apple and Android)
Bitcoin wallet:
yes
Cost:
expensive
Minimum deposit: £0

Rating

Gemini rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Best for security

Gemini

Gemini is great for beginners, it’s simple to use, easy to buy and sell crypto, and they have a website and mobile app (Apple and Android). They also provide lots of educational resources for beginners to learn.

Gemini have been around in the US for years and now accept UK customers. They also pride themselves on being super secure and have the highest security and legal compliance standards in the industry.

Exchange experience: great
Device options:
website & phone app
Range of coins:
average
Fees:
high

Rating

Gemini rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Best app

Freetrade

Freetrade is taking the UK by storm and fast becoming one of the top places to buy and sell (trade) stocks and shares for free, thanks to it’s simple to use trading app, perfect for beginners and pros.

It’s free to use, but to get more advanced trading features, such as stop-loss and limit orders, you’ll have to upgrade to a ‘plus’ account (£9.99 per month), and you’ll get the full range of stocks too. It’s worth it. (You can offset the cost with interest on your cash balance).

Rating

Freetrade rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Simple app

Freetrade

Freetrade are taking the UK by storm and fast becoming one of the top places to buy and sell (trade) stocks and shares for free. The range of investment options is huge, including US and European stocks. An ISA costs just £3 per month and you can manage everything from an app on your phone.

Rating

Freetrade rated 5 stars

Get a free share worth up to £10 when you sign up with Nuts About Money.

Trophy icon
Education

Finimize

Move over financial advisors, Finimize is in town. Easy to understand news, expert analysis and guides on finance, business and investing all in one app, updated daily. All for just a small monthly fee. It’s hugely popular and a must-have for every investor.

Rating

Finimize rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Very low cost

Fineco

Fineco is a very low cost investment platform. It’s suited for both long-term investors (with a tax-free ISA), and regular traders, with a great trading platform and advanced features. There’s a wide range of investments and you can trade in multiple currencies (saving on currency conversion fees). Highly recommended.

Rating

FinecoBank rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Award winning

Fineco

Fineco is great for investing and trading, and has their own award-winning and fully customisable trading platform called PowerDesk.

You can customise it to suit your own trading style, and it's super easy to use and adapt to you. And, it's got all the advanced trading features you'll want.

Special offer: get £500 in free trading commission.

Rating

Fineco rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Traditional broker

Find a traditional mortgage advisor

Use our free service to find the right mortgage advisor for you. You can be sure they’ll find the best deal for you, and service is tailored to you, either over the phone or via email.

Rating

Rated 5 stars

Trophy icon

Dodl

Dodl is a great investment app by the well established investment platform AJ Bell.

It’s easy to use, low cost and has a good range of investment options, including easy to understand investments where the experts do the hard work for you (called investment funds).

It’s perfect for those new to investing, and offers an ISA, Lifetime ISA, and a pension and a general investment account.

Rating

Dodl rated 4 stars

Trophy icon

Direct Bullion

Direct Bullion allows you to buy real gold, directly, and it's all online (and then delivered).

You can buy gold coins and bullion bars (and even silver) – in a wide range of different sizes (and costs), suited for all budgets.

The service is excellent, and their experts can advise either on live-chat, or over the phone.

The delivery is fast, and fully insured.

(They’ll match the price if you see if it's cheaper elsewhere too.)

And, you can even buy gold through a pension (learn more about that on the Direct Bullion website¹).

Rating

Direct Bullion rated 4 stars

Trophy icon
Low cost

DEGIRO

DEGIRO is an all-round great investing and trading platform. It’s super low cost, and has a huge range of investment options (and we mean huge!), suited for beginners, all the way to expert investors.

It’s super popular across the UK and Europe too, with over 2 million customers.

Rating

DEGIRO rated 4 stars

Investing involves risk of loss.

Trophy icon
Best overall

Currensea

With Currensea, you can get a travel card that connects directly to your bank account – it acts just the same as your bank card, and transactions come directly out of your bank account.

The only difference, is you won't have to pay hefty bank fees, saving anywhere from 85% to 100% of the cost.

