Sharesies Fees Explained 2026: What You Actually Pay (In Dollars)
Sharesies' monthly plans run $3–$15, plus currency and management fees most people never see. What a $1k, $10k and $50k portfolio actually costs per year on Sharesies — and when a flat plan beats percentage fees.
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Quick answer: Sharesies charges a monthly plan fee ($3, $7 or $15) that caps your transaction fees, plus a 0.5% currency exchange fee on US/AU trades and the underlying fund management fees (typically 0.2–0.6%). A $10k mostly-index portfolio realistically costs $36–$84/year on the $3–$7 plans — competitive for small, regular investors, but percentage-fee platforms can win at larger balances. Full worked examples below.
Kia ora. Sharesies moved from pay-per-trade to monthly plans, and the honest answer to "what does Sharesies cost?" is now: it depends which fees you're actually triggering. Here's every fee in plain English, then real dollar totals at three portfolio sizes.
Every Sharesies fee in one table
| Fee | Amount | When you pay it |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan | $3 / $7 / $15 | Always — sets your covered transaction volume |
| Transaction fees beyond plan cover | ~1.9% (capped) | Only if you trade more than your plan covers |
| Currency exchange | 0.5% | Buying/selling US or AU shares |
| Fund management fees | 0.2%–0.6%+ | Inside every ETF/managed fund, all platforms |
| Withdrawal / deposit | $0 | Never |
The plan tiers mainly differ by how much investing they cover per month: $3 covers casual amounts, $7 suits most regular investors, $15 is for heavy traders.
What you actually pay at $1k, $10k and $50k
- $1,000 portfolio, $50/week into an NZ index fund: the $3 plan covers it — $36/year plus fund fees (~$3). Cheap.
- $10,000 portfolio, fortnightly investing incl. some US shares: $7 plan + currency fees on the US portion — realistically $84–$120/year all-in.
- $50,000 portfolio: the $15 plan is $180/year flat — here's where Sharesies gets interesting, because a 0.25% percentage-fee platform charges $125 and rising with your balance, while Sharesies' flat plan stays put. But Kernel's low fund fees or InvestNow's zero-transaction-fee funds can still undercut it depending on what you hold.
The fees people miss
The 0.5% currency fee is the quiet one — buy $5,000 of US shares and that's $25 on the way in and $25 on the way out. If you're mostly investing in US ETFs, compare with platforms that batch FX or hold US-domiciled funds directly. And remember fund management fees apply everywhere — a 0.20% index fund vs a 1.0% active fund matters far more than the platform fee at any size.
Steady tip: Steady turns every percentage into actual dollars across your whole portfolio — Sharesies, InvestNow, Kernel and KiwiSaver together — so you can see what you're really paying per year. Join the waitlist.
The bottom line
Sharesies' flat plans are genuinely good for small-to-mid portfolios with regular deposits, and the app remains NZ's friendliest. Fee-wise the break-even against percentage platforms sits around the mid-tens-of-thousands — before that, don't overthink it; after that, compare the trio properly.
Written by Sam Wilson
Founder, Steady
Sam is a New Zealand founder building Steady — a personal finance app designed for Kiwis, integrated with every major NZ bank via Akahu. He writes about money, bank integrations, and what actually works for everyday New Zealanders.More about Sam
Steady connects your bank and tracks it all automatically — no spreadsheets. Join the waitlist for early access.
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