That’s Lightyear Plans in a nutshell.

You can also see the video:

If you want to find out what our research team has to say after carefully analysing Lightyear’s new feature, keep reading. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Lightyear is a UK and EU-based investing platform founded in 2020, offering commission-free ETFs and low-cost access to over 6,000+ global stocks and ETFs.

Lightyear operates in Europe through Lightyear Europe AS, which is authorised and regulated as an investment firm by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon) under activity licence number 4.1-1/31, the company has grown rapidly across Europe, focusing on transparency, accessibility and low fees.

In November 2025, Lightyear launched Plans, a feature that lets users group selected investments into mini-portfolios and, if they wish, turn on auto-investing.

Plans currently work within:

• Personal ) and Business Accounts
• Tax-efficient wrappers in Estonia (Investeerimiskonto) and Hungary (TBSZ)
• ISA availability in the UK is coming soon

This service is execution-only, meaning users self-direct all investment decisions - Lightyear does not offer advice, model portfolios, or discretionary management.

“We are not acting as a Robo-Adviser regarding our Plans product as the service is execution-only (no advice) and self-directed by the customer.”  Lightyear

• Automated investing: Set recurring contributions (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) for long-term discipline.
• Flexible and transparent: Edit allocations, amounts, or frequency anytime.
• Fractional shares: Available for both stocks and ETFs (minimum €2/£2/$2 per instrument).
• No ongoing or custody fees: ETFs are commission-free (fund manager and FX fees may still apply).
• Low-cost stock trading: 0.1% per trade for US stocks (min. $0.1, max $1) £1 per trade for UK stocks and  €1 per EU stocks
• Available across the EU and UK: Works in Personal and Business Accounts; tax-wrappers for Estonia and Hungary.
• Clean, modern interface: Intuitive design, mobile-first, and simple portfolio creation process.
• Supports diversification: Combine equities, ETFs in one plan.
• Goal-based investing: Users can name Plans according to personal goals (e.g., “House Fund” or “Retirement Growth”).
• Exclusive offer: Sign up with code INVESTINGINTHEWEB to get up to €100 in fractional shares (terms apply). Minimum deposit €100. New users only. The reward lock-down period is 6 months‍
• Strong financial backing: Lightyear recently secured $23M in a Series B round (total funding now $58M). It’s backed by top-tier investors and experienced founders.

• Execution-only: No investment advice or recommended portfolios.
• Not a classic robo-advisor: All allocations and instruments must be chosen by the user.
• No automatic rebalancing (yet): Users must manually adjust allocations.‍
• Recent, private company, with a short track record: but, unlike the US, this is a fact for most brokers in Europe.

Lightyear offers a web platform and a mobile app (iOS and Android), both with a consistent and sleek user experience.

The user interface is clean, modern, and focused on simplicity.

Lightyear Plans allow investors to create their own portfolios by selecting specific stocks and ETFs and assigning percentage allocations that total 100%.

You can:

• Name each Plan based on its goal or purpose
• Assign weights per instrument
• Enable auto-investing with a chosen contribution and schedule
• Edit or delete Plans at any time

For example:

“70% VWCE - Global Equity ETF”
“30% Euro Government Bond ETF”

This creates a balanced, diversified portfolio that automatically receives new contributions, ideal for dollar-cost averaging and long-term consistency. Remember, investing means you can lose some or all of your money. If you are unsure what this means, please speak to a qualified financial adviser.

Here’s how it looks in the app:

On the downside, Lightyear does not provide pre-made portfolios or risk profiling questionnaires, as the feature is self-directed and purely executional.

Furthermore, the company also doesn’t offer products such as mutual funds, bonds, options, or crypto. If that’s what you’re looking for, you might need to find another alternative.

Still, we believe this selection of financial instruments fits most long-term, passive investors.

How to create a Plan

Step 1: Start a new plan

From your Portfolio screen, scroll to the end of your list of instruments and tap “Create a Plan.” You’ll then choose how you’d like to begin:

• Move my investments – transfer some or all of your existing holdings into a new Plan
• Find investments – search Lightyear’s universe (or use your Watchlist) to add new instruments to the Plan

You can always add or remove instruments later.

Step 2: Name your Plan

Give your Plan a clear, meaningful name, for example, Holiday Fund, Tech Stocks, or Long-Term Growth. We went for “Retirement Plan”:

Step 3: Turn on Auto-Invest (Optional)

To invest automatically, toggle Auto-Invest and choose:

• Investment amount
• Frequency (Weekly, Bi-weekly, or Monthly)

You can pause or edit Auto-Invest anytime.

Note: Only fractional instruments can be auto-invested into. Non-fractional ones can still be part of your Plan, but must be bought separately.

Step 4: Set allocations

Assign a percentage allocation to each instrument in your Plan, making sure the total equals 100%. These weightings determine how your money is distributed when you invest in the Plan.

Step 5: Review & confirm

Before finalising, review your Plan summary, including chosen instruments, allocations, and auto-invest details. If everything looks right, confirm to create your Plan. You’re all set!

• ETF trading fee: €0 (FX & fund manager fees may apply)
• Stock trading fee: 0.1% per trade (min. $0.1, max $1) for US stocks, £1 per trade for UK stocks, 1€ per trade for EU stocks
• FX fee: 0.35% (for currency conversions)
• Custody fee: None
• Account opening fee: Free

Pricing for Plans is identical to Lightyear’s general pricing: transparent and competitive. There are no hidden or ongoing management fees.

For more details, check out Lightyear’s website directly.

Lightyear provides customer support through both in-app chat and email,. Users can easily reach the support team directly from within the app for help with account-related queries, technical issues, or investment questions.

In addition to direct support, Lightyear maintains a comprehensive Help Centre, offering detailed articles and FAQs covering a wide range of topics such as Plans and pricing, auto-investing, deposits and withdrawals, and account management.

• Availability: EU and UK users (including Estonia and Hungary tax wrappers)
• Account types: Personal Account, Business Account, and tax-wrappers like Stocks & SharesISA and Cash ISA (in the UK), TBSZ (in Hungary), Investeerimiskonto (in Estonia)
• Minimum deposit: €1
• Funding methods: Standing order or Lightyear cash balance
• Base currencies: GBP, EUR, USD (FX fee of 0.35% for currency conversions)

The onboarding process is fast and fully digital.

What to know how to deposit step-by-step? Check this video!

Lightyear’s Plans feature combines the control of self-directed investing with the ease of automation, allowing users to create, fund, and manage their own portfolios effortlessly.

It’s not a robo-advisor, but rather a DIY automation tool for investors who already have a strategy in mind and want to execute it consistently and cost-effectively.

If you’re looking for an accessible, transparent, and flexible platform to manage your long-term investments, Lightyear Plans is an excellent option to explore.

Disclaimer: Terms apply. Investing means you can lose some or all of your money. If you are unsure what this means, please speak to a qualified financial adviser.. The provider of investment services is Lightyear Europe AS, regulated by the Estonian Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority (EFSA).