Most people do not choose between these; their employer does. But if you are consolidating old pots or weighing a transfer, here is how the charges and reviews actually stack up.
Charges verified July 2026. Pension transfers are a big decision; this is information, not advice.
Your pension charge is one number. Whether you're saving enough is another — and we answer it from your real pensions, ISAs and the State Pension.
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Most people shouldn’t transfer out of a defined-benefit scheme. If you’re in one, the rest of this page is information, not a recommendation. For defined-contribution pots (the common case) a transfer is usually fine — the charges comparison below is what you’re here for.
Savers who value a mutual ethos and ProfitShare top-ups, usually via an employer or adviser.
People with scattered old workplace pots who want them combined into one simple plan.
Pick the situation closest to yours. The advice below changes accordingly. No account, nothing to fill in.
| Charge | Royal London | PensionBee |
|---|---|---|
| Annual charge | Typically around 0.38% for Governed Portfolios, varying by scheme and pot size | 0.50% to 0.95% depending on plan, halved on the portion above £100k |
| Workplace scheme charge | Set by your employer's scheme, capped at 0.75% for auto-enrolment defaults | Not applicable (personal pension) |
| Fund charges | Included in the plan charge for Governed Portfolios; other funds vary | Included in the single annual charge |
| Contribution charge | None | None |
| Transfers in | Free | Free, and PensionBee does the legwork of finding old pots |
| Drawdown | Included | Included from age 55 (57 from 2028), no drawdown fees |
Royal London consistently scores at or near the top of pension customer satisfaction surveys, and reviewers cite helpful, human service.
Some frustration that plans must be managed through an adviser and the online tools lag app-first rivals.
Read Royal London reviews on TrustpilotThe highest-rated pension provider on the Origo Pension Transfer Index. Reviewers repeatedly mention painless transfers and an app that finally makes their pension make sense.
The main pushback is price: 0.70% on the default plan is more than a DIY SIPP holding a cheap tracker.
Read PensionBee reviews on TrustpilotRoyal London is the UK's largest mutual insurer, and its pension proposition leans on that structure: no shareholders, and a ProfitShare scheme that has added a top-up to members' pots in most years. Service satisfaction scores are consistently among the best in the market.
The catch for DIY savers is access. Royal London pensions come through employers and advisers rather than direct, so if you want a self-serve pension you set up in an app tonight, look at PensionBee or a SIPP platform instead.
PensionBee took the most painful job in UK personal finance, finding and combining old pensions, and made it an app onboarding flow. Transfers are handled for you, the fee is a single number, and drawdown is built in.
You pay for that simplicity. The default Global Leaders plan at 0.70% is roughly triple the cost of holding a global tracker in a cheap SIPP. Whether that premium is worth it depends on whether you would actually do the consolidation yourself. For many people, the answer is no, and PensionBee is the difference between sorted and never done.
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See where I standIf you are in a defined-benefit scheme, almost certainly no — the guaranteed income and spousal benefits are hard to beat. For defined-contribution pots, the decision is about charges and what you actually want from the pension. Charges of 0.5%–1.0% a year compound into a serious drag over 20+ years.
Charges vary by product. The table above shows the published rates verified against each provider. Look at the all-in annual figure, not the platform fee alone — fund charges and adviser charges stack on top.
No. Charges tell you what you pay. Whether the plan behind the charges gets you to the retirement you want is a separate question — and it is the one most readers land here actually trying to answer.
A small charge difference is worth optimising. Knowing whether you are saving enough in the first place is worth far more. Delphina models your pensions, ISAs and investments and tells you where you actually stand.
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