It's a great alternative to a prepaid travel card if you want something a bit simpler.

Rating

Currensea rated 5 stars

Trophy icon
Best overall

Confused.com

This normally has the cheapest travel insurance quote for most people.

Confused.com will compare up to 40 travel insurance companies (and all the largest companies).

They'll cover all the main types of insurance (e.g. pre-existing medical conditions, winter sports etc).

You can get a quote in just a few minutes too.

Rating

Trophy icon
Best overall

Confused.com

Get a quote for pet insurance in around 3 minutes. Includes multi-pet cover up to 7 pets.

Rating

Trophy icon
Best overall

Confused.com

Searches most of the leading insurers. Get a quote in just 3 minutes.

Rating

Trophy icon
Best overall

Confused.com

Searches a wide range of providers (up to 66), only takes a few minutes and you could save up to £181.

Rating

Trophy icon
Best overall

Confused.com

Searches 65 different providers and get a freebie voucher if you buy.

Rating

5. Check direct-only deals (optional)

Although good mortgage brokers will check the whole market for the best deal for you, some mortgage lenders don’t actually share their mortgage rates with most mortgage brokers (although there’s only a couple), and so to get a full view of what deals are out there for you, you could look at these mortgage lenders too – and these are called direct-only deals (as you have to apply direct to the lender).

There’s 2 big direct lenders, which are First Direct, and Yorkshire Bank.

There is one mortgage broker who checks these for you too, and that’s Habito¹ – one of the many reasons we love them so much (they’re also fee free).

6. Mortgage agreement in principle

Buying a home

Once, you’ve worked out how much you can borrow and are all set up with a mortgage broker who’s found you a great mortgage deal – now’s the time to make things real with a mortgage agreement in principle.

A mortgage agreement in principle (or simply a mortgage in principle), is an offer from a mortgage lender saying they’re happy to give you a mortgage. Whoop!

Mortgage agreement in principle

The ‘in principle’ bit means that providing nothing changes, such as changing your job, or your bills suddenly increase a lot, or you take out any debt (such as buying a new car), they’ll give you the mortgage. So, don’t do anything until you’ve got the property!

They normally last between 3 to 6 months, after that you’ll have to reapply. But don't worry if this happens, your mortgage broker has all your details, so it won't take long.

The mortgage agreement will show the interest rate they’re happy to give you, the monthly repayments, overall cost, and everything else you need to know about your mortgage. If you have any questions your mortgage broker will be able to help.

And now the exciting bit, you can now officially make an offer on your dream home! Good luck!

Note: if you’re house hunting early on, some estate agents will ask for a mortgage in principle before they show you properties. You can either get a mortgage agreement in principle from a mortgage lender, or if you’re early on in your search, you can get a quick and easy one online with Habito’s mortgage in principle¹ tool (it’s just not from a mortgage lender).

Habito mortgage in principle

Remortgaging

If you’re switching deals, you can simply progress onto a ‘full mortgage application’, this is where you apply for the actual mortgage. Just let your mortgage broker know you’re happy with the mortgage deal and they’ll apply and arrange it all for you.

7. Apply for your mortgage

Buying a home

Made your offer on your dream home and it’s been accepted? Congratulations!

Now’s the time to get the ball moving and apply for the mortgage.

This bit is super easy too – again you don’t need to do anything, simply let your mortgage advisor know you’ve had your offer accepted and you’re ready to apply! They’ll handle everything for you, and chase the lender if things start to slow down.

This bit can take a while, and it’s normally up to the mortgage lender how long it takes – they’ll want to do some checks and make sure the property is valued at the right price for the mortgage.

If speed is an issue for you, mention that to your mortgage advisor early on, they’ll know which lenders are the fastest.

Remortgaging

If you haven’t yet told your mortgage broker you’re happy with the mortgage deal they’ve found you, now’s the time. They’ll take care of the application for you.

Normally a remortgage is pretty quick, and you could have the new deal all sorted within a few days. Although it all depends on the mortgage lender.

One more step: conveyancing

If you’re remortgaging, the mortgage lender will normally handle the legal side of things too, you won’t need to find your own solicitor. Which is great news, as you won’t have to worry about any extra fees. Here’s the full remortgage cost to learn more.

