Freetrade is a UK commission-free investing app regulated by the FCA and owned by IG Group since April 2025, offering stocks, ETFs, ISAs and SIPPs. New customers who join through a referral link and fund at least £50 get a randomly chosen free share worth between £10 and £100, and the referrer earns one too. The free share is real, but the proceeds are locked for 180 days before you can withdraw them, and the odds are weighted so most shares land near the lower end of the range.
Risk warning: Trading carries a high risk of losing money, especially with leveraged products such as CFDs. A bonus does not reduce that risk. Only deposit what you can afford to lose.
Freetrade
New Freetrade customers who join via a referral link before 10 July 2026 and fund their account with £50 get a randomly chosen free share worth between £20 and £100 (normally £10 to £100), which they must hold for 180 days before cashing out.
Freetrade
Refer a friend to Freetrade before 10 July 2026 and both of you get a free share worth between £20 and £100 (normally £10-£100) once the friend funds £50, but proceeds are locked for 180 days.
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Freetrade launched in 2016, founded by Adam Dodds, Davide Fioranelli and Viktor Nebehaj, and famously funded itself through a string of equity crowdfunding rounds before reaching profitability in 2024 with around 720,000 customers and £2.5 billion under management. In April 2025, IG Group completed its £160 million acquisition; Freetrade continues to run as a standalone brand on its own platform.
Freetrade Limited is authorized and regulated by the FCA (reference 783189), with the standard UK protections that follow: FSCS coverage and Financial Ombudsman access. That puts its free-share promotion on much firmer regulatory footing than the offshore bonus offers that dominate this space.
Freetrade runs three tiers: Basic (free), Standard (£5.99 monthly or £4.99 equivalent billed annually) and Plus (£12.99 monthly or £9.99 annually). Since January 2026, ISAs, SIPPs, gilts and ready-made portfolios are included even on the free Basic plan, a meaningful improvement from the days when tax wrappers required a subscription.
The fee that matters for free-share hunters is FX: US shares carry a 0.99% conversion fee on Basic, 0.59% on Standard and 0.39% on Plus. If your free share is a US stock, around 1% comes off when you sell and convert on the free tier. Uninvested cash earns tiered interest, roughly 1% on Basic up to 3.5% on Plus, within balance caps.
The mechanics are simple: join through a referral link, fund at least £50 in net new money within 30 days, and both you and the referrer receive a random free share valued between £10 and £100. Freetrade's own terms state the probability is weighted so more expensive shares are rarer, so treat £10 to £20 as the realistic outcome. Referrers are capped at 10 shares per calendar month, and links may only be shared privately with friends and family; public posting on social media is grounds for refusal.
The main string is the hold: cash proceeds from selling the free share cannot be withdrawn until 180 days after the award. The share lands in a general investment account, not an ISA, so normal capital gains rules apply on any growth. Both parties must be UK tax residents, and US nationals, including dual nationals resident in the UK, are excluded.
Freetrade periodically sweetens the offer: as of early July 2026 a limited-time version raised the floor to £20 to £100 for referrals made before July 10. It has also run ISA and SIPP transfer cashback promotions, most recently around 1% up to several thousand pounds, but those had fixed deadlines that have passed; check the pension transfer page for whatever is currently live before moving a retirement pot.
The share usually arrives within days of the qualifying deposit clearing, though terms allow longer. Keeping the account funded and open through the qualifying period is required, and Freetrade can refuse rewards where referral rules were broken.
As free-share offers go this is one of the cleaner ones: a regulated UK broker, a genuine £50 threshold, no trading requirement, and the only real constraint being the 180-day withdrawal lock. The rational play is to treat it as a small starter position rather than a payout, and to remember the FX fee if the share is American.
Yes. Freetrade Limited is authorized and regulated by the FCA (reference 783189), with FSCS coverage up to £85,000 and Financial Ombudsman access. Since April 2025 it has been owned by IG Group, the LSE-listed trading company, while operating as a standalone brand.
Sign up through a referral link and add at least £50 of net new funds within 30 days. You and the referrer each receive a random share worth £10 to £100, weighted toward the lower values. The share typically arrives within days of qualifying.
You can sell it whenever you like, but the cash proceeds cannot be withdrawn until 180 days after the share was awarded. Withdrawing your qualifying deposit early can also forfeit a pending reward.
Low. Freetrade's terms say the random draw is weighted so more expensive shares are rarer, and in practice most people receive shares near the £10 to £20 end. During enhanced windows the floor rises, for example £20 to £100 for referrals before July 10, 2026.
UK tax residents who have never held a Freetrade account, joining through a genuine friend-or-family referral link. US nationals, including dual nationals living in the UK, are excluded, and publicly posted referral links can void the reward. Referrers are capped at 10 free shares per calendar month.
It has, periodically: cashback offers around 1% of transferred value with minimum transfer sizes and fixed deadlines, the most recent of which have expired. Check freetrade.io's pension transfer page for any live offer before initiating a transfer, and note those offers have required paid annual plans.