Robinhood Delay UK App Launch Due To Controversy
Many novice traders in the UK were looking forward to the UK launch of Robinhood, an investment app that claims to be democratising finance for millions of traders. However, after facing pressure from US authorities and politicians, the app has announced it will be delaying its UK launch.
Trading Apps
The main function of the Robinhood app, which has over 13 million US users, is to allow new traders to buy and sell financial products without depositing a minimum sum or paying commission.
The current waiting list for the app in the UK has over 250,000 people, many of whom were looking forward to the app being launched later this year.
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Individuals on the waiting list were greeted this week with a message from Robinhood explaining the app launch would be delayed.
The email read, “We’re saddened to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone our UK launch indefinitely… We’ll be closing our waitlist and taking down our UK website shortly.
The world has changed a lot over the past several months and we’re adapting with it.”
Media Focus
The app, currently valued at $8.6bn, received a lot of media and political attention after a 20-year-old US user, student Alex Kearns, killed himself in June.
Kearns is believed to have killed himself due to mistakenly believing he had lost $730,000 (£575,000) on the app.
Kearns, unfortunately, seemed to misunderstand the app, due to lack of trading knowledge as his account was actually up $16,000 at the time of his death.
Robinhood has received approval from the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and was expected to launch in Spring 2020.
Although the launch delay is ‘indefinite’, there is hope for UK residents who plan to use the app as Robinhood also stated in their email;
“although our global expansion plans are on hold for now, we will continue our work to democratise finance for all and we look forward to the day when we can bring this mission to the UK.”
Existing Robinhood employees in the UK are expected to move to the US, while a team of skeleton employees will remain in the UK under the guidance of Wander Rutgers, former TransferWise executive.
Best Trading Apps
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1
Interactive BrokersApps for iOS & Android -
2
OANDA USApps for iOS & AndroidCFDs are not available to residents in the United States. -
3
FOREX.comApps for iOS & Android -
4
Optimus FuturesApps for iOS & Android -
5
TradeUpApps for iOS & Android -
6
CoinbaseApps for iOS & Android
This is why we think these brokers are the best in this category in 2026:
- Interactive Brokers - The IBKR Mobile app, available on both iOS and Android devices, makes your phone a powerful gateway to your IBKR accounts, offering you the freedom to keep an eye on portfolios, initiate trades, and dive into real-time quotes and charts, all while managing your account activities on the fly. This app stands out for its intuitive design, making it especially welcoming for those just starting their trading journey, providing a smoother and more accessible experience than the more complex TWS platform.
- OANDA US - OANDA's app stands out for its deeply customizable interface, ensuring you can tailor every aspect of the trading experience to your strategy, from setting custom notifications to adjusting chart sizes and overlays. This level of personalization, combined with the ability to quickly react to market changes, manage risk, and stay informed with alerts on significant market events, makes it a category leader.
- FOREX.com - Running alongside the MT4 and Web Trader platforms, the FOREX.com app offers full trading capabilities on a user-friendly, compact platform. Integrated news and analysis, plus real time trade alerts, are two mobile specific features that set this app above the crowd. Additionally, it beats out MT4 when it comes to mobile charting tools, with over 80 indicators and 11 chart types, not to mention a slicker design that we love.
- Optimus Futures - Optimus Futures Mobile gives futures traders fast, direct exchange access with low-latency execution and full depth-of-market (DOM) views. Order entry is quick and reliable, with support for advanced strategies such as brackets, OCO, and trailing stops alongside 150+ indicators for charting. It’s best suited for active day traders who need professional futures tools on the go.
- TradeUp - The TradeUp.com mobile app offers a clean, user-friendly experience that works well for trading on the go. It also provides all the essential tools, including custom watchlists and alerts, which help you stay up-to-date. However, the app limits advanced chart indicator customization, and the occasional notification spam can be distracting during active trading sessions based on our hands-on mobile tests.
- Coinbase - Coinbase offers an intuitive and regularly updated app that’s generally fast, reliable and matches the desktop experience. It provides powerful tools for crypto investors with advanced trading features, real-time market analysis, staking rewards, secure portfolio management, and educational incentives, all backed by top-notch security and regulatory compliance. However, ratings from Android users show the interface trails its Apple counterpart, with issues relating to the user experience and notifications.