If you’re buying a home, once you’ve found your dream home and had your offer accepted, in order for you to buy the property, there’s some legal work that needs to be done, and this is called conveyancing.

It’s handled by a conveyancer (a property solicitor), or a general solicitor. A good one will take care of everything and can even speak to the mortgage broker and lender for you.

What is conveyancing?

When buying a home, often, you’ll need to find your own conveyancer. And where do you find a good one of those? It’s a bit of a pain, and a bad one can really slow down the process (and there’s a lot of bad ones out there unfortunately)...

However again, we’ll mention Habito¹ here – they’ll actually handle all the legal work for you too, alongside the mortgage, so everything is all in one single place, making it super easy and much quicker. Check out our Habito review to learn more about this.

Comparing remortgage deals

Remortgaging is pretty much the same as getting a mortgage in the first place, as it’s often just a mortgage on the same property. However, it’s still worth comparing remortgage deals and finding the best new deal out there, rather than sticking with the same mortgage lender – you'll probably be able to save a lot of cash.

Compare remortgage deals

Also, as we’ve mentioned it’s a great idea to remortgage after the fixed rate period of your mortgage deal ends – and you often should. Make sure you set a reminder around 6 months before your current mortgage deal ends, so you have plenty of time to start looking for a great new deal.

Why? Your mortgage rate will normally increase when your fixed rate period ends. Also, if you try and change your mortgage before the fixed rate period ends, you’ll likely have to pay a fee for leaving early. This is called an early repayment charge (ERC).

Early repayment charge (ERC)

Early repayment charges are pretty big, normally for a 5 year fixed rate mortgage, they’ll start at 5% of the whole mortgage amount, and go down 1% per year until the 5th year (so 1% in year 5). And with a 2 year mortgage, they might start at 2% for the first year and then 1% the following year. However, this all depends on the mortgage, and you should check this before taking out the mortgage. If you are unsure, ask your mortgage broker.

The good news is that once the fixed rate period ends, there’s no fees! You’re free to remortgage to a new, better deal, for no charge.

Comparing buy-to-let mortgages

If you’re looking for a buy-to-let mortgage, it’s exactly the same process! All that’s different is the type of mortgage you’ll get from the mortgage lender. These are normally interest only mortgages (but can still be fixed rate mortgages or variable rate mortgages) – so make sure you let your mortgage broker know you’re looking for a buy-to-let mortgage.

Comparing buy-to-let mortgages

They’ll have different interest rates and there’s different criteria from the lender in order to get the mortgage. Instead of the mortgage lender assessing your salary and your personal financial circumstances, the property itself will be assessed, such as how much rent it will make per month.

That’s it for comparing mortgages

Fairly straightforward isn’t it? The best way to compare mortgages is to follow these easy steps:

  1. Work out a rough idea how much you'll be able to borrow
  2. Work out your loan-to-value (LTV)
  3. Compare mortgage deals online (by overall cost)
  4. Chat with a mortgage broker
  5. Check direct-deals (if you want to)
  6. Get a mortgage agreement in principle
  7. Apply for your mortgage!

If you use a mortgage broker it's super easy to get a mortgage, they will do the heavy lifting for you.

Using a mortgage broker means you’ll be guaranteed to get the best mortgage deal for you, which can be the difference of £100s per month. They’ll also match you with the right mortgage lender for you too – one that’s right for you based on your financial circumstances.

There’s just one rule, and it’s worth repeating, only use a mortgage broker that’s whole-of-market. One that can search every mortgage deal out there to find the best one for you!

If you’re not sure where to find a great mortgage broker, here’s the best mortgage brokers. Our top recommendation is Habito¹, they’re free, online, and have great service. Or, if you’d prefer to speak to an advisor, check out Tembo¹ – they’re just as great (but not free), and you could be speaking to an expert in just 10 minutes.

Good luck finding the best deal for you. We hope these easy to follow steps will help!

Nuts About Money logo

We’re here to help ease money worries for everyone by providing an easy to use website for all things money related.

About us