Sharesies Review: Has New Zealand's Most Popular Investing Platform Kept Its Edge?

Sharesies has done something unusual in New Zealand finance. It made investing culturally normal for people who would never have opened a brokerage account. No minimum to start. Fractional shares. An app that does not feel like a bank portal. As at early 2026, it remains the largest retail investment platform in the country by active user count, offering access to NZX, ASX, and US markets through a single login.

The question is whether it is still the best option for someone who has outgrown the beginner stage. And the answer is more complicated than it used to be.

The Fee Structure in Detail

Sharesies uses a tiered subscription model with four tiers. The free plan charges a 1.9% transaction fee on buy and sell orders, capped at NZ$25 on NZ shares, AU$15 on Australian shares, and US$5 on US shares. Currency exchange from NZD to USD or AUD runs at 0.5%.

The NZ$3 per month plan covers transaction fees on NZ$500 of buy and sell orders and NZ$1,000 of auto-invest orders each month. The NZ$7 plan covers NZ$30,000. The NZ$15 plan is uncapped and adds NZX market depth — live bid and ask prices rather than delayed data.

The cap structure is important to understand. On a US$1,000 US ETF purchase, the brokerage caps at US$5 and the FX cost on roughly NZ$1,650 is about NZ$8.30 — total around NZ$16.60. Hatch on the same trade costs about NZ$11.30. Interactive Brokers costs roughly US$0.35 plus spot FX. The gap grows on larger trades. On a NZ$10,000 NZX buy, Sharesies caps at NZ$25 while ASB Securities charges NZ$15 and Jarden Direct charges NZ$30. Sharesies sits in the middle of the market on cost — cheaper than the full-service brokers, more expensive than the per-trade platforms for larger amounts.

The ideal way to use Sharesies is on a monthly plan with regular investments. If you invest NZ$500 per week via auto-invest, the NZ$7 plan covers all transaction fees and the FX cost becomes the main expense. At that level, the annual cost is roughly NZ$84 in subscription fees plus about NZ$130 in FX on US trades — roughly NZ$214 per year on a NZ$26,000 annual investment. That is reasonable.

What You Get for the Fee

The mobile app is genuinely well designed. Buying a US stock takes about thirty seconds. Real-time pricing is available, though delayed pricing applies on the free tier. Managed funds from Smartshares and other providers are available without transaction fees — you pay only the underlying fund's management fee. KiwiSaver is integrated into the same account, which is a genuine convenience for someone who wants everything in one place.

Sharesies is also launching its own range of low-cost funds — the Sharesies Global Shares Fund at 0.25%, Global Bond Fund at 0.25%, and NZ Cash Fund at 0.15%. These add a passive PIE-tax-wrapped option directly on the platform, competing with Simplicity and Kernel on fees for the fund layer while keeping the convenience of the Sharesies ecosystem.

The range of direct shares and ETFs is broad enough for most investors — NZX, ASX, and major US-listed stocks and ETFs. What you do not get is access to Australian or US-listed managed funds, options trading, or bonds. For fractional shares, only US stocks in the S&P 500 are available fractionally. NZX and ASX shares must be bought in whole units.

The platform handles tax reporting adequately — an annual statement covers your NZ taxable income, FIF obligations if applicable, and PIE tax. A W-8BEN for US tax withholding is completed at signup and handled centrally. For a new investor, the tax side is simpler than opening a brokerage account where you need to manage your own FIF calculations.

Who Sharesies Is Actually For

If you are a new investor with under NZ$30,000, want to buy fractional shares, and prefer an app you can use on a phone, Sharesies is still the best fit in New Zealand. The experience of buying your first NZ$50 of VOO without a brokerage minimum fee is genuinely good.

If you are an experienced investor with a portfolio above NZ$100,000 who makes large lump sum trades, the subscription costs and 0.5% FX make it an expensive option. At that level, a flat-fee broker like Interactive Brokers or a fund platform like InvestNow works out significantly cheaper. The break point is roughly NZ$3,000 per trade — below that, Sharesies competes. Above that, the per-trade platforms win.

The churn risk is real. People who outgrow Sharesies move to Hatch, Interactive Brokers, or direct fund platforms. Sharesies knows this and has steadily added features — cheaper pricing tiers, KiwiSaver, now its own funds — to keep people in the ecosystem. Whether that is enough depends on how quickly you move from occasional investing to building serious capital.

How to Decide

Do this calculation before signing up. Estimate your average monthly investment. Multiply by twelve. Divide the total transaction cost across the platforms you are comparing. If Sharesies comes within 0.3% of your portfolio value annually, the convenience makes it worthwhile. If the gap is wider, the saving compounds into real money over time.

The other factor is the quality of the mobile experience. Sharesies' app is the best in New Zealand for retail investing. If a great app means you check your portfolio more often, learn more, and invest more consistently, that intangible is a real return that no fee comparison captures.