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
InstaTradeApps for iOS & Android -
5
Optimus FuturesApps for iOS & Android -
6
TradeUpApps for iOS & Android
Here is a summary of why we recommend these brokers in March 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.
- InstaTrade - InstaTrade offers its own app that’s been downloaded more than 2 million times and facilitates trading on its 300+ instruments from your palm. Fast, responsive and sporting a modern interface, it supports real-time quotes, an array of orders, and analytical tools. However, what stood out during testing was the ‘hot’ ideas and trading signals, helping investors find opportunities.
- 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.
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
- The new IBKR Desktop platform takes the best of TWS while adding bespoke tools like Option Lattice and Screeners with MultiSort to create a genuinely impressive trading experience for day traders at every level.
- 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.
- Interactive Brokers has been named Best US Broker for 2025 by DayTrading.com, recognizing its long-standing commitment to US traders, ultra-low margin rates, and global market access at minimal cost.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
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
- Seasoned day traders can access industry-leading tools, including an MT4 premium upgrade and advanced charting provided by MotiveWave
- OANDA is a reliable, trustworthy and secure brand with authorization from tier-one regulators including the CFTC
- The broker's API facilitates access to 25 years of deep historical data and rates from 200+ currencies
Cons
- 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
- The range of day trading markets is limited to forex and cryptos only
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
- FOREX.com offers industry-leading forex pricing starting from 0.0 pips, alongside competitive cashback rebates of up to 15% for serious day traders.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
InstaTrade
"Although InstaTrade offers active trading on a comprehensive platform, it stands out with its fairly unique Fixed Income Structured Product (FISP), providing passive investment opportunities with up to 50% returns in 6 months if conditions are met. "
InstaTrade Quick Facts
| Mobile Apps | iOS & Android |
|---|---|
| iOS App Rating | / 5 |
| Android App Rating | / 5 |
| Demo Account | Yes |
| Instruments | FISP, CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Cryptos, Futures |
| Minimum Deposit | $1 |
| Account Currencies | USD, EUR, RUB |
Pros
- VPS hosting caters to algo trading strategies with a dedicated physical server providing rapid execution speeds as low as 9 milliseconds.
- InstaTrade TV, consisting of video interviews and valuable market insights spanning equities, cryptos and more, helps identify opportunities and inform short-term trades.
- Despite an average investment offering of around 300 assets, InstaTrade offers a particularly strong suite of currency pairs, catering to advanced traders seeking opportunities in volatile exotics.
Cons
- Marketing of the FISP, especially phrasing around the “guarantee of profitability” and the “elimination of risks of trading on financial markets” raises concerns.
- InstaTrade sports one of the most cluttered websites and client cabinets in the industry, potentially overwhelming new traders, especially compared to XTB’s intuitive trading journey and resources.
- InstaTrade is registered in the offshore jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands, resulting in limited regulatory safeguards for retail investors.
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
- Optimus Futures stands out with ultra-low day trading margins on micro futures, starting at just $50 per contract and a $100 minimum balance, giving small accounts serious buying power.
- 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.
- 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.
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'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.
- 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.
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 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 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’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'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.
- 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.