Interactive Brokers
"Interactive Brokers is one of the best brokers for advanced day traders, providing powerful charting platforms, real-time data, and customizable layouts, notably through the new IBKR Desktop application. Its superb pricing and advanced order options also make it highly attractive for day traders, while its diverse range of equities is still among the best in the industry."
Christian Harris, Reviewer
Interactive Brokers Quick Facts
| Mobile Apps | iOS & Android |
|---|---|
| iOS App Rating | / 5 |
| Android App Rating | / 5 |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | Stocks, Options, Futures, Forex, Funds, Bonds, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Cryptocurrencies |
| Minimum Deposit | $0 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, INR, JPY, SEK, NOK, DKK, CHF, AED, HUF |
Pros
- IBKR is one of the most respected and trusted brokerages and is regulated by top-tier authorities, so you can have confidence in the integrity and security of your trading account.
- While primarily geared towards experienced traders, IBKR has made moves to broaden its appeal in recent years, reducing its minimum deposit from $10,000 to $0.
- With low commissions, tight spreads and a transparent fee structure, IBKR delivers a cost-effective environment for short-term traders.
Cons
- Support can be slow and frustrating based on tests, so you might find it challenging to reach customer service representatives promptly or encounter delays in resolving issues.
- IBKR provides a wide range of research tools, but their distribution across trading platforms and the web-based 'Account Management' page lacks consistency, leading to a confusing user experience.
- TWS’s learning curve is steep, and beginners may find it challenging to navigate the platform and understand all the features. Plus500's web platform is much better suited to new traders.
OANDA US
"OANDA remains an excellent broker for US day traders seeking a user-friendly platform with premium analysis tools and a straightforward joining process. OANDA is also heavily regulated with a very high trust score."
Jemma Grist, Reviewer
OANDA US Quick Facts
| Mobile Apps | iOS & Android |
|---|---|
| iOS App Rating | / 5 |
| Android App Rating | / 5 |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | Forex, Crypto with Paxos (Cryptocurrencies are offered through Paxos. Paxos is a separate legal entity from OANDA) |
| Minimum Deposit | $0 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, CHF, HKD, SGD |
Pros
- The broker's API facilitates access to 25 years of deep historical data and rates from 200+ currencies
- Beginners can get started easily with $0 minimum initial deposit
- There's a strong selection of 68 currency pairs for dedicated short-term forex traders
Cons
- In 2025, the NFA fined OANDA $600k for compliance failures
- It's a shame that customer support is not available on weekends
- There's only a small range of payment methods available, with no e-wallets supported
FOREX.com
"FOREX.com remains a best-in-class brokerage for active forex traders of all experience levels, with over 80 currency pairs, tight spreads from 0.0 pips and low commissions. The powerful charting platforms collectively offer over 100 technical indicators, as well as extensive research tools."
FOREX.com Quick Facts
| Mobile Apps | iOS & Android |
|---|---|
| iOS App Rating | / 5 |
| Android App Rating | / 5 |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | Forex, Futures and Options on Metals, Energies, Commodities, Indices, Bonds, Crypto |
| Minimum Deposit | $100 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, CHF, PLN |
Pros
- With over 20 years of experience, excellent regulatory oversight, and multiple accolades including runner-up in our 'Best Forex Broker' awards, FOREX.com boasts a global reputation as a trusted brokerage.
- There’s a wealth of educational resources including tutorials, webinars, and a stacked YouTube channel to help you get educated in the financial markets.
- The in-house Web Trader continues to stand out as one of the best-designed platforms for aspiring day traders with a slick design and over 80 technical indicators for market analysis.
Cons
- There’s no negative balance protection for US clients, so you may find yourself owing more money than your initial deposit into your account.
- Demo accounts are frustratingly time-limited to 90 days, which doesn’t give you enough time to test day trading strategies effectively.
- FOREX.com's MT4 platform offers approximately 600 instruments, significantly fewer than the over 5,500 available on its non-MetaTrader platforms.
Optimus Futures
"Optimus Futures is best for active futures day traders who want low per-contract costs and the flexibility to build a custom trading setup across platforms like Optimus Flow, TradingView, and Sierra Chart. Its fast order-routing, low day trading margins, depth-of-market and footprint analysis tools, plus the ability to select your own clearing firm, make it especially suited to high-volume traders focused on U.S. and global futures markets."
Optimus Futures Quick Facts
| Mobile Apps | iOS & Android |
|---|---|
| iOS App Rating | / 5 |
| Android App Rating | / 5 |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | Futures on Indices, Metals, Energies, Softs, Bonds, Cryptos, Options on Futures, Event Contracts |
| Minimum Deposit | $500 |
| Account Currencies | USD |
Pros
- Futures commission rates are competitive, and there’s transparent access to trading on major exchanges, while the firm's fee calculator makes it a breeze to estimate trading costs before placing orders, helping to avoid surprises.
- Optimus Futures has added event contracts from CME Group, allowing traders to express a daily market view with a simple yes-or-no position on major futures markets. Only offered by a handful of brokers, these fixed-risk products provide a straightforward way to speculate on a short-term basis.
- The brokerage provides the flexibility to choose your clearing firm, including Iron Beam, Phillip Capital, and StoneX, allowing for direct control over where your funds are held and the associated transaction costs - helpful for customizing the futures trading setup.
Cons
- Live chat support is handled entirely by a bot, so despite several attempts in our tests, it wasn't possible to get access to a human agent, which can be frustrating when urgent or complex questions arise.
- There are limited payment options and no toll-free numbers for international support, while withdrawals cost $20 to $60, potentially making frequent withdrawals costly for active traders.
- There's no true 'all-in-one' account management dashboard - key functions like risk settings, software downloads, and subscriptions are split across different sections or platforms, so it required extra digging to set everything up during testing.
TradeUp
"TradeUp is best suited to budget-conscious day traders looking to trade U.S. and global markets with zero commissions on a user-friendly mobile app. Its more than 250 Chinese American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), including Alibaba Group (BABA), also make it suitable for trading Chinese equities."
TradeUp Quick Facts
| Mobile Apps | iOS & Android |
|---|---|
| iOS App Rating | / 5 |
| Android App Rating | / 5 |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | Stocks, Options, ETFs, Bonds |
| Minimum Deposit | $0.01 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP |
Pros
- TradeUp offers commission-free trading on US stocks and ETFs, and support for fractional shares lets you buy portions of a share for as little as $5.This makes it a cost-effective choice for active day traders who want to minimize trading expenses.
- TradeUp runs an integrated and intuitive financial calendar that helps you track earnings, dividends, and IPOs relevant to your watchlist, enabling you to stay ahead of market-moving events.
- TradeUp’s platforms work smoothly across multiple devices based on our tests, including mobile apps for iOS and Android, a desktop app for Windows and Mac, and a web-based platform. This allows active traders to switch between devices without losing continuity, whether you’re at home or on the go.
Cons
- The platform's technical indicators have limited customization options from our use. On both mobile and web versions, you can't layer multiple indicators on the same chart simultaneously, which restricts more sophisticated chart analysis.
- TradeUp does not support popular third-party platforms like TradingView or cTrader, so traders who rely on those for advanced charting, automation, or community features won't find that flexibility.
- TradeUp's educational resources aren't kept updated, and were over 6 months old in our latest tests. While there are articles and tutorials aimed at newcomers, the content is somewhat limited and does not cover more advanced trading strategies or deeper topics.
Coinbase
"Coinbase is ideal for beginners looking for an intuitive platform to buy and sell a wide variety of cryptocurrencies, with robust security and regulatory compliance. However, its fees are higher compared to competitors in our tests, and it’s not as tailored for short-term traders."
Coinbase Quick Facts
| Mobile Apps | iOS & Android |
|---|---|
| iOS App Rating | / 5 |
| Android App Rating | / 5 |
| Demo Account | No |
| Instruments | Crypto, Stocks and ETFs (US only) |
| Minimum Deposit | $0 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR |
Pros
- Coinbase Advanced bolstered its leveraged trading offering with a suite of new futures products in 2025, including Ripple (XRP), Natural Gas (NGS), and Cardano (ADA), providing accessible ways to trade, hedge, or diversify.
- As a Nasdaq-listed company, Coinbase follows strict financial regulations, with licensing across the US, UK, and Europe. Security includes FDIC insurance for USD balances (up to $250,000) and two-factor authentication (2FA).
- Coinbase supports 240+ cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and more recently listed altcoins like $Trump, giving early access to emerging tokens.
Cons
- There are woeful research tools; Advanced Trade has TradingView charts but lacks features like news feeds, economic calendars, and AI market insights.
- Frustrating customer support during testing, with most help options hidden behind login, making it tough for locked-out users or non-account holders to get assistance.
- High crypto fees based on tests, especially compared to competitors like Kraken and BitMEX, and notably on the standard dealing platform.